Bear Essentials

Weekly eNews, May 9, 2025

Bear EssentialsWeekly eNews, May 9, 2025

Principal's Message

Hello Berkeley Lake Families,


Thank you for helping us celebrate our amazing teachers and staff this week. We are so appreciative of their hard work and commitment to our students and school community. Thank you for helping our teachers and staff feel special!


I am looking forward to recognizing our 5th grade students at their promotion ceremonies next week. We will top things off with our 5th Grade/Senior Walk on May 19 at 1:00 PM.


Don’t forget about all the special days we’ve planned to celebrate a successful school year! Take a look at our End of Year Calendar to see what’s happening in our building.


Our Student Spotlight on our morning announcements continues this month. During the month of May, we are celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. Students can share information on an important person, a piece of literature (poem or speech) that resonates with them, or information about an important event in history. Two to three students will be selected each week to be featured on our morning announcements. If your child would like to present, please help them complete this form.


As always, I appreciate your continued support. My door is always open for feedback. Have a wonderful weekend!


Your Proud Principal,


Ashley Coughlin

This Afternoon/Evening is Spirit Night Dairy Queen

Drop by the Dairy Queen on Peachtree Industrial anytime tonight from 3:00-8:00 and mention Berkeley Lake Elementary. Thank you for supporting PTO's Spirit Night's for Berkeley Lake Elementary.

Next Week's Events

Sunday, May 11

  • Mother’s Day


Monday, May 12

  • End of Year Activity: Hat Day

  • End of Year Science Summative DAs for 3rd and 4th graders

  • 3:00 Chess Club

  • 3:15 Dance Club recital in Media Center


Tuesday, May 13

  • End of Year Activity: Kick off your shoes in the classroom
  • End of Year Social Studies Summative DAs for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders

  • 3:00 Student council meets in Ms. Sobh’s room

  • 3:15 Last Green Team for this school year 🌎


Wednesday, May 14

  • End of Year Activity: Classroom dance party

  • EOY Summative DA make-ups for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades


Thursday, May 15

  • End of Year Activity: Bring a joke to share

  • 7:00 AM Chorus Club

  • 8:45 5th Grade Promotion for Cocca, Owen, and Carter’s homerooms

  • 10:00 5th Grade Promotion for Konkle’s homeroom

  • 6:30 Chorus Concert in Cafeteria


Friday, May 16

  • End of Year Activity: Wear red, white, and blue

  • Chromebook collection for 1st and 2nd Grades

  • 8:45 5th Grade Promotion for Sportel and Summers’ homerooms

  • 9:00 Basic English classes in Parent Center

  • 10:00-1:00 Volunteer time in Parent Center

It's Time to Vote for Next Year's PTO Executive Board

It's time to elect the 2025-2026 PTO Executive Board. Please review this year's candidate slate and then vote to approve the board.


Free Vision Screening Opportunity

The Gwinnett County Public Library is teaming up with Vision to Learn to provide FREE vision screenings, eye exams, and, if necessary, glasses for children this summer. Clear vision is crucial for academic success. Click here to sign up for an appointment now because no walk-ins will be accepted.

Students Collecting Items for School Project

From Mrs. Algard, 4th Grade Teacher


My language arts classes are working hard on their "Kids Can Make a Difference Projects."

The projects are


  • My homeroom class are doing a blanket collection for gently used or new blankets as well as making the tie blankets for people who are in need.
  • Mrs. Winters homeroom class are collecting clothes for our clinic for Mr. Rodriquez.

Digital Learning Summer Options

Students can keep their skills sharp this summer with self-paced, digital support opportunities. Digital summer support will be available to KG - 8th grade students from June 2 to July 2 on the Digital Summer Support eCLASS page.


Students can log into their Student Portals/Student VUE and in the middle "Additional Resources" they will find a link, beginning June 2, labeled "Digital Summer Support". Students can then select iReady for Math and Reading.


There are also links to support parents with iReady.


Click here here for directions on how to access the summer resources. Remember they will not be available until June 2.

Residency Affidavits Due

Families, it is that time of year! This is a friendly reminder that if your child has a Residency Affidavit, please submit a form for the 2025-2026 school year no later than July 10th, 2025.

Lost and Found Items

There are over 150 items in our Lost and Found!!! All items in the lost and found will be donated after the last day of school. If your child is missing a lunchbox, jacket, sweatshirt, etc. we encourage you to come by the school to check and see if it is in the lost and found before the last day. The Lost and Found is located in the school cafeteria.

If Your Child Is In the 5th Grade

Thank you to everyone that has donated for the 5th grade fun day! We have gathered $1445 of the $2300 that we need for this event. Let’s keep it going! (PTO)


Remember to visit the BLES website under "Parents" and then "5th Grade" for the latest end-of-year details.


