A Message from the Principal - Mrs. Neunie
Happy May Banyan Braves!
Can you believe this is our final month in this 2023-2024 school year?! It is an exciting time as our 5th grade students are getting ready to transition to middle school! Help us ensure that our Braves get to take part in all the amazing activities we have planned for them this month by reviewing our school rules with your child. PM3 and End of Year Testing begins this month. It is important that students are here at school each day, on time, so that we can ensure they are in the right mindset to “show what they know”!
Testing Dates
May 2 - Kindergarten STAR Math
May 7 - 1st & 2nd Grade STAR Reading
May 8 - Grades 3 - 5 Select ELL Students PM 3 FAST ELA
May 9 - 1st & 2nd Grade STAR Math/Grade 5 Select ELL Students FAST PM 3 Math
May 10 - Grades 3rd & 4th Select ELL Students
May 10 - Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? 5th Grade Parent Event
May 14 - 3rd - 5th Grade FAST ELA
May 15 - Grades 3 - 5 ESE Students PM 3 FAST ELA
May 16 - 3rd - 5th Grade FAST Math
May 17 - Grades 3 - 5 ESE Students PM 3 FAST Math
May 29th - 5th Grade State Science Assessment & K - 4th School Wide Science Assessment
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6 - 10th. Our teachers truly are dedicated, hard-working individuals who put everything into ensuring your children receive a great education. Please make sure that throughout the week you let your children’s teacher know how much you appreciate them and all they do. There are so many ways to say thanks.
Save the date for our 5th graders to have their big day on 6/7 at Piper High School. June 3rd will start their 5th Grade Spirit Week. See “Save The Date” on this newsletter for more information on times/locations.
Let’s have a May filled with flowers, sunshine, and positivity no matter what each day holds-----we’ve got this, Braves!
Mrs. Nicole Neunie
Principal, Banyan Elementary
Attendance/Reporting an Absence
Attendance is critical to your child’s educational success, and every minute counts!! Instruction starts at 7:50 am. Students that miss more than 10% of the school year can be knocked off track. If your child is going to be absent, parents will have access to an online form for excused absences. Parents will be able to fill out a form that will send a notification to the school. Parents can access the Banyan webpage at https://www.browardschools.com/banyan. Once you are on the Banyan Website select the “Contact” tab at the top of the page and then select the “Report an Absence” link. Absences may also be called into the attendance phone line at (754) 322-5352, school direct line 754 322-5350, or parents may write a note. All absences should be reported with 24 hours.
Regular school attendance is vitally important to a student’s academic achievement. It is the teacher’s responsibility to accurately record student attendance. Both excused and unexcused absences as well as tardiness and early sign-outs will be counted when determining a student’s pattern of non-attendance. This is a change from previous years when excused absences had no impact on a student’s attendance record.
Tardiness
Schools stress the need for students to get to school and class on time and with good reason. Studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Education on truancy, which is connected with tardiness, show that school attendance is a major factor when it comes to school success and student behavior.
Every student should be in class NO LATER than 7:50 a.m. daily!
Mandatory Uniform School
Banyan Elementary is a Mandatory Uniform School. This policy was adopted during the 1999/2000 school year. This policy will be strictly enforced. The dress code policy is addressed in the Code of Student Conduct Book. The following is a list of CONSEQUENCES for violating the dress code.
Time out for student
Disciplinary action initiated by the teacher
School/parent conference
After school detention (parent responsible for transportation)
Intervention by school Social Worker/Guidance Counselor
Referral to Administration
Internal/External suspension from classes and all school activities in accordance with
School Board Policy 5006
Please see the Code of Student Conduct Guidelines for proper attire.
Parent/Guardian Anti-Bullying Training
Parents and guardians can and should access Broward Schools' Anti-Bullying training. This training provides information on what constitutes bullying and what schools are doing to support students. This information can be accessed via this website: Eduvision link: https://www.eduvision.tv/l?eAeOOgR. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ms. Roberts.
Title 1 News
BIG THANK YOU to the parents who attended our March School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting and provided input regarding our 2024-2025 Parent and Family Engagement Plan, the 2024-2025 Home School Compact, and the Parent Involvement Allocation. Your suggestions and assistance with developing, revising, and completing these items were appreciated.
We want to thank all our parents and guardians for attending our parent engagement events this year. The events were highly successful! The investments you make in your child’s education today will yield abundant fruit in their future. KUDOS to you for showing up and supporting your child’s educational experience!
If you have any questions or concerns regarding Title I, please contact Dr. Melissa Glynn, our Title I Liaison at (754) 322-5350.
*District Title I information may be accessed at http://title1.browardschools.com.
Guidance
Dear Banyan Families:
As this school year begins to end, we are extremely proud of our student’s commitment to Character Education. Throughout the school year, students and faculty were engaged in various character-building opportunities. Students also had an opportunity to engage in character education lessons in their classrooms. Each Month we highlighted a character trait. Character Education is not in itself a program, but is evident in the culture of the school through relationships, interactions, and values of the school family. We would like to encourage you to continue to build character through Cooperation, Responsibility, Citizenship, Kindness, Respect, Honesty, Self-Control, and Tolerance.
A Message From Our Math Coach, Ms. Smith
Greeting Parents!
What a year! We have reached the 4th and last quarter of the school year. Your child has learned many new things this year! Testing is right around the corner.
Remember these test prep tips:
· Make sure your child gets plenty of sleep.
· Make sure your child eats a healthy breakfast.
· Have your child dress comfortably.
· Arrive on time.
· Try to make the morning routine non-stressful.
· Encourage them to try their best.
Please be sure that your child is logging onto iReady Math for 15 to 20 minutes each day. Spending just a few minutes on iReady Math each day will help improve your child’s math skills.
A Message from our ESE Specialist, Mrs. Kellingbeck
Meeting the Needs of Students
Parents, if you have a concern about your child's academic progress, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher regarding those concerns. Teacher-led small intervention groups are targeting your child’s specific academic need in your child’s classroom and special education services are meeting your child where they are to assist in closing the academic gap. If you have any concerns with interventions or special education services, please feel free to contact the school for Mrs. Kellingbeck or Ms. Roberts. Be sure to request a conference with your child's teacher, if you haven’t already, to find out how your child is progressing through the school year and how we are helping your child to create academic growth.
A Message from Our Literacy Coach, Mrs. Parker
Mrs. Parker’s Reading Corner
For young children, handwriting practice helps with learning letters and shapes, can improve idea composition and expression and aid with fine motor skill development. Studies show that writing improves memory. Students retain learning better when working with new ideas through handwriting. Below are activities that students can complete at home to practice their handwriting skills.
Activities to Practice Handwriting Skills at Home
1. Handwriting Warm Up Exercises are a great way to get the arms and hands ready to handwriting practice. Not only do they warm the muscle groups they also help facilitate gross motor and fine motor strengthening of the arms, hands, and fingers. Some handwriting warm up exercises are shoulder shrugs, crocodile movements/snaps, and butterflies.
2. Use Every Day Activities to Practice Handwriting – Maybe you need to make out the grocery list? Or you need to write down an important note to remember later. Dictate this information to your child and ask them to help you out by writing it down for you.
Some children may enjoy keeping a journal or writing to a friend, classmate or pen-pal, whether they use words or draw pictures or a combination of both.
3.Don't Make it ALL About Paper and Pencils – There are a lot of ways to practice the basics of handwriting skills without using paper or pencil, especially if you have a reluctant writer on your hands. Sensory activities and fine motor activities that focus on using a pincher grasp on objects are a great way to involve handwriting skills in a non-conventional way. Here are some simple ideas to get you started:
- Sensory writing bags
- Using sand, cornmeal, salt, or other fine sensory mediums and then using a paint brush or fingers to write in
- Using WikkiStix to form letters
- Play dough and play dough letter mats
- Writing in shaving cream or whipped cream (if you have a child who likes to taste things)
- Using clothes pins, tongs, or bubble tongs to transfer items
- Squeezing a glue bottle, hole punch, stapler, or turkey baster for activities
Reference: https://www.growinghandsonkids.com/activities-to-practice-handwriting-skills-at-home.html By: Heather Greutman
The Baby Braves
Dear Pre-Kindergarten Families,
Welcome to the month of May in PreK!!! We have so many exciting things happening this month as we wrap up the school year! First, we would like to wish all our fantastic Moms, Grandmothers, and caregivers a Wonderful Mother’s Day!!! Teacher Appreciation week is also in May, Monday 5/6 through Friday 5/10! Keep an eye out for information about our Special Olympics Culminating Event happening Friday, May 17th. In addition to our May events, our End of the Year Program will be held the morning of Tuesday, June 4th – so please save the date!!! Remember to check your child’s backpack and folder regularly and sign the home notes! Thank you for your continued support!
Warmly,
Banyan Elementary Pre-Kindergarten Team
The Little Braves
Happy May and Final Quarter!
It is hard to believe how quickly this year has flown by! We are so proud of the progress our kindergarten students have made. THANK YOU for your help at home!
We are now in the crunch time of preparing for our End of Year assessments. It is more important than ever to make sure your child gets plenty of sleep, arrives at school on time every day, and always eats a nutritious breakfast either at home or at school. The Promotion Criteria for Kindergarten is to achieve a score of 729 or higher on the STAR Early Literacy PM3 for English Language Arts (ELA). The test was on April 30th, 2024, and your teacher will reach out to you for a conference to discuss promotion to 1st grade.
Continue to practice number recognition 0-100, greater than & less than, and addition & subtraction equations to 10, for example: 10 = 3 + 7, 10 – 3 = 7. Daily practice of i-Ready Reading and Math is a great way to reinforce what is being taught in class and to help our students be successful. Banyan’s goal is a minimum 45 minutes per week for reading and for math, but we have seen many learning gains by spending more time practicing! The STAR Math PM3 will be on May 2, 2024.
Important skills to practice for first grade:
o Writing both first and last name.
o Writing all capital/lower case letters and numbers. Be sure to form each letter and number correctly (be careful not to write letters or numbers backwards).
o Reading sight words from the Pre-Primer and Primer Dolch Word List.
o Reading daily and discussing what has been read.
o Tying shoes
More important dates:
o ABC Countdown begins May 2nd
o i-Ready Reading and Math Diagnostic will be May 22nd- May 24th
o Early dismissal @11:50am on May 24th
o No school on May 27th
o The End of Year Science Assessment will be on May 29th
o The Last Day for backpacks is on May 31st
Thank you for your continued support!
-The Kindergarten Team 😊
1st Grade
Our fantastic first graders are continuing to work on learning new skills as well as reviewing and practicing skills for the S.T.A.R Progress Monitoring 3 assessments. In reading, students worked on learning new high frequency words as well as decoding and encoding words with long vowel teams and r-controlled vowels. We also worked on explaining similarities and differences between information in visuals and texts, identifying the main topic and relevant details, identifying and describing main story elements, and identifying and explaining the moral of a story. In math, students were busy telling time and counting money as well as identifying and analyzing two-dimensional and three-dimensional figures. In science, our first graders learned about the beneficial and harmful properties of the Sun. In social studies, students learned about the different types of maps and globes. They also learned the differences between goods and services.
Thank you for your support.
2nd Grade
Hello Banyan Parents/Guardians. We are in the last quarter of the school year. In reading, we are working on strengthening our skills in comprehension strategies, locating text evidence, and finding supporting details. In math, students are learning many different strategies to solve math equations. Students are also learning to identify and describe 2D figures. In science, our scholars are learning and exploring with rocks. They are observing texture, size, and similarities and differences.. Your student can also access i-Ready and Imagine Learning from their clever dashboard. Please look in your student’s folder and planner daily. Homework should be turned in the next school day. Also, be sure to send in a note and call the office if there is a change in dismissal plans.
Thank you for your continued support.
3rd Grade
Greetings from the Fantastic Third Grade Team,
As we prepare for testing, it requires all hands on deck! Third-graders have teamed up with support staff and our administration to ensure our students have the best opportunity to prepare for the F.A.S.T. Assessment.
In reading, we currently focus on the three standards we have not mastered as a class. Please ensure your child spends time reading for AR and completing i-Ready reading lessons.
For math, our focus is on mastering the skill of multiplying larger numbers. We recommend that students engage in i-Ready math for at least 15 minutes every day to strengthen this skill.
Thank you for all you do to help your child succeed in school!
4th Grade
Fourth grade will continue working toward great gains with the standard ELA.4.R.2.3 - Explaining an author's perspective on a topic in an informational text, and R.1.1 - Understanding elements of a plot . Fourth grade reminders: Please remind students to read 1 AR book per week and take the quiz in class at the end of the week for our AR challenges. I-Ready reading and math is a great way to have students practice at their current proficiency levels. FAST testing has started at Banyan and will continue throughout the month until all grade levels have completed. Please make sure all students are going to bed early and are rested with a good breakfast so they can be at their best!
5th Grade
The test is almost here, and we have been practicing super-hard to master all the strategies needed to ace the test. Your scholar is busy from 7:50 through 1:50 preparing for their reading, math, and science tests. The fifth-grade teachers are working tirelessly to ensure your child’s success!
Wondering how you can help? Here are some helpful tips:
1) Encourage your child to read and ask them questions about what they read. They will have to show reading stamina to complete all parts of the test with accuracy.
2) Review basic math facts with them. Multiplication tables and compatible numbers are still very important to our fifth-grade curriculum.
3) Look online at the published tests from the previous year. Answer keys are included, and it’s a great way for you to really see what your scholar’s test will look like!
Thank you for you al of your support!
The Librarian's Pick: 3 - 5
Odder by Katherine Applegate
Interest Level: MG (4 - 8)
Book Level: 5.6
AR Pts: 2.0
Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she's known. She's a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault.
A Message from the Assistant Principal: Ms. King-Roberts
Hello to our Banyan families.
We would like to thank those of you who continue to participate in our family events. It was amazing seeing so many of our families present to participate in SAC and Kindergarten Round Up. We are always so excited to bring in our newest class of Braves, but this has been one of the largest turnouts in many years. Please remember if you have an incoming Kindergartener and did not attend, you can request a tour of the school by calling and setting up a time. Most importantly, please get the registration paperwork in as soon as you can.
We will continue to provide opportunities for you to be involved here at the school, and we highly encourage you to join us. Your involvement is essential for the success of your children!
As you can see, it is a very busy month. Please make sure your children are here daily to ensure they can complete these assessments on time with their classes. All students will be completing their assessments prior to the end of the year even if it is a make-up date. Your children have been working hard and we want to give them every opportunity to do their best on these assessments.
Thank you all so much for all that you have done for our school throughout this year. Just a few more weeks until we kick off the last month of school. We will send out a short newsletter for June about what’s happening for 2024-25.
Have a wonderful month of May! Happy Mother’s Day to the amazing moms we have here at Banyan.
Warmest Regards,
Ms. Carol King-Roberts, Assistant Principal
Coach's Corner
Welcome back to Coach's Corner! Let's continue to focus on eating healthy and staying active. Make sure you are eating 1 1/2 cups of vegetables EVERY day! As we stay active, let's make sure we are stretching and moving around. Here is our new monthly challenge... hope you can achieve success!
