Updates:

• Attendance Matters - Please allow plenty of time to arrive to school ON TIME
• 8:00 AM - Transitional Kindergarten & Kindergarten
• 8:15 AM - Grades 1-5
• 2:45 PM Dismissal - M, T, W, F
• 1:15 PM Dismissal on Thursdays
• TK & K Families - Mark Your Calendars for All-Early Days: 02/09/23 & 02/10/23
• Please do not use the front loop for dropping off/picking up. This is a designated Bus and After School Care Loop only.
• Every Friday is School Spirit Day - Wear BSE gear OR red

PTO Announcements

• Friendship Grams- Packets were sent home with your student last week in their Wednesday folders. You can send a friendship bracelet and note to your closest friends, favorite teachers or whole class! Parents are also welcome to send one to their child/children. The first set of Friendship Grams will be delivered Friday, 2/3.
  Friendship Grams received by 2/7 will be delivered 2/10. Individual grams are $1 each or you can purchase for your whole class for $15.
• Get Cleared to Volunteer- We have some exciting volunteer opportunities coming up. If you haven’t filled out the form to become a district cleared volunteer, do it ASAP so you can help out! https://www.fcusd.org/Page/30094
• Spirit Wear- Our Spirit Wear store has new inventory available and ready to be delivered to your child's classroom. We are so appreciative of local artist Brian Wallace who designed an updated logo for our Spirit Wear. Wanna check it out? Go HERE!
• BMX Assembly coming up on March 24th- This assembly is going to be tons of fun for our students and will focus on anti-bullying.
• Garden updates coming soon- Stay tuned for two upcoming garden workdays this Spring. We are in need of volunteers who know about irrigation and can help us fix a few broken valves in the garden. If you can help or know someone who would be willing to help us, please email Jen McKinney – jwhite.mckinney@gmail.com.
• Mark your calendars for our next PTO meeting on Wednesday, February 15th (the 3rd Wednesday of the month) at 7:00 in the Library and on Zoom.
• Las reuniones de PTO seran cada tercer Miercoles del mes. Interpretacion en Español disponsible, solo por peticion. Contacta a Veronica Pesavento (916)913-9300.
• Join the 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

Send your student's to school dressed up as their favorite book or movie character. No masks, face paint, or accessories.

Arrival: 8:00 AM

Dismissal: 11:21 AM

This event is for PARENTS ONLY and will be held in the Multipurpose Room on Thursday, February 16th, from 7-8PM

The presentation can be viewed at the link below:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16odtlKFMdLRtfRnTO7lDQiPs6kQJqbr1CipmBuzeTRc/edit?usp=sharing

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

Use the link or QR code below. The link is also on the main page of our school website.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfe38XADQFoJwMwGibuU-eoHgMOoX6ZCeZrc8w5WZaYfRs0-w/viewform

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.

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

Each 5th grade student is invited to attend a 5-day field trip experience to Sly Park Environmental Camp. The cost for each student is $250 or $50/day. If you would be willing to sponsor a student's trip or sponsor a day, please call or email Mary Anne Reed at 916-294-9110 or mreed@fcusd.org

If any of you caregivers are like me, you're signing your kiddos up for summer camp long after the best options are full. This is why I'm sharing my 4-point plan to not miss the boat (or the stage):

ONE ~ For kids age 7 to 17 who are all about the water, Sacramento Aquatic Center offers a great assortment of Youth Boating Camps. Mark your calendar: Sign-up starts in February.

TWO ~ For your aspiring thespians, Sutter Street Theater never sleeps! They've got camps, drop-ins, and semester offerings already scheduled through November. If your kids love Dr. Seuss or Frozen, sign up now for these summer workshops. Limited space available! Sibling discounts: 10%.

THREE ~ For a wide range of programming, including your kiddos' favorite sports, register with Folsom Parks and Recreation now for spring and summer break camps and after school programs.

FOUR ~ Many local churches offer programming and resources, including camp! Blitz has been hosted at Lakeside Church since 2005, is set to happen again June 6 to the 9th, and discounted registration opens April 3rd.

If you know of other spring break, summer break, or after school programs, please email the information to me at sstoppa@fcusd.org and I'll add it to our website. It takes a village to raise these children!

Stay Dry Out There,

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

Due to several students will severe allergies, as well as for equity, all food items, including birthday cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and ice cream are not allowed to be shared with classes at school. IF you would like to celebrate your student's birthday at school, consider sending non-edible items such as pencils, erasers, etc., for teachers to send home with the class. PLEASE communicate with your student's teacher about plans to bring in non-edible items to recognize a birthday. Thank you for your cooperation and partnership.

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