Banyan Bulletin

Parent Newsletter for Banyan Elementary School - 1/2/25

Principal's Pen

Happy New Year! I hope that all of you had a refreshing break and it has been wonderful to see everyone back and ready to learn!

Please join me in welcoming Rosa Hanley who will be joining the Banyan team on January 6th as a case manager. Dr. Hanley is a certified school psychologist that has spent most of her career in public schools. She will be replacing Lisa Spinozzi who is retiring as of January 15th. Thanks to Lisa for her dedication to Banyan over the past ten years! In addition, Laurel Izzi has joined us as an RBT (Registered Behavior Technician) to work alongside Kim Krafft (BCBA) to provide behavioral support services. Halima Moore has also started as a new paraprofessional.

Reminder: Students do go outside for recess if the temperature is above 32 degrees. Please make sure to send in coats, hats and gloves as appropriate.

Picture Retakes will happen on 1/7/25. Order forms went home this week. If you were not happy with the picture, this is the day to have them redone.

We will be having a Science celebration for the students who have Science during the first semester of school on January 24th. Parents are invited to come in that day during your child's Science class. We will have all the projects located in a central area and your child can take you on a tour during their Science period. If you need to know the time of your child's science period, feel free to call the office. We will host another event like this on June 17th for the students who take Science during the second semester.

Our school will be celebrating the Great Kindness Challenge during the last week of the month. This celebration will involve activities during homeroom, a spirit week and a culminating assembly. I'll include more information in a later bulletin.

8th Grade Transition Activities: In order to get our graduating 8th graders ready for their transition to the high school, we will be sending home some field trip forms for the months of January and February. On January 29th, the 8th graders will go to watch the staff versus students basketball game at the Wayne PAL to see some of the fun activities that happen at the high school. All 8th graders will be scheduled to do a shadow day during one of the following days in February (2/7, 2/21 and 2/28). The purpose of this day is for the 8th graders to spend a good portion of the day with a current high school student, and see what life is like at the high school. If you know your child is definitely not going to the high school, they do not have to participate in the trip.

During the months of February and March, we will be inviting families in to watch our intramural basketball/cheerleading events on 2/6 (Varsity), 2/20 (Junior Varsity), 3/6 (Varsity) and 3/20 (Junior Varsity). The games start around 1:40 PM, and we will allow parents into the building at around 1:30 PM. We look forward to all of you coming to cheer on the students.

I've also included some resources to prepare for IEP's, as well as a parent training opportunity below.

Elementary IEP Family Workbook

Middle School IEP Family Workbook

Banyan PTO

The next Banyan PTO meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday January 8th at 8pm. We will be discussing the upcoming Valentine's Day Dance on February 7th. All are welcome to attend this zoom meeting. Link is below.

Allison Tyler is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Banyan PTO Meeting
Time: Jan 8, 2025 08:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88953514513?pwd=soLXiREMvEYrGBbWtg1Vxoa0qiIbb5.1

Meeting ID: 889 5351 4513
Passcode: 080811