Bates Family Newsletter

We are off to a great start this school year! Our classrooms have been busy establishing routines, helping students feel comfortable, and setting expectations for success. With routines in place, we are now moving into core content areas, and students are engaging in meaningful learning experiences.

We’re also excited to share that our Open House was a big success! Thank you to all who attended and supported your child’s transition into the new year. It was wonderful to connect with so many of you.

Looking ahead, please remember that we have a half-day on Wednesday next week. We are excited to continue our learning journey and can’t wait to see what next week brings!

Thank you for your continued support!

We hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Ms. Smith, Mr. Mac, and Mr. Lister

We really crushed rolling drop off by the end of the week. Nice job, families! Just a few reminders:

• Drop off lane = single lane. We don't pass the cars ahead of us.
• Students shouldn't be exiting vehicles until your car gets past the front doors.
• Grown ups need to remain in vehicles.
• Again, if you want to walk your child to the door, please park on Liberty Hill Avenue.

Thanks for your continued cooperation as we work together to make this the safest possible arrival plan we've seen at Bates!

We're thrilled to hold our first Town Hall this week on Wednesday, September 18th. Town Hall is an opportunity for us to build community. This year, we're committed to having our older Beacons act as classroom buddies with our younger Beacons. They'll get together for the first time on Wednesday in what we're calling "Crews". After Wednesday's Town Hall, ask your child which crew they belong to this year!

We kindly remind everyone that no dogs are allowed during drop-off and pick-up times on school grounds. This is for the safety and comfort of all our students, families, and staff. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping our school environment safe and welcoming for everyone.

School may have just begun, but we’re already gearing up for an exciting lineup of activities in the coming months! If you're new to our community, welcome! The Bates PTO is a dedicated group of parent volunteers who work together to raise funds for school events, like field trips and other fun activities throughout the year.

We’d love to have you join our team! Whether you can spare just an hour to help at an event or are interested in becoming part of our executive team, there’s a place for everyone. To learn more, email us at BatesSchoolPTO@gmail.com. For updates on PTO events, be sure to follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BatesElementarySchoolPTO. We look forward to working together to make this year amazing!

Upcoming meeting:

First PTO meeting of the year - Tuesday, September 17, 6:30-7:30 - Come find out how to get involved in the Bates School community as a PTO member! We'll meet in the library.

Please be reminded that Wednesday, September 18, is an early release day due to staff professional development. Students will be dismissed at the following times so please plan accordingly for pick-up or after-school arrangements:

PK @ 11am

Kindergarten @ 11:10am

Grades 1-5 @ 11:15am

These professional development sessions allow our teachers to continue growing in their practice to better serve our students. Thank you for your support

Celebrations from the Week:

We are thrilled to announce that the Bates Beacons have officially launched ST Math in grades 1-5 this week! Kindergarten will launch next week. ST Math is a visual instructional program that leverages the brain's innate spatial-temporal reasoning abilities to solve mathematical problems.

• Key Features of ST Math:

• Provides equitable access to learning through challenging puzzles and non-routine problem-solving.

• Offers formative feedback to help students progress.

• Complements our Eureka Squared curriculum, helping students build deep conceptual understanding.

We’re excited to share that students can also access ST Math at home! Please find the attached link for directions on how to get started. Ask your child at home who Ji Ji is! We will be highlighting Ji Ji shoutouts in upcoming newsletters, so stay tuned for more information! Access Chrome and Classlink from a Home Device

Written by Ms. G...

Another great week at Bates! The SEL theme of the week was: “Respect for Others” as part of our SEL curriculum, “Starting Smart in September”. Students spent a lot of time discussing what respect means to them, what it looks like, sounds like and feels like! Luckily here at Bates, our core values are being SAFE, RESPECTFUL and RESPONSIBLE. RESPECT is a vocabulary word they are familiar with both from school and home!

Here are some questions you can use when discussing respectful behavior at home!

• Did you use kind words and a calm tone of voice to say what you needed to say?

• Did you use things the way they were supposed to be used?

• Were you considerate of other people, their things, their space and their learning?

Kids learn the best through games, knowing that, here are a few simple games you can play at home to support your kid’s understanding of respect and respect for others:

I love my neighbor: Also a fun game to play with extended family members, neighbors and friends! The more, the better 🙂

Give your kids scenarios and ask them to label the scenario as respectful or disrespectful. If your kid is a mover and a shaker you can designate different areas of the room. One side of the room is respectful, the other side is disrespectful. With each scenario they start at the center of the room and then run to how they would define it.

While maybe not quite a game or as much fun as the previously listed activities, you can also use daily life to instill valuable lessons about respect and respecting others:

• Model respectful behavior

• Label respectful behavior

• Give specific praise around respectful behavior. “Thank you for being so respectful and asking me if I needed help.” vs. “Thanks” or “Good job.”

The school menus are posted on the SPS website. Find them here.

Our goal is to keep our chronic absence rate under 19.5% this year. If you need any assistance with getting your student to school, please reach out to Rosalyn Guevara, Family Engagement Facilitator at rguevara@salemk12.org. We're off to a great start!

September 17th - PTO meeting, library, 6:30-7:30

September 18th - Early release for all students and first town hall for students (more on that next week!)
September 30th - SMILE! It's school picture day!

Mark your calendars if you want to join us for the Haunted Happenings Parade on Thursday, October 3, 2024. The parade will follow the normal route from Prime Group Shetland Park to Salem Common. The theme for this year’s Parade is “Our Time on Earth”, inspired by the 2024 exhibition that was previously on view at the Peabody Essex Museum, which should give parade participants a wide array of costumes and stories to tell! If you've never been, it's a real trip and worth doing at least once!

Mr. Bleckley, our art teacher, will be hard at work making our float pieces. Our theme is going to be "It's about time!" He'll create time pieces through the ages: an hourglass, cuckoo clock, pocket watch, digital alarm clock, Mickey Mouse wristwatch. Students and families will dress as anything that matches this "march through time" from medieval costumes (hourglass section), to lederhosen (cuckoo clock section), costumes including pocket watches (pocket watch section), 70s, 80s, 90s gear (electric alarm clock), Disney gear (Mickey Mouse watch section). This march through time and fashion trends is going to be so fun. We're going to look great!

Did you know you can earn money for our school just by scanning your grocery receipts? All you need to do is download the Boxtops app, and scan those receipts! Don't want to scan? No worries, you can always send receipts into school with your student in an envelope marked, "PTO Boxtops".

Our Bates spirit rock is available for weekly rentals. Celebrate your student's birthday or other accomplishments by painting a message on our rock. Please click here to rent the rock!

Bates Elementary School, in partnership with our families and community, will provide all students with a culturally responsive, student – centered, and equitable learning experience that celebrates our students’ diverse backgrounds, creative pursuits, and their academic, social, emotional success.

School Hours:

Regular school hours:

Monday through Friday: 7:45am to 1:50pm

Early Release (Grades 1-5) at 11:15am

PK at 11am

Kindergarten at 11:10am