Bates Family Newsletter

One of the most rewarding parts of our work as administrators is seeing students carry over the skills they’ve learned in the classroom and apply them to "real life." This week, we focused on practicing active listening, and we are so proud of the progress we've seen! It also fills our hearts to see that students truly feel like they belong at Bates and even do fun arts and crafts projects to show some love for their school. See picture at left of one of our amazing students who crafted this masterpiece on her own time😍 Wow...just wow!

As a reminder, Picture Day is on Monday! Don’t forget to remind your students to bring their best smiles!

Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you have a wonderful weekend,

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

For the safety and comfort of all students, staff, and visitors, we kindly remind families that dogs are not allowed on school property. Thank you for your cooperation!

Quick reminders for car drop off in the morning:

1. Don't pass the person in front of you. Definitely no passing on the left.

2. Let students out once you reach the doors in front of the building, not before.

3. If you want to walk students to the door, please park on Liberty Hill Avenue.

And reminders for pick up:

1. Park on Liberty Hill if you're going to the park after school.

2. If you need to talk to teachers or want to chat with friends, please park on Liberty Hill.

3. Be mindful of the many people crossing the street on the way to their vehicles.

Safety first! We're getting the hang of it!

Our Beacons of the Week —those students who truly embodied the characteristics of active listeners—are listed below. We love how our social/emotional learning goals are coming to life across classrooms and throughout the school.

Beacons of the Week:

• Logan Cote

  Finnan Pesola-Booth

  Paz Vanessa Hilaire Jean louis

  Caroline Kenny

  Jeanvil Mukeba

  Peter Scutter

  Daxton Frakulla

  Chord Truitt

  Caiden Sobezenski

  Maya Mason

  Isis Carvalho

  Laura Ferreira

  Caleb Lefleur

  Tyden Faten

  Isabelle Montijo Cintron

  Kayleigh Stoler

  Aliyah Guy

  Lilly Gentleman

  Angelo Rosso

  Jailyn Rodriguez

We're please to announce that after-school clubs will start on Tuesday, October 15th, at no cost to families. Clubs will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Your child/children may sign up for more than one club. Note the grade levels in each description below. We will not be running clubs for students in grades K-2 at this time.

Please see the club descriptions below. Questions? Reach out to Ms. Rudolph, City Connects Coordinator at srudolph@salemk12.org. Clubs run from 2-4pm, and transportation home is available.

Clubs running on Tuesdays

Clubs running on Thursdays

Monster Mash coming soon on Friday, October 18th, is one of Bates' most beloved events, and we need your help to make it a night to remember! There are so many ways to get involved and help create a magical, spooky experience for the kids. Whether you can assist with setup, run an activity, donate supplies, or provide baked goods, there's a spot for everyone to pitch in and make this event spectacular! SIGN UP TO HELP OUT HERE!

Monster Mash this year will be from 5-7pm with games, raffles, spooky fun + trunk or treat from 5-6pm. More details coming soon!

The winning ticket will be pulled on October 8th.

Good luck and thank you all for your continued support. All of the money raised through this fundraiser will pay for field trips and other enrichment opportunities for students.

Please join one of our grade-specific Facebook groups to stay connected with other parents and families in your child’s grade! The Bates Elementary School PTO helps manage these groups to foster community and communication tailored to each grade level. Whether you want to share updates, ask questions, or plan events with fellow parents, these groups are a great way to stay in the loop.

To join your child’s grade-level group, choose from the links below and connect with your community today!

Pre-K: https://www.facebook.com/groups/485498594339444/
Kindergarten: https://www.facebook.com/groups/577598387707785/
First Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/531679862007811
Second Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/817468265619990/
Third Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/564691241575172/
Fourth Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/708827276592535
Fifth Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bates5thgrade20242025/

Also, please follow our new Bates Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bateselementarybeacons
Bates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bates_elementary

Thank you for your continued engagement!

Written by Ms. Amanda., Student Adjustment Counselor

This week we learned and discussed “listening actively”. We understand that for parents it can be frustrating when it feels like our young people aren’t listening well. Educators recognize this challenge as well, as active listening is critical to learning.

Ask your child about the focused discussions around this skill that have happened at school. Inquire when they find it hardest to utilize active listening and see if they can get curious about why it is hardest during that time of day/subject etc. Model for your child that active listening can be hard and share strategies of things that help you when you need to “lock in”. Story-telling is a powerful way to relay important information.

This is a fun game you can consider playing at home to really make this practice engaging:

https://www.playworks.org/game-library/shipwreck/

Are there other games you can make up? Please share with us so we can try playing them in school too!

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

Our goal is to keep our chronic absence rate under 19.5% this year. We're also looking for under 11% for the month of October. This week, our chronic attendance rate went from 13.7% to just over 20%. We understand if your child is ill and needs to be out, and please make every effort to get them here when they're well.

If you need any assistance with getting your student to school, please reach out to Rosalyn Guevara, Family Engagement Facilitator at rguevara@salemk12.org.

• September 30th - SMILE! It's school picture day! Get ready to smile and shine! Don’t forget your best outfit and a big grin! You can place any orders using this link here, enter code: 94524F

• October 3rd - Haunted Happenings Grand Parade
• October 8th - Bruins Spirit Day + PTO Meeting, library, 6:30-7:30pm
• October 14th - No School, Indigenous People's Day
• October 15th - School Site Council, 7:45-8:45am
• October 16th - ILT Meeting, 2:15-3:30
• October 18th - Monster Mash (5-7pm) + Trunk or Treat (5-6pm)
• October 23rd - 1/2 Day, PTO Enrichment (Anti-bullying assembly)
• October 31st - 1/2 Day - Happy Halloween! (Black and orange spirit day - no costumes, please)

Mark your calendars if you want to join us for the Haunted Happenings Parade on Thursday, October 3, 2024. The parade will follow the normal route from Prime Group Shetland Park to Salem Common. The theme for this year’s Parade is “Our Time on Earth”, inspired by the 2024 exhibition that was previously on view at the Peabody Essex Museum, which should give parade participants a wide array of costumes and stories to tell! If you've never been, it's a real trip and worth doing at least once!

Mr. Bleckley, our art teacher, will be hard at work making our float pieces. Check out these works in progress below! Our theme is going to be "It's about time!" He'll create time pieces through the ages: an hourglass, cuckoo clock, pocket watch, digital alarm clock, Mickey Mouse wristwatch. Students and families will dress as anything that matches this "march through time" from medieval costumes (hourglass section), to lederhosen (cuckoo clock section), costumes including pocket watches (pocket watch section), 70s, 80s, 90s gear (electric alarm clock), Disney gear (Mickey Mouse watch section). This march through time and fashion trends is going to be so fun. We're going to look great!

***New Information!***

Please find a map of the lineup below as well as guidelines for participants. Important information:

1. We are in Division 4, #5.

2. Arrive no later than 5:30pm. Parade starts at 6:30pm.

3. This is NOT a drop-off event. Grown ups MUST stay with their children.

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.

School Hours:

Regular school hours:

Monday through Friday: 7:45am to 1:50pm

Early Release (Grades 1-5) at 11:15am

PK at 11am

Kindergarten at 11:10am