Bates Family Newsletter

Greetings Bates Families!

It was yet another short week, however, we'll actually have FIVE days of school next week! Then it's time for Thanksgiving break the following week.

During our staff PD on 11/7, the reunification team met to run a very important drill. In the event that our students need to be relocated and dismissed from that location, we need to be sure that a plan is in place to do so safely. Our amazing staff practices our reunification process at least once per year using "pretend" family members and students. Salem PD was here to watch us in action. We're happy to report that the drill went well, and we're confident that our procedures around reunification will meet your needs should we ever need to put it to the test in real life. If you need to meet us at a reunification site, please be sure to bring your ID or have your emergency contact bring theirs.

Parent/Caregiver Conferences - Reminder to save the date!

Looking even further ahead, please note that teacher/caregiver conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, December 6, from 12-2 pm and 5-7 pm. Teachers will send conference sign ups in the near future. Meeting with teachers is an important piece of the school-home connection. We look forward to seeing you that night, so mark your calendars.

Please reference pages 17 and 18 of our Bates School handbook for the following information:

ILLNESS AT SCHOOL:

A school nurse is available in every school to address student health needs. Students who are ill or injured should tell their teacher or another adult immediately. In the event of injury or illness at school, the school nurse or their designee will provide first-aid. If follow-up care is needed, or if the child cannot remain in school, parents/guardians will be notified.

The school nurse or administration will determine whether your child should be sent home due to illness. To provide prompt care, the school requires that parents/caregivers fill out a ‘Permission to Treat’ form at the beginning of the school year. Here is the form in English. Here is the form in Spanish. As contact information must be kept current, parents/caregivers should notify the school of any changes in phone numbers or emergency contacts.

Students are often asked to reflect during the school day. Sometimes the reflection is around actions and making good choices. Students are often asked to reflect on their work as well. This week, we'll talk about ways in which we reflect and why reflection is important in life!

This week’s focus is on diversity. While we celebrate diversity every day and it’s particularly important to our “Believe, Be You and Belong at Bates” message, we’d love to have families deepen this conversation at home this weekend.

Consider asking your child to explore what diversity means:

• In Nature: Look at the biodiversity around you and see what you notice? Diversity in trees, plants, animals and even clouds! You could even just peek out the window and do this or talk about it while driving (consider pausing the screen time and look around)

• In People: Talk about diversity in people, and go beyond physical appearances of skin tones, hair style and sizes. Discuss types of personal character traits that people in the family or class may have as well (serious, shy, funny, silly)- be sure to point out that no one is “all one thing” and that we have diversity WITHIN ourselves as well! We might be shy AND silly, as well as athletic AND artistic.

Talking about diversity helps to understand it better, and when we understand it better we value it more and promote it widely. Celebrate diversity!

The school menus are posted on the SPS website. Find them here.

Calling all coffee lovers! Support the 5th grade -- and grab some locally roasted joe!

The Bates Class of 2024 has partnered with Space Dog Coffee to produce "Bates Blend" coffee. Roasted in Salem, the beans hail from Honduras and make for a rich, delicious medium roast coffee. Each 12 oz.bag is $14.95 and a percentage of proceeds will benefit the Bates 5th grade end-of-year activities, including the yearbook, T-shirts, and graduation festivities.

Coffee makes a great holiday gift! We encourage you to stock up on this limited edition blend.

Order here: https://spacedogcoffee.com/product/bates-blend/

NOTE: Orders will be fulfilled weekly, beginning Friday, November 17. The final day for sales will be Friday, December 15, with pickup on Friday, December 22.

You can get your order in one of two ways:

• Choose LOCAL PICKUP at checkout if you want to grab your coffee at Bates from 5th grade parent Judith Forman.

• Choose FLAT RATE if you want your order shipped directly to your door. Shipping is a flat rate of $8.50 per order of up to 8 bags. Space Dog ships across the continental United States so please feel free to share the coffee fundraiser with friends and relatives who live beyond Salem!

Please visit the Salem Public Schools webpage here for guidance on the district's homework policy.

Again, we're stressing that if you MUST leave your car during drop off, pull up past the school entrance and drive as far down the sidewalk as possible. Adults are exiting vehicles close to "the rock" causing a cars to back up into the street. This is unsafe. Please follow the drop off rules.

We hope to see many of you at the PTO meeting Tuesday night, 11/14, 6-7 pm in the Bates School library.

Shout out to all PTO and school-community members who sat at the bake sale table and baked/contributed goods to the cause. Nice work:)

Did you know you can earn money for our school just by scanning your grocery receipts? All you need to do is download the Boxtops app, and scan those receipts! Don't want to scan? No worries, you can always send receipts into school with your student in an envelope marked, "PTO Boxtops".

Our Bates spirit rock is available for weekly rentals. Celebrate your student's birthday or other accomplishments by painting a message on our rock. Please click here to rent the rock!

Bates Elementary School, in partnership with our families and community, will provide all students with a culturally responsive, student – centered, and equitable learning experience that celebrates our students’ diverse backgrounds, creative pursuits, and their academic, social, emotional success.