We are off to a great start to the school year! We also would like to thank everyone who has attended our orientations, Back to School Night, and PTA meetings. We cannot thank you enough for all the support this school year.

If you haven't already done so, please sign up for a parent-teacher conference on the parent portal. Parent-teacher conferences will take place on November 20 and 21.

We are extremely grateful for your support and understanding during the school year. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me or Mrs. Komorowski via phone or email.

Welcome to our Raise Craze fundraiser! This is a unique way for us to raise money for our school while making an impact in our community. During this fundraiser, students ask friends and family for donations via the online Raise Craze platform while paying it forward serving others. What a great way for us to teach our students the importance of kindness and gratitude while raising much needed funds. Students will spend time serving, not selling!

Registration Link: https://my.raisecraze.com/app2/join/A8YMMFP

1. Enter your student’s name

2. Select at least 3 Acts of Kindness

3. Enter 5-10 email addresses of potential supporters. Raise Craze will send all emails, reminders and thank you notes. Emails will never be shared with third parties or used for marketing.

At A Glance: Dates: October 2 - October 21

Our Goal: $20,000

School-Wide Service Projects:

1. Family Service Night - Thursday 10/12 from 6-8p.m. *More information to follow!

2. School Meet-up Clean up at Barnegat Branch Park on Saturday 10/21 starting at 9:00a.m.

Every student can participate in Raise Craze by completing Acts of Kindness (AOK) so we’re aiming for 100% participation.

As a little encouragement, teachers will be recognizing “Kindness On the Spot” when they see students being kind, so please talk to your student about ways he or she might show kindness at school.

Schoolhouse Homework Help is a homework program run by the Berkeley Township School District. Teachers are available from 4-5:30 pm on select Tuesdays and Thursdays. The location is at 235 Magnolia Blvd. in South Toms River.

October Dates: 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, 31

Please make sure costumes are safe for students to walk around and easy for them to put on. Weapons are not allowed with costumes, please keep them at home. The safety of the children is always our number one concern.

We ask that you please refrain from signing your child out early on the day.

All Halloween Parades will take place on the recess field behind the school. We ask that all parents and family members stay behind the cones as our students will make a lap around the interior of the field.

Please see below for the parade schedule:

• Preschool - 10:00
• 3rd/4th Grade - 1:45
• 1st/2nd Grade - 1:55
• Kindergarten - 2:05

Daily attendance is an important part of any child's education. Our goal at Bayville School this year is to be more proactive with keeping all families up to date with their child's daily attendance. As we mentioned at Back to School Night we are looking to utilize a more positive approach when dealing with attendance concerns.

WHAT IS CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM?

“Chronic absenteeism” is defined in New Jersey’s ESSA State Plan as the percentage of a school’s students who are not present for 10 percent or more of the days that they were “in membership” at a school. In New Jersey, schools must be in session for a minimum of 180 days. Currently, we are at 20 days in session which means any child who has been absent two or more days as of October 2, 2023, is considered chronically absent.

A school's policy on Truancy (attendance) and the State’s policy on Chronic Absenteeism are not the same thing. Districts are entitled to develop their own policies and regulations as to what they consider to be appropriate excused absences. The state only considers these five items to be an excused absence:

• Religious observance

• Take Our Children to Work Day

• College visit(s), up to three days per school year for students in grades 11 and 12.
  

• Participation in observance of Veterans Day (N.J.S.A. 18A: 36-13.2) or district board of election membership activities (N.J.S.A. 18A: 36-33);

• The closure of a busing district that prevents a student from having transportation to the receiving school.

IF MY CHILD IS SICK, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

1. Any child who is sick should always remain at home. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact the school nurse for assistance.
2. It is always good practice to email (mreece@btboe.org) or call the school nurse whenever a child stays home from school.
3. A student returning from an absence of any length of time must provide a written statement (email) to the school nurse that is dated and signed by the parent listing the reason for the absence.
4. Missed school work is only given after two days absent in a row.
5. All students will be allowed a reasonable amount of time to hand in make-up work.

Please remember to log onto the parent portal on the district website to update phone numbers and emergency contact information. This information must be accurate in order to receive notifications from the school. Please also complete the health information and the surveys if you have not yet done so.

Emergency Contact Information: In order to release your child in the event of illness or early pickup, this information must be entered into our database.

Documents: You must read these forms and go to the Parent Questions tab on the Parent Portal to answer questions pertaining to these documents.

Surveys: You must click on this to complete the Medical Survey containing information for your child.

Health Information: You must click on this to provide Health Insurance information for your child.

We are so fortunate to have an amazing PTA at Bayville School! You can become a member of the PTA by clicking here. Our next PTA meeting will be Tuesday, September 24 at 7pm in the Bayville School APR.

Stay up-to-date on all of the Bayville School PTA by following them on Facebook: Bayville School PTA Facebook Page

Remind is an App that allows us to send text messages and push notifications to inform you of school events. This is where we will send reminders about upcoming events, spirit days, etc. There are 2 ways to sign up for the Bayville School Remind:

• Go to the app and type the class code: @bayville23
• Send a text to 81010 and type this message: @bayville 23

October 2

• Spirit Day: Wear Grade Level Colors

October 6

• Central Homecoming Tailgate

October 9

• School Closed

October 10

• Picture Day

October 11

• BSI Family Information Night

October 12

• Family Service Night

October 13

• Spirit Day: Wear Tie Dye

October 14

• Progress Reports Posted on the Portal

October 17

• Board of Ed Meeting

October 20

• Harvest Night

October 24

• PTA Meeting

October 27

• PS and K Pumpkin Patch
• Spirit Day: Wear Flannel

October 31

• Halloween Parade