Bobcat Blast

Dear Bethany Families,

It's been a fun week of after school events; Clubs, Choir, Garden Party, Roadside clean-up, Jog-a-thon prizes, and more to come! Our school raised over $58,000 and on Friday we will celebrate with a "Shark Race" for all of the kids to watch and cheer. We will be sure to send out a video on Instagram!

THANK YOU to the volunteers who helped clean up 174th Ave and the Garden Party yesterday! We collected four full and heavy bags full of trash and even some car parts. 🤪

On Wednesday, Bethany participated in our Districtwide "Great Shakeout" to practice Earthquake preparedness. Students practiced "Drop, Cover, and Hold" and then we evacuated the building which counts as our October Fire Drill. The students did a great job!

Looking ahead, next week the 5th Grade students and families are hosting the longstanding Bethany Tradition of the Haunted Hallway and Fall Carnival. The spooky aspects of the evening will be held in the A-wing of the building, separate from the rest of the activities. Families can choose to participate in all or some of the events at your comfort level. Costumes are welcome at the evening event. We do not celebrate Halloween at school, so we will not have costumes during the school day. Thank you!

My weekend homework for everyone is to enjoy the Fall colors. The trees around the neighborhood are so gorgeous right now. 🍂 🍁 🧡

With gratitude,

Ms. Rosenquist 🌹

October

• 24 - World Dwarfism Awareness, Wear Green
• 24 - Haunted Hallway, 5:30pm
• 25 - Grading Day - No School

November

• 6 - PTO Meeting on Zoom, 7:00pm
• 7 - National Microtia Awareness, wear baby blue
• 11 - No School, Holiday
• 12-14 - School Book Fair
• 13 - Fall Conferences, There is School
• 14 - Fall Conferences, All Day. No School
• 15 - Teacher Work Day - No School
• 25-29, Holiday Break, No School
• 29 - Westview Trunk or Treat, 5:30

Watch for an email from your teachers about setting up times for Conferences in the next few weeks.

Click on the Link Below for the full school year calendar

Hello! We are the Worsham family and our son Julian is in 4th Grade this year at Bethany Elementary.

You might notice Julian is quite a bit smaller than the average 9-10 year old and that’s because he has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. Simply put, Julian’s bones grow much slower than the average child. He is just like his 9-10 year old peers in every way, except he’s just small, that’s all!

Some of the most common ways we explain Julian’s differences to children are:

• Julian is smaller because his bones grow slower

• Julian is not a baby, he’s just like you, just small, that’s all.

• Julian is super smart with a big brain that’s why his head is a little larger.

• Julian can do anything you can, even though he is shorter. Sometimes he does things a little different with the help of step stools or it might take him a little longer to get somewhere because his legs are shorter. But he can do it!

We have learned so much about achondroplasia since having Julian and we know sometimes children can be very curious and that is ok. Please click on the link below for more information about Julian.

Westview’s Manufacturing program is continually looking for ideas and projects that students can produce as part of their CTE (Career Technical Engineering)program and manufacturing student business.

This incredible group of highschool students, led by teacher Furl Kamakaala, created 4 customized foot stools for fourth grader Julian. His mom, Heather Worsham, contacted Furl over the summer to see if this was something his students could build.

We were all impressed by the result and the Westview seniors were proud to help a student in their community!

If you or someone you know has a need for a customized furniture project, please reach out to Furl at furl_kamakaala@beaverton.k12.or.us to discuss your idea and need.

A Fun Opportunity: Last year, several of our classrooms designed Kindness Stickers. These stickers are now available on Starbucks cups at the Bethany Village QFC.

You might want to check it out and see if you get your student's design. We would love to see your photos, so please share them with us. Additionally, you can send your picture via direct message on the Beavertonsd or Bethanyelementarybsd Instagram accounts.

Beaverton students in grades 6-12 have the opportunity to investigate the learning option that best fits their academic needs. Students can choose their neighborhood school, or one of Learning Option schools.

The Option school lottery window is just around the corner for the 2025-26 school year! The District will be accepting applications beginning this coming Monday, October 14 through Friday, December 13.

The Application and Details about the Option schools/programs can be found on the Options webpage.

