I wanted to take a minute and thank all of our families who were able to come out for Back to School Night this week. It's such an important night for you to connect with your child's teachers and set the tone for the year. I've included a copy if the presentation I gave below for your reference. I've also included a link to an interesting article about parent stress below that was shared with me. This articles ties into the work we are doing as a staff around the book, The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt.
As i mentioned in a previous bulletin, Mrs. Dickman has been covering in Art. I've hired a new teacher to begin next week. Mrs. Jacqueline Lovelace will begin next week. She comes with as a professional artist and teacher. In addition, Mrs. Lovelace has worked with students with learning challenges in her past roles. She and Mrs. Dickman will work together for a couple of weeks to ensure a smooth transition. Please join me in welcoming Mrs. Lovelace to the Banyan family.
I'm going to try and keep this bulletin updated with some upcoming events for the next several weeks to keep families in the loop about activities at Banyan. Please make sure to look below for the following:
- Book Fair: our PTO sponsors this event to purchase books. There is information in the PTO section of the newsletter, as well as a schedule of when your child will attend. They will go with their reading teacher on the designated schedule.
- Parent to Parent Meeting: please come out for this support meeting where families from both the elementary and high school get together to share experiences and support each other through the challenges of parenting children, and in particular, children with special needs.
- Respect and Peace Week: these weeks are held in schools each October across NJ. I've listed some spirit days below for Spirit Week, as well as an assembly on the October calendar. In addition, Ms. Mary, our school counselor, has planned some activities for the students to engage in during this weeks to promote these concepts.
- Haunted Hallways: our High School does this as a fundraiser for their senior class. Check out the flyer and participate if you can for some fun Halloween activities.
- Trunk or Treat: the way we celebrate Halloween at Banyan. Please see the section below for more information.
- Golf Classic: one of the two major fundraisers for our school as part of our development office. Please see the information below.
- Various community announcements that may pertain to your particular situation. Please read each item for more information.
For some of our new families, they may have been eligible for free and reduced lunch in their home district. If this is a need in your household, please reach out to me at rlieberman@banyanschool.org.
Last week, we sent out the Family Life Parent Letter for our 6th - 8th Grade Families. I've included a copy of the letter below so parents can learn more about this important program to educate our students.
If you don't receive this bulletin via two emails please make sure to email our amazing front office administrative assistant, Mrs. Giuliano, at dgiuliano@banyanschool.org to let her know. This verification is crucial so we know that we have accurate email addresses to contact you in case of a need for emergency information.
As a reminder, please make sure to review our website at https://banyanschool.org/. The calendar lists our events for the year and gets updated as things change. In addition, the "Parents" tab lists standard and novel documents so that parents can access this information at all times.
Please see the picture and attachment below for the recent PTO newsletter that was sent out. Go to the attachment to be able to click on the links. Any questions, email Banyanpto@gmail.com.
We are so excited for this year's Scholastic Book Fair! Thank you all for your interest in volunteering. We are still needing help during the Book fair Oct 14 - Oct 16, 2024. Let's make this a great success together for our teachers and children! Please click here to VOLUNTEER!
We are also using EWallet again this year. You can set it up starting Monday September 23rd through October 16th. We will also be accepting cash and checks. For more information on EWallet you can visit our Scholastic website at https://www.scholastic.com/bf/banyanschool
Mary Hosford is the Book Fair chair so if you have any questions you can reach out to her, cell: (646) 541-4379 email: mcwatsonh@gmail.com
First PTO meeting of the year is Monday Sept. 23 @ 8p.m. Hope to see you there! Here's the link to the zoom meeting and other information...
Meeting ID: 819 1717 3489
Passcode: 419753
In the afternoon of 10/31, we will do a trunk or treat from 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM. The children will change into their costumes after lunch. Please make sure that masks and weapons are not included in the costumes.
We need parent volunteers to provide the trunks - if you are available, please email me at rlieberman@banyanschool.org. Parents can come between 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM to set up their trunks. The nurses have created a list of safe candy to distribute listed below. Students will be guided by their teachers in small groups, and we will have the students come out in small shifts to prevent crowding.
On that day, we are asking all staff and parents to park only in the designated rows so that our children can move from car to car without leaving our designated "safety circle," which will have all cars parked facing away from each other, and trunks facing in.
As your view our parking lot, we will ask that no one park in the row closest to the building. All should park in either Row 2 or Row 3 as pictured below, filling in the spaces from right to left, creating a safe area in which the children can circulate:
Row 3 - Faces tress and Hollywood Avenue
Row 2 - Faces building
Row 1 - Closest to building, should remain empty
(a diagram is listed below)
Following the Trunk or Treat, the children will re-enter the building for small group activities in their homerooms. Parents who wish to take their children home early should sign them out in the office.
Thanks in advance for your cooperation! We look forward to seeing those of you who can join us, and wish you all a safe and happy Halloween!
Happy Birthday to our Friends celebrating their birthday in September and October
September 1st - Valentina
September 3rd - Bella H
September 4th - Henry
September 7th - Riley
September 13th - Zach, Joey, Isaiah
September 14th - Jessica
September 20th - Oliver
September 29th - Alexander S
September 30th - Soludo
October 2nd - Grace L
October 3rd - Amy
October 5th - Elliot
October 7th - Angelina
October 21st - Akin
October 23rd - Finn
October 24th - Theo
October 29th - Efe
October 30th - Ziya
Banyan Elementary School Contact Information
Email: rlieberman@banyanschool.org
Website: https://banyanschool.org
Location: 12 Hollywood Avenue, Fairfield, NJ, USA
Phone: (973) 439-1919
Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063632976200