Bethel Springs Elementary School
Summer Update August 16, 2019
Summer Mailing Information
- Link to Alma for class assignment
- Link to Transportation & Bus Information
- Upcoming Events
- BSES School Calendar
- Security(Raptor) and Volunteer Clearance Information
- Parent Summer Checklist
- Parent Portal and Health Portal
- Letter from School Nurse
- School Lunch Information
- School Day Times
- Link to Elementary Handbook & Procedural Manual
- Communication procedures
- Supply Lists
- VEFLS Information
- Chorus Sign-ups
- Library Volunteers
- Summer Reading
- Art and Literature Fling
- Weekly Announcements
Class Assignments in Alma
There are many factors that go into our placement including any information that we received from you through our requests in the spring. Our placement team has worked diligently through the summer to find the best class for each student while balancing our classes. Each year is a new and valuable experience for your child and we have high expectations for the class in which s/he has been assigned.
TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION And BUS ASSIGNMENTS - INFOFINDER
InfoFinder-i provides online access to assist in finding your child’s bus number, pick-up/drop-off locations and times. An email with the InfoFinder link will be sent directly to you.
InfoFinder-i allows you to:
- Find your child’s designated bus stop;
- Find the estimated pick-up/drop-off times for your child’s bus stop;
- Locate which school your child would attend if you are planning to move.
Parents/guardians are encouraged to check InfoFinder-i periodically between August 19th and the start of school as pick-up and drop-off times may be slightly altered due to daily enrollment changes.
Students are only be able to ride their assigned buses. Daily changes will be permitted through the Transportation Department for emergencies only.
Please click here to access the transportation site or use this link to submit a daycare change request.
Upcoming Events
Open House Wednesday, August 28th 12:30-2:30
First Day of School: Tuesday, September 3rd
Back to School Nights: Sept. 4th (Grades 1 & 2); Sept. 5th (Grades 3, 4, 5) 7:00-8:00 PM
Information from Our Home and School Association
The BSES HSA is looking forward to seeing you at the Open House on Wednesday, August 28th (12:30pm-2:30pm). Along with all the excitement of meeting teachers and visiting classrooms, you will also have the opportunity to check out the following:
Spiritwear Sale: Come see all the new options available for sale!
Pre-Ordered School Supplies: If you pre-ordered school supplies, you can pick them up from your child's classroom at the Open House. (If you are unable to attend the Open House, the pre-ordered supplies will come home with your student on the first day of school.)
Meet the 2019-2020 HSA Board: We want to get to know you and hear your feedback regarding all things HSA. Many team members will be in attendance, so please feel free to introduce yourselves.
BSES Family Fun Day at Sweet Frog in Glen Mills: Come out anytime Wednesday the 28th before or after the Open House and celebrate the new school year with your friends at Sweet Frog (600 Town Centre Drive, Glen Mills, Hours 11am-10pm). Twenty percent of the sales will go to the BSES HSA if you mention Bethel Springs at checkout!
School Calendar
Raptor
The Raptor system is used to enhance our ability to monitor who enters our buildings by screening visitors, contractors, and volunteers. Upon entering a district building, visitors will be asked to present an ID such as a Driver’s License, which can either be scanned or manually entered into the system. If a parent or guardian for any reason does not have a US government-issued ID, the school staff member can use any form of identification and manually enter the person’s name into the Raptor system. The Raptor system will check to ensure that registered sexual offenders are not entering our school campuses without our knowledge. The Raptor system checks the visitor's name and date of birth for comparison with a national database of registered sex offenders. The registered sex offender database is the only official database checked by the Raptor system. No other data from the ID is gathered or recorded and the information is not shared with any outside agency. Once entry is approved, Raptor will issue a badge that identifies the visitor, the date, and the purpose of his/her visit.
Please adhere to the following regulations:
1. Enter the building at the main office door.
2. Go directly to the office, sign in through Raptor and inform the school secretary of your
destination.
3. PLEASE DO NOT GO to any area of the building without receiving permission from the office.
4. Do not attempt to go to a classroom to pick up a child. Students who are being dismissed early
will be sent to the office.
5. Return the visitor badge at the conclusion of your visit to sign out.
Volunteer Clearance Information
Legislation in Pennsylvania requires community members and parents to obtain clearances in order to volunteer in our schools. If you have previously submitted your clearances to the Human Resources office, they are good for five (5) years from the date of the clearance.
