• Port of Subs Lunch for those who pre-ordered

• Middle School - 8th Grade Volleyball Game @ Home 4:00

• Middle School - C Squad Volleyball Game @ Home 5:00

• PALS AM Meeting - Markell Hall 8:10am
  
• Pizza Lunch for those who pre-ordered

• Girls Volleyball Practice 3:15-4:45 Markell Hall

• Middle School Electives Schedule
• Auction Volunteer Meeting 8:15 Markell Hall Chapel
• Port of Subs Lunch for those who pre-ordered

• Middle School - 8th Grade Volleyball Game @ Mt Baker 4:00

• Middle School - C Squad Volleyball Game @ Mt Baker 5:00

• End Of Trimester 2
• Pizza Lunch for those who pre-ordered
• Chess Club - 3:15 Markell Hall Cafeteria
  

• Middle School - 8th Grade Volleyball Game @ Home 4:00

• Middle School - C Squad Volleyball Game @ Home 5:00

• NO SCHOOL - Faculty In-Service Day

• St. Patrick's Day - wear green - March 17th
  
• Early Release - March 17-18 - Conferences
• Track and Field Begins - Middle School - March 21st
• Spring Day - celebrate the first day of Spring by wearing bright colors or floral prints - March 21st
  

• Annual Auction - In Person - Rescheduled - March 26, 2022 Bellwether Hotel

• STEM Fair - Wednesday, March 30th
• Spring Break - April 4-8 - No School

It is that time of year again for Student Led Conferences at The Franklin Academy -- March 17th and 18th.

Robin Hall

Ms. Camaya and Ms. Johnson 3 Day Preschool

Mrs. Mellos Early Preschool

Mrs. Ho 5 Day Preschool

Mrs. Killian and Miss Jo TeVelde 5 Day Pre-K

Mrs. Pickerill 3 Day Pre-K

Mrs. Owen Early K

Ms. Dizon Kindergarten

Mrs. Rail Kindergarten

Miss Yorks

Mrs. Brewin 1st Grade

Mrs. Jorgensen 1st Grade

Ms. Pearmann-Gillman 1st Grade

Markell Hall

Ms. Belmont 2nd Grade

Mrs. Lyzwinski 2nd Grade

Ms. McDonnell's 3rd Grade

Mr. Schultz 3rd Grade

Ms. Dudley 4th Grade

Mrs. Misday 4th Grade

Kaiser Grade 5 & 6

Kaiser Grade 7 & 8

Ershig Grade 5 & 6

Ershig Grade 7 & 8

Ferlin Grade 5 & 6

Ferlin Grade 7 & 8

Hess Grade 5 & 6

Hess Grade 7 & 8

Thank you,

Rachel Lee and Dawn Regier

We are so excited to invite you to the 2022-2023 school year. Please bring your enrollment contract and a check for 10 percent of the total tuition or payment in full.

If you know someone interested in learning more about our program or wanting to set up a virtual tour, please encourage them to reach out to:

Admissions Director, Natalie Bennett:

nbennett@thefranklin.academy

360.733.1750

Eric and Tass King

Children in 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th Grade

Our family feels so fortunate to be part of the Franklin Academy community. We could not be happier, especially in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, to be in a community where common sense and the united goal of continued rigorous in-person education is the focus.

After transitioning away from public school in 2019, we were first struck by the high-quality education our four (4) children receive at Franklin Academy. In the past three (3) years, we have seen firsthand an academically rigorous curriculum where our kids are afforded the opportunity, and encouraged, to rise to their own individual potential, while simultaneously receiving meaningful support in areas of struggle.

The small class sizes and highly committed teachers create an environment where our kids are known and truly cared about. Whether it’s picking up on a reading disorder or finding a gift for math, the Franklin Academy teachers are attentive and encouraging, while still holding students accountable. From high-level math (our 8th grader is in Algebra 2) to individualized spelling tests and reading support, to middle school electives grounded in STEM, service, and the arts, Franklin Academy opens the academic world for our children. But there is more.

