Brandywine ES Newsletter
November 2019
Principal's Corner: From Mrs. Hunter-Blake's Desk
As we welcome in fall--the beautiful foliage is in full bloom, and we have much to look forward to with the holidays around the corner! We have so much to celebrate at Brandywine Elementary School, and I am grateful for the engaging and robust experiences we continue to provide for our scholars, staff, parents and community.
I feel incredibly grateful to work with such a dedicated group of educators here at Brandywine Elementary School. Our practitioners have been receiving on-going professional development, learning about new instructional strategies, data analysis and using data to inform instructional decisions. Our wonderful scholars and practitioners have been working hard at applying new instructional strategies during class, and we look forward to continuing to learn and grow in this together.
Thank you to our families for all of your encouragement and support--we appreciate you taking the time to read with your children, check homework and communicate with your teachers via ClassDojo. I truly believe that it takes a village to educate our children, and we are so grateful for the strong partnership between home and school. Many thanks to the Mighty Bulldog PTA and our parent volunteers for helping to make this year's OctoberFest a huge success.
Finally, I would like to thank our wonderful students who continue to work hard each day. Thank you for challenging yourselves to learn everyday, and thank you for challenging us to become better educators and people.
Parent-Teacher Conferences: On November 11, 2019 you are invited to schedule a conference to discuss your childâs/childrenâs progress at school and to find solutions to academic or behavioral problems. Please email/Dojo the teacher to schedule the conference.
Quarter 1 Honor Roll Program: On November 15, 2019 you are invited to join your scholar(s) as he/she will be celebrated for their achievements during the first quarter awards program.
Thanksgiving Break: November 27-29, 2019 With the daily hustle-and-bustle we sometimes forget to stop, smell the roses and enjoy time with our loved ones. Please enjoy this time to making lasting memories with your loved ones.
Social and Emotional Learning: The School-wide Social and Emotional Learning theme for November is empathy. This month we will be reminding students to identify their own feelings and the feelings of others, notice and respect when feelings are the same and different, and to show compassion. When students can identify, understand, and respond in a caring way to how someone else is feeling, it creates a positive and accepting school climate.
ClassDojo
Unfortunately parents we did not reach our original goal of 100% connection rate in each class by October 9, 2019 and no class received a special treat. I am hoping that we meet our 100% goal by November 30, 2019. Make sure that you have registered and successfully joined your sonâs/daughterâs class on Dojo. Each scholar receives a registration code or you received a request directly from the teacher (through Dojo) to join the class. If you need to join, please reach out to the classroom teacher who can give the code needed to join. Once you have the code, please go to www.classdojo.com and register as a parent. Listed below are the current number of missing parents for each class.
Ms. Hanford: 2 parents missing
Ms. Norwood: 4 parents missing
Mrs. Smith: 2 parents missing
Ms. Miles: 3 parents missing
Ms. Posey: 2 parents missing
Mrs. Walker: 4 parents missing
Ms. Anderson: 1 parent missing
Mrs. Barnes: 2 parents missing
Ms. Roberts: 1 parent missing
Ms. Dunlap: 3 parents missing
Ms. Palmer: 1 parent missing
Mrs. Praytor: 1 parent missing
Mrs. Hillary: 5 parents missing
Ms. Goodman: 5 parents missing
Ms. Murray: 2 parents missing
Ms. Gomez: 13 parents missing
Mrs. McLean: 14 parents missing
Mr. Thomas: 14 parents missing
Letâs see which classes will reach 100% by November 30, 2019.
Safety Drills
Throughout the year, we have numerous safety drills to help students and staff practice for potential emergency situations including earthquakes, fires, intruders, severe weather or other neighborhood emergencies. Our staff has been trained, and receives on-going training on how to handle emergency situations.
We use a combination of announced and unannounced drills to blend teaching responses as well as to allow natural responses without previous warning. Drills are debriefed with staff and students when appropriate.
Parents, I thank you in advance for partnering with us and talking with your son/daughter about the importance of following all given directions, remaining quiet throughout the entire drill and staying calm.
Please review the following emergency prep with your family.
http://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/RtP_EmergencyPrep(2).pdf
From the Principal's desk,
Mrs. Unique Hunter-Blake
IMPORTANT DATES IN NOVEMBER:
November 3, 2019 - Daylight Savings Turn Clocks Back 1 Hour
November 5, 2019 - PTA VOTING at 6:30p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room
November 6, 2019 - 3-HR Early Dismissal at 10:55 a.m.
November 11, 2019 - CLOSED for Students (Parent/Teacher Conferences)
November 11, 2019 - Fundraiser Items available for Pick-Up between 12:00p.m. to 4:00p.m.
November 11-15, 2019 - Book Fair (Volunteers Needed)
November 13, 2019 - Smile Dentist
November 15, 2019 - Honor Assembly (Info is forthcoming)
November 19, 2019 - Report Cards Released to Students
November 21, 2019 - ESOL Family Night @ 6pm to 7:30pm
November 27 -29, 2019 - SCHOOLS & OFFICES CLOSED (Thanksgiving Break)
WHEN SHOULD YOUR CHILD STAY HOME FROM SCHOOL
We are already getting hit with some colds and flu. Please read below as a reminder about how to determine if your child should remain at home.
As a parent, I know that it is sometimes hard to decide if your child is too sick to come to school. Some illnesses are very obvious. Others may not seem that serious to you but could still cause problems at school. I would like to offer you a few guidelines to follow.
If your child has any of the following symptoms, please keep your child home until symptom-free and without fever for 24 hours.
FEVER: No child with a fever of 100 degrees or more should be sent to school. A fever is a symptom that something is not right with the body and should be considered with any other symptom that may occur such as cough, sore throat, etc. If your child does have a fever of 100 degrees or more, do not send him/her back to school until he/she has been without a fever free of medication for 24 hours.
COLD/COUGH/SORE THROAT: If your child has a stuffy nose or slight cough he/she may come to school. Remind your child to wash his/her hands after coughing or blowing his/her nose, as this will stop the spread of germs to other people.
RASH: A rash can be caused by many things including chicken pox, poison ivy, allergies or something more severe. It is important for you to have a rash examined by your doctor so that he/she can determine the cause and also determine if your child can be in school. PLEASE DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL WITH A RASH without a note from your doctor telling us that it is safe for your child to be in school.
DIARRHEA: If your child is having loose bowel movements it is a good idea to call your doctor to determine the cause and treatment. Because diarrhea can have many causes, some of which make your child contagious to others, you must have your doctor send us a note to let us know if your child can be in school with this condition. Return to school can occur when symptom free from diarrhea, as well as symptom free from vomiting for 24 hours.
Please have your children dress appropriately for the weather. A coat or jacket and scarf. Rain jackets and shoes that are waterproof or intended for the wet days.
MEDICATION: For parents who have children with Asthma. Please ensure that your child has an Asthma pump available in the health room. As the weather changes, so will the need for your child to use their inhaler.
Nurse Brigeda Baker, RN, BSN
School Nurse
240-681-2334 (office)
301-372-0729 (fax)
Email:brigeda.baker@pgcps.org
A Message From Our Professional School Psychologist
Happy November Brandywine Bulldogs!
I hope your school year is progressing nicely. You may recall that last year, as the school psychologist assigned to Brandywine Elementary School, I provided tips and insights to assist parents, students, and staff experience a less stressful and more productive and enjoyable school year. My intent is to add to or expound upon those suggestions during the current school year.
During the month of November, we generally take the time to reflect upon those things for which we are thankful. Last year, I encouraged parents and teachers to provide activities and ways for our youngsters to express gratitude (e.g. write a thank-you note, keep a gratitude journal, etc.). Teaching our children to be thankful is part of character building. In addition, an article entitled âGiving Thanks Can Make You Happier,â published by Harvard Health Publishing, tells us that positive psychology research has found that âgratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.â
So, just as a reminder, try to make it a habit to talk everyday about things for which you and your child or student are thankful. As I said before, thankful people are happier people and the atmosphere of your home or classroom will certainly improve when it is permeated with a spirit of gratitude!
Additional food for thought: Participating with your child or students in activities that will help others is a great way to assist them in focusing less on themselves, and in helping them to view themselves as members of a global community that can benefit from even the smallest kindnesses shown. We want our youngsters to be grateful and gracious (courteous, kind and pleasant) to others. Letâs bring civility and kindness back to the forefront in parenting and teaching practices!
In the next installment of the School Psychologistâs Corner, we will be investigating self-esteem and self-talk. Stay tuned! Until then, I am
Linda A. Gaskill, M.Ed.
Your Friendly School Psychologist
âBe thankful for what you have; youâll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you donât have, you will never, ever have enoughâ â Oprah Winfrey.
Grade Level News
We just started Unit 2 in reading which focuses on exploring. Keep reading at home and see if you can hear the beginning and ending sounds in words. This month we are working on decomposing numbers and will be starting to compose and decompose shapes!
First Grade
It is important that children are reading every night. After reading have your child retell the story and write three or more sentences about the story using correct punctuation. Check folders for homework and graded papers, and keep papers for further review.
Second Grade
Reading: Students are learning why an author uses repeated words in text. What is the meaning of this? Math: Students are continuing working with measurement. What is the best tool to measure an object? Social Studies: Students are beginning to learn about different cultures and their traditions. Science: Students are learning about changes to Earth's surface that happen slowly, like weathering and erosion.
Third Grade
Math- Third Grade mathematicians have just wrapped up Place Value. We are
currently working on elapsed time and we will be moving into Exploring
Multiplication. Please look on Class Dojo Class Story to get an overview of the
different units we are working on. Please continue to review the notebooks and
homework on a daily basis in order to strengthen the skill of the day
Reading- Scholars should be reading 15 minutes a night and logging it in their
Homework Journals. Our upcoming strategy is Monitor and Clarify. MONITOR
to check if you understand what you are reading. CLARIFY to take a closer look
and clear things up.
Science: We are studying how to prepare for severe weather. We will be
completing our unit on weather in mid-November and moving into Physical Science.
Social Studies: We are studying Civics and our U.S. Government
Field Trip Alert: The third grade will be going to Howard B. Owens Science center
Friday, November 15 to attend Solar Quest program.
Fourth Grade
4th grade students are working on Whole Number Multiplication. They will use multiplication to solve Real World Multiplication problems. The students will also use multiplicative comparison, to describe how many times, as much as, or as many, one number is compared to another. Please continue to check the required Math Tasks, and review with your child as we approach the end of the first quarter.
Fifth Grade
Math we are beginning Unit 2 focusing on the decimal number system. Students will learn to order, compare and round to place values no lower than the thousandths place and no higher than the millions place. Students will continue to build on their knowledge of place value by comparing the value of digits in a number as well as showing mixed numbers in expanded form using place value.
In 5th grade reading students will cite evidence and support their responses with reasoning from given text. Students will also work with the elements of Informational Text. Students will use Transitional Words & Phrases for Compare & Contrast Essays.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER
Oasis A.
Kindergarten
Kalani T.
Kindergarten
Arianna O.
Kindergarten
Tabitha S.
1st Grade
Jordan R.
1st Grade
Ri'ajay S.
1st Grade