Bethel the Beautiful

Thanks to all the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and caregivers that take such good care of our Bethel students! You all are a blessing and we hope you have the most wonderful Mother's Day on record!!

Thanks for all the love and well wishes that were shown last week to our staff during Teacher Appreciation Week! We all know how blessed we are with the best students and families around! Thanks again!!

It's so hard to believe we are down to our last three weeks of school. With testing and the many exciting things happening during this time of year, please talk to your children about being on their very best behavior and doing their best these last few days so they can enjoy all the fun things coming their way! Thanks!!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B45ABAE28A2FCC07-56171716-books#/

May 12 -13

Books on Break is an exciting event where every one of our BES students get to take home 10 free books!! That's over 5,500 books that will be checked in, unboxed and organized. This is why we could use your help! Please consider signing up at the link found above. Thanks to Mrs. Haas for organizing this event for us!! Thank you!!

This year, students in grades K-4 will get to join our Read to Achieve & Bethel Boost Camp! K-4 will be receiving reading instruction and grade 4 will also receive math. These are students that need a little BOOST to get them ready for the next grade level. If a 3rd or 4th grader doesn't pass their EOG test, they will be invited to attend as well. The RTA (Read to Achieve) camp is for our K-3rd grade students. We sent out invitations last week. Breakfast and lunch are free and included and there will be bus transportation at community stops. Students would attend Monday-Friday 8:00 am -1:15 pm and the dates are June 10-June 30.

May 16- May 30

Our End of Grades Test for grades 3-5 will be the last 10 days of school. We will begin with 5th grade taking Science on Friday, May 16th. The following week, May 20th students in grades 3-5 will take their reading test and on Thursday, May 22nd, those grades will take their math. Students that test over days will test on the days in between.

May 16 - Science EOG - 5th Grade only

May 19- Science EOG - 5th Grade only for students that take it over two days

May 20- Reading- all 3rd-5th Grade students

May 21- Reading- 3rd-5th Grade students that take it over two days

May 22- Math- all 3rd - 5th Grade students

May 23- Math- 3rd-5th Grade students that take it over two days

Also, our K-2 Math Assessments will be during the last ten days of school. Students will be assessing in small groups or individually, depending on their grade level.

Important Reminders:

It is imperative that your child be here on those days. Students should be well rested, on time, and eat a healthy breakfast. Our cafeteria will be open at 7:15 am. Please mark your calendars and make sure students are present and discuss using their strategies and having great stamina so they do their best and can attend the EOG BASH! (see info below) for grades 3-5 and inflatables at BES for our K-2 students.

RETESTING:

In years past, some of our students needed to retest to get the few extra points to pass. We will definitely keep families posted. We are working on our retesting plan and will let families know if your child needs to retest. See more information below. ⏬

Our third - fifth grade students and teachers have been working so hard! I couldn't be more proud of their efforts these past few weeks. I know it will pay off at the end of the year when they take their tests! Some of our students may need a second chance at taking the test in order to pass. We want them to leave this grade feeling successful and will give them an opportunity to retake it. For students that just had a bad hair day, and to the ones that may need a little more instruction and remediation, we will retest all students that we feel can pass. Some students will take their retakes the week of June 2nd, while others will retest at the end of Bethel Boost camp at the end of June. We will contact all families about the tests after students have completed all their exams. We just wanted to give everyone another heads up!

3rd-5th Grades- Students that use their testing strategies and do their non-negotiables, performing their very best on their EOG tests, will attend an event at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Permission slips will be sent home once EOGs are completed. Students must be here on time each day of testing to attend the trip. There will be a permission slip that will go home with students that qualify. Teachers have let families know what their testing non-negotiables are.

Your kindergarten -second graders have been working so very hard too on their assessments! They will get to have fun on the inflatables that are coming to school on Wednesday, May 28th!

Again next school year, I won't be taking teacher requests, but if there is a teacher that you have a valid reason why you don't think your child should be in their class, you can send me an email or drop off a handwritten note. I will be starting to put students in classrooms for the 2025-26 school year the first week of June, so all notes to me need to be turned in by Monday, June 2nd to be considered. Thanks!

This summer, we will be again offering Summer Latchkey Camp for parents that need to work and don't have child care. You may get an application in the office from Mrs. Sherry, or you can print one from the link below. The application must be filled out completely prior to a child beginning in June.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qHz-AOnR2rgb_A-MLvDihPqFFA8cwWJyznzCMQIkH0Q/edit?tab=t.0

We had an amazing crop of kindergarteners sign up for kindergarten registration! If you know of any kindergartener that hasn't registered yet, please have them come by the school to register. They will need their driver's license, proof of residency, and the child's birth certificate. Have them call the school at 828-646-3448 if they have any questions! It's important for us to have them register early so we can plan on how many teachers we need for the following year.

May 11- Happy Mother's Day!

May 12-13- Books on Break

May 15 Testing Pep Rally

May 16-May 30- EOG testing and K-2 math assessments (see specific dates above)

May 26- No School, Memorial Day

May 28- K-2 Inflatables, 3-5 EOG bash for students that qualify

May 29- K-5 grade level awards programs

May 30- Last day of school