Weekly Chapel brings character and service to the foreground, instead of deeming it off-limits. Faiths of all kinds are welcomed and supported, creating an environment of rich discussion and exploration, especially at the middle school level. After three years, it is this culture of character that, in my estimation, further sets the Franklin Academy apart. It is a place where academic achievement is celebrated and character is developed and expected. Hard work, kindness, citizenship, respect, honesty, and accountability are the norm.

Couple this with a welcoming and engaged community of parents and you get a taste of why Franklin Academy is so special. From the teachers and administration, to our amazing school nurse and front desk staff, to our fellow families and school friends, the Kings are simply grateful to be part of this community.

Students participated in the second grade service project in a variety of ways. Some students purchased books to donate and brought them into our book donation bins other students ordered from village books online and had the books delivered to Lydia place. Other students went to Village books, picked out the books themselves and had them shipped to Lydia place.

We love reading and are excited to share it with the community!

Mrs. Lyzwinski & Mrs. Belmont

Here's more about the project:

Hi am am Christy Fankhauser and I lead Franklin's Chapel Service Guild (CSG) which is a group of parent volunteers that leads each grade in a community service or "Love Thy Neighbor" project. Our goal with these projects is to not only create an awareness in the students of the needs of others around them, but also to show them ways in which they can serve others, even as kids.

For their project this year, the 2nd grade will be holding a book drive to benefit Lydia Place. In a nutshell, Lydia Place is a local organization whose mission is to provide housing for the homeless in our community. However, they also provide services in the areas of mental health, community engagement and parenting support. Our book drive will benefit their Parents As Teachers program where certified parent educators visit clients in their own homes for parenting classes. Each time an educator visits a family, they gift the family's children with a new book. The 2nd graders did a great job with this project!

Thanks Christy

Here's what we've been doing since the last update:

-we celebrated Valentine's Day and the 100th day of school. I attached a picture of the ways the students came up with to make 100.

-we celebrated "Twos Day" on Tuesday 2-22-22!

-we continued to learn about nonfiction text features.

-we introduced biographies and read about Ruby Bridges and Katherine Johnson.

-in science we started studying the polar regions and began to learn about the similarities and differences between the Arctic and Antarctic.

-in writing students are researching their chosen polar animal and recording information about where the animal lives, what it eats, what it looks like, and interesting facts about the animal. Next week we'll learn more about paragraphs and start writing our research reports. Some pictures of the amazing researchers are attached.

-in math we worked on adding tens and ones with place value blocks, then today we moved onto adding two digit numbers by stacking them up and adding the ones then the tens (the traditional algorithm). We are working on questions that do not involve regrouping, such as 45 + 22.

-today we started a fun aurora borealis painting project. We looked at examples of what it can look like, and then we started painting our own versions of the northern lights.

Robin Hall is featuring author Jan Brett and 2nd-4th Grade is featuring author Kate DiCamillo. Preschool through 4th Graders are all celebrating with activities and dress up days that include the following:

Tuesday: Hat Day (Inspired by the book "The Hat" and the hats worn in the Mercy Watson series)

Wednesday: House Dress Day

Thursday: Pajama Day (Inspired by the book "Cozy" and how we feel cozy reading)

t was a surprise to have snow this week, just when we moved from a winter theme, to dinosaurs. In class it has been a busy week exploring and digging into dino fun.

Literacy

We have taken a break from our letter of the week curriculum, and focused on writing letters for the past two weeks. During our literacy circle we are working on breaking down words to hear sounds in words. Our current goal is to hear the sound at the beginning of a word.

Math

We have been practicing writing our numbers. As part of our dinosaur unit we learned that dinosaurs come in various sizes. We measured the size of various dinosaurs using unifix cubes on Wednesday.

Science

Preschoolers love learning about dinosaurs. On Tuesday we learned that dinosaurs hatched from eggs. We worked to remove dinosaurs from frozen eggs.

Dinosaurs are a mystery from the past, so how do we learn about dinosaurs? Paleontologists search for bones, and reconstruct dinosaurs. In class we went on a search for dinosaur bones in our room. The preschoolers rebuilt their dinosaurs.

