December 11th, 2017
Dear Families,
Report Cards
Report cards will be going out this week. Please spend some time going over the reports with students. Consider having conversations about effort, behavior and academic standing. Congratulate children on their hard work and make a plan with them for how they can improve or continue their efforts. Linked is a great article that can support these conversations. Teachers and families have been working to move from talking about product (grades) and focusing more on effort (process) as research shows that this supports learning and growth.
Change in School Hours 2018-2019
The district has announced that next school year, the Bates School will run from 8:15 a.m. – 2:55 p.m. We are preparing for a successful launch of the new hours for next September and hope to inform you soon about shifts in before/after school programming.
Citywide Parent Council
Hello, Bates families! Toyin (K1 parent) and Nora (K2 parent) are this year’s Citywide Parent Council Representatives. We’ve been asked by the CPC to provide some general feedback about how Bates families feel about changed school hours, which we will share with the CPC chairpeople, who will in turn share with the superintendent when they meet with him early this week. Please take a moment to answer these two questions (linked) BY THE END OF THE DAY, MONDAY 12/11 so that the feedback we provide is representative of how *most* Bates families feel. Thank you! If you have any questions please email nora.m.vincent@gmail.com or toyin.yayo@gmail.com.
The Giving Tree
Throughout December students can donate small toiletry items or other daily use items to the “giving tree” outside the main office. All donations collected will be given to a local homeless shelter. Examples for donations include: toothpaste, toothbrushes, travel size shampoo and conditioner, travel size tissues, etc. Donations are accepted through December 20th. This is a great opportunity to have conversations with children about service, charity, and kindness.
Fundraising
Some upcoming opportunities for fundraising include:
On Wednesday, December 13 from 3pm-8pm two local businesses will donate 10% of your purchase to our school. At Birch St. House and Garden be sure to mention “The Bates” so your purchase can be counted. Delicious Yogurt will also donate 10% of your purchase to the Bates when you bring a shopping night flyer. They have a kids corner where we’ll have board games for families to have some extra fun!
There is exactly 1 week left for the SeedMoney fundraiser. The site shows that we have raised $465 PLUS they will add the $200 Giving Tuesday challenge grant once donations are closed. That means we will beat last year’s total of $600. We still have a chance at a $200 merit grant as well, but let’s make a push in the next week for more donations. Please share the link below with everyone in your network. All funds raised will be put to good use by the SPC Garden Subcommittee. https://donate.seedmoney.org/1785/bates-school-garden
SSC/SPC
Our next SSC/SPC meeting will be on Thursday, 12/14, 5:30-7:00pm. As always, food and childcare are provided. Some topics to discuss include uniform policy, fundraising opportunities, and debriefing the “Listening Tour.”
Sincerely,
Rodolfo Morales, Principal
Phineas Bates Elementary School 