October 26th: Board of Education meeting

October 31st: Halloween Parade @ 1:45 pm (weather permitting)

November 7th: Early Dismissal & evening Parent Teacher Conferences

November 8th: Early Dismissal & evening Parent Teacher Conferences

November 9th: Early Dismissal & afternoon Parent Teacher Conferences

November 9th: End of first marking period

November 10th-11th: School Closed for NJ Teachers Convention

November 15th: School photo retakes

November 16: Board of Education Meeting

November 23rd: Early Dismissal

November 24th-25th: Happy Thanksgiving! School Closed

Hello Byram Lakes students and families!

The weather is starting to get chilly, but the learning is just heating up over at Byram Lakes Elementary School! We are almost through the first marking period, and our students have settled into the routines and procedures of school. This time of year is always fun as the 'newness' of a fresh school year has worn off, and students and staff have gotten used to how things work this year and how to get the most out of their classes.

We had a lot of excitement here at Byram Lakes over the last month, with Halloween coming up to finish off a great month of October! Halloween will be celebrated at BLES on Monday, October 31st. There will be a Halloween Parade around the building at 1:45pm, followed by classroom parties hosted by our teachers and room parents. Students are encouraged to dress up! Costumes are not allowed to include any weapons, and masks may not be worn during the school day (only during the parade). We do ask that all costumes are school appropriate. If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher.

Also coming up are parent teacher conferences. You should be receiving information from your child's teacher shortly if you have not already. On early dismissal days, students will be dismissed at 1:43.

These events and more will be reviewed further down. Please enjoy this edition of the Lakes Ledger. Included:

A Look Back

A Look Ahead

General Info

PTA Corner

Extra! Extra!

One marking period in, it's been an amazing school year. I can't wait to keep it rolling with a fantastic November!

Pete Morris

Spooky season is here, it must be Halloween! Byram Lakes will celebrate with our annual Halloween parade on Monday, October 31st at 1:45 pm, and you are invited! Students will exit the front doors of the building and proceed around the perimeter of the school 2-3 times before returning to the building. Please feel free to find a place along the parade route prior to the parade. Please line up along the indicated route as it will be slightly modified this year to account for maintenance on our underground water pipe. This event is weather permitting. If there is inclement weather forecast, please be on the lookout for communication from us. If the parade is moved indoors, parents are not permitted to attend for safety & security reasons.

Please keep the following in mind as we get ready to celebrate:

- Costumes may be worn to school as long as they do not interfere with typical school activities

- Costumes must be school appropriate, and should not include weapons or references to excessive violence.

- Masks may not be worn during the school day, with the exception of the Halloween Parade.

- Halloween parties after the parade cannot include any food to be eaten in the classroom.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. Our students can't wait, and neither can I!

It's that time of year again - we are collecting nominations for our Governor's Educator of the Year! We are fortunate to have many incredible educators here in Byram, and this is an opportunity for us to recognize two individuals - one teacher and one educational support professional - worthy of being celebrated.

Please take a look at the 22/23 GEOY nomination form, linked below. If you would like to nominate a teacher, and educational services professsional, or both, please fill out the form and return it to the main office. The deadline to submit a nomination is November 18th, 2022.

If you would like the opportunity to serve on the committee tasked with analyzing submissions and deciding on the next teacher of the year and educational support professional of the year, please email me at morris.peter@byramschools.org.

2022-2023 Governor's Educator of the Year Nomination Form

At Byram Schools, we have embraced a PLC approach to working collaboratively to help our students. PLC stands for Professional Learning Community. It is a structured approach to making the most of grade level common planning time. Part of our PLC approach is using data to target specific areas for growth in our students, and working together to set goals and provide common instruction and assessment.

As part of our PLC process, we are looking to create a Guiding Coalition. This Coalition would meet quarterly throughout the school year, with meetings after school (roughly 4:00). The Coalition would be tasked with assessing the effectiveness of our PLCs from the perspectives of different stakeholders such as teachers, administration, and parents. If you are interested in joining, please complete the brief form below. We cannot guarantee your inclusion if you submit a form, it will depend on the amount of interest we have.

PLC Guiding Coalition Form

During Conference week, the PTA will host the Scholastic Book Fair at Byram Lakes!

• The fair will be open Monday, 11/7 through Wednesday, 11/9.
• The fair is open to students during the day and open to parents at night during conferences.

Please click on the links below to set up their eWallets and get more information.

BLES Homepage - https://www.scholastic.com/bf/lakes

BIS Homepage - https://www.scholastic.com/bf/middle

If you would like to volunteer to help with the book fair, please click the link below:

Book Fair Volunteer Signup

Waterloo Neighborhood Pantry is proud to offer Thanksgiving Meals to any who may be in need.

Attendance is crucial to our childrens' success in school! Please take a look at our district's Attendance Policy here. In accordance with our district attendance policy, we will be notifying home as students accumulate unexcused absences. Notification processes are as follows:

4 absences/tardies: letter home about the importance of attendance generated (Truancy Officer)

8 absences/tardies:second letter home with importance of attendance, and warning of what will happen if absences/tardies increase (Truancy Officer)

12 unexcused absences/tardies: mandatory meeting to develop an Attendance Improvement Plan (RTI Coordinator)

18 absences/tardies: possible referral to truancy court (Administrator)

In order to avoid an unexcused absence, please send in a doctor's note or other documentation providing an excused reason for the absence. The regulation on absence classification can be found here. If you have doctor's notes or documentation for any school days already missed, please send those in to our main office as soon as possible.

The Byram Township School District utilizes Pick Up Patrol to ensure that all students arrive to school and return home safely. This system allows parents to input the mode by which their child(ren) will return home at the end of the school day. Options for dismissal include pick up or school bus. Parents can set a default plan to notify their child's teacher of how they will be going home each day. Should that default need to be changed on a given day, it is the parent's responsibility to log in and update the day with a "Plan Change." This will notify the teacher that the student will not be following the normal dismissal plan and can then inform the student of the plan change for that day. If you need to change your child's plan for the day, you will need to do so no later than 3:05 pm.

Please click here for an informational flyer that will explain more.

Students have been loving our school lunches provided by Maschio's Food Services! Maschio's is committed to serving healthy and delicious food options to our students on a regular basis. Unlike last year, lunch will not be offered at no cost to students. Lunch options include a main course option, a bagel bag, and a muffin bag. All lunches include components of a well-rounded nutritional meal, such as a vegetable, a milk, and a cheese stick or yogurt for the bagged options. A student lunch costs $3.50.

Using their online portal, you can check out the upcoming menus for each month. You can also preload your child's account so that they have the funds to buy lunch. See the below links for more information. If your child buys lunch, it is very helpful if they know their PIN to ensure a quick buying process and more time to eat. Your child's lunch pin is the last four digits of their Student ID number.

Maschio's Welcome Back Letter

Byram Food Services

Maschio's Menus

If your child charges lunch and you have not yet added funds, you will be receiving notices from me to fund your account.

A message from the Board Office:

The school lunches are not free anymore unless you qualify through the free and reduced application process.The income guidelines have changed so if you didn't qualify in the past you may qualify now. Please complete an application and send it in an envelope to the Byram Board of Education office.Those families that qualify for reduced lunch will get it free this year under a state subsidy.The applications can be found on the Byram School website under the students tab and food service tab.

https://www.byramschools.org/cmsAdmin/uploads/freereducedapplication.pdf

A huge THANK YOU to the Byram PTA, as they continue to work so hard to provide some excellent opportunities for our students and families. Remember, if you would like to volunteer in the classroom, please Please check out this section to see what they've got going on. See below for flyers on some exciting upcoming events! Click on the flyer images for a larger version.

Check out the PTA MemberHub here to sign up, and the Facebook page here.

The PTA is always looking for volunteers, please contact them at byrampta@gmail.com

Here’s your 2022-2023 Byram PTA Board Members:

President Marla Rodriguez

Vice President Ana Lavrador

Secretary Oriana Strohmeyer

Treasurer Lindsey McBain

By-Laws Chair Patricia Trentanelli

Who doesn't love a night off from cooking? We all do! Join us on November 10th at Alibi for our Dine to Donate event.

As we start gearing up for the holidays please consider buying your Holiday Wreath and Poinsettia from the PTA. Sale starts Nov.11th and the last day to order will be Nov.23rd. Pick up will be on December 2nd. We will be sending out a flyer for it soon.

Order a fun Kids Cooking Kit and help support our PTA!

Sponsored by the Byram Township Recreation Committee