Blanche Sprentz Summer Newsletter

Welcome to Summer Break!

• BSE Summer Office Hours: Open M-F, 8:00 AM-4:00 PM until Thursday, June 8, 2023.

• Summer Scavenger Hunt - Students are bringing home a yellow Summer Scavenger Hunt they can complete, get a Parent/Guardian signature, and return for their first Bear Hug ticket for the 2023-2024 school raffle. (See below)

• 2023-2024 Classroom Teacher Placements will be emailed on the afternoon of Friday, August 4, 2023.

• 2023-2024 BSE Team will have:
• 1 Preschool Inclusion Classes, AM/PM - New!
• 2 Transitional Kindergartens
• 2 Kindergartens - all day - New!
• 2 First Grades
• 2.5 Second Grades
• 2.5 Third Grades
• 1.5 Fourth Grades
• 1.5 Fifth Grades

• Tuesday, August 8, 2023 is the First Day of School for the 2023-2024 school year.
• 8:00 AM - AM TK, 11:24 AM - PM TK
• 8:15 AM - Kindergarten-5th Grade
• 8:25 AM - AM Preschool, 12:07 PM for PM Preschool

• Wednesday, August 16, 2023 - BSE Open House for Kindergarten-5th Grade

PTO Announcements

• Did you or your student enjoy the events hosted by our PTO this year? We would love your help next year! Sign up to be a part of the 2023-2024 PTO here: https://www.fcusd.org/Page/45808

• Follow along with us online:
  1. Website: fcusd.org/BlancheSprentzPTO
  2. Facebook: facebook.com/BlancheSprentzPTO
  3. Instagram: instagram.com/BlancheSprentzPTO

Thank you for your support and partnership!

Jenna Schuette, Principal

Our very own Head Custodian, Kerry Wedel, is the official winner of the California State's Classified Employee of the Year in the Custodial Services category.

All BSE staff were asked to nominate a Classified, Support and Certificated Employee of the Year. The top nominees were placed on a ballot with all of the accolades from their colleagues and each staff member voted to find our Employees of the Year.

When: June 5-16 (8:30-12:30 PM) daily.

Where: Gold Ridge Elementary

Who: 4th & 5th graders only

There is a cost to participate. More info coming soon!

Blanche Sprentz has three site goals for the 2022-2023 school year:

1. Increase Student Math Proficiency by 5% on the Renaissance Diagnostic
2. Increase Cultural Awareness Proficiency Among Students, Staff, and Families
3. Increase Student Proficiency in Grit by Setting Long-term Goals in Academics & Activities

Families Support School Goals By:

• Practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division math facts at home
• Play games with cards, dice, counting
• Practice measurement with kitchen tools, rulers, measuring tape
• Share your family heritage and traditions with others
• Support your student's family heritage projects at school
• Follow our monthly Heritage Awareness activities and resources
• Set and Track Reading and Step Count Goals with Students

11/15/2022 Blanche Sprentz Site Council virtual visit

Folsom Public Library

Address: 411 Stafford Street

Website: www.folsom.ca.us/library

Hours: Tue-Wed 10 am – 7pm, Thu, Fri, Sat 10am - 5pm

A Folsom Public Library card is free and provides you with access to books, eBooks, eAudio books, online databases, DVD’s music CD’s, Games, 3d printers, Chrome Books, Hotspots, and State Park passes. The library has 22 computers available for public use and printing is available for a small fee. The library also has a free magazine exchange and a free puzzle exchange.

How to get a library card

It is easy to get a Folsom Public Library card! California residents can get a library card by completing an online application and providing a photo ID and proof of address.

The library has a My First Library Card program. Every school year, librarians visit all FCUSD kindergarten classes and distribute library cards to students. The cards can be activated by a parent or guardian when visiting the library. Kids also get a free book to keep with activation of their card.

Programs for children

• 1000 Books Before Kindergarten: an early literacy program encouraging families to read 1,000 books with their children to prepare them with the skills they need for kindergarten. Each 100 books read receives a progress badge. At 1,000 books, kids receive a backpack, a free book and certificate of completion. While 1,000 may seem like a large number, if you read just 3 stories each day you will reach your goal in one year!

• Storytimes: daily stories and songs program for children ages 0-6

• Legos: The library has a large collection of Legos - kids come together to build and put their creations on display. Weekly on Saturdays from 2-4 pm. Ages 5-12

• Book clubs: Kids Graphic Novel Book Club meets monthly on the 3rd Saturday at 1 p.m. Copies of the monthly selection can be checked out from the library. Grades 2-5

• Craft programs: weekly DIY craft boxes offered on Friday afternoons from 2-4:30 p.m. Crafts include making bookmarks, paper airplanes, origami, yarn crafts and more.