Governor Wolf has waived the fees associated with the Pennsylvania State Police—Criminal Background Check and the Child Abuse History Clearance. Since the FBI clearance is a federal program, those costs still remain; however, the district has decided to permit individuals who have resided in Pennsylvania continuously for ten years or more to sign a certification form that saves the volunteer the expense of the fee, ensures compliance with the law, and allows the district to maximize student safety.
Parent Summer Checklist
Click the link below for helpful information to prepare for the school year:
https://sites.google.com/garnetvalley.org/parent-summer-checklist/homeParent Portal
New Parent Health Portal
Last school year the district used the FamilyID system for all emergency cards and forms to help streamline the summer process for our parent community. While the feedback from our parents was positive, FamilyID did not meet the needs of our school nurses. Starting this coming school year (2019-2020), Garnet Valley will give our parents and guardians direct access to our district’s health portal (SNAP) which will provide the most secure, convenient, and real-time view of your child’s school health record.
(The FamilyID system is not going away entirely as it will still be used by our athletic department to collect sports physicals.)
Benefits of the SNAP Parent Health Portal
With a secure login and encrypted data transfer, parents can safely access their child’s health information from any computer or mobile device to:
Update Critical Health Information
Electronically Sign & Submit Forms
Review Screening Results
Upload Medical Forms
Authorize OTC Orders
Monitor Health Clinic Visits
Additionally, automatic email notifications immediately alert parents when new information is available, medication refills are needed, immunization status becomes non-compliant, or forms need to be signed. Through a built-in messaging system, parents can communicate directly with the school nursing staff.
From within the SNAP Health Center, our school nurses are immediately notified when any changes are made by parents. New information is flagged to make sure it doesn’t go unnoticed and critical changes must be acknowledged. Nurses also can view a log of recent parent activity.
All parents and legal guardians who have an email address in Alma will be receiving their secured login credentials in a few weeks. The email will come from noreply@studentehr.comand look similar to the screenshot below.
Meet Our New School Nurse!
Mrs. Joan Flynn is a Glen Mills resident whose three children are all products of the Garnet Valley School District. She began her career in school nursing as a substitute in the district 20 years ago. Most recently the nurse at Garnet Valley High School for the last 8 years, she has also enjoyed working with elementary school students at Parkside Elementary and St. Thomas the Apostle Schools. She is grateful to work in a field that enables her to promote wellness among school age children so that they are healthy and ready to learn.
Letter from Our Nurse
Dear Parents/Guardians,
The school nurse’s office maintains a file of emergency and other pertinent health information on each student. It is very important that this information be updated each year to better implement health care services for your child.
Please complete the online EMERGENCY CARD. I cannot stress enough how crucial this information may be during the course of the school year, so please be very thorough in completing this card. Please pay particular attention to the medication section and indicate which of the over-the-counter medications listed you are giving consent to be given to your child during the school day. EMERGENCY CARDS SHOULD BE COMPLETED BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS: Required by law prior to admission to school. If your child has had any recent immunizations, please submit written documentation from your physician’ office to the nurse’s office so we may update your child’s health records.
DENTAL EXAMINATIONS: Required by law on all THIRD grade students (and students recently registered). Dental forms were enclosed with the report cards sent home in June. If you did not receive a form, they are available on our website or you may pick one up in the main office. Please return the completed form to the nurse’s office by the end of September.
MEDICATIONS ARE NOT TO BE CARRIED BY STUDENTS!!! This includes all prescription and over the counter medications as well as vitamins. Metered dose inhalers for the treatment of asthma OR epi-pens for use with severe allergies, are the only exceptions to this rule and ONLY after a signed parent consent form and a doctor's order have been secured and are on file in the nurse’s office.
If it is necessary for a student to take medication during the school day, it must be kept and dispensed in the nurse’s office. All medications must be clearly labeled with the student’s name, medication name and dosage instructions. Prescription medication MUST be in its original pharmacy container. Your pharmacy can provide you with a duplicate container for school use upon request. A SIGNED MEDICATION CONSENT FORM AND A DOCTOR'S ORDER MUST ACCOMPANY ALL MEDICATIONS!
If your child is on a long-term daily medication, please contact the nurse’s office to make these arrangements. Please be reminded that a current physician’s order and a parental consent form will be needed to dispense these medications. This paperwork must be updated at the beginning of each school year. Please feel free to call the nurse’s office at 610-579-3013 with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your child’s health. My best to you and your family for a safe and healthy school year.
Sincerely,
Joan Flynn, RN, CSN
School Nurse
School Lunch Information
Children need healthy meals to learn. Garnet Valley SD offers healthy meals every school day. Costs are as follows: Breakfast at all schools is $1.70; lunch is $2.75 in the Elementary Schools, $2.95 at the Middle School and $3.10 at the HS. Your child(ren)may qualify for free meals or for reduced price meals. Reduced price is .30 for breakfast and .40 for lunch. You are encouraged to complete an online application instead of a paper application if you are able. The online application has the same requirements and will ask you for the same information as the paper application.
Visit www.schoolcafe.com for an online free and reduced application or use the link below.
Free and Reduced Lunch Application
School Day Times
Arrival Times
8:25AM - Car line drop off begins, breakfast begins8:40AM - Students report to homerooms (was 8:45 last year)
8:50AM - Car line ends
8:55AM - Students not in homeroom will be marked absent
Dismissal Times
2:50 - Office pick up ends
3:05 - Announcements start, students dismissed to car line, buses begin being called
3:15 - Dismissal ends
Elementary Handbook and GVSD Procedural Manual
Communication Procedures
Early Dismissals - Early dismissals due to weather or unforeseen circumstances will be announced through the phone number you provide in Alma, email, district-level social media, and websites. Please keep your Alma contact information current. You can update this information in your account.
Absence Reporting - Launched at the end of the last school year, the new School Messenger (Safe Arrival) Absence Reporting System makes it easy for parents/guardians to report their child's absence, reduces the time it takes to verify student attendance and will allow our staff to respond to unexplained student absences more efficiently. Please click here for directions on how to use your phone, app, or computer to report an absence.
BSES Weekly Announcements: School announcements are typically sent every Monday through the Alma system. The link to the announcements will be sent to the e-mail address(es) that parents have indicated. If your e-mail address changes , please go into Alma and update your e-mail address. Please be sure to read announcements each week!
Social Media - Look for us on Twitter! @bethelspringsgv (#BSESJagNation)
School Supply Lists for 2019-2020
If you ordered a kit, your child's supplies will be delivered to his/her classroom at the start of school.
We thank all of our parents for helping their children to have the supplies they need to engage in learning!
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
VEFLS Registration Information
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By96mv0gfmC-TllUbTdvaU9COEJoaFFIeklSQUNJMmxEclNr/view?usp=sharing
Chorus Sign-ups
Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 can join Chorus! Click the link below for more information:
Library Volunteers Needed!
The Bethel Springs Library is in need of volunteers to help out during our weekly book exchanges. In order to help all of our students use the library as effectively as possible we need volunteers to help students find books, check books in and out, return books to shelves, work on special projects and more. We will train you! It’s easy and fun! If you are interested in being a library volunteer, please complete the form by or before August 26th. If you have any questions, please contact Alicia Gamiño, BSES Librarian, at 610-579-3015.
5O Days of Summer Reading!
Summer is the perfect time for reading!
https://sites.google.com/garnetvalley.org/gvsdsummerworkforstudents/elementary-summer-assignments
Turn in your "50 Days of Summer Reading" form and you will be entered into the drawing for the prize basket shown in the picture below. The basket contains:
- A Kindle Fire 10 with headphones
- a $50 Amazon gift card
- Big Boggle
- Chess and Checkers Travel Set
- Kanoodle
- Rubik's Cube
Good luck and happy reading!
Art and Literature Fling 2019-2020
Each year BSES engages in the school-wide study of a country to promote cultural awareness and a more global perspective among our students. Each student engages in an art project and a brief research project that culminates in the Art and Literature Fling Exhibit held at the end of May. Every student has his/her work displayed at the Art and Literature Fling. Throughout the year we integrate opportunities for learning about the given country in the homeroom, in others of our special area classes, and through school-wide announcements and activities.
This year we are trying something a little different. Each grade level was assigned an area of the world and teachers chose a country in that area to study. Students will engage in learning about the country chosen for their grade level and will share their learning with the rest of the school. In this way, students will learn about 5 different countries and cultures! Our 4th grade has chosen to focus on the United States with the thought that exploring your own country more deeply is, of course, very important and it gives a foundation for exploring and understanding other countries and cultures.
We are always interested in having parents who have knowledge of and experience with a given country share information with us. Simply contact Mr. Piasecki (piasecs@garnetvalley.org) and he will connect you with the appropriate grade level leader.
Below are the countries chosen by each grade level: