Banta Unified School District
May Update
Banta Elementary School Class of 2022 Graduates!
Superintendent's Corner
When I was a little girl, my father owned a nursery and florist in my hometown. This was a time before Costco and the grocery stores sold plants and flowers. If you needed a plant or an arrangement, you stopped in at the Spring Yard and saw my Dad.
I remember May as being a time of new beginnings and new starts. Neighbors, friends, and customers would stop in to see the new plants and flowers that they sought to plant in their yard. Hope for a beautiful garden punctuated the conversations, as did friendship, and well wishes for a beautiful spring.
When you bought a plant from my dad, you got so much more than just a plant. Buying a plant was a process that involved discussing the weather, telling a joke or two, catching up on the local gossip, and on a hot May day, drinking a cold diet Pepsi from the cooler. These were the times that we knew our neighbors and we knew our customers, and we treated them like family.
As we move toward summer, and you start to plant flowers in your yard, take the time to stop and talk with your neighbor. Share a Coke or tell a story, and plant those connections that will last far longer than the flowers in your yard.
Parents, thank you for a wondaful year at Banta Elementary. Coming home has made all of the difference for me! I have enjoyed learning your stories and getting to know more about you. I continue to be impressed with your generosity, spirit, and support towards our school. I hope you know how much I truly appreciate each and every one of you.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our graduates much luck as they spread their wings towards high school. The staff at Banta are so proud of each and every one of you.
My wish for you as you begin high school would be that you take the time to get to know people. Learn the lunch lady’s name and the custodian's favorite team. Forge relationships, and take advantage of all that high school has to offer. Do something new, try out for a team, and take a risk. Attend the rallies, join the school play, and attend a Friday night football game or dance.
High school is a time for new beginnings, a time to plant for the future, and a time to get to know yourself and those around you. Take the time to enjoy your new school, stand in the shade, and share a cold Coke with a new friend. Much love and luck on your adventure!
Mrs. Pearlman
Sign up for Summer School!
It is time to think about summer school! We will be making a decision next week on whether or not we are offering summer school for students. Please fill out the Google form, if you haven't already, to indicate if you want your child to attend summer school.
Important Dates for May
2-6- Staff and Teacher Appreciation Week
11– PFA Community Meeting
27- Field Day
27- Early Release Day
30- Memorial Day- No School
June 1- Graduation- 5 PM
June 1- 7th/ 8th Grade Dance 6 PM
June 2- Lat Day of School- 12:30 dismissal
PFA/ DLAC / LCAP Meeting
Next Meeting: May11th
6:00 p.m.
School Cafeteria
Please join us at our monthly parent meeting! We need you!
Kinder and TK Registration is Open!
We are registering incoming TK and Kinder students! Please call the school office if you have any questions!
School Calendar 2021-2022
Character Counts -Pillar of the Month- Determination
A quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult.
Keep updated- go to Banta Elementary School Facebook page!!!!
Banta Elementary School has so many fun activities going on inside our classrooms. To keep updated on all the fun on our campus - go to our Banta Elementary School Facebook page online!
6th Graders It's Time for the Tdap!
Dear Parent/Guardian:
As your student prepares to enter 7th grade in the upcoming school year, it is important that they are up to date on all of their immunizations. As required by the state of California, your child will need to provide proof to the school that they have received their Tdap Booster immunization prior to entry into 7th grade.
If we do not have documentation of this immunization, unfortunately, we will not be able to place your child on a class list come the start of the 2022-2023 school year. Please note, there have been no extensions granted by the state due to COVID-19 and the TDAP requirement remains in place.
Please provide proof of your child’s Tdap immunization to the school no later than June 6, 2022.
Nurse's Corner
Meet the Graduates!
Banta Elementary School proudly presents the graduating Class of 2022!
Athletic Fields Are OPEN!
Banta Elementary's new on campus athletic fields are now open after months of work to make new playing fields and open space for the students. The fields are located on the western portion of the campus, adjacent to classrooms and the Ag Center. The additional greenspace will be available for numerous outdoor activities, including soccer games.
Food Service
As this year is coming to an end I am so happy to be apart of such a great program and district. It was so awesome having students back on campus and seeing the happiness on their faces. Mrs. Monica and Mrs. Jenni enjoy cooking your student’s favorite meals. We have new exciting things happening at Banta this year. We have expanded our Ag center to animals! We have three Chickens. We are growing vegetables, planted 10 fruit trees and plan to make some of our own compost. Our goal is to provide farm-fresh food to our cafeterias. Grown by our favorite farmers, our students. We are having a community Ag meeting open to the public in May 19th, at Banta Gym. Please keep an eye out for an e-mail with more information. We will discuss our Ag center and bringing back 4-H. Without the community support, we may not be able to bring back 4-H. Please take the time to fill out our survey as well. We will also be holding a wellness meeting via zoom on May 18th 6:00pm. Here you can ask any questions regarding the food program and student wellness. It is a pleasure to feed your kids everyday. We hope to see you all at our community meeting and have a great summer!
The Librarian's Corner
Greetings from the library! It’s spring and we are slowly moving towards summer and the end of the year! We have so many great things going on in the library. Before Spring break, we had our doggy friends back to visit with our 6th graders in the library to read and it was a huge success. The dogs were even invited outside to visit with our 6th and 7th grade classes during their P.E. class.