DID YOU KNOW...that children should be getting 10-11 hours of sleep a night. Please make sure to go to bed early so you're ready to BRING IT the next day!
- Kindergarten = 30 pushups and 55 jumping jacks and 30 sit-ups and 25 spaceships (Squat jumps)
- 1st grade = 30 pushups and 55 jumping jacks and 30 sit-ups and 25 spaceships (Squat jumps)
- 2nd grade = 35 pushups and 65 jumping jacks and 35 sit-ups and 25 spaceships (Squat jumps)
- 3rd grade = 35 pushups and 65 jumping jacks and 40 sit-ups and 25 spaceships (Squat jumps)
- 4th grade = 40 pushups and 75 jumping jacks and 45 sit-ups and 30 spaceships (Squat jumps)
- 5th grade = 45 pushups and 75 jumping jacks and 50 sit-ups and 30 spaceships (Squat jumps)
- Staff = 60 pushups and 120 jumping jacks and 60 sit-ups and 40 spaceships (Squat jumps)
Good Luck! Be Healthy!
Coach Levine
Library Media News with the Book Doctor, Dr. Glynn
In April, students celebrated National Poetry Month and learned how poetry helps us appreciate the world around us and empathize with one another.
Students are continuing to learn to type using Typingclub.com , which is a virtual keyboard and virtual hands on their typing interface to assist them with using the correct fingers when they are practicing each lesson. Students are taking Accelerated Reader (AR) quizzes in media as well as winning brag tags for reading and passing the AR quizzes for the Sunshine State Reader Award (SSYRA) books! Lists for SSYRA and SSYRA Jr. can be found at https://www.floridamediaed.org/ssyra.html or below. These books will be available soon in our library media center, but can be checked out from your local Broward County libraries or purchased from Amazon or Barnes and Noble in the meantime.
Students should be working toward reading one book per week and taking an Accelerated Reader Quiz. Students have the opportunity to take these quizzes in their classroom and in the media center. I am running a Sunshine State Young Reader’s Award (SSYRA) contest, in which students can read any of the 15 SSYRA books and pass the respective quiz. Once a student reads a least 3 SSYRA books and passes the quizzes, they will be invited to an ice cream party in May. If they read and pass the quizzes of more that 3 SSYRA books, they will receive prizes at the ice cream party. For each quiz the students pass, they will also receive a book tag that they proudly display on their student I.D. lanyards.
Code of Conduct
Parents, the Code of Student Conduct Handbook Goes Green! Parents are invited to review the Code of Student Conduct Handbook and complete the required forms by accessing https://www.browardschools.com/codeofconduct. This website has four versions of the Code of Conduct in Spanish, Creole, Portuguese, and English. It is important that students understand and abide by rules and laws. We must explain to students that different places and situations often require different sets of rules.
The Back to School Forms were sent home as part of each student’s first day packet. If you are in need of another packet, please stop by the front office.
SAVE the DATE
For Testing Dates, see Mrs. Neunie's message at the top of the newsletter.
May 1: School Principal Day
May 3: School Lunch Hero Day
May 3: Muffins with Moms at 8:15 a.m.
May 6 - 10: National Teacher Appreciation Week
May 7: Interim Report Day
May 8: National School Nurse Day
May 17: Pre-K Special Olympics
May 18: National Speech Pathologist Day
May 24: Early Release
May 27: Schools Closed
May 30: SAC Meeting at 6:00 p.m.
UPCOMING DATES:
June 4: Pre-K End of Year Program at 8:15 a.m.
June 5: End of Year Awards - 1st Grade at 8:15 a.m. - 2nd Grade at 9:15 a.m.
June 5: Pre-K Water Day
June 6: End of Year Awards - 3rd Grade at 8:15 a.m. - 4th Grade at 9:15 a.m.
June 6: Pre-K Water Day
June 7: End of Year Awards - Kindergarten at 8:15 a.m.
