Bushy Bear Tales

Molly Ketterer, Principal
Terri Via, Assistant Principal

Email: molly_ketterer@hcpss.org
Website: bpes.hcpss.org
Location: 14601 Carrs Mill Road, Glenwood, MD, United States
Phone: (410) 313-5500
Twitter: @hcpss_bpes

Fall Fest is Tonight! Nature has sent fall weather to accompany this wonderful event and we are so excited to celebrate with our school community! Thank you to, our PTA Chairperson, Beth Lioi for her communication and organization to bring this event to life! Thank you to the dozens of volunteers giving their time to serve and to parents for giving of your family time to participate with your children!

Interim Reports were sent home Tuesday, October 9th. Our students continue to progress and grow academically, socially and emotionally. We are so proud of their efforts and grateful for your partnership!

October

• 12 PTA Fall Fest
• 16 PTA Meeting in the Media: 6:30 for New Families / 7:15 for General Meeting
• 18 Picture Day: Individual Photos by Strawbridge
• 18 2nd Grade Field Trip: CEU Archaeology to Ellicott City
  
• 19 No School for Students: Professional Work Day
• 23 Field Trip: 4th Grade to Annapolis
• 24 2nd Grade Parent Math Night @ 6:45-8:30 p.m.
  
• 25 2nd Grade Master Gardener Presentation @ 10:30 a.m.
• 26 Bushy Bear Dash- Throughout the Day during Related Arts
• 31 Halloween Parade and Classroom Celebrations

November

• 2 HCC Theatre: Cinderella Play 9:30 Assembly for Pre-K through 2nd Grade
  
• 6 SCHOOL CLOSED: Election Day
• 7 SCHOOL CLOSED for Students: Professional Work Day
• 12-16 American Education Week
• 13 PTA Meeting @ 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center
• 14 1st Grade- Field Trip to the MD Science Center @ 9:30 a.m.
• 14 2nd Grade- Master Gardener Presentation @ 10:30 a.m.
• 14 1st Quarter Report Cards Go Home
• 15 CULTURAL ARTS: Author Barry Polisar @ 9:25 and 10:25 a.m. Assemblies
• 15 Kindergarten Field Trip to the Glenwood Library @ 9:45-11:15 a.m.
  
• 19-21 Parent Conferences EARLY DISMISSAL @ 12:45 p.m. Nov. 19-20
  
• 19 PTA Conference Dinner for Staff
• 22-23 SCHOOL CLOSED: Thanksgiving Holiday
• 27 Picture Day Make-Ups
• 29 2nd & 3rd Grade- Field Trip to Toby's Theatre 11:00-1:30 p.m.

Thank you for taking your time to offer or update your family’s information!

We are 17% away for celebrating 100% of our families being connected!

If you haven’t done so already, please complete the Family File

for your child(ren) now.

Information on completing or updating your Family File is below:

1. Log into HCPSS Connect and select the Family File tab and then click on Family File. You will be asked to update or provide the following information:

2. Parent/guardian contact information. Please provide the most current contact information.

3. Emergency contacts. Who do you want to pick up your child in case you cannot?

4. Medical information

5. Arrival and dismissal procedures. How will your child arrive to school and be dismissed on a daily basis? Additionally, provide what procedure your child should follow in case of an unscheduled early closing of schools.

6. Media coverage. This includes students being photographed for ACE awards.

7. Data confidentiality.

8. PTA directory. What information do you want included in our BPES PTA Directory?

Resources on how to access Family File may be found online. Parents who have forgotten their login credentials may click the “Forgot Password” link on the sign in page. If you need additional assistance, please fill out this Connect Help Form.

The following students were recognized for October 12th. Congratulations to:

• KINDERGARTEN
  
• Mrs. Bohn's Class- Landon Berberich
  
• Mrs. O'Leary's Class- Vikram Chahill
  
• Mrs. Powell's Class- Jackson Leone
  
• Mrs. Wilson's Class- C.T. Holmes
  

• 1st GRADE
  
• Mrs. Bruner's Class- Victoria Houches
  
• Mrs. Hintz' Class- Ben Camili
  
• Mrs. Lambros' Class- J.P. Preston
  
• Mrs. Payne's Class- Beulah Okojie
  

• 2ND GRADE
  
• Mrs. Follmer's Class- Kevin Ho
  
• Mrs. Hogan's Class- Chloe Lee
  
• Mrs. Keats' Class- Colin Skrtic
  
• Mrs. Stumpfl's Class- Eleanor Barrick
  

• 3RD GRADE
• Ms. Griffin's Class- Maggie McLemore
  
• Ms. Hewitt's Class- James McCoy
  
• Mrs. Hovis' Class- Sam Tong
• Mrs. Pickett's Class- Cate Staley
  

• 4TH GRADE
  
• Ms. Lyter's Class- Blake Levin
  
• Mrs. Perry's Class- Jackson Skovron
  
• Mrs. Richmond's Class- Sam Wilmeth
  
• Mr. Wilson's Class- Jack Zenkewicz

• 5TH GRADE
  
• Mrs. Cole's Class- Helen Krasnitsky
  
• Ms. Landry's Class- Elisa Lioi
  
• Mrs. Little's Class- Chloe Kennedy
  
• Mrs. Stanton's Class- Brooke LaFountain
  
• Mrs. Yakscoe-Markle's Class- Sarah Vanderpool
  

We are so excited to welcome aboard four new staff members in the past few weeks! With increased enrollment, an additional teacher has been added for first and fifth grade, an additional media specialist and an additional adult for student support! Each of these staff members are already making an impact and connecting with our students!

Left to Right:

• Ms. Tanya Landry: 5th Grade Teacher
• Mrs. Shahena Muqeeth: Student Support for our ALS Program
• Ms. Meagan Huyett: 1st Grade Teacher
• Mrs. Kristen Albert: Media Specialist
  

At our next PTA Meeting, Dr. Via and Mrs. Ketterer will the a brief overview of the Emergency Operations Plan and take the parents on a walking tour of the safety features in our school. The group will visit the Front Office and see the monitors, camera images and how the secure vestibule works. We continue to welcome ideas to further improve safety and security.

These are the ideas generated last year and this summer that have become new routines to improve our security and make our school even safer:

• We ask for ID each time an adult is coming in the building. If someone comes to the in the front office to pick up their child.
  

• For field trips and special events, we strive to have every adult check in through our Lobby Guard system. We ask that families arrive early for chaperoning or special events in order to allow time for check-in.
  

• There is a staff member in the front lobby, just inside the doors, to redirect adults should they move beyond the open doors during arrival or dismissal.

• The car loop has a greater staff presence provide greater security and efficiency. Each family, who needs one, is asked to request a visor for their car so that staff can clearly see the name of the student being picked up.

• We asked that adults who choose to park and walk their children in use the car loop parking lot and not the bus loop parking lot. We have had many instances of adults and children crossing unsafely. We will be speaking directly to the few families that continue this practice.
  

• We work with Before and After School Programs to lay out a transition for adults who supervise children in those programs. We will be moving toward the protocol of parents picking students up or dropping them off in our secure vestibule without coming inside the front doors. Our first contact for that is our PTA Chairperson for Before and After School Programs.

These are just some of the ideas put into place We welcome your ideas and input, please share them with Mrs. Ketterer at molly_ketterer@hcpss.org

Schedule Information:

We are excited to celebrate Halloween together on Wednesday, October 31st. We have information to share with you regarding the day. Our Halloween Parade will take place at 2:30 p.m. with classroom snack celebrations taking place directly afterwards. Our Team and Room Parents have already been in touch with teachers and teams to begin to plan!

Parade Route Information:

We will use the parade route that features all students coming out the front door, turning right and walking a route around the building to end at the playground blacktop. This has increased the opportunity for visitors to see the children along the route.

Our Halloween Parade Route has a designated route for students and a designated viewing area for parents. (See the map below) We will ask that parents remain along the viewing area to permit a safe and orderly journey along the parade route.

Once the parade is over, the students will gather on the blacktop. We invite parents to gather along the perimeter of the blacktop.

