Keystone Newsletter #22
Dear Keystone Families,
Happy February, everyone! Even though February is the shortest month of the year, we are not going to let that stop us from filling the calendar with many fun events!
February 6th-10th is School Counselor Appreciation Week, if you see one of our fabulous counselors, Mr. Gianfrancesco or Mrs. Surdo, please make sure to tell them thank you for all their hard work!
February 12th-16th is kindness week. Please read further down in the newsletter for all the terrific kindness activities that will be taking place.
If you would like to send in cards for Valentines Day we ask that food/candy not be sent, in order to keep all of our learners safe, due to food allergies. Please read further down in the newsletter for more information.
It's not too late to sign up for Read for the House. Read for the House is a great was to encourage the love reading while raising funds for a good cause.
There is also a Gertrude Hawk fundraiser taking place. More information in regards to this can be found in the newsletter below.
This month the PTO invites you go skating on February 21st, from 6:00-9:00pm, as well as come out to a PTO meeting that will be taking place February 29th.
Hope everyone has a fabulous week!
Respectfully,
Mrs. Smith-Herman
Important Dates to Remember
✏️Every Tuesday✏️
Smencil Sales ($1.25 each)
🥨Every Thursday🥨
Pre-Order Pretzels
👕Every Friday👕
Wear Paw Shirts
📚Read for the House Program📚
All of February
Pajama Day
February 2nd
$1.00 to participate (no slippers)
Proceeds go to Keystone SWPBIS program
📽️PTO Movie Night🍿
February 2nd
Early Dismissal- 1:15pm
February 14th
Professional Development in PM for School Staff
President's Day- No School/Offices Open
February 19th
Looking Ahead
Early Dismissal- 1:15pm
March 13th
Professional Development in PM for School Staff
🌷Spring Break- No School💐
March 28th-April 1st
PSSA Testing at Keystone Elementary School
ELA- April 22nd, 24th, and 26th- Grades 3, 4, 5
Math- April 30th and May 1st- Grades 3, 4, 5
Science- May 2nd and May 3rd- Grade 4 Only
🏈5th Grade Spirit Day⚽
Wednesday, May 8th, 2024
Rain Date- Thursday, May 9th, 2024
It will take place in the stadium at Truman High School.
👕Field Day⚽
Thursday, June 6th- AM- K/1
Thursday, June 6th- PM- 2/3
Friday, June 7th- AM- 4/5
Rain Dates: June 10th and/or 11th
Community Events
Keystone Staff Member Spotlight
Jody Sleepy
Position: Physical Education
Years at Bristol Township School District: 27 years
Strengths:I am good at remembering names and faces of students and former students. I like seeing the look on their faces when I can remember their names.
Pets: None
Hobbies: I love spending time with my family, watching movies or playing games. I enjoy sports. I played on a mens league soccer team until 2020. I like to play golf (not very good yet but still trying and practicing). I like going to Phillies games. My wife and I enjoy going on walks during the warmer months.
Favorite Color(s): red
Favorite Snack: mini pretzels dipped in cream cheese
Favorite Sports' Team: I am a 4 for 4, plus 1. I like the 4 major Philadelphia teams plus the Union.
Three Fun Facts:
2. I have 2 granddaughters (Alanna and Scarlett).
3. I am a member of the Bristol Township Athletic Hall of Fame.
Additional Facts:
I really enjoy being a part of the Bristol Township School District community. I love being able to teach children of students I taught in the past.
Valentines Day
Children are allowed to bring in cards for all their classmates. We kindly ask that the cards be addressed “To My Friend” instead of individual names. This makes the distribution of cards a much smoother process. We are asking that cards be sent in without candy, due to food allergies. Please feel free to send in non-food items, such as pencils, stickers, etc.
January Cafeteria Paw Winners
The classroom winners of the Cafeteria PAW prints for January are:
Primary: Ms. Mamrol
Intermediate: Ms. Berrocal
Those classes will get a free pretzel next Friday for winning the cafeteria behavior for the month! Congratulations!
Girls on the Run
Gertrude Hawk Fundraiser
Help support Keystone Elementary School! Starting today, you can order from our Gertrude Hawk fundraiser, until March 1st. The expected delivery will be prior to spring break, before the last week in March.
Thank you all for your continued support!
How Do I Get Started Link
Tips on Sharing Your Fundraiser/Fundraising Parent Portal
Gertrude Hawk Spring Brochure
Prizes
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Truman High School
THE 2024 PENNSYLVANIA STATISTICS POSTER COMPETITION
Saint Francis University Mathematics Department is pleased to announce that we will be hosting the PA Statistics Poster Competition for 2024! The state-wide competition is open to students in grades K-12 to submit a statistics poster, which is a display containing graphs that summarize data, provide different points of view and answer a question(s) about the data. Electronic submissions will be accepted of a digitally created poster or a high quality picture of a physical poster.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION
· Open to all K-12 students in Pennsylvania, registration will open on February 1, 2024
· Four grade level categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12
· Submission deadline is: Friday, March 29, 2024
· Cash prizes and certificates are awarded for first, second, third and fourth place in each grade category
· Certificates awarded for honorable mentions for each grade category
· Winning posters from Pennsylvania Competition are submitted to the American Statistical Association Data Visualization Poster judging competition
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
Teachers from across Pennsylvania are encouraged to incorporate the Statistics Poster Competition into their classrooms. Collaborative efforts between subjects can be an exciting way to show how mathematics relates to other subjects such as health, geography, history, science, etc..
Teachers who incorporate the PA Statistics Poster Competition into their classrooms register and submit the posters on behalf of their students. A student working independently can submit a poster via a parent or mentor.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Registration deadline for the 2024 competition is March 29, 2024.
For more information about the competition and to register please visit: https://www.francis.edu/PA-Statistics-Poster-Competition
If you have any questions, please contact us:
Email: mathematics@francis.edu
Phone: 814.471.1215
Kindness Rocks
Kindness at Keystone
Spread the Love
Keystone Elementary will be holding our 3rd annual “Spread the Love” kindness event by making both Valentine's Day cards and pictures, as well as providing gift baskets containing goodies & treats to surrounding nursing home residents on Valentine's Day.
We are also collecting donations for this event. If you would like to donate money, or treats such as individually wrapped candy (hard & soft), small snacks, etc., for the goodie baskets to coincide with the cards, that would be awesome and very much appreciate! Last year, Keystone gave the nursing home residents 3 large gift baskets of goodies to go with the cards and pictures.
It was amazing!
Donations will be collected from now until Thursday, February 8th. * Note* If donating money, please be sure to send it in a secure envelope clearly labeled “ Share the Love." We know the residents will absolutely LOVE this receiving the cards and treats.
Any questions please feel free to reach out to Aimee Ramos at aimee.ramos@bristoltwpsd.org .
Thanks so much!
Outside Resource
Results from Last Poll
Thank you for all who have participating in our newsletter's weekly poll! It looks like most people's favorite sport is football!
❄️Something Fun!❄️
Who do you think will win the Super Bowl?
Barnes and Noble Night Frappuccino Drink Design Winner!
Principal Paw Winners
Timely Tigers
Timely Tigers January 2024
Kindergarten
Amari Nero
Ayman Sanda
1st Grade
Naomi Rosario
Zayden Vorters
2nd Grade
Malik Love
Mia Guerrero
3rd Grade
Emalyn Waddle
Joseph Richards
4th Grade
Hayley Fraser
Kendra Storm
5th Grade
Angie Balderramos-Castro
Peter Edwards
Student of the Month
Read for The House Program
The Read for the House Program is a service-learning project for children of any age that raises funds to support Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Philadelphia Region. In addition to helping our guest families, the program promotes the value of community service and improves reading comprehension.
PROGRAM TIMELINE:
JANUARY 2024: Readers watch our online video to learn about the program, create their personal fundraising pages, and seek family and friends to pledge any amount of money for each minute they read during February.
FEBRUARY 2024: Reading begins on February 1! Readers keep track of how many minutes they read using the calendar we provide.
MARCH 2024: Readers reach out to their family and friends and collect their donations through their online fundraising page. They can feel good knowing every dollar they raised directly helps families in need!
Readers will earn prizes! Not only will they have the satisfaction of knowing they are helping families when they need it the most, but readers can also earn fun prizes based on their fundraising totals!
Read for The House Link- Please Click Below to Register
Order Your Yearbooks
Yearbook Ordering Link
Ordering Online Access Code Needed:
Access Code: 11702YBDeadline to Order: April 22nd, 2024
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
Fresh fruits an vegetables are sampled at school on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Fridays.
The students in grades K-5 had the opportunity to sample melo gold, yellow dragon fruit, and carrot medley last week.
Many thanks and gratitude to the students and staff in room A208 and A112 for continuing to providing the delivery of the fresh fruits and vegetables to the classrooms at Keystone Elementary School. You are all doing a fantastic job and we are very appreciative! Thanks!
January Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Calendar
February Stories and Videos
Groundhog's Day
Valentine's Day
Kindness Month
Black History Month
Social Emotional Learning Tips of the Week
Coping Strategies
Feelings/Emotions
February Craft Ideas
Dismissal Plans
In order to maintain the safety of all our learners, we are asking that families alert teachers, in writing, for any transportation/dismissal plan changes prior to 9am each morning.
We do understand that emergencies may arise throughout the day that requires a change to a child's dismissal plan for that particular day. For those situations, please make sure you are alerting the office staff as soon as possible, so they can communicate the change to the teachers as soon as possible.
We thank you for your support in helping us ensure the safety and wellbeing of each of our learners.
Snack and Birthday Celebration Policy
To ensure the safety and well being of our students, as per the District Wellness Policy, no outside foods may be brought in by students for classroom parties or birthday celebrations. Shared snacks are not permitted in district schools.
If you would like to send something in to celebrate your child's birthday or for a classroom party, you may send in non food items such as stickers, pencils, play dough etc.
23-24 Weather Emergency Information
Link to Elementary Remote Learning Overview: (Click here)
For additional information please visit https://www.bristoltwpsd.org/cms/one.aspx?portalId=377235&pageId=51110003
Title 1 Teachers
Mrs. Stacy Cooke
stacy.cooke@bristoltwpsd.org
Mrs. Aimee Ramos
aimee.ramos@bristoltwpsd.org
What is Title I?
Title I is a project funded by the federal government under the Every Child Succeeds Act. The purpose of this Act is to provide all children with fair and equitable opportunity to succeed and close achievement gaps. Money is allocated by the federal government and distributed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to the Bristol Township School. District.
Title I funding is based on a complex formula. These funds are allocated to the states who in turn allocate a portion of that money to the individual school districts within each state. The school district’s share is based on the economic need within a school area, that is, by the number of low income families living there. In our district the number of free and reduced lunch students is used to determine the economic need of a particular school.
Helpful Links and Resources
Report Form for Complaints of Harassment/Bullying/Cyber-Bullying
Mr. Pierce- Anti-Bullying Climate Specialist
Email: steve.pierce@bristoltwpsd.org.
Breakfast and Lunch Menus- February
We encourage each student and staff member to wear their Keystone Paw Shirts every Friday.
Support Keystone's SWPBIS program by purchasing a soft pretzel. Each soft pretzel will cost $1 each. Students will be asked to preorder their pretzel each Thursday, for a pretzel delivery to take place on Fridays.
Office Staff
School Principal: Mr. Mark Wilicki
Email: mark.wilicki@bristoltwpsd.org
Assistant Principal: Crystal Smith-Herman
Email: crystal.smith-herman@bristoltwpsd.org
Special Education Supervisor: Jessica Kelch
Email: jessica.kelch@bristoltwpsd.org
Principal's Secretary: Mrs. Marianne Mensinger
Email: marianne.mensinger@bristoltwpsd.org
Assistant Principal's Secretary: Mrs. Donna Meehan
Email: donna.meehan@bristoltwpsd.org
School phone: 267-599-2470
School fax: 215-788-1041