a day at the beach
October 1, 2024
We love our custodians for their dedication and hard work, often performed behind the scenes, that keeps our learning environments clean and safe. They create a welcoming atmosphere, ensuring classrooms, hallways, and restrooms are spotless and well-maintained. Beyond their vital maintenance roles, custodians build strong connections with students and staff, sharing smiles, friendly chats, and even words of encouragement. Their commitment to fostering a positive school environment contributes significantly to our sense of community, reminding us that every role is essential in making our schools a better place to learn and grow.
Thank you, Kevin, Danielle and Peter. We appreciate you!
Bobcat Strong Awards recognize students who are exemplifying the theme of the month. Each month, members of staff keep an eye out for students who are demonstrating the theme of the month and then nominate those students for Bobcat Strong Awards. Students receive a certificate prior to the assembly and we clap for them when we all come together. Here are our monthly themes (they can also be found in our Climate Plan).
September - Four Bs
October - Community
November - Gratitude
December - Perseverance
February - Kindness
March - Flexibility
April - Upstanders
May - Courage
Would you like to check in with me monthly to hear about what's going on in the school, to share your thoughts about any decisions that are in the works and/or to ask me questions? I'm exploring this idea but would like to know, first, if this is something you might be interested in. If so, please take this super quick survey (also in Spanish) to let me know if you're interested and what times might work for you. This is NOT a commitment to come to the meetings - it's just letting me know that it's something you would like. Translation will be available.
Students who attend must either have a caretaker pick them up at 3:15 or have permission to walk home. There will be no transportation or extended supervision provided by the school.
If an interested student can not attend the meeting, they can pick up the information and forms from the library during school any day afterwards.
Join Safe Routes to School in celebrating walking and rolling to school with students around the globe on October 9th, 2024. Grab your walking shoes, skateboard, bike or other wheels and kick off the school year by getting outside and exploring a route to your school. Free incentives are available for this event and can be ordered using the included form. Please allow at least one week before your event for orders to be fulfilled.
School attendance is very important. Did you know that students with good attendance are 4 times more likely to graduate high school than those who are chronically absent? Chronically absent means missing more than 2 days per month.
Please help us provide the best possible education to your child by sending your child to school every day, on time. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's attendance, please let us know. We are here to support your family.
What you can do to support your child's attendance:
Set a regular bedtime and morning routine.
Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before
Don’t let your child stay home unless they are truly sick. Keep in mind complaints of a stomach ache or headache can be a sign of anxiety and not a reason to stay home.
If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to teachers, school counselors, or other parents for advice on how to make her feel comfortable and excited about learning.
Develop back-up plans for getting to school if something comes up. Call on a family member, a neighbor, or another parent.
Avoid medical appointments and extended trips when school is in session.
Contact school staff or community partners to find resources around transportation, housing, employment, or health care.
Hi Beach Family!
I am Chanell Hopson-Willis, the Instructional Coach at Beach! I've worked as an educator for the past 17 years in a number of schools across the district, spending most of my time at Humboldt, Riger, and Sabin. I am not only a PPS educator, but I am also a PPS graduate, and product of this community! Before becoming a classroom teacher, I worked as a SUN Site Coordinator (it was then called BASE) at Beach! It was here that I decided that I wanted to become a teacher. I consider Beach as the springboard into my life's work. I am passionate about being of service in my community, promoting equity, striking a balance between rigor and enjoyment in the classroom, and truly seeing each student and teacher for who they are, and the gifts that they naturally present.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Back to School Night! It was wonderful to be in a shared space with the adults that love and care for the children that we see every day. Thank you for sharing your time with us! In case you missed the presentations or would like to review them on your own, the slide decks are linked below.
Title I Presentation - Beach is a Title I school, which means that at least 40% of our families are living at or below the poverty level. The linked presentation shares information about what that means for us.
TAG Presentation - This presentations outlines the process that PPS uses to identify students who are Talented and Gifted. Students who are TAG identified receive instruction aligned with their needs in the classroom related to grade level learning. TAG instruction does not include content from the next grade level.
The purpose of Title III (3) is to help ensure that Multilingual Learners who are eligible for English
language development services attain both English language proficiency and meet state academic
standards, and to help parents become active participants in the education of their children. Federal funding is provided to assist states and districts in accomplishing this. Please see this link for more information in our translated languages.
Below is the presentation that was shared at Back to School Night (in English and Spanish) in case you'd like to review it.
This month we had our first Evacuate (Fire) and Lockdown Drills of the year. The students and staff did a great job of staying safe and calm while practicing each drill. Our fire drill took us 5 minutes and 16 second from start to finish. Well done, Bobcats!
This month's drills are Evacuate (Fire) and Duck, Cover, Hold On (Earthquake). We will practice these drills on October 9th at 1:50pm. Below you will see what happens during each drill.
Duck, Cover, Hold On
Students
- Get under a desk/table/hard surface
- Stay away from windows and other objects that could fall
- Wait for evacuation instructions
Teachers
- Get under a desk/table/hard surface
- Stay away from windows and other objects that could fall
- Assess the damage, determine if it is safe to evacuate
- Grab attendance roster and emergency supplies
- Take roll, account for all students
Evacuate (Fire Drill)
Students
- Leave stuff behind
- Form a single line
- Move quickly and safely to the directed location
Teachers
- Grab roster, emergency forms and emergency supplies
- Close classroom door
- Lead students to the evacuation location
- Take attendance, account for students, hold up green/red sign
Dear PPS staff, families, and students,
PPS is hosting a series of events that focus on Belonging, Equity & Inclusive Practices where we will screen powerful, award-winning documentaries that will stir, provoke, and challenge each of us about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.
The first screening will be Forget Me Not on Wednesday, September 25 at 6:00 PM at McDaniel High School.
Forget Me Not is a moving story about 3-year-old Emilio whose family finds itself embroiled in a challenge all too common for children with disabilities: that of securing the right to an inclusive education. Filmmaker Olivier and his wife, Hilda, turn the camera on themselves and their child as they navigate an often frustrating system on their way toward ensuring that their son gets the education he needs and deserves.
Staff, families, community members are all invited. We hope to see you there!
Warmly,
The PPS Special Education Team
Our Roles, Our Work, Our Children!
You can also get to these from the quick links on our website for future reference.
- Wednesday, October 2 - Custodian Appreciation Day
- Wednesday, October 2 - Site Council @ 2:45. Everyone is invited
- Wednesday, October 2 - Restaurant Night at Por que no
- Tuesday, October 8 - BCU Community Meeting @ 6:00 in the Library
- Wednesday, October 9 - Evacuate and Duck, Cover and Hold On (Earthquake) Drills @ 1:50
- Friday, October 11 - Statewide Inservice - NO SCHOOL
- Wednesday, October 23 - Early Release @ 11:50
- Friday, October 25 - Green and Yellow School Spirit Parade (during school - students only)
- Wednesday, October 30 - School Picture Retakes
- Wednesday, October 30 - Restaurant Night at Stacks
- Friday & Monday, November 1 & 4 - Grading and Planning Days - NO SCHOOL
- Monday, November 11 - Veterans Day - NO SCHOOL
- Monday & Tuesday, November 25 & 26 - Conferences - NO SCHOOL
- Wednesday-Friday, November 27-29 - NO SCHOOL