The Colt Express

Greetings Colt Families,

I hope you are enjoying the rest of your weekend and staying safe. We had a great first week back and our scholars jumped right back into their routines for academic success. We had our top fundraisers enjoy lunch with Mr. Camacho and they shared how much fun they have coming to Bonsall West everyday! Our top fundraisers were Kam Ballew-Haskett, Brooke Szuberla, and Gracelyn Brackeen! Gracelyn was the top winner and spent the entire day running the school as Bonsall West's Principal for the Day! Scroll down the newsletter for pictures!

Our Amazing PTA is having our Winter Dance known as the Glow Dance! Get ready to have a great time on Friday, January 24th at 6:00 PM in the MPR. Tickets are $5 for ages 4 and up! See the flier below for more information.

Lastly, our amazing students dropped another edition of The BW Colt News. They will continue to conduct interviews, write their own stories! Also, they will continue to work on public speaking, film, editing, and most importantly, giving the student body a voice! Please CLICK HERE for the latest edition! We hope you enjoy our BW Colt News!

I am thankful to lead such an amazing school and I look forward to greeting you personally before each day of school.

As always, scroll down to our Colt's in Action section of the newsletter for pictures!

Sincerely,

Mr. Dominic Camacho

Principal, Bonsall West Elementary School

DREAM BIG BONSALL WEST AND RIDE WITH PRIDE

For additional information on any of our announcements, please contact JoAnn Carruego.

• January 24th: Student of the Month Awards at 8:30 in the MPR

• January 24th: Winter Family Dance

• January 27th - 31st: The Great Kindness Challenge Week! Click here for details

• January 31st: End of the Semester Awards at 8:30 in the MPR

4 – Meri Van Wormer

8 – Sergio Guzman

9 – Lori Hokanson

10 - PTA - Jennifer Elliott

16 – Diamond Brown (Extended Care)

18 – Laura Mansell & Laura Marks

19 – Robert Paramore (grounds)

31 – Colleen Sullivan & Megan Mattioda

We have Mr. Ballew as a guest teacher for Mrs. Bennett while she is out on leave! We also have our new Speech Language Pathologist, Mrs. Regina Darling and new Education Specialist, Mrs. Vanessa Lehnerz.

Hello TK Families:

My name is Jeff Ballew, Mr. Ballew, and I am looking forward to supporting Mrs. Bennett’s Classroom during her leave.

Firstly, a little bit about me... I have been a part of the Bonsall West Elementary family since my son, Kameron, started in Kindergarten here 4 years ago. Kam is currently a 3rd grader in Ms. Sullivan’s class. I am a consistent figure at BWE in different capacities: Room Parent, Volunteer, and Substitute Teacher. I was a classroom teacher for many years before taking on the most difficult job I’ll ever love- parenthood.

During my stay in Room 602, you will be able to communicate with me primarily via Mrs. Bennett’s email. She has granted me access during her leave. In addition, feel free to contact me in person before and after school. You will receive a weekly email from me to inform you of our weekly academic endeavors as well as updates on important dates, etc.

As mentioned, I am looking forward to my time spent supporting you and your child during my stay, Jan. 7-Mar. 10. There will be a 2 week period in which my family and I will be on vacation and you will be supported by another highly qualified visiting teacher (Jan. 27-Feb. 10).

Please reach out to me via Mrs. Bennett’s email address when you deem necessary and I will respond within 24hr.

Happiest of New Years,

Mr. Ballew

Hello Bonsall West Families!

My name is Regina Darling and I am excited to join the Colt Family as your child's new Speech & Language Pathologist! I've been a practicing clinician since 2001 in a variety of settings (hospital, private practice, traditional-public school, and public-charter school) and I can't wait to meet your kids. I know there has been uncertainty this year so my plan is to start pulling students 1:1 the week we get back from winter break. I'd like to introduce myself and get my eyes and ears on them and then get those speech groups up and running!

Please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions, concerns, or just to say, "Hi!".

Regina

CLICK HERE for more information on Mrs. Lehnerz.

Bonsall Farm Information on upcoming field trips.

Another day on the farm for Mrs. Wise and her 3rd graders! CLICK HERE for more photos!

Our amazing PTA brought an amazing and engaging Jump Rope Assembly! Thank you for keeping our students healthy and happy!

CLICK HERE for Teacher Competition where Mrs. Mattioda is the reigning champion!

CLICK HERE for the student's foursome jump!