Tutoring

Free, live, online K-12 tutoring with your library card. Get homework help in math, reading, writing, science, social studies and so much more. Through HelpNow, live real-time homework assistance is available 24 hours a day by laptop, tablet, or phone from qualified tutors using state curriculum and standards.

24/7 assistance is available in English and Spanish for Language Arts and Mathematics.

Every day between 10:00 am and 10:00 pm, assistance is available in core K-12 subjects in the following languages:

• English

• Spanish

• Mandarin

• Cantonese

• Vietnamese

• Tagalog

Tutors can provide a virtual whiteboard, conduct live audio interactions with students, and work with learners on a wide range of concepts. Students are expected to work through the content and learn from the feedback. Tutors do not provide answers — they provide guidance and help. Tutoring sessions may be monitored for completeness and effectiveness. All tutors have passed background checks and possess, at a minimum, a bachelor’s degree.

Access online tutoring at www.library.folsom.ca.us/youth-library

What a visit to the library might look like for your family:

• Enjoying stories and songs at the library while attending a storytime together.

• Experiencing your child getting excited about selecting their own books to read.

• Parents finding new books to read aloud to their children.

• Children playing games on the early literacy computers that support school readiness.

• Use of the public computers for a school assignment.

• Enjoying the toys at the library and cooperative play with other children.

• Shared family time in an environment that seeks to instill the love of reading for all ages!

Contact info: Debbie Centi, Youth Services Librarian (916) 461-6132

We need volunteers to help with the Mileage Club in the mornings from 8AM to 8:12AM. Email Kandice White at kanwhite@fcusd.org to get started.

You can now apply to volunteer online through the new Raptor system by going to https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/Njk2NDplbi1VUw==

If you are already a cleared volunteer, please be sure to bring in your ID or Driver's License the next time you come in so we can get you set up to sign in and out using our new device.

Blanche Sprentz has partnered with Folsom's Hope who sends mentors to come have lunch with select students once a week.

The only requirement is for mentors to have a heart for kids! Once cleared through the District, adult mentors are paired with a student referred to the program, and they have lunch once a week. This is on Wednesdays during their lunch hour, and build relationships over the course of the school year. The time commitment is less than an hour a week, but mentors do need to be committed to being there each week, as consistency is essential.

Volunteers do need to be cleared through FCUSD as category 2 volunteers, and then there are some additional requirements for mentors because of the intimate nature of mentoring: Folsom's Hope application, online training, and mandated reporter training. Salwa Kasabian, Executive Director from Folsom's Hope will walk volunteers through all of this. If anyone is interested, they need simply to contact Salwa so she can assist them in the clearance process. She's also happy to chat with anyone with questions or wanting to know more.

Salwa Kasabian

Executive Director, Folsom's Hope

(916) 259-7261

salwa.kasabian@folsomshope.org

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. To shine a light on positive mental health habits, Blanche Sprentz Bears spent some time at recess today recognizing their strengths and creating their own mantras or positive self talk statements. They also filled out Strength Spotters and gave them to peers, teachers, and family members to help them see the strengths within themselves. This Friday, 5/19, we'll be having some Fun with Feelings, including a feelings identification activity called "Name It to Tame It" ~ just naming the emotions we are feeling can help us have better control over them. We'll also be playing giant "social skills" jenga, practicing mindfulness, and blowing giant bubbles.

Scarlett Stoppa, Mental Health Specialist

https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html

https://www.verywellfamily.com/american-academy-pediatrics-screen-time-guidelines-1094883#:~:text=For%20years%2C%20the%20American%20Academy%20of%20Pediatrics%20has,to%20reflect%20the%20realities%20of%20today%E2%80%99s%20digital%20world.

To view the recorded presentation from May 2022 in its entirety, please click HERE

You can enable closed captioning in both English and Spanish

Links below were also provided at the May presentation, providing information and resources parents can use for keeping their children safe online.

Child readiness for cellphone chart

Guide to Snapchat 2021

How to Really Prevent Screen Addiction

Keeping Children Safe on the Internet - Services and Devices

Parents Guide to Snapchat QR codes for Internet Safety Links

Website: https://www.fcusd.org/bse
Location: 249 Flower Drive, Folsom, CA, USA
Phone: (916) 294-9110