The Broken Arrow Trailblazer

SCHOOL INFORMATION AND REGULAR HOURS

Breakfast: 7:40 AM - 8:00 AM

School Hours: 8:10 am - 3:10 pm

Office: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm

913-993-2300 (Office)

913-993-2388 (Attendance Line)

Principal — Mr. Ryan Horne

Principal's Message

The school year has taken off with the launch of our “Effort is Magical” theme during an assembly on Friday, August 16 featuring our own parent and magician, Devin Henderson. The updates to our Blazer Bucks Menu was revealed and featured additional “experiences” with staff to further power forward and strengthen relationships. Students will continue to have the opportunity to be taken to Sonic by Mr. Horne and Ms. Montgomery (our new social worker), have a restaurant meal delivered to school by Mr. Horne, and many other items from last school year. Newly added items include having their nails painted by Mrs. James, our music teacher, and throwing a pie at a staff member of their choice. Students are jazzed to earn their Blazer Bucks to spend or save for a higher cost menu item. The first purchase opportunity will be Tuesday, September 3rd when Ms. Montgomery goes on tour with the “Magical Purchasing Cart” to take student orders.

Broken Arrow welcomes numerous new faces to our BA Family for the new school year due to continued enrollment growth.
A warm welcome has been extended to the following new staff:

Kindergarten: Jenny Buck

Third Grade: Samantha Weems

Fourth Grade: Abbi Peoples

Fifth Grade: Danah Gural

Sixth Grade: Josh Cavender

Special Education: Brittany Spears, Courtney Anastasio, Kelsey Hall, Holly Bennett, Brandi Newry, Liz Barber, Kendra Greenwood, Timothy Filson, Andrea Benson, Hannah Poynter

Social Worker: Ja’Lynn Montgomery

We very recently completed beginning of the year benchmark assessments (DIBELS and MAP).

This data has been utilized to identify similar instructional needs among students to further develop prescribed instruction meeting each student’s learning needs. Small group differentiated instruction will begin on Tuesday, September 3.

I just wanted to remind you again of a philosophy I have had for many years: As a parent myself, if the classroom is not one that I would want my own child to spend a year of their educational life then it is not good enough for anyone’s child and action needs to be taken to make it an optimal experience. It is my pledge and responsibility to provide an exceptional school experience for all of our students and their families. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher or myself to problem solve issues that may arise. We are in this journey together. It’s going to be a great school year!

Hello Broken Arrow Families!

It has been a great start to the school year! I want to thank all the families who were able to make it to Back to School night. The executive board was busy all summer planning events for the calendar, auditing the books, and setting the budget. It was a lot of work, but I am pleased with the direction that the PTA is going. As a board, we are striving to improve communication with our families this year. One way that we are doing that is by setting up Member Hub for our school. This is provided to us by the State PTA. More information will be available as we finish setting this service up. In the meantime, we will be using BAPTA news, school flyers, and our Face Book group to share information.

If you would like to receive information from the PTA, please make sure that you fill out a membership form. This helps us to figure out the best way to communicate with everyone.

Our first meeting will be September 5th at 6:30 in the library. We will be offering a free MVP training class for our parents. In order to be able to go on field trips or help in the classroom, parents MUST have the training.

As a board, we look forward to working with our families to make this year a successful year for our school.

Thank you for your continued support for the PTA,

Sarah Alberico

Thank you to everyone that came to our first Plate it Forward of the school year! Just by eating at Chipotle, you were able to help the PTA raise $557!

Don't forget about our upcoming Plate it Forward nights and make sure to mention that you are supporting Broken Arrow!

Tuesday, 9/17 (5-10pm) @ McAlister's
Monday, 10/21 (11am-8pm) @ Papa Murphy's
Tuesday, 12/3 (11am-midnight) @ Johnny's Tavern
Monday, 1/13 (5-8pm) @ Old Shawnee Pizza

Immunize: It’s the Law!

Kansas Law K.A.R. 28-1-20 defines immunizations required for any individual who attends school or early childhood programs operated by a school. Parents of students who are not compliant with KS immunization requirements will be notified three times: at 30, 60 and 90 days of noncompliance. Students remaining noncompliant after 90 days will be excluded from attending class until compliance is met. If you have questions regarding your child’s immunization status, please contact Jamie Knight RN, BA School Nurse.

Hearing and Vision Screening

Hearing and Vision screening will be conducted this year for PREK, KDG, 1st, 3rd and 5th grades and all new students to SMSD. Hearing screening will begin in September and hopefully be completed by Thanksgiving. You will be notified if your child does not pass the screenings. Referral notices will be sent home with students who do not pass.

Broken Arrow will be participating in the Harvesters BackSnack Program for the 2019-2020 school year. This program provides bags of healthy, non-perishable food to children for the weekend in order to combat weekend hunger. The program is a partnership between Harvesters and Broken Arrow. Harvesters will provide the food directly to our school already presorted and packaged. The weekend BackSnacks will then be distributed to the children before they leave school on Friday afternoons. This program would benefit any family but our numbers are limited. If you would like to participate and receive the BackSnacks, please contact Broken Arrow’s nurse, Jamie Knight RN at 993-2302 or email me at jamieknight@smsd.org.

Music Happenings!

Choir News

If your student likes to sing, then s/he should be in Choir! The Trailblazer Choir meets on Thursdays (6th grade 2:00 – 2:30; 5th grade 2:35 – 3:05). If your student would like to participate, it’s not too late. Your student can get a signup sheet from me during music class. Currently, we are making preparations for the Halloween Assembly (October 31) and for the Northwest Area Choral Festival (November 7).

I will accept new choir students through September 19. After that date, students will have the opportunity to join in January. Try it out! If you find it’s not for you, that’s ok!

Music Classes

Music classes are off to a great start! We have been reviewing important things like how to play and care for our instruments, singing songs, and reading rhythms. 1st-3rd graders are learning how to say goodbye in five different languages. Ask them if they can tell you some of them. They might even be able to teach you something new! If you ever have questions or concerns about music class, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Lorinda James

Music Teacher

This is a special bulletin-board in the Multi-Purpose Room that everyone can see during lunch and assemblies. Every month the Birthday Billboard gets updated with the birthday’s for that month.

For a $5 donation your child will have the opportunity to have their name up for everyone to see for an entire month!

We don’t forget the summer birthdays—if your student has a Birthday in late May, June, July and early August—their names will be displayed on their “1/2 Birthday” month.

Forms will be available in the office year round. Please contact Sarah Alberico with any questions at sarahalberico18@gmail.com

Picture Day! Save the Date: Wednesday, October 2nd

We are looking for 2-3 parents who are willing to help line up classes, receive order forms, and help straighten collars/touch up hair from about 8-11am. These volunteers are usually comped a free picture packet for their time and assistance by Inter State Studio. If you are interested, please contact Elizabeth Rowell at eat2ear@hotmail.com