Additionally, we have had a few volunteers visiting with us to help us get the books processed for the library expansion, and that has been wonderful. We are gearing up for our book fair in May from the 2nd-6th from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and are still seeking volunteers to help us during and after the fair. If you are interested please call me at (209) 229-4655 or send me an email at emcdaniel@bantasd.org. Our goal is to sell 150 books this year and you can purchase in person with your child before school and after or you can use ewallet, a new program that can be set up online as an account that your child can use that you preload with money. Information regarding ewallet set-up can be found here. https://www.scholastic.com/bf/bantaelementaryschool1
You are also welcome to use the traditional methods of payment including credit card, cash or check. If a book that your child wants is not available at the actual fair, please look online as it should be available there and will ship directly to your home.
After the book fair concludes we will do one more doggy visit with our county SDC class in May and we will welcome the pound fitness instructors, Lorie Avila, Shannon Thompkins and Tammy Holliday to our campus. They will spend some library time with Mrs. DeRoos’ class showing them some generation pound fitness moves with ripstix and yoga mats. It is our hope that fun, literacy and exercise will be a part of this program.
The final task of the year in the library will be checking in any books students have out, as the last day to check out books will be the week of May 16th. From then on, I will come out to classrooms and check-in the textbooks that I checked out to students and teachers at the beginning of the year. All in all, we have had a very busy and productive year in our library, promoting both literacy, fun and inclusiveness for all Banta Mustangs and will continue to expand that goal next year!
Student Book Reviews ~
This month we are introducing a new column where our students will review books from our school library. This gives us an insight on what our students enjoy reading.
Field Trips with Hank and Scout
This month they are visiting a dairy farm!
Parent, Faculty Association/ DLAC / LCAP
In our monthly meetings, we actively share ongoing academic successes and needs for all students, especially those learning English as a second language.
Please join us this year as we continue to honor Banta’s rich history and community involvement.
Meeting Days and Time Wednesdays from 6:00-7:00 p.m. In the school cafeteria.
● May 11 , 2022
Look Who's At Banta
This month's Look Who's At Banta profile features the lunch ladies of Banta ~ Jenni Montagnese and Monica Hernandez. Each month "Banta Bios" will highlight a Banta Elementary School staff member's educational background, training and what they like to do outside the classroom
Lunch Lady Monica Hernandez, 48, originally from Hayward
Family:
Husband Rodney, son Rodney Jr. and daughter Sabrina and her son-in-law Brian McItyre, and her grandchildren Liam and Logan.
Education:
She is a self-taught chef whose mentor was the previous owner of AJ’s Bakery in downtown Tracy. She said he taught her how to bake from scratch while she was working at Java Makers. While at the popular coffee shop, she went from making bagels to creating specialty desserts, pies, pastries and layered cakes. She later came to Banta Elementary in 2018 as a substitute teacher and became a permanent lunch lady at the school in 2019.
Hobbies:
Hernandez is a homebody and when she isn’t enjoying a good book about romance or spending time with her family, she likes to tinker with new recipes in her home kitchen. She also owns and operates a cupcake business that specializes in unique, made-to-order surprise filled cupcakes that has since expanded into a catering business for all occasions called Moni’s Cupcakes & More. When she can, she enjoys camping and going to concerts for all types of musical performances with a particular love for the band Queen. When she travels, her destination is typically to go see her grandchildren in Arizona. She likes to start her day with a morning meditation and plans each day from beginning to end. She said her pride and joy is making nutritious meals for the students of Banta and bringing a smile to their face as they start their day. “Every day is a restart,” she said, “so if you had a bad day yesterday let it go. Tomorrow is a brand new day.”
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Food Service Lead Jenni Montagnese, 40, originally from West Palm Beach, Florida
Family:
Husband Paul, and children Nicholas, Madison and Sierra
Education:
Studied at Axia College of University of Phoenix, University of Pacific and Ashford University online to study accounting. This is her first year at Banta Elementary after working in food service at Tracy Unified School District.
Hobbies:
Montagnese loves spending time organizing her home, watching reality and thriller television shows, and attending musical theater with her favorite show being “Wicked.” She hopes to see a musical performed on Broadway in New York someday. She really enjoys going to museums and learning more about history with plans to see Alcatraz Prison in the future. Growing up on the east coast, she has traveled to numerous eastern states, and hopes to travel more throughout the country to visit historical sites. “I like to travel, look at stuff and learn,” she said. One thing that is holding her back from traveling more is her fear of flying, but she hopes to overcome that fear someday.
Student fun down on the school farm!
Banta elementary classes have been visiting the school farm to plant their own veggies. During a recent visit, third graders in Teacher Shelby Cradick's class planted cabbage in the school garden, while the kindergarten class of Teacher Brookelyn Murphy checked out the planter beds and the new chicken coop.
Child Find
Consistent with Federal and State regulations, the Banta Unified School District engages in ongoing “Child Find” services to locate, identify, and evaluate all students with disabilities residing within its jurisdiction. We will provide appropriate special education services to students who qualify. If you know of a child who is 2 through 21 years of age who may have individual needs that result from disabilities or developmental delays, and who is not enrolled in a school program, please contact NelLaine Kilgore, Special Education, at (209) 541- 9992.