A Message from the Principal - Mrs. Neunie
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! We've had a wonderful first few weeks with your children.
On behalf of our new Assistant Principal, Ms. Campolo, and I cannot thank you enough for the wonderful first few weeks of the school year. I’d like to extend a huge thank you to all of our amazing faculty and staff for their dedication in preparing for a successful school year.
We are excited to announce that Banyan Elementary School is an “A” rated school! Parents, we are extremely proud of our faculty, staff, and students. However, we want you to know that you played a huge part in Banyan meeting its goal to be an “A” school.
The school and home connection plays a major role in the success of our students. Last year, our parents did an outstanding job showing up, participating, communicating, and partnering with us to ensure success. We want to provide you with the same opportunities and more this year.
Over the next few weeks, you will receive invitations to participate in family nights, data chats, conferences, meetings with administration, and so much more. If your schedule allows, please make every effort to attend our school events. It’s not only important for you to be active at your child’s school, we also want to build productive relationships and collaborative partnerships with our parents. Our doors are always open to you.
This year we have a lot in store for our students. We are working to begin our clubs and activities. iReady reading and math are in full swing. Accelerated Reader is also up and ready for students to take book quizzes. Teachers are also working to plan and organize this year’s field trips and in school activities.
If you think last year was great, wait until you find out what we have in store for them this year! It’s going to be a wild adventure!
Thank you and let’s make this year our best year yet!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nicole Neunie, Principal
Attendance/Reporting an Absence
Attendance is critical to your child’s educational success, and every minute counts!! Instruction starts at 7:50 am. Students that miss more than 10% of the school year can be knocked off track. If your child is going to be absent, parents will have access to an online form for excused absences. Parents will be able to fill out a form that will send a notification to the school. Parents can access the Banyan webpage at https://www.browardschools.com/banyan. Once you are on the Banyan Website select the “Contact” tab at the top of the page and then select the “Report an Absence” link. Absences may also be called into the attendance phone line at (754) 322-5302, school direct line 754 322-5350, or parents may write a note. All absences should be reported with 24 hours.
Regular school attendance is vitally important to a student’s academic achievement. It is the teacher’s responsibility to accurately record student attendance. Both excused and unexcused absences as well as tardiness and early sign-outs will be counted when determining a student’s pattern of non-attendance. This is a change from previous years when excused absences had no impact on a student’s attendance record.
Tardiness
Schools stress the need for students to get to school and class on time and with good reason. Studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Education on truancy, which is connected with tardiness, show that school attendance is a major factor when it comes to school success and student behavior.
Every student should be in class NO LATER than 7:50 a.m. daily!
Mandatory Uniform School
Banyan Elementary is a Mandatory Uniform School. This policy was adopted during the 1999/2000 school year. This policy will be strictly enforced. The dress code policy is addressed in the Code of Student Conduct Book. The following is a list of CONSEQUENCES for violating the dress code.
Time out for student
Disciplinary action initiated by the teacher
School/parent conference
After school detention (parent responsible for transportation)
Intervention by school Social Worker/Guidance Counselor
Referral to Administration
Internal/External suspension from classes and all school activities in accordance with
School Board Policy 5006
Please see the Code of Student Conduct Guidelines for proper attire.
A Message From Our School Counselor Ms. Chance
Cooperation is the character trait for the month of September. Learning to cooperate will help you succeed in school, in relationships with friends, and in life in general. It is essential to remember that cooperation is a basic life skill that helps us work together so that collaboration and creativity ultimately lead to success.
Ideas to do as a family
• Have your child tell you about times they worked with someone else to create or do something. Emphasize that working together requires compromise and listening to each other's ideas.
• Share with your child something you have done that requires cooperation. Explain how you worked together with others.
• Schedule household chores at a time when all family members can work together to complete them.
• “Catch” your child cooperating and offer encouragement by verbally showing your gratitude.
Remember that the best teaching tool is to always model the behavior you want your child to learn.
A Message From Our Math Coach, Ms. Smith
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year. I am excited to serve as your math coach this year at Banyan Elementary. As we welcome our students back for another school year, An Academic Adventure: Accelerating Achievement. Our teachers provide focused instruction on benchmarks to prepare the students for success. Learning math is essential to your education. Counting money, tell-time, multiplying, and dividing are just a few math skills you need to learn. As your math coach, I will strive to help you become the best math student you can be. Please encourage your scholars always to use pencils and paper when completing math assignments. With your partnership, our students will improve their performance in math and experience success on Math assessments. I-Ready Math is an online program that will assist students with mastering grade-level math skills. If you have any questions or concerns about Math or need assistance, please feel free to contact Porcher Smith, Math Coach, at (754)322-5350.
“The development of algorithms is an essential component of mathematics…. Teaching students’ algorithms they don’t understand, however, has limited potential at best and, more importantly, leads to isolated skills that do not contribute to students’ general mathematical knowledge.” – Gravemeijer & Van Galen, 2003
A Message from our ESE Specialist, Dr. Glynn
Meeting the Needs of Students
Parents, if you have a concern about your child's academic progress, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher regarding those concerns. Teacher-led small intervention groups are targeting your child’s specific academic need in your child’s classroom and special education services are meeting your child where they are to assist in closing the gap. If you have any concerns with interventions or special education services, please feel free to contact Dr. Glynn. Be sure to request a conference with your child's teacher, if you haven’t already, to find out how your child is progressing through the first quarter and how we are meeting your child where they are with baseline data.
A Message from Our Literacy Coach, Mrs. Bailey
Banyan Preschool Team
Greetings to the families of our youngest scholars here at Banyan!! We are looking forward to another amazing, adventurous year! Our classes are in full swing with our language-based programs. The focus this first few weeks has been on learning the routines, rules, and expectations across the school campus. We are engaging in a variety of structured learning activities focusing on the skills and individual needs of the students. Thank you to those of you who were able to attend Open House! We love when our families participate in our school-wide activities! The team has so many wonderful events planned for our group, we can’t wait to get started! Please be sure to check your child’s backpack and folder daily, as well as checking events and information provided on ClassDojo. We are off to a great start and look forward to a wonderful year!
Warmly,
Banyan Elementary Preschool Team
Kindergarten
Welcome to Kindergarten! Our first few weeks have gone smoothly and we have enjoyed getting to know your children.
Please continue to read with and to your child. Please focus on concepts of print during reading (following words left to right, return sweep, and distinguishing words from letters). It is important to ask your child who the characters are, what the setting is, and what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. These three things are the story’s elements. Students should be able to retell the parts of a story. This quarter, students will begin to explore and understand addition, subtraction, and continue with math fluency.
Thank you for your support in helping us create lifelong learners.
-The Kindergarten Team 😊
1st Grade
As we move further into the school year, we are excited to share the wonderful progress we are making across all subject areas.
Reading:
In our reading program, we are focusing on building strong foundations and establishing effective classroom routines. We are reviewing essential foundational skills and preparing students to engage with the routines that will help create a thriving community of learners. Our goal is to foster independent thinking and a love for reading in each student.
Math:
In math, we are diving into the concepts of addition and subtraction. Each lesson emphasizes math thinking and reasoning standards, which are critical for developing strong problem-solving skills. For instance, we are focusing on MTR.1.1, where students are encouraged to actively participate in effortful learning both individually and collectively. This approach helps them to understand and apply mathematical concepts more deeply.
Science:
Our science lessons are centered around the practice of science itself. Students are engaging in activities that encourage curiosity and exploration. For example, SC.1N.1.1 guides students to raise questions about the natural world and investigate them through free exploration, sparking a sense of wonder and scientific inquiry.
Social Studies:
In social studies, we are learning about the concepts of time, sequence of events, and timelines. This helps students understand the flow of history and their place within it, providing them with a broader perspective of the world around them.
We are thrilled to see the enthusiasm and growth in our students as they explore these subjects. Your support is invaluable in helping us nurture their curiosity and love for learning.
Thank you for being an essential part of our learning community.
2nd Grade
Welcome to Second Grade. Our students are adjusting to their new class. In Reading we are working on locating our text evidence in our morning work. Our scholars are learning rhymes, contractions, and recognizing short vowel words. In Math, we are strengthening our skills in adding and subtraction within 20. Our science lessons are focusing on observing and forming hypothesis about nature. In Social Studies, we are discussing map skills and identifying the map key, compass rose, and the map title.
Reminder if there is a change in dismissal please contact the front office.
Thank you for your continued support.
3rd Grade
Welcome to Third Grade! Mrs. Gainer-Smith, Mrs. Galvan and Mrs. Pallero are very excited about the year ahead for our scholars.
Our first few weeks have been focused on learning the rules and routines of the classroom and our academics. Reading lessons included practice of collaborative thinking, using resources to find information, and a review of phonics. We have been practicing how to listen constructively to our classmates. We also practiced how to share our opinions in a respectful way.
We are using the Envision math series again this year. Topic One was about how we can use repeated addition to represent multiplication. We can also separate into equal groups to show division. Students are working in whole groups, small groups, and independent study paths online with iReady Math. Please support the learning by looking at your child’s homework, planner, and backpack.
In science, we have learned about science tools and safety rules. We practiced how to observe and investigate to answer questions.
We are looking forward to a year filled with exciting exploration!
5th Grade
Please join us as we welcome our two new additions to the Fifth Grade Teaching Squad - Mrs. Joseph and Ms. Williams. These teachers, along with Miss M. Cunningham, bring their excitement and enthusiasm to our wonderful fifth grade scholars. An amazing year is in store for all our 24-25 Banyan Fifth Graders!
Our first few weeks have been focused on learning the rules and routines of the classroom and our academics. Reading lessons included practice of collaborative thinking, using resources to find information, and a review of phonemic awareness. The month ahead is led by the essential question “How do we decide which resources we should develop?” Be prepared to hear your student talking about crops, natural resources, and corn!
We are using the Envision math series again this year. Topic One was about number sense of whole numbers and decimals to the thousandths. Topic Two highlights the addition and subtraction of decimals using the standard algorithm. Students will be working in whole groups, small groups, and independent study paths online with iReady Math. Please support the learning by looking at your child’s homework, planner, and backpack.
In science, we have learned all about the scientific method. Students completed team activities, experiments, charts, and demonstrations to help them master the standards. We are looking forward to a year filled with exciting exploration!
In class, the students are following their academic growth with individualized Data Trackers. They are responsible for recording their test scores, analyzing the results, and planning for how they can successfully reach their learning goals. We look forward to sharing this data with you at upcoming conferences.