Paleontologists discover dinosaur bones, and some discover fossils. We learned about tools used to uncover fossils, and created salt-dough fossils in class on Friday.

Happy surprise snowy morning! We came in grinning and talking! Thank you for sending the homework books back. We read them together this morning, and filled out our reading logs. Please let us read them to you again tonight, and bring them back again. We could read the names of the animals around the maps, too, if you'll help us!

Oliver was our line leader and calendar fixer today. He led us to Chapel nearly first thing. Chaplain Aaron read a book to us called, You Matter. This story had many funny and creative twists in showing ways we matter. We liked telling each other, "You matter!" We liked telling passing teachers and our wonderful secretary and Chaplain Aaron, "You matter!" We liked getting permission to raise our voices so we could shout to the whole school, "You matter!" You know what, wonderful kindergarten families? "You matter!" too!

Oliver led us off to recess. We have early recess on Thursday mornings due to our Music schedule. Timing is everything! It meant that we were the very first class out into the fresh snow. We had so much fun! The snow was so light and fluffy that you could see through it where it was piled on the monkey bars. It wouldn't pack, but made a fine flurry of snow when we threw it up in the air! It was fun to throw on the slide and then slide down through it. It was perfect for snow angels. Our climbing ramp looked like a snowy mountain, and we went straight up to the top! We made tracks and trails, and then Oliver led us off to Music. We did leave a little snow for the next classes to play in!

Mrs. Snyder taught us a new song today, with a great math tie-in. It's called Ally Bally Bee, and it's about money! We also got to play the Valentine drop game, and sing the song with that. Mrs. Snyder is so considerate. She makes sure that we each have a turn!

We had outside snack, and it was snowing! Well, actually, it was just that the breeze came up and brought feathery fluffs of snow from the branches of the trees! While we were watching the fluffs, we saw a flock of robins flashing their red feathers through the branches. Robins in the snow! Watch out Winter, Spring is on the wing!

Oliver finally had a chance to adjust the calendar. He did it swiftly and well. Thanks, Oliver! Well done! Tomorrow is Free Choice Friday!

Our next book is about Abraham Lincoln, and we got a good start on gluing our pictures in. We worked on our journals next, with so many good ideas! There was time to make a birdseed cone to take home. We used just a bit of Crisco to bind the seeds to the cone. There's a ribbon to tie the cone on the branches at home, too. We hope the birds will like their treat!

In Spanish, we made books about our grandparents or our parents, as we chose. We worked hard to cut apart the pages and get them into order. Then we started to fill in the booklet. We had many questions about spelling names! Names are spelled in so many different ways. Here is a great chance, if you want, to help your child know how to spell family names.

"Zoom, zoom, zoom we're going to the moon!" We absolutely love this song and have been having a "BLAST" at school this week!

Here's what we have been up to:

-Letter Ii Review, how it looks, writes, sounds, and signs

-Super Sight Word to, as in "to infinity and beyond" have your kiddos look around for it and make simple sentences

-sp- blends space, spoon, spider, spark, etc.

-All About Number 11, tallies, number line, base ten+, number word

-Continued our addition unit with Rocket Addition

-We created our very own name rocket crafts, shining shooting stars, the moon, colorful planets, and a large splat paint galaxy.

-We made moon sand by mixing baking soda, water, glitter, and liquid watercolor/food color. We formed the moon sand into moon rocks and let them harden overnight. The next day we used squeeze bottles of vinegar to EXPLODE our moon rocks! Another wonderful acid/base reaction that ate away our moon rocks and turned them into a sparkly galaxy.

-We made a giant moon out of shaving cream, glue and glitter. Then we discussed that the moon does not have a protective atmosphere like that of the Earth, making it vulnerable to asteroids. We took our giant moon outside and pretended to be asteroids by throwing wiffle balls at our painting. After each throw we examined the damage and talked about how craters on the moon are formed in the same way. This was not only fun and messy, but was also a great gross motor activity!

