Blue Ash Elementary DECEMBER
December 1, 2017
Our kids have a positive growth mindset at BAE!
Students and staff have been focusing on positive growth mindset this year. If your child has not already shared their learning with you, please ask them about growth mindset and how they use it every day at school.
Our Annual OGB Collection is Back!!!
Monday - Toiletries (lotions, soaps, toothpaste, shampoo etc)
Tuesday - Canned goods and non-perisable food items
Wednesday - Paper goods (toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, etc)
Thursday - Hats, gloves, scarves, socks, coats, other new/gently used clothing
Friday - New children's books, puzzles, art supplies, other new toys
Forget a day?? No problem! All items are welcomed and appreciated on ANY day!
We want to hear from you!
PTO stands for Parent Teacher Organization. The PTO is a group that works to address the needs of our Blue Ash Elementary school community. The BAE PTO cannot exist without the teachers and staff of BAE, and it definitely cannot exist without the parents and families of our students. We want to better serve our BAE community and involve our BAE families in the process. To do this, the PTO board would like to gather input from our families regarding various aspects of our BAE PTO community. We greatly appreciate your time in answering the questions in this survey. Thank you.
If you have any questions please contact bapto@sycamoreschools.org.
Please access the survey at the link below. All responses will be kept confidential. Thank you for your input!
Community Holiday Store
Two SIMPLE ways to support our school!!!!
There are many ways our community can support our school, but none of them are as easy as these two methods. Please read on!.....
KROGER REWARDS
Did you know you can support Blue Ash Elementary (BAE) just by shopping at Kroger? It’s easy when you enroll in Kroger Community Rewards®! To get started, sign up with your Plus Card below, and select Blue Ash Elementary. Once you’re enrolled, you’ll earn rewards for BAE every time you shop and use your Plus Card! The best part is it won’t cost you a penny.
Even if you have linked your card before, sign in and link it again!
(This needs to be done every spring.)
INSTRUCTIONS FOR KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS:
If you do not have a Kroger Plus Card, you may obtain a digital Kroger Plus Card when creating an account online or at any Kroger store. Link your card at www.KrogerCommunityRewards.com
(You must have a registered Kroger Plus card account online to be able to link your card to Blue Ash Elementary.)
If you have a Kroger Plus Card, go to www.KrogerCommunityRewards.com
- If you are a new online Kroger.com customer, click the “Create an Account” button
- You will need to enter your email address, create a password, enter your zip code, click on favorite store, and agree to the terms and conditions.
- Once you are done entering your information you will get a message asking you to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email that was sent to activate your Kroger account.
- If you already have an online Kroger.com account, click the “Sign In” button
- Enter your email address and password and click on “Sign In”
- Click on “Community” (along the top of the screen) then on “Community Rewards” (from the drop down menu)
- Click the “Enroll Now” button, complete personal information, click on save.
- Under Community Rewards (at the bottom of the screen) click the “Enroll” button
- Enter “Blue Ash Elementary PTO” the BAE PTO Number “84564” then click the “Search” button
- Select “Blue Ash Elementary PTO” and click the “Enroll” button
To verify that you enrolled correctly, you will see this at the bottom of the page:
Once you are linked, you can start earning rewards immediately toward the organization you are supporting. (Note: The message saying that you are supporting an organization through the Kroger Community Rewards program will start printing on your receipt about 10 business days after you linked your card.)
AMAZONSMILE
Turn your regular shopping at Amazon into support for Blue Ash Elementary. Just make sure when you do your shopping to go to www.smile.amazon.com and set Blue Ash Elementary PTO as your supporting organization, thats it! You shop and the PTO makes money for the school!
Thank you for your support!
Every little bit counts. Please share with family and friends!!
ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPTIONAL TESTING FOR IDENTIFICATION OF GIFTED STUDENTS
You may request that your child be tested on the Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT). If you wish to have your child participate in this round of testing, all requests must be made through the below online link by December 6th. If you have a child in 2nd and/or 4th grade, they will take the test during school with their class. For other grade levels, we are offering an optional testing opportunity. In order to decrease disruption to your child's instruction, this testing opportunity will take place on Saturday, December 9, at Maple Dale from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm for all four elementary buildings.
Please note it is the parents' responsibility to provide transportation to and from Maple Dale on morning of testing. Also please note Sycamore cannot use kindergarten or first grade scores for gifted placement.
~~PTO INFORMATION~~
Volunteer Opportunities
Looking for a way to visit your child AND help out at school? Only have a short time during the day or during your work lunch hour? The lunchroom is a great opportunity to volunteer! The kids love to see familiar faces in the lunchroom and the lunch staff love having extra hands to help open and pass out lunch items. You can choose how long you stay and when you volunteer! Check out the link below to sign up.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040e4aacae2ba57-20172018
Are you looking to volunteer while your kids are at school? Do you like art? We are looking for volunteers once a week, every other week, or once a month helping out with the first grade art classes. First graders have art from 1:45-2:35.
Can't volunteer regularly but would like to help with occasional art projects in all grades? We need you, too! Email Bev Ross at bevross922@gmail.com to be added to either list.
Thank you!
Health and Wellness update
Gratitude at Blue Ash Elementary
The BAE Health and Wellness committee’s initiative for the month of December is gratitude. Gratitude journals will be introduced school-wide. Each teacher will determine how best to incorporate gratitude journals in their classroom and/or in students’ take-home materials.
What Is Gratitude?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, gratitude is “The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.”
Per kidsforgratitude.com, “Gratitude is one of many positive emotions. It's about focusing on what's good in our lives and being thankful for the things we have. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, family, even computer access. It's taking a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are when something good happens — whether it's a small thing or a big thing.”
Benefits of Gratitude
Dr. Robert Emmons, a leading expert on gratitude, conducted studies involving gratitude journals and found that when people regularly engage in gratitude, they experience measurable psychological, physical and interpersonal benefits (https://www.parent.com/10-science-backed-benefits-of-practicing-gratitude-with-kids):
Feel better about their lives overall
Experience higher levels of positive emotions like optimism, enthusiasm, love, and happiness
Are kinder and more generous to others
Have fewer physical problems including pain
Exercise more regularly and eat healthier
Sleep better
Visit the doctor more regularly for checkups
Feel less stressed
Able to cope with stress more effectively and recover more quickly from stressful situations
Live longer–on average, being thankful adds 7 years to our lives!
Keeping a gratitude journal on a daily basis helps students achieve the following (https://www.edutopia.org/blog/gratitude-powerful-tool-for-classroom-owen-griffith):
Higher grades
Higher goals
More satisfaction with relationships, life, and school
Less materialism
More willingness to give back
Gratitude at home and in the community
There are many online resources to support further exploration at home:
http://www.momentsaday.com/activities-to-teach-gratitude/
http://www.positive-parents.org/2015/11/20-gratitude-activities-for-kids.html
https://organizeyourstuffnow.com/gratitude-activities-for-kids.
And many more! Just search online for gratitude activities for kids
For a copy of this document and/or a list of all wellness-related activities at BAE held by the BAE PTO and/or staff, please click here or go to https://www.sycamoreschools.org/domain/819 to review our wellness calendar. You can also find it on the Blue Ash Elementary website under Blue Ash Elementary Homepage>For Parents>Wellness Committee or via For Parents>PTO.
The Wellness Committee is thankful for our Blue Ash Elementary community of families, teachers, staff and students!
Ready for chess?
We are excited to offer the next session of the BAE chess club, 13 weeks of learning or improving how to play chess so you are ready to take on your opponent and give him or her a good game.
CLICK HERE for registration
School for Scholars help wanted!
Fun, Creative People to Teach School for Scholars at Blue Ash Elementary! Love kids and want to teach? Have a hobby you want to share?
Almost anything goes!
How about Juggling?
Teaching Chess or Kid Friendly Card Games?
Know any fun Jump-Roping Games and Songs?
Origami and other Paper Crafts?
Cheerleading or Line Dancing?
What about Creating Art with Food?
Know any Cool, Safe Science Experiments?
Have any Musical Talent?
THINK about your hobbies, your talents, and your interests... Why not SHARE them with the great kids at BAE!!!!
School for Scholars: School for Scholars (SFS) is an after school enrichment program for all BAE students!
We are in need of SFS Teachers.
If you have a talent to share and are available on Monday or Tuesday afternoons from 3:30pm to 5pm from January 22 through March 6, only 6 classes, we would love for YOU to teach a class!
SFS Teachers are compensated for their time.
We are interested in having a wide variety of fun and/or educational classes.
Teachers may be anyone.
For more information and to propose a class fill out the form at this link www.tinyurl.com/sfs118 by November 30th.
If you have any additional questions please contact Debbie Flinchpaugh-Kirby by November 30th at SchoolforscholarsBAE@gmail.com.