Banta Unified School District

As a little kid, I loved the idea of being lucky. The idea that leprechauns and pots of gold were real, and if I could only get to the end of the rainbow, all of my dreams would come true!

As a mom, I spent countless hours helping my children make leprechaun traps, testing out various leprechaun baits, and reassuring disappointed children, that perhaps we would catch a leprechaun next time. Each Saint Patrick’s eve would find me painting small footprints throughout my house, sprinkling gold glitter on countertops, and depositing chocolate gold coins in shoes and bathroom drawers. Seeing the look of wonder and excitement on my children’s faces made it all worthwhile!

One year, our dog Buster, who had a sweet tooth for milk chocolate, silently watched where I hid the candy. After I went to sleep that night, he got up, found, and ate the candy coins, only leaving gold foil remnants scattered throughout the house. Somehow that dog had also gotten himself into the paint and mysteriously had leprechaun footprints down his back, on his face, and pretty much everywhere!

That year, my children believed that the leprechauns had been very naughty and had eaten the candy themselves! They had visions of leprechauns riding the dog like a horse, creating chaos and mayhem while we all slept upstairs.

As you begin your hunt for four-leaf clovers this month, I encourage you to find the magic in the everyday world around you. Point out the beauty of the cherry blossoms, the phenomena of the rain puddles, and the wonder in the eyes of your children.

Happy March and Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Mrs. Pearlman

March 2 - Read Across America

March 3 - Assembly

March 9 - Spring Pictures

March 17 - Wear Green St. Patrick's Day

March 22- PFA Meeting

March 24 - Spring Dance

We are starting our See's Candy Spring Fundraiser on March 6th, with orders due to the school office on March 24th!

Proceeds will be used for student activities, supplies and end of the year activities!

Please support Banta School! Kids' will come home with flyers next week!

The top two selling classrooms will receive reward parties from the PFA!!

Students of all grades enjoyed a night of being little scientists as part of Family Science Night!

Next Meeting: March 22

6:00 p.m.

School Cafeteria

Please join us at our monthly parent meeting! We need you!

Transitional kindergarten (TK) bridges the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten years. It is the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that has been implemented in California for children who are not old enough yet for kindergarten but want to build their social, developmental, and academic skills.

TK classrooms are taught by a multiple-subject credentialed teacher and the TK curriculum is based on the California Preschool Learning Foundations and the Kindergarten Common Core Standards. TK is offered at select SFUSD Early Education Schools and elementary schools.

According to a new state law, more children will be eligible for TK starting with the 2022-2023 school year.

For the 2023-24 school year, TK is for students who will be turning age 5 between September 2, 2023 and April 2, 2024. (California law requires that children be age 5 on or before September 1 of the school year to be eligible for kindergarten, and age 6 on or before September 1 of the school year to be eligible for first-grade.) See the age chart below.

Students who complete TK will be required to apply for kindergarten the following year

Interested parents should contact the Banta school office (209) 229-4650 or the Banta District Office (209)229-4651 for information on registration. Registration forms will also be available by February 7th on the district webpage.http://bantasd.org/

“Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.” — Friedrich von Schiller

During the month of March, our Banta Mustangs will focus on Perseverance. Perseverance is commitment, hard work, patience, endurance. It is being able to deal with difficulties and uncertainty in a calm manner and without complaint. One can persevere when they try and try again.

No matter what the challenge, perseverance is important because it is the drive that helps you get through the obstacle to the easier bit on the other side. Even though it feels so hard when you are working through a challenge, perseverance keeps pushing you through to your goal and to the good feeling that comes with knowing you did your best.

Taking the easy way out by cheating, quitting, or avoiding a situation doesn’t make the challenge go away. It just makes you have to deal with it at a different time. Perseverance helps you get through the challenge, even though it’s hard, and gives you that warm feeling in your heart of knowing you did the right thing.

WHAT CAN PARENTS DO TO TEACH PERSEVERENCE?

• Explain the meaning of perseverance.

• Share your experiences with them. Let your child know that you aren’t perfect.

○ Explain a difficulty or struggle in your life and how perseverance helped you.

• Encourage them throughout the process. Give them compliments, high fives and hugs!

• If they have struggles, let them know it is ok and is expected.

• If they fail, let them know that it happens and it doesn’t reflect their efforts.

• Assess the reasons for not reaching their goal together and encourage them to try again.

March 12th is Daylight Saving time! Don't forget to set your clocks forward.

