We are registering incoming TK and Kinder students starting next week! Please call the school office if you have any questions!

Please help us improve our programs! We need your feedback.

As a kid, I loved the month of February! Aside from Groundhog’s Day and my birthday, it was the month of Valentine's! When we were young, my mom always had us make valentines for our classmates. Doilies, construction paper, glitter, and glue would cover our kitchen bar as my sister and I cut out hearts and made intricate Valentine's creations! I remember the sense of pride I felt bringing my works of art to school. My teachers always oohed and awed over the glittered hearts as I inadvertently showered their classrooms with sparkles!

Valentines, though, also meant having to work in my dad’s flower shop. Valentine's Day was big business and meant all hands on deck! Hundreds of dozens of roses would be delivered Valentine's week, and each rose had to be scraped of leaves and thorns. Sitting in the back of my dad’s shop, I would scrape thorns from roses, one at a time. It was tedious work– and, aside from the radio, it was boring work, but it had to be done. I remember scrapping as fast as I could and barely keeping up with the designers as they made their beautiful arrangements for the big day!

Working in the flower shop taught me the meaning of hard work. It taught me that sometimes the tedious and monotonous jobs are the most important. It also taught me the value of earning a dollar and that the people working in the background, the ones that you do not see, are some of the hardest-working people in the company.

Schools, I have learned, are a lot like flower shops. There is a lot of work happening in the backroom to ensure that our programs are exemplary. From the office preparing for registration, the teachers planning lessons and planning for valentines, the kitchen staff preparing 1000's of meals a week, the compliance person working on the countless state reports, and the custodians patching up leaks and keeping our facility clean, everyone's efforts are helping us maintain a sense of normalcy on our campus.

Speaking of hard work– our students and teachers have diligently been preparing for the state exams this year that will take place this Spring. We are working on concepts, analyzing past scores, and ensuring that all students have what they need before starting state testing! We know that our students will take what they have learned and do their best on their tests!

But the lives of our students are much more than test scores and grades. We know that students succeed best when they feel safe, loved, and supported. Hopefully, the success students feel academically, socially, and emotionally throughout their school years continues as they leave our classrooms each day and live as positive citizens in our community.

With that in mind, we’re going to work hard to do well on our State Exams. We’re going to make our Valentines and use lots of glitter and glue, and we’re going to try to recognize all of those who work hard each day to make our school district a wonderful place to be.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Dr. Pearlman

It's time for girls basketball! 5th-8th graders, please get your permission forms from Mrs. Lorentz. Practice starting the week of February 3.

Feb.3rd- Registration opens for 2025-2026

Feb 3rd - Parent, Faculty Association (PFA / DLAC / LCAP) 5 PM

Feb 5th - Family Science Night 5 PM - 6:30 PM

Feb 10th – No School

Feb 14th – Valentine’s Day

Feb 17th – President’s Day – No School

Feb 21 - Early Release

Feb. 28 - Report Cards go home

March 2-6 - Read Across America Day

March 3-7th School Read a thon

March 6 - Mustang Award Assemblies

March 10-14- Spring Break

Next Meeting: February 3rd

5:00 p.m.

Please join us at our monthly parent and staff meeting!

Having integrity means doing the right thing in a reliable way. It's a personality trait that we admire since it means a person has a moral compass that doesn't waver. It means having "wholeness" of character, just as an integer is a "whole number" with no fractions. Physical objects can display integrity, too — if you're going over a rickety old bridge that sways in the wind, you might question its structural integrity

Transitional kindergarten (TK) bridges the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten years. It is the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that has been implemented in California for children who are not old enough yet for kindergarten but want to build their social, developmental, and academic skills.

TK classrooms are taught by a multiple-subject credentialed teacher and the TK curriculum is based on the California Preschool Learning Foundations and the Kindergarten Common Core Standards. TK is offered at select BUSD Early Education Schools and elementary schools.

According to a new state law, more children will be eligible for TK this school year!

For the 2025-2026 school year, TK is for students who will be turning age four (4) by September 1st.(California law requires that children be age 5 on or before September 1 of the school year to be eligible for kindergarten and age 6 on or before September 1 of the school year to be eligible for first grade.) See the age chart below.

Students who complete TK will be required to apply for kindergarten the following year.

Interested parents should contact the Banta school office (209) 229-4650 or the Banta District Office (209)229-4651 for information on registration. Registration forms will also be available by February 3rd on the district webpage. https://bantaesd.sharpschool.net/

Halfway through the school year, our readers here at Banta are going strong! We have recently started a lot of exciting things. We have our monthly reading challenge and Accelerated Reading class competition for our upper grades, and we just started a new Reading Challenge with the Stockton Ports. Lots of prizes and incentives to keep each student reading, so be sure to encourage them to read every day.

