Bobcat Blast

Dear Families,

Don't forget that school will be closed tomorrow (Friday) for a Statewide Staff Development Day. Most of our staff will have the opportunity to attend a training with Dr. Anita Archer along with several other elementary schools in our district. She is an expert in explicit instruction, behavior management, student engagement, and vocabulary acquisition. Our staff will also have time to collaborate, plan, and prepare for future units.

We need your help: Now that we're officially settled into the school year, we are noticing more and more late arrivals to school. Even just being 5 minutes late a day adds up to 3 missed school days in a year. You can do the math if a child was 10 minutes, 20 minutes late, and so on. School STARTS at 7:45 am. That means that your child should arrive 5-10 minutes BEFORE 7:45 so that they will be ready to get started right away. The doors open for breakfast at 7:25 am. The lobby doors open at 7:30 am.

Children who come late to class miss the review of the schedule for the day, important announcements, and most importantly, instruction. It is also disruptive to the class to have students trickle in, not knowing what to do, and the teacher having to stop and get them settled in and caught up. We appreciate your help in establishing good bedtime and morning routines so we can see their smiling faces to start the day. 🙂

Lastly, I believe I have shared with you that I take time out of each day to reflect on things for which I am grateful, and the people (staff, students, and families) at Bethany are on that list daily. Today as I was walking through the library, I heard an excited first grader interrupt the story Anjana was reading to say, "Teacher, I love you!" I witnessed a 5th grader volunteer to sit with a classmate who was sitting alone, which inspired other friends to join too. A student who fell down on the playground was lovingly escorted to the office by a friend. It's inspiring to see the ripple effect of kindness! At Thursday's PTO meeting, I was reminded of all the ways our wonderful community supports our teachers and programs, creates opportunities for connection, fun, and service. THANK YOU!! 💗

October

• 11 - No School: Staff Development
• 15 - Picture Day
• 24 - World Dwarfism Awareness, Wear Green
• 24 - Haunted Hallway, 5:30pm
• 25 - No School: Grading Day

Click on the Link Below for the full school year calendar

What an Amazing Day last Friday was. Thank you once again to all of our Volunteers and Families who came to cheer on each student as they ran around the track. We had a goal to raise $45,000.... and they ran past that. Check out the Jog-A-Thon Video below, with a song created especially for Bethany.

There are two ways to purchase pictures:

• We will be sending home picture packets next week. You can send in the packet with payment on picture day.

• Pay online, See instructions below

Beaverton students in grades 6-12 have the opportunity to investigate the learning option that best fits their academic needs. Students can choose their neighborhood school, or one of Learning Option schools.

The Option school lottery window is just around the corner for the 2025-26 school year! The District will be accepting applications beginning this coming Monday, October 14 through Friday, December 13.

The Application and Details about the Option schools/programs can be found on the Options webpage.

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Monday, October 14th at 7:00 pm there will be another meeting for 5th grade parents where we will discuss the current plan and volunteer needs for the Haunted Hallway.

Zoom information is:

Zoom Meeting ID: 341 749 4608
Passcode: Bobcats22

Don't forget to sign your 5th grader up to participate in the Haunted Hallway by filling out this Google form! Google form link: https://forms.gle/ee67P1DyaoUsyjQM7

We are still accepting donations for the raffle! Reach out to Jami Hayes with items to donate, or if you have any questions. jamiryan79@yahoo.com

We have an FAQ sheet here to answer any initial questions you may have.

Parent volunteer sign ups will be sent out next Monday! 5th grade students will have a chance to sign up in class next Wednesday.

It's time for our spring roadside cleanup on Wednesday, Oct 16th after school at 2:30! Bethany students will have a rock painting party while adults help with roadside cleaning. This is not a drop-off event. Many adults are needed to either assist students with rock painting or helping with roadside cleanup on 174th. Roadside cleaning volunteers need to be 13 years and older. Please wear long pants and close-toed shoes to this event!

In Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All, Chanel Miller tells a fun, funny, and poignant story of friendship and community starring Magnolia Wu, a ten-year-old sock detective bent on returning all the lonely only socks left behind in her parents’ NYC laundromat.

We will be hosting an assembly for Bethany's 2nd - 5th graders on Friday, November 1.

