Berkeley Lake ES
"Bear Essentials" Weekly e-Newsletter, January 10, 2020
Principal's Message
Dear Parents,
We were so excited to welcome our students back on Monday, and we had a great week getting back into the swing of things! I hope you had a restful Winter Break full of family and fun.
By now, most of our students have visited the new Media Center and Art room in the new addition! If you are here on the 16th for STEM night, you will have an opportunity to tour the new addition, so I hope to see you then!
Your Principal and Partner,
Dr. Pendleton
Morning Drop Offs for Students Who Miss the Car Rider Morning Line
After all the buses have arrived, the gate for the bus lanes will close. Please park your car and walk your child to the lobby of the school, even if he/she is not late. If for some reason, the gate remains open, PLEASE STILL follow the same procedure and park your car. We do this for the safety of our children. Thank you.
Thank You
Sarah Yang
Pauly Gomez
Ebonee Tab
Cathy Valerio
Armando Olvera
STEM Family Night is Almost Here
There will be grade level STEM activities, presenters from Party Animals, GA Tech Prosthetics, Autrey Mill Nature Center, Mathnasium, and more!
Science Fair and STEM Projects will be displayed in the new Media Center and ice cream, snacks, and water will be on sale in the cafeteria.
Parents of 4th Graders
From Matt Green, our music special's teacher:
Our recorder instrument unit is starting at this time during music specials. Recorders may be purchased for $6 during music specials classes if your child has not bought one already. Also, they may earn special "Recorder Karate," belts by going to my eClass page and working on submitting assignments through that platform.
K-Kids Club News
The K-Kids will meet on January 13th at 7:45 AM in the NEW Media Center. We will be making Valentine cards for the seniors at the Country Gardens Duluth Retirement Home. This is our 6th year making cards for the retirement home, and our students are excited to spread "love" this February.
Lost and Found
Parents, our lost and found is full! If your child has misplaced anything at school like a jacket, sweatshirt, water bottle, lunch box, etc., please have them stop by the lost and found in the cafeteria to search for their missing items. We plan to donate all items that have not been claimed in two weeks.
Attendance Matters
Parents and families are essential partners in promoting good attendance because they have the bottom-line responsibility for making sure their children get to school every day. Just as parents should focus on how their children are performing academically, they have a responsibility to set expectations for good attendance and to monitor their children’s absences, so that missed days don’t add up to academic trouble.
- Make getting students to school on time every day a top priority.
- Alert our school to barriers that keep your child from attending school.
- Monitor your child's attendance data.
- Be proactive if you learn of a barrier that may be causing your student to miss too much school.
We Still Need Help With the Online Parent Survey from the State
Parents, please take the Georgia School Health Survey if you have not done so already. This state survey can be taken anywhere online but so far only 70 of our parents have taken the survey. This survey is anonymous and can be taken in English or Spanish. Here is the link to the state survey: https://gshs.gadoe.org/parents.
PBIS - Positive Behavior Intervention and Support
We will have our annual PBIS walk-thru on January 21, 2020 at noon. We will have a visitor in our school to observe how well we all know about our Berkeley Bear Behavior Expectations.
We have 3 Behavior Expectations:
1) Be Respectful
2) Be Responsible
3) Be Safe
We have always done really well and we know we can continue to do so!
Positive Behavior Focus for this Week:
Upcoming BLES Workshop for Parents
- How you can help your child manage stress
- How to help your child have a positive growth mindset
- How to help your child manage peer relationships
PTO News
January Spirit Night
We are excited to announce our first spirit night at Farm Burger! We’ll kick off the new year on Thursday, Jan. 23, 5-9 p.m., at Farm Burger in Peachtree Corners Town Center (5170 Town Center Boulevard). Wear your BLES spirit wear and we’ll see you there!
PTO Needs You
We Need Your Photos for the BLES Yearbook!
We have a few volunteer photographers dedicated for specific events. However, we really depend on parents and teachers to upload their photos taken throughout the year to create our yearbook. Below, you will find the instructions attached for how to upload your pictures to TreeRing, our yearbook vendor’s site. You can upload from your computer, your phone or your social media sites. Make sure to put them in “shared folders” so we know they are general pictures we can use to build this year’s book. Also, it would help us out a great deal if you label the photos so we know the pages where they should be published (for instance, 4th grade field day).
Digital Learning Days
The Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) 2019-2020 school calendar includes two make-up days to address school days missed due to inclement weather. In addition to these days, GCPS also has the option of making up days missed due to inclement weather using Digital Learning Days.
A Digital Learning Day is considered a school day, so students will be accountable for completing the teacher assignments from home, just as they would do at school. The assignments will be found on the teacher’s eClass course page under the Digital Learning Day icon and will be checked by the teacher and considered in the grading process.
A Look Ahead...
Monday, January 13
7:45am K-Kids Mtg (Media Center)
2:45pm Orchestra Club
3:00pm Chess club - Media Center
3:15pm Student Council Meeting - Houser's Room
4:00pm - 6:30 GCPS Substitute Teaching Job Fair (see flyer above)
Tuesday, January 14
7:00am No I.T. Girls
7:30am PTO Board Meeting
9:00am Advanced English Class
3:00pm Green Team
3:15pm Drama Club begins again
Wednesday, January 15
7:15am Art Club
9:00am Math Collaborative Planning
9:00am Beginner English Class
Thursday, January 16
3:00pm Good News Club (Media Center)
3:00pm Robotics Club
6:00pm STEM Night
Friday, January 17
7:30am Witzzle Pro Club meets
Spring Milestones Schedule Released - 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Students
Do You Have a Parent Portal Account?
If you need to register with the portal, please print and complete this registration form and turn it in to the main office. Along with the completed form, you are required to show a photo I.D. for verification.
We Have a School Store
Berkeley Lake Recycles
Berkeley Lake recycles aluminum cans and old clothes and shoes (in any condition) in the two bins in the upper parking lot. The Green Team receives 10¢ per pound of donations, which helps pay the fee for the weekly paper and cardboard pick-up. The aluminum cans are recycled at Progressive Recycling on Simpson Circle. Please support our Green Team by recycling these items here at Berkeley Lake. Thank you!
Remember to Save Those Box Tops!
One easy way to support your school is through the PTO Box Tops for Education collection. Send in Box Tops from products you purchase. To help with counting, you can download this Box Tops Collection Sheet.
Make sure to put your Box Tops on the sheet or in a bag with your name and teacher on it. Drop it into the wooden box in the main hallway near the water fountain. Doing this automatically enters you into a contest.
Each month, we’ll hold a random drawing of all students who submit Box Tops. Winners will be announced on the morning announcements at the end of each month. The prize? A coupon for a free ice cream or an item from the student store. This fundraiser has helped us earn hundreds of dollars for our school!
Our Parent Center
The Berkeley Lake Parent Center is open each day from 7:30-3:30. The Parent Center is located across from the front office. For Parent Center support please call Ms. Sandra Orci, Parent Liaison, at 678-291-4232.
Our Mission
To provide learning experiences in a secure and stimulating environment where every child can develop to his/her fullest potential academically, socially, and emotionally.
Our Vision
BLES is a positive safe, nurturing environment that fosters respect among all students, teachers, parents and community members, while forwarding world-class achievement that successfully maximizes each student's individual potential through engaging instruction.
Contact Us:
Berkeley Lake Elementary
4300 S. Berkeley Lake Rd.
Duluth, Georgia 30096
P: (770)446-0947
F: (770)582-7514