  • May 15, 2025: Promotion Ceremonies at BLES
    • 8:45-9:45 AM Promotion Ceremony (Cocca, Owen, Carter)
    • 10:00-10:45 AM Promotion Ceremony (Konkle)

  • May 16, 2025: Promotion Ceremonies at BLES
    • 8:45-9:45 AM Promotion Ceremony (Sportel and Summers)

  • May 19, 2025: Senior Walk at BLES
    • 5th Grade Senior Walk with drum line

  • May 21, 2025: Last Day of School at BLES
    • Last day of school and 5th Grade Fun Day

  • July 22, 2025: "Cat Camp" at DMS
    • Rising 6th graders join us for a day of activities and a 6th grade schedule on July 22! Meet your teachers and get exclusive access to DMS before anyone else! Please sign up on mypaymentsplus! Students signed up will get lunch and a t-shirt included

Beanstack Summer Reading Challenge

This summer, all Berkeley Lake Elementary students in grades K-5 are encouraged to participate in the Beanstack Summer Reading Challenge! We want to give students a summer reading experience that will help instill a love for reading among all of our students.


The Beanstack Summer Reading Challenge runs from June 1 to July 31, 2025. All students will be enrolled automatically in the challenge on our Beanstack site. We challenge our students to participate and keep track of their reading on our Beanstack site at http://gcpsk12berkeleylakees.beanstack.org/


Our school-wide goal is to read a total of 10,000 minutes during our Beanstack Summer Reading Challenge! We can do it!


Mrs. Norby will be monitoring the progress of BLES students who participate in the challenge and rewards will be given to those who participate! Students who participate will also be helping our school get to the top of the leaderboard! We're competing against schools and libraries across the nation for a chance to win cash prizes from Beanstack.


  1. Click here to log into your student Beanstack account. For student login, students should use their student number and 4-digit birthday (mmdd).
  2. Once students are logged in, they can access the Summer Reading Challenge, where they can log their reading and receive badges!

Please note: The Beanstack Summer Reading Challenge is not affiliated with the Gwinnett County Public Library Summer Reading Challenge. Students are more than welcome to participate in Gwinnett County Public Library's summer reading program too!

Gwinnett Public Library's Summer Reading Challenge

  • Challenge Dates: June 1 – July 31 (Pre-registration begins on May 1)
  • How To Participate: Sign up here, log minutes, and win prizes!
  • SIGN UP: To sign up, ask a staff member for help registering OR go online to your library Beanstack account and register for the Summer Reading Challenge. You can also download the Beanstack app for your mobile device and use it to sign up and track your progress. Each child that signs up for our Summer Reading Challenge will receive a free child’s ticket to the Aurora Children’s Playhouse.
  • LOG MINUTES: Keep track of your reading minutes this summer and earn prizes along the way. There are two ways to track your minutes: Visit the library and ask a staff member for a paper log. We will give you a picture of a bookshelf to color in. Color a book each time you read for 30 minutes. When you’ve colored a whole shelf, you win a prize! OR Visit the library Beanstack page to log your minutes. You can either go online or download the Beanstack app for your mobile device. Beanstack will let you know when you’ve reached a new prize level.
  • WIN PRIZES: Each time you reach a new reading goal, you qualify to win a prize. You can see the prize levels here.


https://www.gwinnettpl.org/kids/summer-reading-challenge24/

Summer Meals On-the-Go

The Gwinnett Summer Meals program will provide free grab-and-go breakfast and lunch to children 18 and younger and those 19 and older with physical or mental disabilities. Visit GwinnettSummerMeals.com to learn more and find a complete list of meal locations.

Summer Camp Information

Repeat Reminders from BLES


  • Parents, please do not bring in fast food to the school cafeteria. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter.





  • Reminder about sending in birthday treats for students Per the Student Handbook: Parents may provide snacks only, no drinks, favors, balloons, or flowers for the child’s birthday. Whole cakes that need to be sliced by staff are not permitted. All students should be included. Nutritious snacks are encouraged. Birthday treats should be handed out and eaten in the cafeteria during the last ten minutes of the lunch period. Please make sure that students mainstreamed in your classroom are included in the count for treats. Buying ice cream at school for each class member is encouraged. Students may not pass out invitations to parties at school unless all members of the class are invited.



  • Afternoon Transportation Changes Parents, please remember that afternoon transportation changes must be made by 1:30 and there are only two ways for you to make an change for your child: Use the PikMyKid app or send in a signed note. Emails or phone calls to change afternoon transportation will not be accepted. Thank you for helping us enforce this rule and keep our kids safe!


  • No Student checkouts after 2:15 PM


  • If your child misses school Information needed on the excuse note includes: today’s date, the child’s full name, child’s teacher, child’s grade level, date(s) of absence, reason for absence, and parent signature (typed full name if sending via email or Class Dojo).



  • MyPaymentsPlus Gwinnett Public Schools uses MyPaymentsPlus as a site for school-related payments and documentation sign off. If you do not yet have an account with this site, you will need to set one up. Click here to learn more.


  • Our Parent Center The Berkeley Lake Parent Center is located across from the front office and it's providing services by appointment. For Parent Center support please call Ms. Sandra Olvera, Parent Liaison, at 678-291-4232 or email her at Sandra.Olvera@gcpsk12.org

BLES Business Partners

We'd like to thank the business partners below for sponsoring our school. 💜

Contact Us:

Berkeley Lake Elementary

4300 S. Berkeley Lake Rd.

Duluth, Georgia 30096

P: (770)446-0947

F: (770)582-7514

Jessica Craig
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