-We had even more fun today during recess when we took turns shooting off a Stomp Rocket!

-We learned a lot by watching short videos on how astronauts eat, sleep, brush their teeth, and wash their hair in space. We were fascinated by these short videos.

Here is a little bit of what the Kindergarteners worked on this week:

In Reading, the students:

-read out loud this week’s group of Super Sight Words.

-worked on a George Washington poster.

-presented the poster to the class.

-built a sentence using scrambled words.

-worked on their Binder for Reading Comprehension pages.

-met with the teacher for one-on-one reading time.

In Math, the students:

-worked on Topic 8 (Addition) Assessment pages.

-counted and wrote numbers 18, 19 and 20.

-counted, wrote and drew tally marks to match the

number.

-used their own whiteboard to practice writing numbers.

In Writing, the students:

-brainstormed about which March weather they like and

why (lion weather or lamb weather)

-continued working on their rainy day stories.

Last week we enjoyed exploring outer space and learning more about our solar system and the eight planets. We also made a rocket scene using different shapes and colors. In math, I introduced measurement and used small cubes to measure different objects.

In writing, I asked the question: “If I went to space, I would…”

Dallas: "look for a big piece of chocolate floating around."

Dane: "go with Dillon to find aliens in outer space."

Dillon: "try to find aliens."

Finley: "play with Legos up there."

Gurnoor: "go to the moon to dig and ride the rover."

Lachlan: "go to the moon."

Leandra: "take Maya and Dane up to the solar system and see the moon."

Maya: "fly and race Leandra to the moon."

Norah: "go to the moon."

Quorra: "fly to the moon."

Lastly, as a class we are working on our social skills, following directions, and keeping our hands to ourselves. I introduced a reward jar to earn a pizza party and pajama day for our class. The children can earn a pom-pom to fill the jar when they are working together and following directions. Thank you for your support and helping your child be successful at school.

I’m getting hints of spring in the air and it is so exciting! The smell inspired me for this week’s grade 2-4 Question of the Day “What is your favorite smell?” I told students about mine, which is the smell of wet ground right after a rainfall, and it has a fancy name, petrichor! I loved hearing student’s answers-- a lot of them made me hungry, since a number of students like the smell of fresh brownies and French fries cooking! There was at least one student in every class that would work up the nerve to confess that they like the smell of gasoline, and then we’d have a frenzy of agreement on liking such a weird smell (I like it, too!).

While library is of course about literacy, and learning about other cultures and the world, it is also about building community as a class and school, and the Question of the Day prompts a lot of great conversation and bonding. I have so much fun getting to know your students this way!

In grade 2-4 library we have been learning about Chinese New Year, Black history month, and the Iditarod, and had a refresher on the parts of a book, proper book care, story maps, and nonfiction text features. For Valentine’s Day the students wrote a love letter to their favorite book or author, and I have absolutely adored reading their responses!

For middle school library, we continue to have a weekly rotation on Wednesdays for students to come check out books. I am really enjoying seeing the middle schoolers each week. We just started a voluntary Book Review form, which I will turn into a display on the third floor once I have enough. I love seeing the enthusiasm our students have for reading and for sharing their favorite books with others.

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Samuel

What did the tree say to Spring?

What a re-leaf!

Please join us for an auction meeting this Wednesday after drop off in the Chapel at Markell Hall.

Do you want to attend the auction March 26th?

We have seats available, so please let us know if you are interested in attending our new date!

email inquiries to: auction@thefranklin.academy

Ongoing Auction Help:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/auction3-26-2022workparty

Thanks,

Emily

March greeters:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0c45a8ab2da5fa7-morning3

Auction help:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/auction3-26-2022workparty

We started our week on 2-22-22 with a TWOsday celebration! We wrote our date, counted by twos, read the book Two of Everything, made time capsules (look for your kiddo's in their backpack today), and we had a lot of fun seeing what we could build with 22 items in 22 seconds and in 2 minutes. We ended our super fun day by making TWOsday crowns and doing a fun 2 minute and 22 second dance party!