Requests of Guests for Blacktop Gathering:

• Please do not stand against the wall along the school. That area will have our sound equipment and the teachers will need to move through that area.

• Please do not come into the classroom lines while the students are on the blacktop. We want to ensure student safety.

While on the blacktop, the students will take part in singing Halloween songs that they have learned in vocal music classes.

Classroom Celebration Information:

After this, all classes will go inside and begin their classroom snack celebration. This time will be brief and assisted by the room parents for each class. We invite the team and room parents who are coordinating their child’s snack classroom celebration to come in the building through the Front Office in order to sign in.

Costume Information:

Students are asked to bring their costume to school and not to wear it for the full day. All students will have an opportunity to change into their costume before the parade. Staff members, not assigned to homerooms, will be available to help our younger students get ready. Thank you for supporting us in not having costumes that use weapons or are too scary.

Alternate Celebration Opportunity:

If you do not want your child to participate in the parade or any themed classroom activities, please send in a note to your child’s homeroom teacher no later than Friday, October 26th. These students will attend an alternate activity in the Media Center. We need to know the number of students who will take part so we can plan accordingly.

We appreciate your support and welcome you to join us for our Celebrations!

Mrs. Laura Smith, BPES reading specialist, is excited to share the opportunity of all young authors to showcase their best story or poem! The powerpoint slides above are part of a presentation teachers will give to their students. Help us spread the joy at home by encouraging your students to participate! See the Information below!

We would like to congratulate and recognize some of our students who participated and completed the Summer Reading Club. Students completed various reading related activities all geared to helping them maintain reading levels and academic progress while they were home for the summer.

Our Bushy Park students who have been recognized in our PA Announcements and here in our newsletter are:

• Alfredo Civallero
  
• Cooper Feldman
• Dexter Feldman
  
• Beckett Friedman
• Emma Friedman
  
• Liam Friedman
• Chloe Huxford
  
• Mason Jones
• Hudson Kerber
• Audra Kingsbury
  
• Keira Kingsbury
• Blake Levin
• Dylan Levin
  
• Amelia Miller
• Brock Miller
• Alexa Okojie
• Gabrielle Okojie
  
• Robin O'Neill
• Logan Phelps
• Batool Rizvi
• Hasnain Rizvi
• Morgan Roth
  
• Christian Sexton
• Jonathan Sexton
  
• Ryan Sexton
• Clarissa Stein
  
• Veronica Stein
• Anna Sterrett
• Aubrey Sterrett

We have been working on providing opportunities for dialogue and experiences to engage our parents with the current expectations of teaching and learning mathematics.

Last year, we welcomed international author, Greg Tang, who offered his expertise to parents and to our students!

This year, we were very excited to have our own HCPSS Elementary Mathematics Coordinator, John SanGiovanni (pictured left), here at Bushy Park for an evening conversation with parents. John was with us Tuesday, October 9thd from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in our Media Center.

The time together featured John sharing the journey of mathematics and the current expectations and methodology. He focused on:

• Expectations for Mathematics in 2018
• Balanced Mathematics Teaching and Learning
• Myths and Facts about Teaching and Learning Mathematics
• Practical Ways to Help our Students at Home.

Look for highlights of his presentation on our website coming soon!

Congratulations to the eight families who won math games!

Please help us have an even more orderly dismissal. We are asking that all Early Dismissal requests are completed by 3:15 p.m.

If a parent arrives after 3:15 p.m. to pick up their student, we will ask them to wait until Dismissal at 3:45 p.m. Thank you for spreading the word and for your support!

Award-winning author and songwriter Barry Louis Polisar will be visiting our students on November 15th. Barry has performed at The White House, The Smithsonian & The Kennedy Center. He hosted the TV Show Field Trip and sings the opening song “All I Want is You” in the movie Juno. Barry’s books and CDs will be available for students to purchase and have been personally autographed.

To take advantage of this opportunity, look out for our form in your Monday folder and attach a check made out to “Bushy Park PTA”. Barry’s visit to our school supports our efforts in promoting a love of reading and writing. Be sure to ask your child about Barry’s visit. To find out more about him, visit Barry on the web at www.barrylou.com.