Blue Ash Elementary Newsletter
January 28, 2021
Specials Schedule Week of January 31st - February 4th
Upcoming Dates
February 21st - Presidents Day - No School
Staff Caught Acting Terrifically This Week!
It was such a success!
Students were on the look out throughout each day, and when they saw staff following the 4 Be's, they gave them a CAT ticket (Caught Acting Terrifically), and told them exactly what behavior they demonstrated to earn the recognition. A great way to reinforce our best behaviors as we look for those behaviors in others.
Staff members' names were pulled from the CAT box, recognized over afternoon announcements, and they were able to select from some fabulous prizes. We were able to celebrate many staff members, including our bus drivers!
Thank you to our parents who donated prizes for the raffle. You helped to make this a fun and rewarding activity!
School is where we enjoy book clubs....
And where we research together.....
But best of all, school is a HAPPY Place!
CogAT Results
For students who took the CogAT test last month (2nd graders, 4th graders, and any other students by parent request), please make note your child's CogAT results will be uploaded in your child's e-Backpack on Parent Portal (this is same place where you find your child's report card) on Monday, January 31st at 4:00 pm. Please see this letter for more information. Thank you!
Dear Parents or Guardians,
In your child's e-Backpack on the Parent Portal are the results of your child’s CogAT test. These test results are one measure of your child’s ability and not intended to be an all-inclusive report. Please keep in mind that other factors can also influence a child’s performance on an assessment on any given day.
The purpose of this assessment is to provide you with information specifically about your child. The CogAT assessment can also be used to identify a child as gifted in the area of superior cognitive ability. According to the state of Ohio, a student can be identified as superior cognitive gifted if he/she has received a composite score of 2 standard deviations above the mean minus the standard error of measurement. What does this mean in relation to the CogAT test your child took? If a student in kindergarten achieves a composite score of 127 or in 1st - 12th grade achieves a composite score of 128, he or she is identified as gifted in the area of superior cognitive ability. Please note that in order to be placed into accelerated and/or advanced programming in Sycamore beginning in 3rd grade, a student must have a composite standard age score (VQN) of at least 128 on the CogAT 8 in addition to a minimum of 95th percentile on one administration of the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) in the content area of math and/or reading.
You can use this Bitly https://bit.ly/ReadingCogAT to better understand how to read your child’s report.
The Winter MAP testing window is open through mid-February. Additional information regarding a student’s eligibility for accelerated math or advanced ELA programming based on CogAT and/or MAP scores will be provided in late February.
It is our hope that this information will help you to better understand your child’s test results. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact your building Gifted Intervention Specialist (elementary grades) or your child's counselor (Greene School or Junior High).
Sincerely,
Jamie Jackson
District Gifted Coordinator, K-12
COVID 19 Protocols updated. Please Read.
As of January 19, 2022, Sycamore Community School District has adopted the CDC's updated COVID-19 quarantine and isolation guidance.
- Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 needs to call the COVID line 513-686-1707. Students must isolate for at least five days, regardless of vaccination status or symptoms. After five days, if there is no fever and symptoms have improved, students are able to return to school. *The district will email information to families reminding them of this information as the need arises.
- If your child is a close contact to a person who has tested positive for COVID, you will receive an email from the district notifying you of this fact, and providing specific information regarding next steps. Please review this information carefully when you receive it. *Your child's vaccination status impacts this new guidance, so please upload your child's COVID vaccination record to FinalForms so we can verify their status.
The district is experiencing a high volume of COVID reporting through our absence line and online form. Our dedicated team of contact tracers is following up and notifying parents as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
More Information from our Healthy Aves Update HERE
Free COVID Test Kits
Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order four free at-home COVID-19 tests. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days. To order your test kits go to: https://www.covidtests.gov/
2022-2023 Kindergarten Registration
Girls on the Run
Attention 4th Grade Girls!!!!
Girls on the Run is coming back to Blue Ash Elementary
Season Dates: February 14 – May 7
Tuesdays and Thursdays afterschool from 4:00pm to 5:15pm
5K: May 7
.
Registration will be open January 24 at 10:00 am through February 2 at 11:59 pm. If more than 16 girls apply, a random lottery will be conducted on February 4. If less than 16 girls apply, all girls’ registrations will be processed on February 4.
Registration through the Girls on the Run website: www.gotrcincinnati.org or directly at https://www.pinwheel.us/register/index/GOTRGCS22PROGRAM
Contact Karen McCarthy, mccarthyk@sycmoreschools.org 630-430-4528 (cell), with any questions.
Adapt for Life Parent Information Night
Through grant funding, Sycamore has partnered with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to launch a mental wellness program in our schools called Adapt for Life. To provide more information about the Adapt for Life program, the district is offering a Virtual Parent Information Night on February 8, 2022, from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
We are asking parents to register in advance and indicate the grade level of their child in order to better customize the information session to the audience. Please also submit questions or topics you would like our speakers to cover during the session. A Zoom link will be emailed to registrants. Click here to register.
For more information about the program, tools for students and families, please visit the Adapt for Life website at https://www.adaptforlife.org. Questions? Please reach out to Lisa Zelvy, Pupil Services Supervisor, at zelvyl@sycamoreschools.org.
Learn Sign Language with Us!
We are so fortunate to have a sign language interpreter supporting one of our children at BAE again this year. Nicole Schum has been busy teaching all of us sign language! If you would like to join in the learning from home, please CLICK HERE for the Flipgrid account.
Once you log on to Flipgrid, the code for Blue Ash Sign Language is: baesign
CAFETERIA NEWS!!
Click HERE to access the menu.
PTO INFORMATION
Family Fun Night
Don't forget this Friday is Family fun night for BAE at Castle Skateland in Loveland!
Valentine's Day Flower Fundraiser
Love is in the air! One of our own very talented parents is hosting a Valentine's Day flower fundraiser for the PTO. Mokara Floral Design is excited to offer our blue ash community $5 off their Valentine’s flower orders with an additional $5 that will be donated to the blue ash elementary PTO.
Using the code BAE4BAE Blue Ash will be supporting a woman owned small business and their school while showing their loved ones how special they are this season. There will be two pick up dates at her Blue Ash home, with the possibility of a BAE parking lot pick up date/time.
So shower that special someone with love from mokarafloral.com.
Amazon Smile
Now that the holidays are over and we have had a chance to take a breath from all the holiday shopping, we hope that all our families that shop through Amazon remember to complete their amazon purchases through AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile donates 0.5% of your eligible purchases back to our PTO. Its super easy to set up. Log in to your amazon account through smile.amazon.com and select Blue Ash Elementary PTO as the organization you wish to support. The AmazonSmile website looks identical to the regular Amazon site. All future purchases will then benefit our PTO. Happy shopping and thank you for supporting the BAE PTO!
Upcoming Volunteer Opportunties
We are looking for a couple of volunteers for some upcoming events at BAE. If you are interested in lending a hand or getting involved in planning please reach out! We are always looking for people to help make our school a special place for our kids.
Interested in chairing our Variety Show? This fun event that highlights the many talents of our students couldn't be possible without a few amazing parents to help organize. If interested, contact Anna Floyd at annafloyd78@yahoo.com. This event takes place in May.
We are also in the beginning stages of planning a spring fundraiser. Last year we held a very successful Read-a-thon, but we are open to other fun events/activities to raise money for the PTO. Those might be a flower sale or a St. Patrick's Day fundraiser. If you have a creative idea and would be willing to help, please reach out to Kristen Poast at bapto@sycamoreschools.org.
As always, we appreciate the support of our amazing BAE parents.