Daylight saving time can disrupt students' sleep patterns, leading to daytime fatigue and decreased academic performance. To ease the transition, it's important for students to have healthy sleep habits such as maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, limiting screen time before bed, and creating a comfortable sleep environment.

As we move deeper into March, the weather can be unpredictable. Make sure to dress appropriately for the changing temperatures and weather conditions, especially if you're going to school or work. Don't forget to check the weather forecast before you head out!

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 2023-2024 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 1, 2023.

Banta Elementary School students and parents enjoyed a free movie night in the school gymnasium on Friday, Feb. 24. The movie for the night was Disney’s “Pinocchio” starring Tom Hanks. The parents group had a fully stocked concession stand with treats that included nachos, chips, popcorn, candy, beverages and pizza. Smiles could be seen on faces throughout the room and school officials hope to hold more movie nights throughout the school year.

Another successful month is behind us. Meal counts continue to grow on some days and stay steady on others. I visited Mrs. Mate's 5th-grade class at Banta to touch base with students' likes and dislikes. I really appreciated their feedback, and have conveyed their thoughts to our kitchen staff.

If there is a favorite item, you would like to see on the menu, please send me an email with your student’s favorite items to Jaanderson@bantasd.org.

Well it’s still windy and cold and Valentine’s day is past, but we are still very busy in the library as always. We just finished our Valentine’s day scavenger hunt, where the kids were able to hunt for fortune cookies and fill out a page and earn a sweet surprise upon finishing. This was primarily for our younger Banta friends 2-5th grade.

We also have been busy voting on Pokemon vs. Minecraft which is displayed on our back wall as you come into the library. Students were given a pokeball or minecraft block to decorate and then we put them up to display. To date we have 36 pokeballs and 10 minecraft blocks! It looks like Banta students enjoy Pokemon over Minecraft. We have a few new Pokemon books for checkout including two Pikachu golden books and one Encyclopedia.

Of course our furry friends will be back again with us this March and this time they will be visiting with Mrs. Winters/Lee class in 5th grade. We hope to get participation up for this program as students HAVE to fill out the permission slip in order to participate. This program is scheduled for mid-march right now as the dogs come once a month. In February they visited Mrs. Mate’s class, SDC and the kids at PE.

As the tri-mester comes to a close we will also celebrate the students who have been busy helping organize our new Spanish book collection, as they helped to organize, alphabetize, dust, clean and create this space. We now have many more Spanish picture books, juvenile fiction, fiction and a few graphic novels. The trimester party will be on February 24th and these 15-20 students will enjoy Chinese food.

Coming in the Spring, Banta students will be participating in a poetry contest through Expressive Education. The focus of this contest is “haiku” poems and last Friday, our 6th and 5th graders started writing their poems. The deadline for this contest is in April, but we want to get started early so that we have a chance to win 100 dollars if we submit a good number of poems, as the top 10 schools will earn this prize.

As always we welcome volunteers in the library, so if you want to come and help please contact me at 209-647-0774 or by email at emcdaniel@bantasd.org.

Buon lettura! (Happy Reading in Italian)

Dr. McDaniel

Welcome Back! We are excited to start a school year where everyone can enjoy being on campus! In the new school year, we look forward to your continued support. With you, we can create family fun events to celebrate our community, and, we can raise the necessary funds to support classroom activities.

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.

● March 22, 2023

● April 19, 2023

This month's Look Who's At Banta profile features Student Teacher Jacob Martinho. 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

Student Teacher Jacob Martinho, 24, of Tracy

Family:

Mother, Father, two sisters and a cat

Educational Background:

Bachelors in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Special Education from Stanislaus State College and Associates degree in Liberal Studies from Delta College. He is currently attending Stanislaus State to obtain his teaching credentials. He joined Banta Elementary earlier this year as part of his credential process and currently working with Teacher Kathy Jackson in her second grade classroom.

Hobbies:

He enjoys cooking and baking from scratch, and working to perfect his grilling skills that focus on chicken. Growing up his mother taught him how to bake and he has great memories of baking cookies with his grandmother. He considers baking cookies his specialty. As for his cooking skills, those came from his father, who was often the cook of the house. Over time he has enjoyed experimenting and changing up different recipes. When he is not in the kitchen, he enjoys kayaking and daytrips to places that include Yosemite, Big Trees and Hume Lake. He hopes to do more traveling in the future, both national and international. Downtime includes watching any type of superhero or action packed film. During the isolation of the Pandemic, he began letter writing to communicate with others. He plans to someday own a bakery and use his writing skills to accompany his products through care packages for those in need.

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.