Bates Family Newsletter

Actually it's been so cold that we've had an unprecedented number of indoor recess days! Thankfully, we have games and coloring to keep us entertained during recess time. Also, we rotate the grade levels that go to the gym to run around on a daily basis as well. Let's hope the weather warms up this week, so we can get outside!

I'm going to keep reminding you of "Spotlight Families" because we believe it's so important to showcase our students and their families every chance we get! Sign up today😀

What is a "Spotlight Family"?

Twice a month, two of our wonderful families will be featured on our morning announcements that are shared each day to build community in our school as well as in our family newsletter. Our hope is that this will create new friendships, bring us closer as a community, and help us celebrate the beautiful diversity that we have here at Bates. It ties in with our new motto: "Believe, Be you, Belong, at Bates!".

Families will have two options from which to choose:

Option 1: Your family will be interviewed on Zoom by our Family Engagement Facilitator, Rosalyn Guevara. She will ask your family a few questions, such as, "What is your cultural background? What are your family's traditions? What does your family do for fun?" If you choose this Zoom option, Ms. Roz will reach out to you to schedule a time for the interview.

Option 2: If you prefer not to be recorded as a family, you can create a poster with family photos and answers to the questions listed above. You can also feel free to add details of your choice! Your student(s) will be recorded at school explaining the pictures you included on your family's poster. The poster will be returned after your student(s) are recorded. If you want to come to school and be recorded with your student to be recorded, let us know!

We all belong at Bates! Let's celebrate our community in this special way by getting as many families as we can to participate in this project. Interested? Fil in this Google Form, and Ms. Roz will reach out to you. Please sign up here today!

Remember, there's an early release this Wednesday, January 24!

Reviewing how to be active listeners!

This week we'll talk about why being an active listener is important. So far students have expressed that being an active listener is important because you have to be ready to receive important information, you might miss something you'd like to hear if you aren't listening, and in the event of an emergency, you need to listen to the directions. That's a great start!

The school menus are posted on the SPS website. Find them here.

Some of our multilingual learners continue to test this week! If your student is an ML, we wish them the very best of luck in this testing. We are so proud of all our multilingual learners! If you're student has finished testing, please make sure you tell them that everyone at Bates admires the effort and perseverance it required to complete this testing. Way to go!

21.7% -- Chronic absenteeism

Our goal is 18.2% or under in the "Chronic Absence" category, and we seem to be slipping further away from this all-important number. We want to be sure that students are in school if they're healthy and able to attend. Time in school + opportunities to learn = student success.

Shout out to grade 1 again this week with the lowest number of chronic absences.

Did you know you can earn money for our school just by scanning your grocery receipts? All you need to do is download the Boxtops app, and scan those receipts! Don't want to scan? No worries, you can always send receipts into school with your student in an envelope marked, "PTO Boxtops".

Again, we're stressing that if you MUST leave your car during drop off, pull up past the school entrance and drive as far down the sidewalk as possible. Adults are exiting vehicles close to "the rock" causing a cars to back up into the street. This is unsafe. Please follow the drop off rules.

Our Bates spirit rock is available for weekly rentals. Celebrate your student's birthday or other accomplishments by painting a message on our rock. Please click here to rent the rock!

Bates Elementary School, in partnership with our families and community, will provide all students with a culturally responsive, student – centered, and equitable learning experience that celebrates our students’ diverse backgrounds, creative pursuits, and their academic, social, emotional success.