Dates To Remember
FEBRUARY
2/7 West African Drumming Assembly
2/10-2/14 Kindness Week
2/10 Team Up for Kindness: Wear Sports Attire
2/11 Mismatch Day: wear mismatched clothes/socks
2/12 Bonny Slope Pride Day:wear Bonny Slope colors
2/13 Cozy Day: wear comfy clothes or jammies
2/13 Spring Pictures
2/14 Valentine's Day: wear shades of red/pink
2/14 Valentine's Day Parties in Classrooms (1 hr)
2/17 NO SCHOOL - President's Day
2/18 NO SCHOOL - Staff Development/Work Day
2/19 Immunization Exclusion Day
2/21 International Mother Language Day
2/21 February Birthday Lunch
2/26 GeClub - Africa Part 2
2/27 5th grade fly-up to Tumwater 9:30-11:45
2/27 Tumwater 5th Grade Parent Night 6:30-8:00 pm
Winter After School Classes are Enrolling Now - Watch for Spring Classes soon!
Dear Families,
We have some great events happening, and also more events coming up in the next few weeks. I hope you have heard we launched the Kids Heart Challenge to support the American Heart Association. We had an assembly last week, and this week, students who have registered and completed Finn’s Mission online will receive prizes. Prizes are not tied to any fundraising, but if families want to support the American Heart Association, donations can be made online.
The Kids Heart Challenge is also helping us to promote kindness and caring for others. Next week will also be Kindness Week at Bonny Slope. There will be dress up spirit days, and activities students can do to spread kindness in our school community.
I see so many acts of kindness each day at school. I know our older students love to get together with their “buddy” classes and interact with their younger buddies. Teachers will create opportunities for students to help during assemblies and evacuation drills, and I have seen students really enjoying their time together. We have students often volunteer to help with tasks around the building, and I often see students helping friends and classmates during class. I have seen our students welcome new students into their classrooms, and provide extra support and care with getting settled into school. Students at Bonny Slope show they care for others every day!
Of course, we are an elementary school, where students are learning about all of the ways they can impact others, both positively and negatively. As I have shared in the past, our teachers engage their classes in community circles where they talk about their experiences and responsibilities to their communities. Kindness week allows us to focus on how we can grow in our care for one another. Families can help to support our efforts by checking in with students about their experiences in school and helping students to reflect on their treatment of others. It can be especially helpful if families talk with students about valuing kindness and setting personal goals for promoting kindness and care at school.
As always, we value your partnership!
With gratitude,
Betty
Lunch time in the cafeterIa is an important part of every day. For some students, it is one of their favorite parts of the day because they get to relax and visit with friends! Our staff strive to make sure students are able to eat their lunches, and also have a pleasant experience while in the cafeteria.
We have heard some concern about the cafeteria expectations so we wanted to share some information about lunch time and the expectations we have for students. Lunch time may be a lot more brief than the time students have to eat meals at home. If students are not used to eating their food quickly like me (lifetime slow eater), it can be challenging. These are not times that are set by our building, but consistent with elementary school lunch times across the district.
We have a lot more students getting school lunch this year so it can take a while to get through the lunch line. Because the time for lunch is limited, our staff has a responsibility to help students stay focused on eating and to manage the transitions in and out of the cafeteria. This is not an easy task considering we have an average of 100 students in the cafeteria for each lunch period. Some grade levels have around 125 students.
In the cafeteria, our expectations are there to keep students safe while eating, and to make sure students maximize their time for eating. Because of this, we ask students to
Walk in the cafeteria
Choose their seats quickly
Eat food without sharing
Keep voices at a reasonable level to allow all to communicate at their tables
Stay seated unless they have been dismissed (permission is given to individuals to meet all of the various needs during lunch)
Keep voices off when staff are giving instructions
There have been rare occasions this year, when students were asked to have voices off during lunch, and that only happened because staff felt students needed to focus on eating. We understand that students value this unstructured time to relax and visit with each other. When we have a particularly large group that doesn’t keep the noise level down, it can start to be disruptive and difficult for some of our students with sensory needs. If this is the case, our staff will ask students to be quieter.
We also try to make sure all students feel comfortable and safe at lunch. Our staff encourage welcoming behavior at tables and positive reactions to lunches brought from home. We appreciate the efforts of our paraeducators who supervise lunches, and they do a great job of helping to make sure the cafeteria is a safe and pleasant environment.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the cafeteria expectations.
Raptor Safe App - for quicker sign in at school!
We are excited to announce that our district is adopting the Raptor Safe mobile app as part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing school safety and streamlining visitor management in our schools. This app builds on our existing visitor procedures, offering a more convenient and secure check-in process for everyone.
What is the Raptor Safe App?
The Raptor Safe app offers a convenient and secure way for visitors to manage and verify their identity before arriving at a school. With the Raptor Passport feature, visitors can pre-verify their identity, allowing for a seamless sign-in process when they arrive on campus.
How Does It Work?
When visiting a school, visitors can use their secure QR code generated by the app to expedite the check-in process. QR codes automatically regenerate every 5 minutes to ensure security and prevent misuse. Please remember that our visitor wiFi and phone service are not always reliable in our building which may hinder the use of the Raptor Safe App.
Getting Started
The Raptor Safe app is available to all visitors across the district. To download the app, please visit https://raptortech.com/raptorsafe-app/.
For questions or assistance, please contact Bonny Slope Office staff: 503.356.2040 or bslp-communications@beaverton.k12.or.us . Thank you for helping us keep our schools safe.
Spring Picture Day - February 13th
Spring picture day information, online ordering, and Dorian support is available at: https://mydorian.com/. Search for Bonny Slope and click the green Order button associated with spring picture day.
All orders for spring pictures must be placed before 8:30 am on picture day. Only students with an order will be photographed. Please let your student's teacher know that your student will be photographed.
Bonny Slope Elementary
Principal: Betty Skundrick
Assistant Principal: Anh Nguyen-Johnson
11775 NW McDaniel Rd.
Portland, OR 97229
Phone: 503.356.2040
Fax: 503.356.2045
Attendance: 503.356.2040 Press 1 for attendance
Attendance email: