Tiger Tales
Newsletter #23 - February 9, 2024
· Language Access: Español | 简体中文 | Pусский | Tiếng Việt | 한국어 | العربية
Dear Families,
Happy Friday! Thank you 1st grade families for the delicious PTA staff lunch on Wednesday. The sandwiches kept us fueled and the delicious dessert options were appreciated by all!
We ended this week with an engaging Lunar New Year Assembly led by Mrs. Nguyen's class. The students worked really hard to plan, rehearse, create props, and set up the stage! Big thanks to the families, Ms. Nguyen, Mr. Jones, and staff members who worked behind the scenes to make this possible.
We welcome any families, students, who would like to host a future assembly or presentation - please reach out to us so that we can see how best to support you. We are a community of many cultures and stories and we want to celebrate these experiences that are a part of our identities.
Today also marks 100 days of school! We have 80 school days remaining for this academic year, and our calendars reflect "so much to do with so little time"! We look forward to continued work together to improve how we support our students.
For those who celebrate Lunar New Year, we wish you a prosperous year ahead in this year of the Dragon. And to those watching the Super Bowl, best of luck to whichever team - 49rs or Chiefs - you're hoping to win. We wish all a relaxing weekend as we gear up for one more week before mid-winter break!
With love,
Kati & Betty
Upcoming Events
February 12: Preschool registration for new families opens
February 19-23: No school, mid-winter break
March 1: Kindergarten Registration opens
March 15: Auction, Overlake Golf & Country Club
March 22: 1/17 District-wide closure school makeup day
April 8-12: No school, spring break
Spirit Week
We invite students to join in the fun during this week leading to mid-winter break! No need to purchase anything. If your student wants to participate, please have them come in to school dressed in these daily themes.
Monday: Mismatched Socks
Tuesday: Medina Colors (blue/orange) or Spirit-wear
Wednesday: Wear Red or Pink
Thursday: Wear your favorite shirt
Friday: Comfy Clothes or Pajamas
Fire Safety Drill
This week we will conduct a fire drill on what we would do if we needed to evacuate the building. Students will practice leaving the building quickly and assembling in a designated location.
Please talk to your child about the importance of safety drills and taking them seriously. Please remind them that they need to be quiet and listen for directions. An important next step might be planning a drill in your own home and checking your smoke detectors to make sure they are working correctly.
For more information on fire safety, you might want to visit the National Fire Protection Association "Kids" page at http://www.sparky.org/ or their parent resource page at http://www.sparky.org/parents.
Volunteer Opportunity
We are looking for volunteers to come support students at lunch and recess! Volunteers would help monitor the lunchroom and outdoor play spaces with the support of our General School Assistants. You can choose the grade level and day of the week that works best for you and each volunteer slot runs for approximately 2 months at a time (but you can always volunteer for as many slots are you want!) In-person training is required and all volunteers must be cleared every 3 years through our BSD Background Check Process. (This is in addition to the general volunteer training that was offered by the Principal, since this is tailored to the lunch and recess contexts).
Recess and Lunch Volunteer Training – 2/28/24, 11:45am-12:15pm, Medina Library
Volunteering for this next round will begin March 4th. A sign up will be presented at the meeting. You can choose the lunch/recess and days of the week that work for you. An additional training will be provided for those that wish to sign up for the 3rd volunteer round. Those dates will be communicated closer to that time. For any questions, please reach out to our Assistant Principal, Kati Weiland and thank you for your consideration!
Community: Free Drop-In Tutoring!
Bellevue High School's Science Olympiad has started a program called Tutor Time. They are hosting free drop-in tutoring sessions for students K-12 in all subjects. Sessions are held every Saturday at various KCLS libraries. If you would like more information, please reach out to them at tutortime.bhs@gmail.com or visit their website: https://tutortime.my.canva.site/
Here is their schedule for the month of February:
- February 10th: Newport Way Library Meeting Room from 2-4pm
- February 17th: Mercer Island Library Large Meeting Room from 12-2pm
- February 24th: Redmond Library Meeting Room 1 from 4-5:30pm
Community Awareness – Rise in Cyber Kidnapping Schemes
Cyber kidnappings aim to get an individual to believe that a loved one has been kidnapped, are in immediate danger and a ransom must be paid. These schemes often involve the use of technology such as artificial intelligence voice spoofing, caller ID spoofing, and social media activity to convince unsuspecting victims to pay money. BSD Safety and Security provides some guidance to our learning community in the event they become impacted by a cyber kidnapping scheme.
BSD Impacts from City of Bellevue Closure of Factoria Blvd.
The City of Bellevue is planning a storm water conveyance improvement project along Factoria Boulevard. BSD educators, students and families will be heavily impacted by road closures resulting from the proposed project.
The City of Bellevue indicates that impacts include:
- Variable work hours, up to 20 hours/day, 6 days/weekHeavy truck traffic and noise from construction machinery.
- Heavy traffic delays.
The first phase of the project began the second week of January 2024, for initial construction activities. The project's primary phase is set to take place from March 8, 2024, and continue through July 8, 2024. During these four months northbound lanes will close completely, and one southbound lane will close (to be utilized as a northbound lane). This will effectively leave Factoria Blvd with one lane in each direction. Additional intermitted northbound and southbound lane closures are expected from August to December 2024.
Currently, district transportation is experiencing increased travel times by 20-25 minutes (each morning and afternoon) on south Bellevue routes resulting from the impact of the City’s closure of Lakemont Blvd and the overflow of traffic on to Coal Creek Parkway. The closure of Factoria Blvd. will have transportation impacts which may increase the time that students ride the bus by an additional 25-30 minutes.
This has the potential to impact total student travel times by 50 minutes each day, to and from school. The proposed closure will highly impact the arrival time at the following schools:
· Newport Heights Elementary School
· Newport High School
· Odle Middle School
· Somerset Elementary School
· Tyee Middle School
· Woodridge Elementary School
Bellevue School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts of America and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:
Civil Rights, Racial Discrimination, and Gender Expression or Identity Discrimination:
Civil Rights/Nondiscrimination Compliance Coordinator Nancy Pham, (425) 456-4040 or phamn@bsd405.org
Sex-based Discrimination, including Sexual Harassment:
Title IX Coordinator: Jeff Lowell, (425) 456-4010 or lowellj@bsd405.org
Disability Discrimination:
Section 504/ADA Coordinator: Heather Edlund, (425) 456-4156 or edlundh@bsd405.org
Mailing address for all three: 12111 NE 1st Street, Bellevue, WA 98005.