Bay Vista Bulletin

It has been such a pleasure to get the school year underway! There is nothing quite like the hustling and bustling of a school campus at the beginning of the school year! Our Jaguars, are definitely demonstrating they are ready to get back to work!

Thank you for your support and for working to observe and adhere to fundamental guidelines. If you are new to Bay Vista and have any questions regarding the fundamental guidelines, do not hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher or the front office. We are happy to assist with any of your questions to support your success in the fundamental program. Our car line is running very smoothly in the morning and afternoon. Our afternoon dismissal of "walkers" is going well and I appreciate everyone's help with picking up your 'walkers' on time. Thanks so much for your help with this.

Instruction Begins at 8:15

It is important that all students are in their classroom, seated and ready to learn at 8:15 a.m. each morning. Teachers start the day right at 8:15 a.m. and every moment of the instructional day is filled. A few minutes late really does have an impact on your child’s day. Students also need to be picked up no later than 2:50 p.m. Our car line has been finishing up no later than 2:50 each day so please plan accordingly. Arriving at/after 8:15 a.m. or picking up later than 2:50 p.m. will result in a tardy. A tardy letter is sent home to families after four tardies. After 6 tardies in a grading cycle, a student is referred to IAC for consideration of dismissal.

ONE MEETING OPTION IN SEPTEMBER

As shared previously, there is only one Required Meeting for the month of September. Please keep our PTA/Meeting Calendar handy to refer to meeting options and other fun events for the full year. A copy can also be located on our website.

We have continued to embed our Guidelines for Success into our school culture. Feel free to ask your Jaguar about these Guidelines for Success as we are working to demonstrate those each day to become successful at school and in life.

STAR LITERACY/F.A.S.T. TESTING

Our first cycle of testing is underway in grades K-2. Our first cycle of FAST testing will begin in grades 3-5 on September 9th. Your child's teacher will inform you of exact testing dates and helpful hints for a successful testing day. Our testing data will assist teachers in identifying areas for acceleration/remediation of learning for each student. During our first round of parent/teacher conferences, teachers will review this data with you and offer suggestions about how you can support your student at home. CLEVER also offers several resources for your child to use at home for additional support and practice.

Included in this month’s newsletter are a few reminders as well as announcements from our School Counselor and all grade levels!

Thank you for partnering with us to support your child’s education!

Donna Hall

Principal

Please help your student meet their weekly requirements for Dreambox and Istation. Dreambox is the online program we use to support mathematics and Istation supports reading. Required minutes on Istation vary per student based on their monthly diagnostic assessment. Your child's teacher can share more regarding the required minutes for your student.

Dreambox Weekly Requirements:

• Grades K-2: 3-5 lessons
• Grades 3-5: 10 lessons

Both Dreambox and Istation are adaptive programs which means the work within each program is unique to your student rather than a one-size-fits-all program. Teachers also assign lessons within each program that are specific to your student. Teachers monitor student progress to determine the next steps within the program and in the classroom.

When your student reaches their weekly lessons/minutes, it strongly supports their growth within their current grade level but also helps close gaps with concepts still needed in previous grade-level standards.

There is only one meeting option for September. Our September meeting is traditionally focused on Fundamental Policy. Our meeting date/time is as follows:

• Thursday, September 12th
• Time: 6:00 p.m.-No admittance after 6:15 p.m.
• To receive credit, attendees must be present for the entire meeting.

Fundamental Parent Meeting Responsibilities

Parents/guardians are required to attend eight Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) or other principal approved meetings that promote authentic parental involvement, each school year. Credit will be given for attending one meeting per month. When circumstances arise, which make it impossible for a parent/guardian to attend a required meeting, a representative (18 years of age or older) may be sent. The representative may not be a parent or teacher at the school and may represent only one family. The representative may be sent to no more than two meetings per year. If a parent must exercise this option, they must notify the Principal prior to the meeting. It is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to make the representative aware of all obligations. Sign-in at in-person meetings must be completed no later than 15 minutes after the scheduled start of the meeting as the sign-in cards are removed at that time. Meetings last approximately one hour (not to exceed 90 minutes) and parents are expected to be present for the entire meeting. Arriving late, leaving early, or failure of a parent/guardian to sign in will result in the meeting being counted as unattended. Sign-in cards must be handed in by the individual who signed the card for that meeting. The procedure for unattended meetings is as follows:

1. After one missed meeting, a reminder letter will be sent to the family.

2. After two missed meetings, a letter will be sent placing the parent/family on probation. Once a family is placed on probation, a representative may not be sent to any meetings. The parent or legal guardian will be required to attend all remaining meetings.

3. After the third missed meeting, the student/family will be referred to the school-based Intervention and Appeal Committee (IAC) to determine next steps (continued probation, dismissal, etc.).

For the month of September, Bay Vista and Pinellas County Schools will celebrate Start with Hello Week. Start With Hello is a program that encourages students to be more socially inclusive and connected to one another with three simple steps:

1. See Someone Alone
2. Reach out and Help
3. Start with Hello

Mrs. Erb will be going into all classrooms and teaching students these steps and encouraging students to include each other and build an inclusive school community. We will also celebrate Start with Hello Week during the week of September 16 – 20 with special theme days.

Monday, September 16

• Wear your Bay Vista shirt or the colors yellow and green to show your school spirit as a Bay Vista Jaguar.

Tuesday, September 17

• Be Kind to Everyone. Wear a shirt encouraging kindness.

Wednesday, September 18

• Show your support for "Start with Hello" by wearing green.

Thursday, September 19

• Celebrate our differences by wearing your favorite color. Also dress to impress for picture day.

Friday, September 20

• We are “teaming up” to say Hello. Wear your Buccaneers gear or your favorite team shirt or hat.

In Reading, we have been reading books about starting a new school year, making friends and learning how to be a kindergartener. We have learned how to talk in partnerships with our classmates about book and can identify characters in text.

In Writing, we are creating an oral class story, learning how to use our tools and sketch out our first stories. Next month, we will work on sketching our story across 3 pages.

In Math, we have been learning how to think like mathematicians by talking about our tub tools and sharing how we solve problems that we encounter in our tub work. Moving forward, we will begin working with numbers 0-5.

In Science, we are learning about what it means to be a scientist. We ask questions record data, explore science tools, and observe our world around us.

In Social Studies, we are discussing how to identify and resolve conflicts while making fair decisions.

Our First Grade Jaguars are in full swing! They are learning all the processes and procedures that foster an environment ready for learning. They are getting to know each other and realizing that they are part of a class and school family.

In Language Arts, we are building a community of readers and writers! Students are learning to identify and describe the story elements in fiction stories.

In Writing, the first graders are learning to write stories about important things they like to do, important people in their lives and places they like to visit.

In Science, they are learning about the Stars in the Sky and how magnifiers make things appear bigger. They will learn how the sun can be beneficial and harmful.

In Math, they are learning to start at any given number, count forward and backwards within 120 by ones. They are also learning to skip count by 2’s to 20 and by 5’s to 100.

In Social Studies, we are focused on why rules and laws are important. We will also discuss what rights and responsibilities we have in our school community. Our First Grade Jaguars are busy!

Reading:

In Module A, we are reading stories and examining story elements like characters, setting, problem, solution and the organization of the story (beginning, middle, end). We are also practicing making logical predictions and focusing on good reading strategies like using context clues and asking questions.

Social Studies:

Our first unit starts with a civics unit that focuses on rules, laws, government and building a strong community. We use this to help reinforce and strengthen our classroom community.

Science:

Our first unit of the year begins with our “Earth Rocks” unit which focuses on identifying properties of rocks. Students will be able to talk about whether they are the same size, shape, luster, color and texture. They will be able to able to identify different kinds of rocks by size (pebble, rock and boulder).

Writing:

In writing, we are exploring the elements of narrative writing. This goes along with learning about the structure of a story. Students will be asked to write a story with a clear beginning, middle and end. By the 4th week of the module, they should be adding in descriptive details to really enhance their writing.

Math:

Our first math unit focuses on patterns within numbers. We will work on recognizing doubles, doubles plus one, even and odd and arrays. Arrays are repeated numbers in columns and rows.

ELA

Third Graders kicked off their school year learning all about how characters develop across a plot in realistic fiction texts. As they continue their module study, they will build on their fiction genre skillset. In writing, your Jaguar has begun creating personal narrative stories based on important people, places, and things that are in their lives. They have brainstormed ideas and participated in telling short stories all about them!

Math:

This month in 3rd grade, students will continue the unit on place value. They will extend their knowledge of place value to 4-digit numbers and apply this to represent, compare, order, and round multi-digit numbers. They will also compose and decompose numbers by place value in different ways. Students will also begin adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers Students will form estimates of sums and differences by rounding and using compatible numbers. They will extend their understanding of addition properties by discovering the order or grouping of three addends does not change the sum.

Science:

This month students will begin a unit on gravity. Students will explore the Law of Gravity by demonstrating that gravity is a force that can be overcome. They will complete a STEM challenge by creating a prototype balloon rocket, testing it, then redesigning to test again. Students will also raise questions about the natural world, investigate them individually and in teams through free exploration. They will also begin a unit on light. Students will be able to explain how stars can be different, identify the sun as a star that emits energy, and identify that the sun’s appearance is due to its proximity to earth.

ELA

In the beginning of September, 4th graders will be finishing the book, Save Me a Seat, and will also be finishing their narrative writing piece. Later in September, we will begin Module B. The essential question is: How are animals in Florida impacted by changes in their environment? We will focus on reading informational texts and will begin writing expository essays.

Social Studies

Fourth graders will be learning about Civics through the month of September. We will be learning about our State Government and our Local Government.

Science

In Science, fourth graders will begin our first unit of Earth Science with “Earth in Space and Time.” Students will examine how the earth’s rotation and revolution affects the appearance of the sun and stars in our night sky. We’ll also be learning about how the earth’s rotation and revolution affects the appearance of the moon as it progresses through its monthly phases.

Math

Fourth grade mathematicians will continue to develop their math problem-solving strategies. Our first units will focus on place value, rounding, and fluently adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers. It’s important for students to be practicing their multiplication facts now, too…multiplication is our next unit!

ELA: Fifth grade students are focusing on realistic fiction texts. Through the reading and analysis the primary text, Fish in a Tree, students are developing a set of reading repertoire skills for fiction. These skills guide students to focus on aspects of the story including characterization, setting, plot, and perspective to build a deeper understanding of the text and identify and explain overarching themes. In writing, students are writing personal narratives. They analyze mentor texts to study story structure and author's craft, learning how to evaluate and discuss writing as they craft their own narrative pieces.

Math: We are wrapping up Topic A, which is on Volume. We have had fun building rectangular prims with the omnicubes. Students will be able to recognize that 3-D prisms are measured in cubic units. Next we begin Topic B, which is on Place Value of decimals. Students will learn that the value of a digit in a decimal, as its value in a whole number, depends upon its place in the number. So, the value of a digit is 10 times what it would be in the place to its right, and its value is ​ ​what it would be to its left.

Science: Fifth graders have been learning about the Nature of Science. We have learned the steps of the Scientific Method, Observation vs. Opinion, and the Tools of Science. We are now starting our unit on the Solar System. We will be learning all about Stars, Galaxies, Our Solar System, Inner vs. Outer Planets, Phases of the Moon and other objects in our Solar System.

SEPTEMBER

2 Labor Day – No School

9 PTA Board Meeting, 3pm

10 Midterm Reports Go Home

12 PTA Staff Luncheon (not a meeting credit option this month)

12 Required Parent General Meeting- 6:00pm at Lakewood High School

• Focus: Fundamental Guidelines & Alternate Meeting Credit Guidelines & Title One

• Time: 6:00 p.m.-No admittance after 6:15 p.m.
• To receive credit, attendees must be present for the entire meeting.

19 Picture Day--Students may dress out of uniform this day but must wear approved footwear for recess/P.E.

Start with Hello Week

16--Wear your Bay Vista shirt or the colors yellow & green to show your school spirit as a BV Jaguar.

17--Be Kind to Everyone. Wear a shirt encouraging kindness.

18--Show your support for "Start with Hello" by wearing green.

19--Celebrate our differences by wearing your favorite color. Also dress to impress for picture day.

20--We are “teaming up” to say Hello. Wear your Buccaneers gear or your favorite team shirt or hat.

23 NO SCHOOL for students

A Look Ahead to October (* denotes meeting credit option)

10* PTA General Meeting/Family Science Night - Attend with your Jaguar for meeting credit!

11 Julian's Dream Day (more to follow)

11 End of Grading Period/Infraction Period 1

14 NO SCHOOL for students

15 Quarter 2 begins

24 Report Cards Go Home

25 Picture Retakes

25* PTA Treat Trail / Fall Festival - 6-8pm (meeting credit offered for parents who volunteer)