Bates Family Newsletter

Wow! What a week at Bates. To say it was busy would be an understatement. We had a joyful week as evidenced in the photos that follow. Part of our daily fun has been trivia based on famous mistakes in history. Mr. Mac and Mr. Lister, pictured here, made their debut on the morning announcements reading one of these tricky trivia questions, and they crushed it! Remember that we're looking forward to our Bates Creates PTO-Sponsored Spaghetti Dinner on Wednesday. We hope to see many of you there. Enjoy this soggy Saturday...cuddle up!

Bates Creates: A Celebration of Learning (formerly the Literacy Festival) Monday, March 18th through Wednesday, March 27th.

Our theme this year is "Learning from Mistakes"!

The Bates Creates Celebration Night - Save the date! Bring the whole family!

Wednesday, March 27, 5:30 - 7:00 pm

With a spaghetti dinner sponsored by the PTO including math, science, and literacy-based activities, a 21C table, the SPS librarian, and artwork displays by our very talented Bates Beacons facilitated by our equally talented art teacher, Mr. Bleckley!

Claudia Paraschiv, our artist in residence, led us through an amazing experience at Town Hall on Wednesday! Have you seen the lobby? If not, check out the pictures because it is truly inspiring. Huge shout out to Claudia for bringing us together as a community through her thoughtful theme, "A School of Care and Wonder." It truly was a magical experience that the students will treasure for years to come.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our penny wars. Our winning grade is 3rd grade! Thanks to everyone's support we raised $1131.36 towards our Bates Creates Festival!

3rd grade - 5737 points
1st grade - 5286 points
Kindergarten - 2910 points
Prek - 642 points
4th grade - 232 points
2nd grade - 396 points
5th grade - 3071 points

It's time to start thinking about MCAS, so we're sharing our testing dates with you!

RSVP in FB event - https://bit.ly/BatesBeautification

SIGN-UP for task - https://bit.ly/BatesBeautificationVolunteers

During morning announcements this week, we shared some great mistakes that have turned into very profitable products. It's all about mindset! What could have been initially viewed as mistakes by some have made our lives easier or more interesting over time. For example, did you know that Play-Doh was originally invented as s product to clean wallpaper? Post-It Notes use an adhesive that was intended for use as something else. Ask your student about other facts they've learned this past week with a focus on making mistakes!

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

23.3% -- Chronic absenteeism

Our goal is 18.2% or under in the "Chronic Absence" category. Here's a different look at attendance this week. In this graphic, we can see our chronic attendance compared to other schools in the district. The district chronic absentee rate is hovering at 23.1%. We're starting to creep into higher rates of chronically absent students at 23.3%. This is something we can work on together! If you need any assistance with getting your student to school, please reach out to Rosalyn Guevara, Family Engagement Facilitator at rguevara@salemk12.org.

Student Voice Project
On Thursday, our 4th and 5th grades Student Voice Project participants gathered together to present their project to staff. Their work is facilitated by Ms. Shannon and Ms. Acconcia. We learned that they are doing research around how students are grouped in their classrooms. They had interviewed staff members, collected the data, and created a presentation of their findings. We look forward to hearing about their recommendations regarding student groupings. Well done!

So much joy! The Character Parade was adorable! Thank you to all the families who came out to enjoy the many "characters" parading around the school yesterday. This annual tradition is one that provides an opportunity for self expression, community building, and plain, old fun😄

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".

Again, we're stressing that if you MUST leave your car during drop off, pull up past the school entrance and drive as far down the sidewalk as possible. Adults are exiting vehicles close to "the rock" causing cars to back up into the street. This is unsafe. Please follow the drop off rules.

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.