The Tiger Den
Back-To-School Edition as of Tue Aug 23 2022
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Welcome to the 2022-23 School Year - Tue., Aug. 23, 2022 Message with reminders:
Dear Tiger Nation,
We are excited to welcome parents/guardians tonight for the 1st-5th & ECSE Back to School Night that starts at 6:30 pm. This is an event for adults. Tomorrow we have our K Orientation that starts at 9 am in the gym followed by our Open House from 10:30-Noon.
Please be mindful that with the new safety vestibule and safety protocols that parents/guardians will be asked to say their good byes and well wishes at the entrances to the school building. We will not have parents/guardians taking students in the building to the classrooms. This is why we have our K Orientation and Open House for students to get familiar with the school building and staff prior to the first day of school.
The BBES Staff is excited to welcome parents/guardians tonight and then all students with families tomorrow.
We are looking forward to a great year together!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Ewing, Principal
This newsletter contains:
- Our Vision and Mission
- ParentVUE Online Verification - complete to find out your child's teacher
- Bus Finder App
- Online Meal Payment
- Health Services Information
- Very Important Dates
- School Supply List
- New School Hours for 2022-2023
- Staffing Updates
- BBES PTA Board
- BBES PTA News
BBES Vision & Mission
VISION
We strive to create an environment that empowers all students to achieve and employ their unique talents.
MISSION
The mission of Ball’s Bluff Elementary School is to foster a positive school climate as part of a nurturing community that respects and values diversity, maintains high expectations and promotes excellence for all.
Online Verification Process
ParentVue Verification Begins on Monday
Beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, August 15, please sign into ParentVUE to complete the Online Verification process as part of Loudoun County Public Schools’ First Day of School Information initiative. This process is required for all families to review and update important information about their students as we begin the 2022-23 school year, and must be completed no later than Friday, September 23. Once completed, you will be able to view student schedules in ParentVUE.
If you do not have a ParentVUE account, please contact the main office to request an Activation Letter.
For more information about this Online Verification process, along with FAQs about the First Day of School, please visit: https://www.lcps.org/FirstDay
If you need support with ParentVUE to complete the Online Verification process, please call our school for assistance, 571-252-2880.
Bus Stop Finder App
Stopfinder is a secure app that provides parents and caregivers with accurate bus location and messages, updates and alerts in real-time. Stopfinder is the easy to use parent engagement app. Know where your child’s bus is and have the most accurate information about your child’s bus schedule in the palm of your hand. Set-up GeoAlert zones to know when your child's bus is arriving at the stop and the school. Learn more on the LCPS Stopfinder site and watch the demonstration video below.
Online Meal Payment
Loudoun County Public Schools will replace MySchoolBucks with a new meal payment system, called TITAN Family Portal, for the 2022-23 school year. Similar to MySchoolBucks, this new meal payment system allows students to put money on an account to purchase school meals or other food items in our school cafeteria. Get started early and register before school starts on Thursday, August 25. It’s easy.
- Register: Register at family.titank12.com by clicking on “Sign up today!”
- Confirm Email: Confirm your email address by clicking on the email verification link sent to your email address.
- Sign In: Now you can sign in at family.titank12.com using your email and password.
Any balance left on a student’s cafeteria account from the old system will transfer to the new system automatically. Within this new meal payment system, you will be able to transfer funds between student accounts.
Allergy and food intolerance information will transfer to the new system. If there is any change to your student’s allergy and/or food intolerance information, you should enter it into ParentVue and contact Mrs. Margot Doucette, Health Clinic Specialist.
If you have any questions, please review our FAQs (FAQs in Spanish) or reach out to our School Nutrition Services office at CAFE@LCPS.org.
May I have lunch with my child?
Our cafeteria will be full this year. For seating and security, any parent, guardian, family member wishing to have lunch needs to make a reservation in advance. More information will be forthcoming on how to reserve a seat to have lunch with your child.
HEALTH FORMS REGISTRATION
State law (Ref. Code of Virginia § 22.1-270) requires that your child is immunized and receives a comprehensive physical examination before entering public kindergarten or elementary school. The School Entrance Health Form must be completed by a licensed medical provider. This form must be completed no longer than one year before your child’s entry into school. Click the link to access the form: School Entrance Health Form
MEDICATION
Parents/Guardians are advised to give medications at home whenever possible. If it is necessary that a medication be given during school hours, the Medication Form must be completed and the regulations below must be followed:
Medication must be brought to school in the original container with appropriate label intact. Parent/guardian must bring medication to the nurse, health clinic specialist, or designee. Medication will be kept in a locked medicine area of the clinic.
The Nurse/Health Clinic Specialist must have written instructions from the physician in order to administer prescription medications. These should include:
- Student’s name
- Name and purpose of medicine
- Dosage and time of administration
- Possible side effects and actions to take if those occur
- End date for administering the medicine
- Parent signature gives permission to administer medicine and to contact physician if necessary
- Physician’s signature
All prescription medicine must be in the original pharmacy bottle with proper label containing the student’s name, medication, dosage, and instructions for administration. If you ask, the pharmacy will give you an extra bottle for liquid or tablets with the proper amount of medicine for school.
PHYSICIAN ORDER FOR INDIVIDUAL HEALTH CARE PLAN
A diagnosis or medical condition may require an Individual Health Care Plan (IHCP) for the educational setting. An IHCP helps to ensure that all necessary information, needs and plans are considered to enable a child to participate and perform in school. Click the link below to download the Physician Order for Individual Health Care Plan. Please contact the school for more information.
Important Dates
School Supply Lists for 2022-2023
Bright School Kitz Purchased with the BBES PTA
Pre ordered supply kits are no longer available. Please use the lists above if you need to purchase supplies.
Please contact Principal Ewing or Assistant Principal Ramos if you need assistance with school supply items.
New School Hours for 2022-2023
Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, Loudoun County Public Schools is adjusting school schedules to increase the reliability and safety of transporting students and on-time arrival, ensuring students receive the maximum classroom instruction. Making these schedule changes will also address a bus driver shortage and will result in fewer delays and a more reliable schedule for students and their families. School hours for Ball's Bluff Elementary School beginning August 2022 are as follows:
Doors Open: 7:40 AM
School Starts: 8:00 AM
School Ends: 2:45 PM
Students should be in their classrooms before the 8:00 am bell. Once the bell rings to start the day students are considered tardy.
Staffing Updates
Reassignments within BBES:
- Ashley Lutz, moved from Resource Teacher to Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
- Lisa Karg, moved from Resource Instructional Assistant to Gr 1-5 Instruction Assistant
- Faye Sterling, moved from 2nd Grade Teacher to 3rd Grade Teacher
- Lori Borden, moved from Kindergarten Teacher to 1st Grade Teacher
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Staff Members leaving Tiger Nation ~
Reassignments within LCPS:
- Alexis Morris, 1st Gr Teacher to be a K Teacher at Cool Spring ES
- Steve Nicklas, 4th Gr Teacher to be a Teacher Countryside ES
- Rebecca Pettinelli, 2nd Gr Teacher to a 2nd Gr Teacher at Moorefield Station ES
- Katie Alder, Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
- Kiersten Dickenson, Itinerant Music Teacher at Cool Spring ES
- Lisa Wiernik, School Counselor to Park View High School
- Linda Cranfield, K Instruction Assistant to KIA at Cool Spring ES
- Veronica Rosales-Pereyra, Behavior Assistant to an Autism Teacher at Newton-Lee ES
- Enma Oliveros, BBES Family Liaison & Bus Drive to Family Liaison at Smart's Mill MS
- Mary-Rose Amos, Long Term Substitute to Resource Teacher at Countryside ES
Resignations:
- Jennifer Catalano, Third Grade Teacher
- Officer Graves
We wish all the best in their new opportunities! Once a Tiger, always a Tiger!
They will all be missed in Tiger Nation!
Welcome to the BBES Staff Family
NEW/BBES Family Liaison - Mrs. Thayanna Delpesche
Jackie Baker, EL Teacher
Mrs. Baker has worked in the field of education for twenty-six years serving students in preschool through third grade. She has been an EL teacher for LCPS for six years and is beginning her seventh year as an EL teacher at Ball’s Bluff. Mrs. Baker holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction in multilingual/multicultural education from George Mason University. She holds a special education graduate certificate in specialized reading also from GMU and is pursuing a graduate degree in reading at the University of Virginia.
Mrs. Baker was born in Oregon, grew up in Alaska, and has lived in Virginia since 1993. She also lived in Brussels, Belgium, and traveled throughout the world where her passion for learning about other cultures and languages was ignited. Mrs. Baker feels grateful to be a part of the Ball’s Bluff community! Go Tigers!
Alyssa Hussey, Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
Search and Futura Combined into FUSION, a new program at BBES
Mrs. Stephanie Wilson, Gifted Teacher (FUSION)
Fostering Understandings Sparking Innovation Originating New Ideas
The FUSION program serves identified fourth and fifth grade students who demonstrate a need for gifted education. Students enrolled at Ball's Bluff ES will participate in the new school-based, collaborative gifted model. The gifted resource teacher collaborates with classroom teachers to challenge gifted learners in their regular classrooms by enriching and extending the general curriculum.
The new delivery model provides for differentiated support in the areas of language arts and math within the regular classroom. Students will also be engaged with other enrichment activities that focus on both social-emotional development and a thematic unit of study while working together with other identified gifted students. During this time, they will get opportunities to collaborate on a variety of challenging, interdisciplinary projects.
In the two-year cycle of curriculum for FUSION, leadership and innovation are the overarching themes. These themes are relevant to the Virginia Standards of Learning and to life outside of school. Embedded in each of these themes are opportunities for gifted learners to develop 21st century skills through the 5 Cs: Critical thinking and problem solving, Creativity, Connections, Communication, and Collaboration.
2022-2023 BBES PTA Board
President - Gretchen Riemenschneider
VP, Programs (educational school programs) - Affie Benson
VP, Ways & Means (fundraising efforts) - Molly Bogar
Treasurer - Gretchen Holmes
Secretary - Ashley Lutz
Communications Director - Sarah Payne
2022-2023 BBES PTA Membership:
Ball's Bluff Elementary School
Website: https://www.lcps.org/ballsbluff
Location: 821 Battlefield Parkway Northeast, Leesburg, VA, USA
Phone: 571-252-2880
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BBESTigers
Twitter: @BallsBluffLCPS