Bear Families,

I could write about all the FUN and engaging things going on around the building this week, but I'm sure you would rather just see it, so I'm including a bunch of pictures! THANK YOU to all the parent volunteers and PTA for making Fall Parties possible. Have a great weekend!

Honored to be a Bear,

Julie L. Payne, Principal

Parents,

Does your family recycle, compost or talk about turning the lights off when you are not using them?! We just started a new team at school of 4th grade student leaders called, "The Green Team"! We are partnering with SWACO to ensure we are learning how to care for our environment. We need YOUR help! Please take a few minutes and fill out the attached survey. THANKS

Sincerely, Julie Payne, principal and Alexandra Skura, counselor and THE GREEN TEAM!

Dear Bluffsview Families,

We thank you and your family for being our valued partners as we work together to educate the children in our district. As you may already be aware, building our well-being and social-emotional learning skills is an important goal for our school this year and every year. Over the next few weeks, students will participate in several exercises to better understand these concepts and to reflect on how they perceive these skills in themselves.

As we have done for the last four years, we will be asking for your child to reflect on his/her own mindsets and approaches to learning via an online survey. The survey shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to complete and will be administered during a two-week window from 11/4-11/15.

We are partnering with Panorama Education, a third-party vendor, to support us in administering these surveys. The survey content will ask students in grades 3-12 to self-reflect on Sense of Belonging, Self Management, Emotion Regulation, Social Awareness, and Supportive Relationships. Our students in grades 6-12 will also be asked to self-reflect on an additional topic, Cultural Awareness and Action.

During the 2023-2024 school year our District partnered with Battelle for Kids and a community design team consisting of students, families, community members, support staff, teachers, and administrators to create a Worthington Schools Portrait of a Learner. The Design Team worked to answer the following questions during that process, which led to our District Portrait of a Learner:

• What are the hopes, dreams, and aspirations that our community has for its students?

• What are the skills and mindsets our children need for success in this rapidly changing, and complex world?

• What are the implications for the design of the learning experiences and equitable access to those experiences we provide in our school system?

Aligning our survey topics with our Portrait of a Learner Competencies and elementary and middle school Learner Profiles will help to support our work in building these competencies.

Student voice matters to us, and their responses will provide invaluable insights into their experiences in how we can improve and adapt our instruction to meet their needs. If a student doesn’t feel like they have enough information to answer a question, they will be able to skip the item altogether.

If you have any questions about the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) survey, please don’t hesitate to contact us in the office at 614-450-5100.

Respectfully,

Julie Payne

Please send in needed items between November 4th and 8th! Thank you for your support! Sincerely, Bluffsview DEI Student Leaders!

Do you enjoy art, music, or dance? Do you have an interest in writing, producing films and taking photos? Then join us and have fun unleashing your inner artist with the return of PTA Reflections!

Each year, there is a new theme chosen, and artists are to Reflect on what the theme means to them. They then interpret the theme by creating their choice of artwork! Use the arts to share your personal Reflections on this year's theme : "ACCEPTING IMPERFECTION"

Learn more, and get inspired HERE and HERE

Artists can enter any of the following Categories:

1. Dance Choreography

2. Film Production

3. Literature

4. Music Composition

5. Photography

6. Visual Arts

7. Special Arts*

Arts will be placed into divisions for Judging, based on grade level:

1. Primary: Kindergarten- Grade 2

2. Intermediate: Grades 3-5

3. *Special Arts Division- Students who identify as having a disability and may receive services under IDEA or ADA: Section 504. Welcomes students from all grades and abilities and offers non-artistic accommodations for students to participate.

Awards: Student winners will be selected based off of the following:

1. Interpretation of the them

2. Creativity

3. Technical Skill

Timeline & How to Enter:

· CALL FOR ENTRIES: Now through Friday November 22nd.

· How to Submit Entries:

Ensure that submissions follow the Category rules on pages 1-2 of attached documents.

Fill out the attached Student Entry form in its entirety.

Submit your entries to homeroom teacher, Related Arts teacher, front office, or by emailing riddlecl@gmail.com

· Announcement of Winners: Week of December 2nd!

· Winners in each category will be submitted to the District PTA Reflections program. If a Bluffsview artist is selected at the regional level they will be sent on to the State PTA January 2025, and then on the National PTA in the Spring!

We are hopeful that you will join us this year with Bluffsview Reflections! Questions? Email Colleen at riddlecl@gmail.com

At Bluffsview, we are proud of our Veterans! We are diligently planning our Veterans Day Assembly for this year, the 4th graders are learning the music for their performance, and the celebration will be here before we know it. Our Veterans Day Assembly will be held on Monday, November 11th, 2024 in the Bluffsview Gymnasium. Seating will begin at 1:15pm with the program beginning shortly afterwards at approximately 1:25pm.

