Happy December Bears!
Oh the weather outside is frightful...............the cold has definitely set in and we have been having a mix of inside and outside recesses. Please make sure that your child has appropriate winter wear as we will go outside unless the feels like temperature is below 15 degrees. If your child needs a coat please let the office know and we can assist them in getting one.
Our lost and found has been overflowing for months. We have sweatshirts, coats, hats, and lunchboxes that have been out on tables since parent/teacher conferences. Please come in and check out our table as we would like to get these items back to their rightful owners. It would be helpful if the child's name was on their items. Items that are still there after the first of the year will be donated.
On Thursday, December 12th at 8:30 we are offering an opportunity to parents to come in and learn about our Title program. We have 5 Title teachers that support reading and math interventions at all grade levels. If you would like to learn more about this program, please join us for a short presentation.
This month during our Character Strong time, grade levels are learning about Empathy. The various grade levels will be focusing on the following:
Kindergarten--identify and practice the traits of an empathetic listener, discuss what Kindness looks/sounds/feels like and create personal kindness goals, practice Whole Body listening to connect with other people's feelings, and practice identifying emotions and putting Empathy into action.
1st grade--discuss and practice recognizing how other people could feel in different situations, will create a list of friendship skills and reflect on their own strengths and areas for growth, practice showing Empathy during conflict with friends, and practice positive listening skills with friends.
2nd grade--identify a problem and determine if it is big or small, identify what grows kindness and what does not, practice Empathy with each other when working through challenges, and practicing using Empathy to resolve conflict.
3rd grade--practice understanding and connecting with other people's feelings, create a school map of Kindness that includes how they will show Kindness around the school, explore and identify different perspectives and understand perspective taking, apply perspective-taking to conflict resolution strategies in the Tree of Choices.
4th grade--learn to use the 3 steps in the Tree of Choices to resolve conflict, learn about and plan 3 ways to practice meaningful Kindness, learn how to use I-statements to communicate emotions, and learn that we may have different opinions and that at times we must agree to disagree.
5th grade--learn to identify the qualities of a good leader and build awareness of their own strengths and areas of growth, strategize ways to lead the charge to make Kindness normal at school, set goals that will utilize their strengths and interests as leaders to make a difference in the world, and practice leadership skills by responding with Empathy to other people's problems.
We continue to need your assistance in keeping our students and staff safe in our school parking lot. I have added the photo of our parking process below. The top five reminders we would like to share are
- All drivers no matter which of the two lines you are in (red or yellow) HAVE to stay in their cars. Students will come to you. Vehicles CANNOT be left unattended while you go get your student.
- There are ONLY TWO lines that drive through the lower lot.
- We will not send students to the street to get in vehicles. Cars need to either come through the drive lines or parents need to park in the lot and come get their child(ren).
- Please do not stop on the crosswalks. We are trying to cross your child(ren) safely.
- Students and families should be crossing at the crosswalks.
We know that many of our families have other places to be but we are just trying to get your students from A to B safely so please be respectful of the staff on duty and please help us by doing your part.
Thank you for partnering with us in your child's education. I am grateful for the students, staff, and families that we have at Bryant.
Dr. Holcomb
