The Bee's Knees

It is hard to believe that registration for the 23-24 school year begins next week. I am very excited that our morning students will attend Tuesday through Friday, and our afternoon students will attend Monday through Friday. We remain limited on when students are able to attend. All of our three-year-old students will continue to attend the morning session next year and all of our four and five-year-old students will attend our afternoon session. There are two reasons why we do not offer classes for three-year-old students in the afternoon. The primary reason is that we just do not have enough classrooms. We have twenty-one classrooms, and we need every single one for the all of kindergarten-bound students we have. Secondly, many three olds still nap. With a three-hour instructional day, we do not have time for naps!

As I indicated in my email, I believe this is just the first step in a larger plan to provide more preschool options for our families. I have had several meetings with Dr. Tormala, our superintendent, and she is a staunch advocate of early education. I am excited for next year and what lies beyond for early education in the WSD!

Sincerely,
Kevin Garcia
Principal

Feb. 13 - Re-Enrollment for 2023-2024 Opens
Feb. 13 - Everything Bundt Cakes Pick Up 11:30 - 5:00

Feb. 20 - No School PK-12, Presidents Day

Feb. 21- BEC PTO Fundraiser Chick-fil-A Dine Out @ New Hawk Ridge (Lake St. Louis) &
Wentzville locations 6:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

Feb. 21 - No School PK-12, PD Day
Feb. 27 - Open Enrollment for 2023-2024
March 2 - BEC PTO Meeting 6:00
March 20-24 Spring Break

After a two-year hiatus, the BEC Annual Chili Cook returned. Fifteen BEC staffers brought their best Chili recipes. Kay Bragga's chili was voted the best and she was crowned the 22-23 BEC Chili Cook-Off Champion. She won the coveted Golden Ladle, which can be found proudly displayed in her classroom (and not in the bottom of her file cabinet)! It was very nice to gather and enjoy lunch as a faculty. This was just one of many events returning this year, as we continue to "return to normal".

Dental Screening

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has a program in which a dental hygienist will come to Barfield to do a dental screening. They will be here in March for the screening. A consent form will be going home with your child for you to sign if you would like them to participate. Please be aware that this does not replace a regular dental check-up. If you have any questions please email sheilamcalister@wsdr4.org or jacquelinepage@wsdr4.org.

Kindergarten Immunizations:

If your child is going to be attending Kindergarten next year, please feel free to send us your child's updated immunizations. We will be sending home information in the future to let you know what immunizations, if any, your child needs.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

636-561-5757 ext. 19233

sheilamcalister@wsdr4.org

jacquelinepage@wsdr4.org

WSD Parents as Teachers February Newsletter

The Nothing Bundt Cakes fundraiser was a huge success! Thank everyone that purchased cakes! You can pick up your orders this Monday, Feb. 13, from 11:30 to 5:00.

The BEC PTO has invited the School Board candidates to speak at the March 2nd PTO meeting. Several of the candidates will be attending after a meeting at the Wentzville Middle School. Please join us to meet the candidates!

Please do not move the cones on the parking lot. We block the road that loops around the back of the school because sometimes classes take nature walks or play outside the fence. Please remain staged at the cones until Allana moves the cones.

We begin preparing our students for kindergarten the first day they attend Barfield. It is fair to say that our overall goal for our AM students is to teach them "how" to be students. Our AM friends have to learn to take turns, sit at circle or at center for up to 15 minutes, walk in a line, not take toys or markers from classmates, just to name a few school readiness skills they will need to be successful in kindergarten. Notice that none of those skills are curricular or content driven. Our focus shifts for our PM students. Lessons are content driven and a greater focus is placed on academics. But we still mindful of preparing our students for the transition to Kindergarten. Ms. Vickie, our PM librarian, has begun teaching the students how to input their student ID to check out books. This is a very useful skill because elementary students key in their IDs in the library as well as the cafeteria!

Those that know me, know that I am not a big fan of texting. I do text families about school events or late buses. I believe the texts are well received. I just wanted our families and staff to know that I am limited to 140 characters in a text message. I try my best to communicate the message clearly, in the fewest amount of characters possible. If you are not receiving texts from me, it is possible that you texted STOP to a previous text from me or any other WSD school. Doing so, opted you out of ALL texts sent by a WSD sender. If you would like to once again receive texts or if you have questions about a text please call the office.

Thank you.
Kevin Garcia
Principal

The Barfield Early Childhood Special Education Center of the Wentzville School District is an integrated preschool in which children with disabilities participate in classes with their typically developing peers. We believe that all children benefit when educated in an inclusive environment, regardless of their ability. It is through these interactions that children learn to accept differences, but more importantly, learn to recognize and appreciate similarities.

Email: kevingarcia@wsdr4.org
Website: https://www.wentzville.k12.mo.us/bec
Location: 2025 Hanley Road, Dardenne Prairie, MO, USA
Phone: 636 561-5757