CLICK HERE for Principal Camacho's Double Dutch Jump!

School Spirit is very important to us at Bonsall West and we celebrate the following each week:

Thursdays - College shirt day!

Fridays - Bonsall West spirit shirt day!

In addition to the monthly awards, we have some amazing scholars who are being recognized by staff for being safe, respectful, responsible and doing their personal best each day. If they are caught exhibiting these traits they are given a raffle ticket for a chance to win a prize! Wow, just for doing the right thing all the time! Those tickets remain in the spinner for the entire month and each Friday the winners are acknowledged at our Patriot Ceremony.

Please visit our CNS website which contains forms and information for parents to request special diets. Free meals again in 2024-25!

https://www.bonsallusd.com/apps/pages/nutrition

* Menu subject to change *

What to expect each regular full day:

• TK school day FIRST Semester - 8:15 AM - 12:30 PM

• K school day - 8:15 AM-2:35 PM

• Grades 1st - 6th school day - 8:15 AM-2:45 PM

• Front gate opens at 7:45 AM

• Back Gate Opens at 7:55 AM

• Running Club & Reading Room begins at 7:55 AM

• Drop Off & Pick Up Remains the Same

Bonsall Unified School District is excited about placing a district wide focus on student attendance. Consistent daily attendance allows our teachers greater opportunity to maximize student learning in reading, writing, and math skills. These academic skills are critical for student growth and development.

Our aim is to eliminate unexcused absences in our schools and also to minimize excused absences, as much as possible. Therefore parents will be notified and alerted through the U.S. Mail when their child has unexcused absences at Day 3, Day 6, and Day 9. There are various interventions the school and district will employ in order to support the student and family with unexcused absences. Also, we are hopeful that families will value the alerts that will be sent at Day 5, Day 10, and Day 15 for excused absences. We understand that many of these excused absences are unavoidable due to sickness and other emergency student and family situations, yet it is important that you are reminded of the volume of days that are missed.

Thank you for your understanding and we are grateful that your family has selected Bonsall Unified School District as its educational home!

BUSD, Student Services

Click on the link below to learn about this year's Student Attendance Review Team and how BWE and all of BUSD will be working with families on improving attendance. I will explain how all absences, excused or unexcused impact your child's academics.

SART/SARB Process

If you would like to see what was covered at our first ELAC Meeting, CLICK HERE.

Please click on the link below for additional resources for students of all ages.

Resources

If you have any questions, please reach out to Caroline Carcamo at caroline.carcamo@bonsallusd.com

We cannot do the work we do without you, the parents and guardians. You are an important piece in your child’s academic success and your child’s first teacher. Now, more than ever, we need to work as community partners to support each and every child. One way to continue with support is by joining the PTA on Totem: https://jointotem.com/ca/oceanside/bonsall-west We have been very fortunate to have a strong relationship with our PTA and receive significant financial support for our students.

The Bonsall West PTA is here to support you, your students, our staff and teachers. Please contact us at bonsallwestpta1@gmail.com for any questions or concerns.

Many thanks,

Bonsall West PTA

PTA Website

**Check out the Parent Resource Guide for any questions you may have about school, bell schedules, pick up/drop off and more!

We encourage parents, guardians, and other members of the community to share their time, knowledge, and abilities with students. Volunteer assistance in schools strengthens the schools' relationships with the community.

If you wish to volunteer please read through the Volunteer Handbook as it defines the procedures to protect the safety of students and adults as well as conform with laws related to tuberculosis testing and criminal record checks as required by law. The forms needed in order to be a volunteer are in the handbook. Please complete the forms and turn them in to your student’s school site office manager for processing. You will also need to obtain a LiveScan request for fingerprinting, please contact the Human Resources Administrative Assistant by

e-mail at meghann.cate@bonsallusd.com or by phone: 760-631-5200 x1013

We need your help in keeping our students and visitors safe by obeying our safety signs when driving onto campus! Please do not park in the bus lane and use the designated drop off lanes. Do not leave your cars unattended and say your goodbyes quickly as you drop off. If you decide to park and walk your child to the gate, please use the appropriate crosswalks and watch for moving vehicles.

Drop off/Pick up Procedures:

To ensure a smooth and safe drop off in the mornings, please do not leave your car unattended or wait too long after your children get out of the car to exit. We want everyone to have enough time to get to class on time each day.

Drive thru or park and pick up for all grades will take place at the front side gate near the TK/K playground. You may park or line up while remaining in your car to wait for your child(ren) to be dismissed from school. No student pick up at the main gate. Only students with a walker ID Tag will be allowed to exit the main gate. If you are wanting to pick up at the back gate they must follow the walker requirements.

Walker Requirements:

· Must be in 1st - 6th grade, TK/K can if they are accompanied with older sibling/s.

· A “Walker” permission slip is sent home with children the first week of school each year and must be filled out yearly.

· All registered walkers are required to have a bracelet keychain, distributed by BWE.

· Registered walkers with their bracelet keychain can exit the main gate in front of the school or the back gate.

E-bikes continue to be a concern on campus - All visitors and students are expected to walk your bike or e-bike on campus. Helmets are required so please be sure that those on the bikes are correctly wearing helmets. Parents/Guardians, it is still being witnessed that older students are riding their e-bikes with younger students on them who are not wearing helmets. Safety is extremely important to the entire Bonsall West community. A big thank you to those of you who are walking your bikes and e-bikes on our school campus.

Dogs - Dogs are not permitted on campus at any time, including outside the campus gates.

Thank you for your attention to these important safety reminders!

Bonsall Unified School District takes an active role in protecting students online. At the end of last year, our Board of Trustees adopted a cloud managed filter and reporter system which has further bolstered cyber-safety controls for students. The vast majority of students in Bonsall Unified are conscientious about internet searches and respect the terms included within the Appropriate Use of Technology. If your student should attempt to access content that is inappropriate, site level administration will be immediately notified electronically about the specific search in a Red Flag Warning. This allows the administration to work with the student and discuss the search and deliver consequences as appropriate, yet also, and most importantly, to notify the parents so that you have the information in order to follow up as a family. Please note, if students are utilizing school issued Chromebooks from home, inappropriate searches will also come to the attention of administration. As administrators do deserve weekend reprieves, oftentimes the Red Flag Warning cannot be monitored in real time on Saturdays and Sundays, yet we have confidence that parents are taking on the responsibility of monitoring computer use at home.

We all know that the use of the internet is an incredibly powerful and now an essential aspect in our world. We look forward to continuing to partner with parents to guide students toward searching topics that are useful, productive, and good.

Thank you

Districts receiving Title I, Part A funds are required to jointly develop with, agree upon with, and distribute to parents and family members of children participating in Title I, Part A funded programs, a written parent and family engagement policy.

Bonsall Unified School District has jointly developed with, agreed on with, and distributed to, parents and family members of children participating in Title I, Part A funded programs, a written parent and family engagement policy. The policy describes the district’s plan, how families are involved in the joint development of district and school plans, how parents are involved in the annual evaluation of the policy, strategies for supporting effective family engagement, and how families at school not receiving Title I funds are also engaged.

BUSD Bilingual Community Liaison, Leonor Rodriguez

Check out her monthly newsletter below:

The January Newsletter

Contact information: leonor.rodriguez@bonsallusd.com or (760)631-5200 Ext: 1000

Go to our PTA Corner for the Parent Resource Guide for additional resources.

Home Depot - Our Community Garden looks amazing!

The Bonsall Education Foundation wants to remind you that through their Support Our Students program, we raise money for BWE classrooms. All donations go directly to BWE. If you are interested in donating, parents/guardians can use the QR code or go to www.bonsallschools.org. 100% of donations will go back to your school for teachers to use.

At Bonsall West Elementary School we are focusing on the Leader in Me to build lifelong leadership skills.

We want our students to focus on the 7 habits:

1. Feel empowered to be proactive and be in charge of themselves.

2. Set goals and begin with the end in mind,

3. Focus on work first then play with put first things first.

4. Have an abundance mindset and think win-win.

5. Listen to our peers and seek first to understand, then be understood.

6. Work collaboratively and synergize.

7. Have school work/life balance and sharpen the saw.

We have a couple of resources that explains the paradigm shifts and habits that we focus on and will get them to you soon.

All students will attend a BWE expectations assembly this week. We will review schoolwide expectations/rules and answer any questions.

At Bonsall West, everyone is inspired to do their best, be respectful, work hard, think of others and dream big!

At Bonsall West, we will focus on the future by setting goals and collaborating to create a culture of leaders that respectfully serve the community.

Email: info@bonsallusd.com
Website: bw.bonsallusd.com
Location: 5050 El Mirlo Drive, Oceanside, CA, USA
Phone: 760-721-8001