Preorder your signed copy of this instant bestseller. Books are being purchased through local independent bookstore Green Bean Books and will be distributed after the assembly.

Ordering Instructions.: To order your copy, please complete the form below, and then follow the directions for placing your order through BSD's online payment system (the same site you used for school supplies). Please make sure you follow the link in order to complete payment.

The deadline for ordering is October 16th. Thank you for supporting our young readers!

The competition at Bethany will start after Winter break. I will communicate the schedule to parents of registered students(from the Google form) in January. We will aim to determine the school's winner by the end of February. The winning team from Bethany will compete at one of the Regional Tournament that happens March 1 through March 22, 2025.

OBOB State Tournament: April 12, 2025, at

Chemeketa Community College,
Salem, OR

For 2024-25 OBOB book list, more information about OBOB, and other resources click below:

If you were not able to attend the PTO meeting on Wednesday, here are the Minutes: The Slide Deck is linked within the minutes.

Oct. 9th Minutes

We are looking for a volunteer to lead the future walking school bus from George W Otten park to Bethany Elementary School! The Safe Route office already mapped the route for us. The "bus" lead will bring the students to walk to school every Wednesday. We can also do it more often if possible. Parent volunteers can take turns to lead as well.

Other routes are possible if we have volunteers to propose and willing to lead.

Why join?

A Walking School Bus is a group of students led by an adult volunteer. Join the Walking School Bus to boost your child's physical and mental health with daily exercise, fresh air, and social connections. It's a great way to reduce pollution, make school routes safer, and help your child arrive at school feeling refreshed, ready to learn, and equipped with essential safety and navigational skills.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I sometimes cannot check emails quickly, so please feel free to text or call me at 206-419-1899. Thank you!!!

Best,

Yingying

During the year we will have different outside organizations offer classes after school at Bethany. We will put a link to their fliers in the Bobcat Blast. You can also find them on the Bethany website. (Click on the Bethany Drop-Down)

After School Classes

In October or November, all 3rd grade students in Beaverton will be administered the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Screener. This 30-minute test measures students’ learned reasoning abilities through verbal/picture analogies, number analogies and figure matrices. Families whose student scores in the 90th percentile or above on the CogAT screener will be notified and invited to give permission for their students to take the remainder of the test. There will be post-screener testing and full CogAT testing happening in elementary schools up until winter break. For more information about testing, please contact your school’s TAG facilitator. If you would like to read more about the CogAT for students older than 2nd grade, click here.

If your student is on vacation or ill during the 3rd grade screener, we will not be able to accommodate a testing session in advance. When you return, check in with the building TAG Facilitators to see if there is an easy way to add your student to a future testing session.

If your 4th or 5th grade student did not attend a Beaverton school in 3rd grade, or missed the screener for whatever reason, you can tell your student’s classroom teacher that you would like your child to be tested. Students cannot be tested with the CogAT in consecutive years. For example, a 4th grader cannot take the CogAT if they took the screener in 3rd grade.

Parents of 5th grade students, whose students did not take the CogAT as 4th graders, who would like to request their children take the CogAT again can fill out this google form. Parents need to sign up on the google form at least 5 days before the testing is scheduled to happen at their specific school.

We want to thank all of our parents who have signed up in the new volunteer system. If you still need to sign-up please use the link below.

Volunteer Information and Application

You will not find a school supply list for Bethany. Rather than every family having to do their own shopping, we collect money for supplies. We began this a few years ago and it has worked well. This year we are asking for a donation of $35.00 per student.

These donations are flexible, and confidential--only the office knows who donates and how much.

We understand that some families are not able to afford the cost of supplies. All children will receive the same supplies, regardless if they are able to contribute towards the cost. Some families may be in the position to make an extra donation towards helping others. If you would like to help by giving extra money, please click on the "Donations" tab that appears on your child's grade level page.

Instructions for Online Payment System

Bethany Elementary

Email: BTHY-Communications@beaverton.k12.or.us

• School Office Hours: 7:15am - 3:30pm

School Hours: 7:45am - 2:20pm

Phone: 503-356-2030

Attendance Line: Call the school number and push 1 when prompted for Attendance
Website: https://bethany.beaverton.k12.or.us/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethanyBSD

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethanyelementarybsd/