Bushnell Buzz
January 8, 2021
Mrs. Walters' News
Dear Bushnell Elementary Families,
Again- Happy New Year everyone! We have had a fantastic week here at Bushnell! The next few weeks of learning between now and spring break are crucial for our youngsters. The growth that occurs is inspiring!
January is National School Board Appreciation Month. Many of you probably don’t know the members of our school board, as their work is done behind the scenes. However, I do want to recognize them here in our newsletter, as they volunteer MANY hours to our district and have done an amazing job of guiding our district to the success we have had over the years. So please join me in thanking each of our seven school board members: Brian Krajewski, Laurie Kuna, Gary Blough, Pat Nugent, Tom Kaywood, Dan Stephens, and Jessica Curtis.
We have a mid-year benchmarking opportunity that will assess your child's ongoing reading growth using Acadience. This is an exciting point in the year as so many skills have already been established. First graders are continuing to build their phonological awareness which means the sounds that letters and combinations of letters make together. Kindergarten students are launching into reading whole words and becoming more proficient with their 'snap' words which are the most frequent words they will find in their books. You can partner with this growth by encouraging your child to read every day at home.
This month we will continue to earn our brag tags with the 'Sharing' tag. So far, your child has earned one for respect, responsibility, and safety. Our teachers will be looking for opportunities to highlight great examples of being a good friend by sharing with one another.
Please- if you are making any changes to your child's end of day plans, either picking up or sending them on the bus- call the office to let us know in addition to your child's teacher. The earlier in the day the better, but definitely before 2:45 so we have a chance to communicate the changes. Also- remember you will need your driver's license with you to identify yourself to our staff if you pick up your child from school. While this may be a frustration, the safety of your children are our highest priority!
IMPORTANT! With school breakfasts and lunches being free this year, we have a much lower number of families who have filled out the Free/Reduced lunch application for food service. If you took part in this program or if you think you might qualify this year, please take the time to fill out an application at www.lunchapp.com. Our school receives Title 1 dollars based on the number of students who qualify to be used for staffing interventions, ipads and chromebooks, school social work, and much more! Please take just a moment to fill out the application. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Erin Walters
Bushnell Elementary Principal