To include information about your Veteran in our slideshow, please fill out this Google Form. Also, be sure to send a picture to Mrs. Daubney at cdaubney@wscloud.org if you want it to be included. If a photo is not sent, the official seal of the military branch will be included with your Veteran’s slide. Deadline to be included in the slideshow is Monday, November 4th.

Would you like to attend our assembly with your Veteran? Are you the parent of a 4th grader who is singing in the assembly? Please fill out this RSVP Form to let us know that you plan to attend. Due to space constraints, we ask that you only attend if you are bringing a Veteran or active service member, or are the parent of a 4th grader. The assembly will also be recorded and a link will be sent out to the entire school. Deadline to RSVP is Monday, November 4th.

Thank you so much for helping us to celebrate and honor the Veterans in our Bluffsview community!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Claire Daubney

• Nov 2- District Special Ed Resource Fair
• Nov 3- Daylight Savings Time Ends- Fall Back 1 hour
• Nov 5- No School - Election Day (whole district)
• Nov 11- PTA Meeting, 7 pm, Bluffsview Library and on Zoom
• Nov 11- Veteran’s Day Assembly at 1:15 seating
• Nov 26- Turkey Trot, Turkey Trot Committee Chair
• Nov 27-29- No School – Thanksgiving Break

The calendar for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year is at this link.

Please mark your calendars and join us!

Worthington Schools is planning a change in how our Infinite Campus email is delivered. We plan to make the change before the end of this calendar year.

Prior to the change, all parents of students in Worthington Schools should view the brief parent guide linked below to ensure that emails continue to get delivered to your email inbox.

Parent Guide to Ensure Email is Received

When your child can't come to school it is important to let the office know. You can do this in two ways-

1) Call 614-450-5100 and report the absence.

2) Email bluattend@wscloud.org

Please be sure to communicate your child's name, date of the absence and reason for the absence.

THANK YOU! If you communicate it in any other way it might not get communicated to the right people and we may call looking for your child. This causes undue panic. Thanks for your help on this!

We are SO grateful to our families for ALL their support. If you are able, please click on this link and purchase an item that could really help us out! We appreciate it!

IF you missed it and you need help with technology, here are the things that were shared so that you can make sure you are receiving all the information and are able to help your child at home.

HelloID

Infinite Campus

Worthington App

Free and Reduced Application for Breakfast and Lunch

Smart Watches, including Apple Watches and Gizmos are permitted to be worn to school.

Upon arrival to the classroom students will have the choice to put the Apple Watch/Gizmo/Smart Watch in their backpack or give it to their teacher for safe keeping. Just like students are expected to keep phones in backpacks, the same expectation applies to smart watches.

"It is important that our transportation department has the correct pick up and drop off location for your child. Bus route information will be emailed to you on August 9th. Should you know in advance that your child will need an alternative bus stop on their assigned route due to child care or other reasons, please fill out the Alternative Transportation Request Form as soon as possible."

• Update Emergency Contact Info
• Login to the portal to put lunch money in your child's account
• Check to make sure my child has all the immunizations they need
• Locate my child's bus number and stop- beginning August 9th
• Apply for free or reduced meals, if applicable
• Pay fees on MyPaymentsPlus- Will be available on August 4th
• Purchase school supplies- Click on the "Supply List" button below to access the lists

Click the blue button below for assistance or to get to ANY of the items listed.

Times-

7:30 Doors Open and Buses Arrive

7:40 School Begins

2:20 Dismissal

Devices-

Students may bring web-enabled devices (cell phones, watches, etc.) to school, but they must remain turned off and in backpacks during school hours.

School Fees-

• REMOVED- Read Dr. Bower's Blog about Fee Removal Here

• Lunch prices will not change and will be $2.75

The USDA had school food services return to pre-pandemic operations last year.

Worthington Schools has eligibility-based pricing of meals (Free/Reduced/Paid).

All Worthington School families are required to complete the online Free/Reduced Lunch Eligibility Form. All students use their Lunch ID for meals. The student's number can be found in the Parent Portal. Select the Student ID tab and look for your Lunch PIN.

Families can add money to their lunch account through My Payments Plus. You can also use MPP to track your student's account and see much money remains on it. My Payments Plus is also used to pay other fees, like high school parking permits and AP testing fees.

The link below will take you to the updated handbook which is found on the district website. Parents are asked to digitally sign-off on the handbook as they update information for the school year.

2024-25 Elementary Student Handbook