In January, we had Splash from the Stockton Ports visit us and had our annual snowball fight in the library. Students of all ages had fun, and even the staff had fun with them. We also read some playful books: “The Yawns Are Coming” and “Don’t Eat Bees” were a few favorites. Upper grades listened to “The One Thing I’d Save and got to discuss what item they would save if all else were lost. A very thought-provoking discussion followed.

February will bring lots of fun, and I hope lots of laughs. We recently got a Donors Choose project funded that is bringing marble runs, magnetic building tiles, and legos to the library so kids will get to play, explore, and learn to tie imaginative creations with the stories they hear.

The highlight of the month will be an Alice in Wonderland tea party! February 3-7, during their library visit, kids will get to try surprise desserts and a variety of teas and enjoy some fun crafts and games. Parents are welcome to send tea party-themed snacks (no nuts) to their students' classes (please speak with the teacher to make arrangements). I also encourage all kids to dress up for this themed party.

-Mrs Eichele

Banta Nutrition Services is dedicated to serving your students healthy breakfast, lunch, snack and supper options every school day. We would like to remind you that Banta Nutrition Services is committed to 40% scratch cooking for our 24-25 school year. Some of your students favorite scratch meals are chicken alfredo, beefy mac & cheese and teriyaki chicken. What is your student's favorite? For fun, in February, we will be offering Gametime nachos to kick off SuperBowl weekend and heart shaped chicken nuggets and crackers for Valentine's Day. Our nutrition team is committed to preparing and serving healthy meals with a smile.

If there is an item you would like to see on the menu or your student has a favorite, we would love to hear from you. Please send an email to our Food Service Director, Jamie Anderson, at Jaanderson@bantasd.org.

Happy 2025! We hope the start to this year has been refreshing (aside from our germy friends ). We know that you consistently put your student’s safety first, which is why we are sharing updated information on vaccines. Prior to 7th grade entry California law, Health and Safety Code 120325-129375 requires that your 6th grader must receive a Tdap booster vaccine. By law, schools are required to collect vaccines information, monitor immunizations, and enforce vaccine requirements for school. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) annually audits school districts immunization rates and records.

Additionally, the California Health and Safety Code recommends that pupils are fully immunized against human papillomavirus (HPV) before admission or advancement to the eighth-grade level of any private or public elementary or secondary school.

What we know about HPV.

• HPV may be contracted via skin-to-skin contact and transmission increases with direct mucus membrane contact (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2023).
• HPV has been directly linked to head, neck, larynx, and throat cancer and cervical cancer (Mount Sinai, 2022) and causes nearly 50,000 incidences of cancer annually.
• The HPV vaccine is 97% effective in preventing HPV related cancers (National Institutes of Health, 2022).
• Thirteen percent of 10 year olds have already been infected with HPV.

Given that 10% of 13 year olds are infected with HPV, children ages 11–12 years should get two doses of HPV vaccine, given 6 to 12 months apart. HPV vaccines can be given starting at age 9 years. Talk with your healthcare provider or school nurse if you have additional questions.

If we do not have documentation of the Tdap immunization (mandatory for 7th grade enrollment), unfortunately, we will not be able to place your student on a class list come the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Please note, there have been no extensions granted by the state due to COVID-19 and the TDAP requirement remains in place. If your child is missing their second varicella, they will also be excluded until second dose is administered.

Please provide proof of your child’s Tdap immunization to the school no later than June 2, 2025. Our school nurse will be offering a free Tdap vaccine event in April for students age 10 and up. Be on the lookout for more information as the date gets closer.

Some exciting news! Community Medical Center’s Dental program will be providing free oral health screenings and education to all students in February! They will be on site February 18th, 20th, and 25th. This event is a passive consent. Flyers will be sent home with more information. If you do not want your student to receive the screening, you must provide written documentation to the front office. Again, all students will be screened and educated on dental health UNLESS you inform the front office in writing that you do not want your student included. Please reach out to Nurse Maddie for further questions at maguilera@sjcoe.net.

May everyone’s 2025 be full of good health, kindness, and be reinvigorating. Go Mustangs!

As your student prepares to enter 7th grade in the upcoming school year, it is important that they are up to date on all of their immunizations. As required by the state of California, your child will need to provide proof to the school that they have received their Tdap Booster immunization prior to entry into 7th grade.

If we do not have documentation of this immunization, unfortunately, we will not be able to place your child on a class list come the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Please note that there have been no extensions granted by the state due to COVID-19, and the TDAP requirement remains in place.

Please provide proof of your child’s Tdap immunization to the school no later than June 2, 2025.

Consistent with Federal and State regulations, the Banta Unified School District engages in ongoing “Child Find” services to locate, identify, and evaluate all students with disabilities residing within its jurisdiction. We will provide appropriate special education services to students who qualify. If you know of a child who is 2 through 21 years of age who may have individual needs that result from disabilities or developmental delays, and who is not enrolled in a school program, please contact Danyelle Gonzalez, Director of Special Education, at (209) 229-4650.