Bates Family Newsletter

June brings with it lots of field trips, closing activities, and the promise of a fun summer ahead! It also brings...FIELD DAY! Field day is one of the most anticipated events of the entire school year. Here are a few tips and ideas to make the most of this time:

For Field Day on Friday, June 7 -- Rain Date, Monday, June 10:

1. Stay Hydrated: Remind your students to be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially if it's hot outside. PTO will provide water at the event.
2. Wear Comfortable Clothing: Dress in lightweight, breathable clothing and wear comfortable sneakers suitable for physical activities. Students will receive a great field day shirt courtesy of the PTO!
3. Sunscreen and Hats: You'll want to protect your students from the sun with sunscreen and hats. Please be sure to apply sunscreen before students leave home in the morning.
4. Snacks: PTO will provide some snacks.
5. Team Spirit: Encourage your student to get into the spirit of the day by reminding them to cheer on their classmates and by showing good sportsmanship.

We hope you're having a wonderful weekend,

Ms. Smith, Mr. Mac, and Mr. Lister

Live at the Peabody Essex Museum yesterday were these amazing 5th graders who represented Bates in a stellar way! We're so proud of the work you put into this project. Shout out to Ms. Acconcia and Ms. Shannon for facilitating this after-school club that helped grow the students' presentation, speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills all while promoting student voice and choice. Also, shout out to Ms. Vicki for helping to get some of our students there.

Many of our student artists were represented, too. The artwork was beautiful!

From Superintendent Zrike's message to families this week:

"In the City of Salem, we are committed to celebrating all that makes us a diverse community. This June, as in past years, I am excited to join the Mayor and City Council in recognizing Pride Month. The city's resolution gives both history and current inspiration for the ongoing need to express our support for the LGBTQIA+ members of our community, and their families.

What does this particularly mean for the Salem Public Schools?

Openly expressing our support for our LGBTQIA+ students and families by raising flags and painting crosswalks is about ensuring we are building and offering a safe and welcoming environment for all kinds of students, families, and educators. It is a show of our commitment to the safety and care of ALL students, educators and families. The fact is, each one of us, and our community as a whole, is enriched by the diversity of Salem Public Schools' scholars, teachers, staff and caregivers. Diversity in community breeds empathy and compassion and that is so important for our students as they develop and grow as confident, engaged and connected people prepared to thrive in our ever-changing society.

On behalf of the Salem Public Schools, I am proud that together we are building an environment where all children feel safe, welcome, and where we hold true to our value of belonging, where we respect the dignity of all people. I encourage all of our families to celebrate Pride month with us all in Salem this June and send a powerful message of support to our beautifully diverse LGBTQIA+ community. The city's flag raising for Pride month is Sunday, June 2nd at 12pm at the flag poles at Riley Plaza. We hope to see you there."

As many of you know, fifth grade students at Bates have been participating in the Amazing Shake for quite a few years now! During the Amazing Shake, students learn and develop professional qualities — from the mechanics of a proper handshake to how to “work the room” — so that they can present themselves exceptionally well for opportunities today and in the future. We'll continue this tradition on Tuesday, June 4th.

During the event, students will visit stations and engage in a fast-paced series of creative, unique, and challenging scenarios. For example, they may be asked to pretend they have just been elected President of the United States and have to present their acceptance speech! Or, they are a server in a restaurant who has to deal with a customer (a school or district staff member) who has just found a bug in their soup. Gross!

The students go through each station, one at a time, spending one minute interacting with volunteering judges.
Students are scored on:

• Charisma
• Confidence
• Poise Under Pressure
• Judgment
• Eye Contact

We look forward to an amazing Amazing Shake event, and we know that our fifth grade students will look back on this opportunity as a fun part of their journey at Bates. Pictures will be posted in the next news letter.

Zoom Question/Answer Session

Please join our team on Wednesday, June 12, at 8am for a parent/guardian question and answer session. We'll share a brief presentation on our plans for the coming school year and include time for any questions folks may have regarding their student's continued success at Bates. If you'd like to sign up for the Zoom session, please include your name and email address here. A Zoom link will be sent to all attendees in advance of the meeting. Looking forward to seeing many of you online.




Best regards,

Ms. Smith, Mr. Mac, and Mr. Lister

Who doesn't love a little fun?

6/7 - Field day - Wear your field day shirt. Shout out to PTO for ordering these cool shirts for us!

6/14 - Fan day - Wear some fun gear in honor of your favorite singer, athlete, character, etc.

6/17 - Rainbow day - Just added! Wear rainbow or your brightest colors!

As we closed out May, our focus this week was on "evaluating". Teaching children how to evaluate information and make judgments is a crucial skill for their development. Here are a couple of strategies to help children learn how to evaluate effectively:

1. Encourage Critical Thinking

• Ask Open-Ended Questions: Promote discussion by asking questions that require more than yes or no answers. For example, "What do you think about this story?" or "Why do you think this character acted this way?"
• Teach Questioning: Show children how to ask questions about the information they receive. Who is the source? What is the purpose? Is there any bias?
  
  

2. Foster an Open-Minded Approach

• Open to Different Perspectives: Encourage children to consider multiple viewpoints and understand that different people might have different interpretations of the same information.
• Respectful Debates: Promote respectful debates and discussions where children can practice evaluating different arguments and evidence.

By integrating these strategies into everyday learning, you can help children develop strong evaluation skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.

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

20.8% -- Chronic absenteeism

Our goal is 18.2% or under in the "Chronic Absence" category. We're so close!

HUGE SHOUT OUT to grade 1 (AGAIN!!!) for having the lowest chronically absent students at Bates during the past week at 17.2%. They were closely followed by PreK. Good work! If you need any assistance with getting your student to school, please reach out to Rosalyn Guevara, Family Engagement Facilitator at rguevara@salemk12.org.

🎶🎵🎤Chorus Concerts presented by students in grades 3-5🎶🎵🎤

Thursday, June 6 (for families) at 8:15;

And (for students) at 9:30

Bates 2024 Field Day - Friday, June 7th with a rain date of Monday, June 10th. This year the event will take place at McGlew Park on North Street. The event will be broken down into 2 sessions: 8:30am- 10:30am for Prek- 2nd grade.
10:50 am - 1:00 pm for 3rd grade - 5th grade.

June 12th - Pre-K Graduation at 1p 🎉
June 13th - Kindergarten's End of the Year Celebration at 10 am 🎉
June 14th - Last Day of School for Pre-K & Kindergarten (It's a Full Day)
June 18th - Last Day of School for Grades 1-5 (Early Release Day at 11:15 am)
June 18th - 5th Grade Graduation will be at 9 am 🎉

Graduating seniors visited the elementary schools today, and were greeted with lots of hugs, tears, well wishes, and cheers. What an awesome tradition. Can you believe that your young Beacon will someday be one of these big kids? Congrats, seniors!

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".

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 cars to back up into the street. This is unsafe. Please follow the drop off rules.

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.