Butler Creek Bulletin
February 6th, 2020
Notes From Principal Laura Fendall
Hello Butler Creek Families,
February is a special month to focus on friendship, caring and kindness. Miss Molly in the library will be sharing books on friendship this month and classrooms will be celebrating Valentine's Day on February 14th. February is also designated as Black History Month. Black History Month was first acknowledged over 40 years ago. Today, we hope to move forward with acknowledging the presence and contributions of all races, ethnicities and cultures at Butler Creek. Did you know that over 40% of families at BC identify as non-white? Did you know that almost 30% of BC students are learning English as their 2nd or 3rd language? Our families speak approximately 24 different home languages including; Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Romanian, Bosnian, Mien, Hmong, Eastern Panjabi, Turkish, Arabic, Amharic, Tagalog, Farsi, Karen. Lao, Chuukese, Samoan, Tongan, Cambodian, Urdu and German. Our Butler Creek community is amazingly diverse!
Centennial School Board Approves Bond Measure for May 2020
The Centennial School Board has voted to put a bond measure on the May 2020 ballot. This measure will support facilities improvements along with repurposing Oliver Elementary school back into a middle school. Read more in this recent article in the Gresham Outlook.
https://pamplinmedia.com/go/42-news/449171-365781-centennial-puts-65-million-bond-on-may-ballot
February Focus
This month BC teachers will be busy reviewing recent assessment information to see how students' are growing and learning in reading and math. The teachers will be meeting with their grade level team to go over the results and plan instruction to best meet each student's needs in order to ensure strong progress towards meeting their learning goals for this school year.
Butler Creek staff, parents and school district staff are currently participating in a hiring process to find the new principal for next school year. A new principal will likely be announced by spring break and will officially start at BC on July 1st.
February 17th No School President's Day!
February 19th will be our monthly school wide spirit day and Bobcat assembly. Our spirit day theme is yet to be announced. A Remind message will come your way when the details are ready.
Spring Picture Day is February 25! Students will be bringing home flyers soon.
PTA News
"Kindness" Food Drive
Our PTA is sponsoring a food drive for Centennial Food for Families This collection of food will go directly to Centennial families. They are in need of high protein food items such as tuna and peanut butter. The food drive will start on Wednesday, February 12th and will end at the Family Dance, Friday, February 21st. The grade level that brings the most food or money contribution will win an ice cream party! Students will drop off their food or money in the front hallway.
Wednesday, February 19th at 6:30pm will be the monthly PTA meeting.
On Friday, February 21st, the PTA is hosting a Family Dance Night! This event begins at 7:00pm and ends at 8:30pm. Bring your dancing shoes and join us for some family and community fun!
Books and Beyond is our wildly popular school wide reading program. This program encourages students to read at home and record their progress working towards earning a medal. Parent volunteers support this program by tracking student reading progress each week. If you have some time in the morning to volunteer for a 20-30 minutes we would love to have you join us. Please email the PTA for more information: pta.butlercreek@gmail.com
March Parent Teacher Conferences--SAVE THE DATES
We will be holding Parent/Teacher Conferences again on March 18th and 19th. There will be no school on March 13th (teacher grading day) 18th, 19th and 20th. Teachers will be contacting you to set up dates and times for the conferences. We look forward to meeting with you again to share about your students' progress.
Reminders
Please remember that in order to support the school district's wellness policy and to manage student food allergies, we do not allow birthday treats at school. This is also an equity concern as many families are not available or cannot afford to bring treats for the class. Teachers will celebrate student birthdays with non-food acknowledgements.
Thank you for your continued support of our school arrival and dismissal procedures! Our drop off/pick up lines are running more smoothly and our parent/student meet up waiting area is helping to keep things safe and organized. Please remember to only drop off students next to the curb in front of the building and not in the parking lot.
Inclement Weather Information
The late start on Monday took us by surprise! Here is a link the district's web page on inclement weather. http://csd28j.org/departments/transportation-2/inclement-weather/
Lost and Found!
We have many items in our lost and found area. If your child is missing something, please come by and take a look.
Happy heart month!
Laura Fendall
Mrs. Greenfield's 3rd grade class participate in a morning meeting activity.
Mrs. Butler's kindergarten students show their Bobcat pride.
Mr. Brueckner's 2nd grade class use the Chromebook computers for a writing activity.
Every Day Matters School Attendance Message
How is your student’s attendance so far this year? A student with 4 days or less absent this year is a Regular Attender. A student with more than 5 days absent is considered Chronically Absent. Did you know students are at risk academically if they are chronically absent? When too many absences occur, they can affect learning. Before you know it – just one or two days a month can add up. Congratulations if your student is a Regular Attender!
If attendance is a challenge for your student, it is never too late to turn it around to help your student succeed. Contact us here at Butler Creek if you need support in doing so. Remember, your child matters to us every day.!
Contact Us
Email: laura_fendall@csd28j.org
Website: www.bc.csd28j.org
Location: 2789 Southwest Butler Road, Gresham, OR, USA
Phone: 503-762-6100