Happy Monday Team Bear Creek,

I hope everyone had a wonderful break and enjoyed time with friends and family.

2022 is upon us and I am hoping to shake off the weirdness of the last couple of years :-)

The next three weeks will be pretty fast and furious as is tradition for a school cycle. Grades 3-5 will have their second SCA (short cycle assessment) in two weeks and K-5 will take their middle of the year MAP after we come back from winter break.

In other news we are getting a large new piece of playground equipment for the primary playground and you may have noticed that we received our official school sign.

Much Love and Light,

David

There are now three options for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people who are a close contact to a positive COVID case. Below you will find the three new options for anyone who is unvaccinated or hasn’t reached full vaccine protection, like maybe they were exposed to COVID within the two-week window after a vaccine:

ONE - The close contact can quarantine for 10 days and return on the 11th day — that’s what happens now.

TWO - The close contact can “test to stay” at school, meaning they don’t have to quarantine, but they do have to test on day five after the exposure. (If it’s negative — Grab your backpack! We’re going back to school ... If it’s positive — Grab the Chromebook! The 10-day isolation starts.)

What Do If Your Child Is Not Feeling Well

If your child is ill with symptoms consistent (cough, sore throat, stomach issues, headaches, fatigue, congestion, etc ...) with Covid-19 contact Mr. Crissey and your child's teacher and then the following protocols must be followed:

Students May Return After

10 days have passed since symptoms started, and improvement in overall symptoms, and 24 hours have passed without fever and use of fever-reducing medication.

OR

Provide doctor’s note to campus health room staff stating that symptoms are not COVID-19-related and student can return to school.

OR

Provide a negative COVID-19 test. This MUST be a PCR test not a rapid test.

As an FYI the same holds true for staff members.

General Information

Bear Creek Elementary is hosting an art contest and the winning submission will become the cover of the 2021-2022 yearbook!

The due date is Friday, December 13, 2021 @ 8am.

The top five submissions will be featured throughout the yearbook and the overall winner will be on the cover.

Submit all entries and questions to Mrs. O’Connell @ malissa.oconnell@austinisd.org.

Guidelines

We have five core values at Bear Creek:

· Connection

· Resilience

· Integrity

· Empathy

· Courage

Draw something that exemplifies the core values of Bear Creek Elementary.

I have fielded a few inquires about school donations. If you are interested in donating please let me know and I can assist. We have an account setup to provide an option for online donations.

https://austinisd.schoolcashonline.com/Fee/Details/22061/63/False/True

Hey Team Bear Creek,

We cannot thank you enough for your tremendous support with our book fair! Our campus raised over $16,000. WOAH!!! 25% of our sales will come directly back to the library and will be used to purchase new series and books!

If your student still has money in their e-wallet, you can still shop virtually at the link below!

WANT TO VIRTUALLY SHOP THE FAIR?:

The Book Fair is a great way to get those holiday gifts that are around the corner from our book fair home page: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/bearcreekelementary3

Thank you, team! Happy Holidays! 😀

Ms. Saenz

Hope everyone had a wonderful fall break! The month of December for counseling will be filled with small group and individual counseling lessons! I know this time of year gets busy so remember it's okay to slow down and be present! Here are some fun ideas optional to try for this month with your kiddos!

Our apologies for the last minute cancellation of our meeting on 11/16. Good news— we have a rescheduled date! Join us via Zoom at 6:00pm on Monday, December 6th for our 2nd General Membership Meeting of the year followed by an interactive Family STEM Night! Mad Science will be hosting 3 separate breakout rooms with different STEM projects for you and your kids to do together. Below is a supply list of some simple household items to gather in advance.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85443161655?pwd=SlU5b09kTkVTbTVYb1d5dFRJWFlmdz09

Meeting ID: 854 4316 1655

Passcode: 058223

SUPPLY LIST

Here are some simple supplies to gather from home in advance to participate in the STEM projects:

Crazy Chromatography: washable markers, a cup of water, a plate or tray to keep your experiment off your table, white coffee filter or paper towel, spoon

Paper Helicopters: printed template (attached below), scissors, paper clip (or a coin and some tape), paper, washable markers

Optical Illusions: paper, washable markers, scissors, tape, straw (or pencil)

Please reach out to me at david.crissey@austinisd.org