February Newsletter
February 2024
Letter from Dr. Eicher
Dear John Burroughs Families, February 1, 2024
It’s hard to believe that we are already beginning the second month of the new year! As we move into February, I would like to give a brief overview of some of the events and happenings at John Burroughs Elementary School.
This month we conclude our winter parent teacher conferences which will be held on Thursday, February 8th, 2024, from 3:45-7:00 pm. Please communicate directly with your child’s teacher by email if you wish to set up a time to meet with them to discuss the academic and social progress that your child is making. There is no school on President’s Day, Monday February 19th.
There is also no school on Wednesday February 7th which is a teacher and staff professional development day. This is an exciting day for our Burroughs teachers to join their colleagues at other Westside elementary schools as they come together to discuss best practices in teaching and learning as well as to develop instructional strategies that meet the needs of every student.
Our Valentine’s Day festivities will be held on Friday, February 16th. This is an exciting day for students and staff to explore Valentine’s Day with a science twist. Students will rotate through a variety of stations to explore heart-themed science activities and have the traditional Valentine’s Day parties later that afternoon.
Many of our students will also be participating in the statewide OELPA (Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment) which measures the language progress of many of our students. The Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA) is the state summative test that assesses an English learner’s progress to English proficiency and readiness to exit from the English language development program. The OELPA is aligned to Ohio’s English Language Proficiency Standards and meets the state and federal requirements for an annual assessment of English proficiency measuring listening, speaking, reading and writing. Ohio districts and schools may administer the Alternate Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (Alt-OELPA) to eligible English learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities in kindergarten through high school and whose IEP team has decided the alternate assessment is appropriate. Federal and state laws require all English learners to be administered the OELPA or Alt-OELPA annually, and these summative tests are required in addition to Ohio’s State Tests in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Please help our bus drivers with parking lot safety. The driveway entrance closest to the school building is reserved in morning and each afternoon exclusively for school buses. Families must use the middle parking lot entrance and park in a designated parking spot or alongside the fenced drainage basin to the John Burroughs Park. The circular loop and playground sidewalk is
reserved for our day care vans and buses that must have a safe, designated area to load and unload our students. Please assist us with school and parking lot safety by parking in a designated parking space, on Burgess Street, on South Richardson Avenue, or along the fenced area south to the John Burroughs Park.
Wishing you and your family a happy, healthy, and safe Valentine’s Day and a terrific February!
Sincerely,
Dr. Mike Eicher, Principal
Burroughs Elementary School
Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA)
Our ESL students will be taking the OELPA test beginning January 29th. Please help your child be on time and not leave early for the next three weeks. A good night's sleep will help them do their very best. Thanks for your support. Good luck to all our ESL kids! Ms. Marrell and Mrs. Vucic
Valentine's Day Parties
Burroughs Valentine's Day Parties will be on February 16th. During the school day, students will move around through heart-themed science rotations. Class parties will be in the afternoon. Your child's teacher will send out information about their class party and any donations or help they may need.
WHEN TO KEEP YOUR CHILD HOME FROM SCHOOL
Columbus City Schools want every child to learn and be successful. School attendance is linked to learning. However, there are times when your child may be ill and should stay at home until he/she feels better or is no longer contagious to others. Below are some guidelines to help you determine when your child should stay home.
- Temperature above 100° by mouth
- Vomiting or diarrhea
- Shortness of breath or wheezing during normal activity
- Cough that interrupts normal activity
- Pain from earache, sore throat, or recent injury
- Yellow or green drainage from eye(s)
- Rash or draining sores
Character Strong: Perseverance
Every month we focus on a different character trait at Burroughs. In February we are focusing on Honesty. As we learn about the character trait, teachers will nominate a student each week that exhibits that character trait at school. You can learn more about our Character Strong program at the Family Strong website: https://characterstrong.com/familystrong/
These students will be celebrated on Wednesdays through recognition during the announcements, a certificate and small gift, and by participating in the Bee Kind Squad at dismissal. The Bee Kind Squad will cheer their classmates out of their classes with foam fingers and high-fives! Everyone is encouraged to participate in these Kindness Wednesdays by wearing a kindness shirt or button to spread Kindness at our school! Let's all work together to Bee Kind!
Burroughs is Gardening!
Ms. Eustace is a Special Ed 3-5 grade teacher at Burroughs and is on a mission to help every kid here learn how food is grown. She will be presenting in San Diego in March amongst school gardeners from around the country, to share about strategies for gardening with individuals with disabilities. The topic is "Growing greatness with STEM"
What started as a garden grow tower for her class has grown into starting a garden club at Burroughs with Ms. Maher (2nd grade teacher).
The goal of the garden club started last year when a nearby third grade classroom was asking questions about the gardens in room 232. Ms. Eustace had acquired three gardens to work with her multiple disabilities' students on social skills, teamwork, fine motor skills, and hands on learning. One of the third-grade students last year asked if we could put some of these in the cafeteria so that the whole school could see the food and get to eat lunch with it. Ms. Eustace ran with this idea. We saw a lot of success in this hands-on approach and saw our students meeting their learning targets much faster than before.
This year Ms. Eustace worked with a foundation who was able to give the school the funds to purchase three more towers to be placed in our cafeteria for all to enjoy and use. This sparked the idea of the club. The goal of the club is to give students a hands-on opportunity to explore the magic of watching a tiny seed turn into something they can eat. They will learn and engage with different kinds of gardens and be the first group of students to install a raised bed garden outside of our school. This is a great way to ignite an interest in where food comes from as well as spark a curiosity about trying new foods. We are so excited to learn with our students and bring together multiple grade levels for a common goal!