We focused on our biographies of famous people this week. We finished up Abraham Lincoln by making an Abe Lincoln book and doing some writing about him. We wrote that he is best known for being president during the Civil War and wearing a tall hat. We learned that Clara Barton was a humanitarian and helped as a nurse during the Civil War, then she later started the American Red Cross. We ended the week with our George Washington magazine, book, and art project. We even threw in a little Van Gogh for fun since Dylan went to the Van Gogh exhibit in Seattle last weekend and wanted to share.

In math we are almost done with our teen numbers unit. We will be taking our math test next Thursday. Some of our kiddos are struggling to count our groups of objects over 10. If you have time this weekend, let your kiddo count coins (or buttons or beans, etc...) up to 20.

Last week was a short week but a busy one. We have been working on rhyming words, writing the letters in our name, creating our own Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Trees, singing, dancing, playing in the snow and I finished assessing all the children on Friday, Preschool is so much fun especially when music and rhyme sticks are part of our day. Below are pictures of some of the fun.

Next week is Reading Week. I started to introduce the week by reading one of Jan Brett's books "The Hat'. The children loved the book and at the end the Hedgehog laughs when he sees the animals wearing clothes and says, "Animals don't wear clothes'. Lukas looked at me and said, "We are animals and we wear clothes". He was right and we all laughed. After we finished the book the class decided to use "the Hat" to decorate our door. Wait until you see what we have come up with. Enjoy the pictures. See you tomorrow. Love, Mrs. Ho

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree. We painted it and then the children wrote the letters to their name on coconuts and glued them on the tree.

On Thursday we work up to Snow! We just had to go out and play in it.

In this fantastic Ceramic Owl's art project, we made clay owls with a variety of textures, and colors. Our creative kids had fun learning how to roll out the clay into slabs, draw and cut out the bird shapes, using clay tools to add textures of feathers and wings. We make triangles for beaks, & rolled out balls of clay to attach with the score and slip method. The clay balls become the big owl eyes. All the colors we added were with a new and fun technique of using oil pastels, then brushing an ink wash, and painting a super glossy top coat to make them shine like the stars at night! #BeKindLetsShine ~ Miss Rachel Simpson

We wanted to send a reminder that all PE shirts and uniform sales are made via the link below through PALS, with all payments being made online rather than through either front desk at Robin or Markell.

https://tfa-pals-store.square.site

Anything purchased will be delivered to your child's classroom. As a reminder, the used uniforms can vary in size due to wear and shrinkage, so it's best to come in and try them on. We are working to add more uniform store availability for working families, hopefully in the evenings (by appointment).

If you shop at Amazon.com, this is a great opportunity to raise money for Franklin Academy. Sign up at Amazon Smile and 0.5% of your purchase price will go towards the FA Annual Fund. Here’s how:

1. Go to Amazon Smile

2. In the “pick your own charitable organization” box type in Franklin Preschool

3. Click on the Bellingham Franklin Academy (may still be listed under St. Paul’s Episcopal School through the summer)

4. Very Important! Please make sure whenever you shop on Amazon you go to the Amazon Smile webpage. If you shop on Amazon.com we won’t receive the donation.

Website: https://thefranklin.academy/
Location: 1509 East Victor Street, Bellingham, WA, USA
Phone: (360) 733-1750
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FranklinAcademyBellingham/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel&eid=ARBJZqnuWM2fzJSJOXO6X6qVO60w_ijnQdCgtmUFYZCSwnd0NO7wI_Jgq5_odVo2A3bLV76Yg91UH5TB

Melanie Hurley, Associate Head of School, mhurley@thefranklin.academy

Dawn Regier, Administrative Assistant Markell Hall, dregier@thefranklin.academy

Rachel Lee, Administrative Assistant Robin Hall, rlee@thefranklin.academy

Natalie Bennett, Admissions Director, nbennett@thefranklin.academy

PALS (Parents Actively Lending Support) pals@thefranklin.academy

After School Care Supervisor Violet Lord vlord@thefranklin.academy