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Don't forget to sign your 5th grader up to participate in the Haunted Hallway by filling out this Google form! Google form link: https://forms.gle/ee67P1DyaoUsyjQM7

We are still accepting donations for the raffle! Reach out to Jami Hayes with items to donate, or if you have any questions. jamiryan79@yahoo.com

We have an FAQ sheet here to answer any initial questions you may have.

Parent volunteer sign ups were sent out on Monday!

The competition at Bethany will start after Winter break. I will communicate the schedule to parents of registered students(from the Google form) in January. We will aim to determine the school's winner by the end of February. The winning team from Bethany will compete at one of the Regional Tournament that happens March 1 through March 22, 2025.

OBOB State Tournament: April 12, 2025, at

Chemeketa Community College,
Salem, OR

For 2024-25 OBOB book list, more information about OBOB, and other resources click below:

If you were not able to attend the PTO meeting on Wednesday, October 9th, here are the Minutes: The Slide Deck is linked within the minutes.

Oct. 9th Minutes

We are looking for a volunteer to lead the future walking school bus from George W Otten park to Bethany Elementary School! The Safe Route office already mapped the route for us. The "bus" lead will bring the students to walk to school every Wednesday. We can also do it more often if possible. Parent volunteers can take turns to lead as well.

Other routes are possible if we have volunteers to propose and willing to lead.

Why join?

A Walking School Bus is a group of students led by an adult volunteer. Join the Walking School Bus to boost your child's physical and mental health with daily exercise, fresh air, and social connections. It's a great way to reduce pollution, make school routes safer, and help your child arrive at school feeling refreshed, ready to learn, and equipped with essential safety and navigational skills.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I sometimes cannot check emails quickly, so please feel free to text or call me at 206-419-1899. Thank you!!!

Best,

Yingying

In October or November, all 3rd grade students in Beaverton will be administered the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Screener. This 30-minute test measures students’ learned reasoning abilities through verbal/picture analogies, number analogies and figure matrices. Families whose student scores in the 90th percentile or above on the CogAT screener will be notified and invited to give permission for their students to take the remainder of the test. There will be post-screener testing and full CogAT testing happening in elementary schools up until winter break. For more information about testing, please contact your school’s TAG facilitator. If you would like to read more about the CogAT for students older than 2nd grade, click here.

If your student is on vacation or ill during the 3rd grade screener, we will not be able to accommodate a testing session in advance. When you return, check in with the building TAG Facilitators to see if there is an easy way to add your student to a future testing session.

If your 4th or 5th grade student did not attend a Beaverton school in 3rd grade, or missed the screener for whatever reason, you can tell your student’s classroom teacher that you would like your child to be tested. Students cannot be tested with the CogAT in consecutive years. For example, a 4th grader cannot take the CogAT if they took the screener in 3rd grade.

Parents of 5th grade students, whose students did not take the CogAT as 4th graders, who would like to request their children take the CogAT again can fill out this google form. Parents need to sign up on the google form at least 5 days before the testing is scheduled to happen at their specific school.

Bin is locatedd at the entrance of Bethany.

During the year we will have different outside organizations offer classes after school at Bethany. We will put a link to their fliers in the Bobcat Blast. You can also find them on the Bethany website. (Click on the Bethany Drop-Down)

After School Classes

We want to thank all of our parents who have signed up in the new volunteer system. If you still need to sign-up please use the link below.

Volunteer Information and Application

You will not find a school supply list for Bethany. Rather than every family having to do their own shopping, we collect money for supplies. We began this a few years ago and it has worked well. This year we are asking for a donation of $35.00 per student.

These donations are flexible, and confidential--only the office knows who donates and how much.

We understand that some families are not able to afford the cost of supplies. All children will receive the same supplies, regardless if they are able to contribute towards the cost. Some families may be in the position to make an extra donation towards helping others. If you would like to help by giving extra money, please click on the "Donations" tab that appears on your child's grade level page.

Instructions for Online Payment System

Bethany Elementary

Email: BTHY-Communications@beaverton.k12.or.us

• School Office Hours: 7:15am - 3:30pm

School Hours: 7:45am - 2:20pm

Phone: 503-356-2030

Attendance Line: Call the school number and push 1 when prompted for Attendance
Website: https://bethany.beaverton.k12.or.us/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethanyBSD

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethanyelementarybsd/