Bates Family Newsletter

Greetings Bates Families!

We asked students to do something challenging this week. Our social/emotional focus was on reflection, and we, as adults know that reflecting to set goals can be tough. I'm always pleasantly surprised by how many students want to be recorded for our morning announcements. This week didn't disappoint with many of your students eager to share about how they reflected during their morning meetings and wanted to share goals they'd set for themselves. Great work, friends!

Next week, our theme is centered around gratitude. I'm taking a moment to express my sincere thanks to all of you for all your contributions (seen and unseen) to our school community. Some of you are in constant service to our school with your active roles in our PTO or Site Council -- thank you! Others are working behind the scenes to get your kids to school on time, reading with your children, taking time to teach them how to be productive members of society -- thank you!

There are countless ways that you make a difference in the lives of our students, and for that, I'm thankful. It is my pleasure to be in service to all of you, and I feel very lucky to be part of this school community. Wishing those who celebrate a Happy Thanksgiving, and a joyful time making memories with loved ones. The next newsletter will be sent on December 8th as I'll be taking time to enjoy being with my own family next weekend!

Parent/Caregiver Conferences - Reminder to save the date!

Looking even further ahead, please note that teacher/caregiver conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, December 6, from 12-2 pm and 5-7 pm. Teachers will send conference sign ups in the near future. Meeting with teachers is an important piece of the school-home connection. We look forward to seeing you that night, so mark your calendars.

Understanding report cards

As parent/caregiver conferences approach, please take a moment to review our report card system:

Please reference page 20 of our Bates School handbook for the following information:

Student and Family Support and Counseling:

Salem Public Schools provides a continuum of student and family services in all PreK-12 schools. Utilizing a multi-tiered system of support, SPS seeks to ensure every student has what they need to thrive in school and the community. A team of certified school counselors across the district assist leaders and teaching staff in proactively building learning environments where each student feels a sense of belonging, competence and autonomy. School adjustment counselors, City Connects coordinators and college and career counselors work as a team to provide comprehensive school

counseling programs that incorporate prevention and intervention activities.

Counselors respond to the social emotional and mental health needs that arise with students and offer direct individual and group counseling to assist students in developing skills necessary to fully engage in school. College and career counselors at the high school level are instrumental in preparing students for post high school graduation, as well as college and career awareness. All counselors in the district leverage a comprehensive range of prevention, intervention, and enrichment services that exist in schools and the community. They work with families and community partners to secure resources to address out of school factors that impact learning and thriving.

If you would like more information on the student and family support services offered at Salem Public Schools, please contact Ellen Wingard, Director of Student and Family Support at 781-732-0137 or ewingard@salemk12.org.

Students will be asked to think about what they are thankful for this week. There will be an awesome display of their "thanks" in the main lobby when you visit for teacher/caregiver conferences. You, caregivers, will also have a chance to add to the display! Mrs. Reardon will have more information ready for you when you arrive for your conference on December 6th.

Gratitude is the attitude and practice of appreciating the people, things and nature around us and in our lives. Even though gratitude is present throughout the year, Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season is a popular time to celebrate gratitude and to appreciate both the people and things we DO have, as well as the absence of things that are harmful or toxic to us.

There has been so much research on the health benefits of gratitude. Without doing a deep dive into the extensive studies that have been done, here are a few bullet points on what gratitude can do for us as well as for the loved one’s in our lives.

• Improved immune system due to the decrease in cortisol levels. Cortisol is the stress hormone that slows down the body’s natural processes so that one can fight or flee from the perceived stressor. Chronic stress impacts the bodies’ immune system making it more prone to illness.

• Improved sleep

• Improved mood

• Improved relationships

There is a saying that “Where our energy goes, our energy flows” and that what we focus on, we will find. If we focus on the the things we are grateful for, we are putting ourselves in a more positive state of mind- allowing for more positive thoughts and feelings which then create a greater likelihood of being open to new opportunities, people and overall a kinder and gentler way of interacting with our World.

Here at Bates, we have a lot to be thankful and grateful for, namely, you all as a huge part of our Bates Community. We also focus on helping our students to understand gratitude and to show gratitude towards others.

While gratitude can at times be a difficult concept for young kids to understand, it is easy for them to understand kindness and understand the positive emotion that occurs within them when someone shows them gratitude for something that they said or did.

We can model gratitude towards our kids, towards others in our lives and share stories with them of people showing us gratitude and how it made us feel

A resource that can help you and your family make gratitude more present in your lives:

https://www.ahaparenting.com/read/Thanksgiving-Family-rituals

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

Calling all coffee lovers! Support the 5th grade -- and grab some locally roasted joe!

The Bates Class of 2024 has partnered with Space Dog Coffee to produce "Bates Blend" coffee. Roasted in Salem, the beans hail from Honduras and make for a rich, delicious medium roast coffee. Each 12 oz.bag is $14.95 and a percentage of proceeds will benefit the Bates 5th grade end-of-year activities, including the yearbook, T-shirts, and graduation festivities.

Coffee makes a great holiday gift! We encourage you to stock up on this limited edition blend.

Order here: https://spacedogcoffee.com/product/bates-blend/

NOTE: Orders will be fulfilled weekly, beginning Friday, November 17. The final day for sales will be Friday, December 15, with pickup on Friday, December 22.

You can get your order in one of two ways:

• Choose LOCAL PICKUP at checkout if you want to grab your coffee at Bates from 5th grade parent Judith Forman.

• Choose FLAT RATE if you want your order shipped directly to your door. Shipping is a flat rate of $8.50 per order of up to 8 bags. Space Dog ships across the continental United States so please feel free to share the coffee fundraiser with friends and relatives who live beyond Salem!

Please make note of upcoming concert date!

December 12th:

• 4th and 5th graders will sing for families @ 8:15am
• 2nd and 3rd grade will sing for families @ 1:00pm

Our specialist team (Ms. Puga/Ms. Berman - Music, Mr. Bleckley - Art, and Mr. Richmond - Physical Education) will be available for drop in meetings from 12-2pm and 5-7pm. Appointments are not needed. They will be located in the music room off the front lobby if you'd like to meet with them.

Please visit the Salem Public Schools webpage here for guidance on the district's homework policy.

We are preparing for our "clean out your closets" fundraiser! As you prepare for the holiday season and make room for new items, let us take your old stuff off your hands.

We will have a U-haul truck at Bates on Saturday December 9th, 9am-1pm to drop off your bags/boxes of stuff. That's all you have to do. Just drop off and we'll donate + receive cash for the donations!

Also...

Save the date:

Bates Holiday Shop will be open December 12-15th.

More information to follow.

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.