Bulldogs Newsletter October 2, 2023

Hello Basswood Families,

What a week we have had at Basswood! On Wednesday evening, we had our 4th grade Recorder concert. This was an amazing concert filled with students, families, and wonderful Recorder music. Mrs. Stearns, along with some assistance from Mrs. Ricker, did an outstanding job with this concert. We heard such positive feedback from the families that attended. On Thursday, we had the Willy Wonka Musical performance for our 3rd, 4th, 5th grade students. This musical also has performances tonight and Saturday. Last but not least, we are blown away by the generosity of our PTO and Basswood families. This past week we were spoiled by the fabulous PTO to celebrate Staff Appreciation. Our entire staff feels the appreciation and kindness from our community.

We hope that all the moms out there have a Happy Mother's day on Sunday, and good luck to those trying to catch the big one out on one of our 10,000 lakes!

In Partnership,

Steven Schwartz

Basswood Principal

You are invited to join your student during their lunch time for a picnic lunch on Thursday, May 23! Those attending will need to purchase meal tickets. Students are free. Flyers/emails went home this past week. You can purchase your meal tickets here or at the door on the day of the event. Remember to bring your blanket or chairs to sit on.

We will be having our annual 5th grade career fair on Friday, May 17th, 10am to 12:30pm in our Media Center. The purpose of the career fair is to expose our 5th grade students to a variety of careers and hear about people’s experiences and education levels. This gives the students a chance to start setting educational and career goals and practice their interviewing skills. A flyer went home to families this past Wednesday. You can reach out to Amy Paton, our school counselor, at patona@district279.org with your questions.

At Basswood, we enjoy our School Spirit Days and we LOVE it when we see our students participating! Our next Spirit Day will be Friday, May 24. We have Class Color Day! Represent your grade level with the appropriate color. 4 Star/ECFE Preschool wears pink, Kindergarten wears red, 1st grade wears orange, 2nd grade wears yellow, 3rd grade wears green, 4th grade wears blue, and 5th grade wears purple. It will be so fun to see the rainbow of colors!!

• May 16: Evacuation Drill 10:35am
• May 16: PTO Meeting 6:30pm - Media Center
• May 17: 5th grade Career Fair 10am to 12:30pm - Media Center

• May 23: All School BBQ during student lunch times
• May 24: School Spirit Day - Class Color Day!
• May 27: No School - Memorial Holiday
• May 28-31: Scholastic Book Fair - BOGO
• May 30: PTO Ice Cream Social 5pm - 8:30pm
• May 31: Decathlon for 2nd grade, Kindergarten, 4 Star, and 1st grade
• June 3: Decathlon for 4th grade, 5th grade, and 3rd grade
  

The District Transportation department only allows students to ride their assigned bus to and from school. If you have questions, you can reach out to the Transportation Department at 763-391-7244 or transportationreques@district279.org.

Every parent or guardian of enrolled students of Basswood Elementary is an automatic member of the PTO. We encourage you to join one of our next general meetings - or just send us a note if you have a question. You can find more information on our PTO website: https://sites.google.com/view/basswoodpto/home?authuser=1 or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BasswoodElementaryPto

First bell rings at 8:40am letting students into the school. Second bell rings at 8:50am letting students know they should be in their classroom ready to start the day! At 8:50am, the front doors are shut and student will need to come through the office to get a late pass.

Yes! You will be able to follow us on Facebook. Our first posts went live on September 5th. Please note that we are moving away from Twitter (@BWPrincipal279) for Basswood social media. Click here below to follow us.

If you are planning a family vacation or just time away from school, please remember to call your student's absence into the attendance line. You can call 763-494-3858 and press 1 to leave a message with your student's name, student's teacher, reason for absence, and dates that your student will be gone. We really appreciate your assistance!

Basswood staff is required to leave a voicemail if you do not answer your phone when we call. Please check your voicemail before calling Basswood back. Thank you!

Our district Community Education department offers a variety of after school classes. If you do sign your student up for one of these classes, please remember to let your student's teacher know about the class and when your student needs to stay after school.