The Benton Blurb

News from Your Principal

Dear Parents,

Welcome Back to School!! School starts in a week and everyone is hard at work getting ready for Benton Bees to return! We are excited for everyone to see the improvements that have been made to our building over the summer. Back to school night is on Thursday, August 15th from 4:30-6:00. We hope that you will stop by, say hi, and meet your teachers.

Wishing you well,

Sarah Sicht

Pardon Our Construction!

Due to all the work that is being done at Benton this summer, we'd like to let you know that our building may not look exactly like it usually does when you enter this week! Thanks for giving the office and our hard-working teachers grace if things look a little undone!

From Our Home School Communicator

Welcome to another year of learning at Benton STEM - the place to BEE!!! I have been at Benton a very long time and I guarantee that our school is the best in CPS! We want you to feel that way, too.

For those of you new to Benton, I am the Home School Communicator. My job at Benton is to bridge and build relationships within our community - home, school, agencies, etc., with the goal of each student achieving at his or her best each day.

For those interested, here is some information about back-to-school events in Columbia where students can get school supplies and other things:

The Back To School Bash hosted by The R.I.S.E Initiative

School supplies, backpacks, shoes, clothing , haircuts, games

August 17th, 11-4pm, Lange Middle School

4th Annual Back2School Event hosted by Powerhouse Community Development Corporation

Sunday, August 18th, 8am - 6pm

701 E Ash St.

Community Back To School Bash

Friday, August 16th, 2pm-6pm

MU Healthcare Pavillion

1769 W Ash St

I look forward to seeing old faces and meeting new ones! Please reach out to me if there is anything I can help with. Looking forward to another great year!

Until Next Time,
Cathy Cox, Home School Communicator

News from the Office

Visitor Management System:

Columbia Public Schools has a Visitor Management System in all our buildings. The goal of the Visitor Management System is to welcome our guests while also promoting the safety and security of scholars, teachers and staff.

During school hours, this system requires all visitors, contractors, and volunteers to scan or manually enter their state issued IDs to gain entrance. Visitors will then receive a visitor’s tag that identifies them as guest in our buildings. A visitor’s badge will not be necessary for those who visit our schools simply to drop off an item in the office or pick up paperwork.

DISMISSAL POLICY

Getting your child home safely, the right way, is very important to us. Every adult in our building has an assigned duty to help dismissal go smoothly. Remember that ALL changes to how your child goes home must be relayed to the office. Since last minute changes can create confusion on our part, please call the office as soon as you know you need your child to go home a different way than usual. (I always have to set an alarm to remember!)

We are unable to answer the phone from 2:20-3:00 as we are preparing for and executing dismissal, so please call before then so we can get every child home the right way. Thank you for your help!

STEM News

Welcome back Benton STEM families! We are excited for another year of discovery and innovation. Here you will find our Vision and Mission which will continue to guide our work this year.

We are looking forward to all the STEM experiences our students will get to engage with this year. As part of our STEM Programming, all classrooms will go on field trips and receive visits from guest speakers that connect to the content they are learning. We will continue to host our two family STEAM Nights where families can explore and innovate together. In addition, our classroom teachers have some exciting integrated project-based learning experiences planned for the year.

If you ever have questions about our STEM programming or experiences, feel free to reach out to Dr. Heather McCullar. She is our STEAM Mentor and is happy to share the exciting things happening for all our Benton students.

Sincerely,

Dr. Heather McCullar, CPS STEAM Mentor