Keep a lookout for more details on the Burroughs Garden Club!
Bees Bucks
Our student's earn Bees Bucks for following the Burroughs Bees (Be Respectful, Responsible, Safe, Caring and Believe in Yourself) and abiding by school rules. This is part of the school's PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) system. These Bees Bucks are collected in their classroom and names are drawn once a week for students to earn a prize. If a class gets to 600 bees bucks by the end of the quarter - their class earns a party. 2nd Quarter's party theme was Winter Olympics. Congratulations to all the classes that earned the party!
Ask your student how their class is doing with the Bees Bucks challenge and encourage them when they mentioned they got Bees Bucks at school!
Thanks to the hard work of Ms. Maher and Ms. Eustace, Burroughs now has a mobile kitchen! This kitchen can travel from classroom to classroom. Classes can now incorporate cooking into their lessons as we learn about the science and math of cooking, dishes from around the world and healthy eating!
Tutors Needed!
We are looking for volunteers to start a reading club tutoring program at Burroughs! We need adults to volunteer for 1 hour a week to read with 4th graders. Tutors will receive free background checks and training. For more information and to sign-up: https://forms.gle/b9zG7HCwi6GETLpr8
Weather Related School Closings
Our goal is to announce a school cancellation as soon as we can. We are constantly monitoring weather forecasts and road conditions and will make an announcement the night before whenever possible. If weather conditions are such that a determination the night before is not possible, the Superintendent and her Operations team will make a decision no later than 5:30 a.m. Once the decision has been made, the next step is to alert parents, teachers, and staff.
STAY CONNECTED: news about cancellations of classes or the cancellation of extracurricular activities, field trips, and/or student-athletic events due to inclement weather are shared in several ways.
- Make sure the contact information on file at your child’s school is accurate. If you need to update this information, contact the main office in your child’s school or update online in the Parent Portal. (This includes emergency contacts, phone numbers, and email addresses).
- All families and staff will be alerted through an automated call, email, and text message from the District’s phone system. It is important to have your updated contact information on file in order to receive this notification.
- Follow Columbus City Schools on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or check our website. As soon as the decision is made to cancel school, we’ll share news and other schedule updates on the District website and on our social media pages.
- Monitor the news on local television and radio stations.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, people within a 124-mile-wide band in the state of Ohio will experience a total solar eclipse.
Areas in Ohio that are outside the path of totality will experience a partial eclipse. A total solar eclipse is a rare and spectacular event. On average, one happens somewhere on the Earth only once every 1.5 years. Only 21 total solar eclipses have crossed the lower 48 states in the entire existence of the United States.
The last total solar eclipse visible in Ohio was in 1806. The next total solar eclipse in Ohio will be in the year 2099.
Eclipse Simulation:
You can enter a city to figure out what you’ll be able to see during the eclipse.
https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse_cities/statemap.html
Solar Eclipse Glasses:
You MUST use viewers or glasses with special filters to look directly at the sun without burning your eyes.
Hilltop Library will hand out FREE Eclipse glasses starting Monday, March 18. There is a limit of 4 per person. They will likely run out, so please plan to get them before April 8.
Verified suppliers of eclipse glasses for purchase: https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters?fbclid=IwAR1BKsmCN5c30IX8cBoVuIPS7iufHv1yxqKg9Klk-AtXJlk72pghvZTWDUM
Virtual Author Event with JaNay Brown-Wood - February 7th
Join Bookelicious and author Dr. JaNay Brown-Wood, author of Too-Small Tyson, for a virtual author talk and reading: Wednesday, 02/07/24 at 10:00am
Join us at this event and explore everyday math concepts, celebrate family, play, build, and discover together through story and storytelling.
This online event is geared toward grades preK - 2nd, but all students are welcome to attend.
For more information, contact: Anne Wissinger at annew@bookelicious.com
To register, click the link below.
Change to Enrollment Process for the 2024-2025 School Year
Changes have been made to the enrollment process for the 2024 - 2025 school year. Below you will find the new enrollment process:
- Families must complete the 2024-2025 Online Registration to begin the enrollment process instead of making an appointment to complete enrollment in person at Central Enrollment.
- Enrollment appointments for ES, MS, and HS will NO LONGER BE REQUIRED, but are available as an option for families who would like assistance.
- The Online Registration applications will be processed in the order they are received, provided all necessary documentation is uploaded to the application. THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO LOTTERY APPLICATIONS.
- Please take time to thoroughly review the necessary documents to ensure that the application is not delayed in processing.
- Online Registration (for a student's assigned school based on address) can be completed K-12 for the 2024-2025 school year beginning on January 3, 2024. THIS IS NOT THE PROCESS USED FOR THE SCHOOL CHOICE LOTTERY.
Tax Time - Free Tax Filing
Since 2007, Tax Time has provided low- to middle-income households with free tax assistance services and connections to financial resources through a coalition of nonprofits, businesses and government.
Find out how you can get your taxes filed for free: https://liveunitedcentralohio.org/agency/tax-time/
FREE ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLUB
Come practice your English at this Free English Conversation Club. All language skills welcome.
Faith Community Church
2578 Sullivant Ave
Thursdays from 2:00-3:00 PM
Free Store for Families of Young Children
Get connected with people and resources on the westside of Columbus while shopping for free items including clothes, shoes, accessories and toys for children ages 0-3.
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
At Faith Community Church
2578 Sullivant Avenue
Columbus, OH, 43204
Burroughs Elementary School General Information
Email: adouglass@columbus.k12.oh.us
Website: ccsoh.us/burroughses
Location: 551 South Richardson Avenue, Columbus, OH, USA
Phone: (614)365-5923
Twitter: @burroughsbees