Bates Family Newsletter

It's hard to believe that we hit the half-way mark already and that February starts this week! This year seems to be flying by, yet there's still so much to do. We had a great Town Hall last week, and we hope your students had a great time. See below for pictures and more details.

This again???? Yes, I'm going to keep reminding you of "Spotlight Families" because we believe it's so important to showcase our students and their families every chance we get! Sign up today😀

What is a "Spotlight Family"?

Twice a month, two of our wonderful families will be featured on our morning announcements that are shared each day to build community in our school as well as in our family newsletter. Our hope is that this will create new friendships, bring us closer as a community, and help us celebrate the beautiful diversity that we have here at Bates. It ties in with our new motto: "Believe, Be you, Belong, at Bates!".

Families will have two options from which to choose:

Option 1: Your family will be interviewed on Zoom by our Family Engagement Facilitator, Rosalyn Guevara. She will ask your family a few questions, such as, "What is your cultural background? What are your family's traditions? What does your family do for fun?" If you choose this Zoom option, Ms. Roz will reach out to you to schedule a time for the interview.

Option 2: If you prefer not to be recorded as a family, you can create a poster with family photos and answers to the questions listed above. You can also feel free to add details of your choice! Your student(s) will be recorded at school explaining the pictures you included on your family's poster. The poster will be returned after your student(s) are recorded. If you want to come to school and be recorded with your student to be recorded, let us know!

We all belong at Bates! Let's celebrate our community in this special way by getting as many families as we can to participate in this project. Interested? Fil in this Google Form, and Ms. Roz will reach out to you. Please sign up here today!

It's time to start thinking about MCAS, so we're sharing our testing dates with you!

Weekly Social/Emotional connections by Ms. Amanda and Ms. G.

January is a great month for reflection as well as review. At Bates this week we have been revisiting and reviewing rules as well as the skill of listening. Hearing and listening are two very distinct actions. We can hear sounds, voices etc and when we listen, we are actually tuning in and making sense of what is heard.

Additionally, this past Wednesday, the Bates School Community participated in two separate kinds of "Town Hall". The older grades (grades 3-5) were broken into small groups to listen and learn more about stereotypes and racism. It began with a short video created by 4th grade students who were sharing parts of poems they wrote after struggling with hearing stereotypes about themselves. It was powerful and important. AND it paved the way for students to self-reflect and discuss ways to interrupt these types of things. There is a beautiful art display (see below) that reflects some of what came out of this special town hall.

The pre-K to grade 2 students were joined by 5th grade "house leaders" to play games in their classrooms. These games were related to emotional awareness, self management and following directions/rules. They were created and ran 100% by the 5th graders (with staff leadership by Ed Mercier). The little ones LOVED having the "big kids" in there and the student leadership was remarkable!

Ask your student more about their respective town hall experience this past week.

Please mark your calendars for the All City Beginner Concert, February 13, Salem High School @ 7pm.

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

20.7% -- Chronic absenteeism

Our goal is 18.2% or under in the "Chronic Absence" category, and we seem to be slipping further away from this all-important number. Same message as last week: We want to be sure that students are in school if they're healthy and able to attend. Time in school + opportunities to learn = student success.

Shout out to grade 1 again this week with the lowest number of chronic absences.

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 a 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.