June 7: 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony at 6:00 p.m. - Piper High School
June 10: Early Release (Last Day of School)
June 11: Employee Planning Day (No School for Students)
Accelerated Reader & STAR Test
Accelerated Reader is a computer program that helps teachers, librarians, and schools manage and monitor children’s independent reading practice. Your child picks a book at his/her own level and reads it at his/her own pace. When finished, your child takes a short quiz on the computer. (Passing the quiz is an indication that your child understood what was read.) Accelerated Reader gives children, teachers, and librarians feedback based on the quiz results, which the teacher then uses to help your child set goals and direct ongoing reading practice.
Children using Accelerated Reader choose their own books to read, rather than having one assigned to them. This makes reading a much more enjoyable experience as they can choose books that are interesting to them.
Teachers and librarians help your child choose books at an appropriate readability level that are challenging without being frustrating, ensuring that your child can pass the quiz and experience success.
If your child does not do well on the quiz, the teacher or librarian may help your child:
Choose another book that is more appropriate.
Ask more probing questions as your child reads and before your child takes a quiz.
Pair your child with another student, or even have the book read to your child.
In most cases, children really enjoy taking the quizzes. Since they’re reading books at their reading and interest levels, they are likely to be successful. This is satisfying for most children. Best of all, they learn and grow at their own pace.
How much will my child read during the school day?
According to research, children who read at least 35 minutes a day with a 90% comprehension rate (average percent correct) on Accelerated Reader quizzes see the greatest gains. Therefore, your child has at least 35 minutes set aside for reading during each school day.
How does the school determine my child’s reading level?
Teachers or librarians determine your child’s reading level in one of three ways: a Renaissance Star Reading® test, a grade equivalent score from a standardized test, or using their best professional judgment based on their knowledge of your child.
How are Accelerated Reader point goals set?
Based on extensive research, we can provide guidelines for the approximate number of Accelerated Reader points children should be able to earn depending on how much time they read and their reading level. Monitoring Accelerated Reader points earned by children and comparing them to the guideline values enables your child’s teacher and librarian to determine how well your child is using the time provided for reading practice. If the school has Star Reading, students’ scores will be accessible in Accelerated Reader, making it easier for teachers and librarians to set point goals for students.
How can I help my child find books that are interesting to him/her?
Visit arbookfind.com and click on Advanced Search. By conducting an advanced search, you can generate book lists that contain titles based on the criteria you enter such as book level, topic, interest level, fiction/nonfiction, etc.
Is it OK for my child to read outside of his/her reading level?
Just because a child can read the words in a book doesn’t mean the content is appropriate. The interest level of the material must be considered. Interest level is based on content—a book’s themes and ideas— and indicates for which age group a book is appropriate. The chart below shows which grades fall into each interest level.
In many cases, a book’s interest level coordinates with its book level. Hank the Cowdog, for example, the content of which is suitable for fourth-graders, has a book level of 4.5. Many books, however, have a low book level but are appropriate for upper grades and vice versa. For example, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises has a book level of 4.4 because its sentences are short and its vocabulary is simple. The interest level, however, is UG for Upper Grades. In contrast, Arthur Throws a Tantrum has a book level of 4.9 because it contains fairly long words and sentences, but it is intended for students in the lower grades.
Interest Level Grade Level
LG—Lower Grades K - 3
MG—Middle Grades 4 - 8
MG+—Middle Grades Plus 6 and up
UG—Upper Grades. 9 - 12
Accelerated Reader Winners
Winning class from each team
Top 3 Students in each class (with at least 10 Points)
Accelerated Reader Winners
Winning class from each team
Top 3 Students in each class (with at least 25 Points)
Top 20 Students on each grade level (with at least 25 Points)
The goal is for students to take at least one AR test each week. AR test can be taken Monday-Friday from 7am–4pm.It is always best for students to complete the test directly after reading.