February Battlefield Banner
Every Child, Every Day, Without Exception
WE ARE BATTLEFIELD
BES Mission Statement: Our mission is working together to promote high levels of learning for all students.
BES Vision Statement: Building Exceptional Students
23/24 BES School Improvement Goals
Strategic Goal 1: The percentage of students (all grades) performing at the monitor or accelerate levels within the Writing Domain will increase from 48% to 55% on the 2024 Georgia Milestones ELA assessment.
Strategic Goal 2: The percentage of students (all grades) performing within or above the lexile stretch band will increase from 65% to 70% on the 2024 Georgia Milestones ELA assessment.
Strategic Goal 3: The percentage of students (all grades) performing at level 3 or level 4 in mathematics on the Georgia Milestones will increase by 10% during the 2023-2024 school year.
23/24 BES Collective Commitments
We will create a caring environment where all students can succeed.
We will work collaboratively to learn, plan and grow as educators in order to promote high levels of achievement.
We will help our students reach their potential by prioritizing individual student goals, differentiating instruction, and utilizing best practices
We will work together to encourage and celebrate student success.
We will give 100% to know and meet the social, academic, and emotional needs of each child.
Morgan Freeman
"You may not always see the results of your kindness, but every bit of positive energy you contribute to the world makes it a better place for all of us."
From the Principal
Below is an article that I wrote on safety several years ago and I feel it's worth repeating.
As you watch the school violence that occurs on television, do you ever think, "are my kids safe at school?" I want to assure you that Catoosa County Schools work tirelessly to make sure we research and implement best practices for school emergencies. Each year, each school must submit a safety plan to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) for approval. Our safety plans help us plan for emergencies, conduct table talks to improve our procedures, and execute drills to make sure our students know what to do in case of an emergency. Fire drills are completed each month of the school year with the exception of November and February when we complete severe weather drills. We also complete Run/Hide/Survive drills quarterly. No matter what school your child attends in our system, our drills are consistent and practiced regularly. Each time we complete a drill, our team discusses any issues that occurred and how we can improve our procedures and practices. Fire drills and severe weather drills are pretty routine. However, each time a Run/Hide/Survive drill is conducted, county office personnel and our county SRO's are involved to provide guidance and feedback.
Our staff is trained yearly on what to do in the case of a school emergency. Our school system is also fortunate to have SROs placed in our schools. The administrators, SROs and county office personnel work closely together to strengthen our procedures and protocols through table talks and drills.
Our schools use the Sielox system. School personnel, county personnel, as well as the Catoosa 911 call center are able to monitor our building through our motion detectors and cameras. The Sielox system cuts down on response time of our emergency agencies. If our alarm does sound, teachers are able to monitor their hallway through camera views that show up on their smartboard. From what is viewed, teachers make a decision to run or hide (lock down in room) in order to survive. Our local 911 system is also able to monitor our building through motion detectors and cameras during an emergency to communicate with the responding officers. It’s a team effort that makes our schools safer.
The specific details on safety of Catoosa County Schools is important to me as both a principal and dad. My wife, also an educator, and I have always felt that our kids were safe at Catoosa County Schools. I'm proud of our school system for being a leader in safety in the state of Georgia.
If you ever have any concerns about school safety, please reach out to me or Deputy Cheatham. We take this topic very seriously and work hard to make sure our students not only feel safe, but are safe.
This is the time of year where the weather is crazy and changes almost hourly. The school system uses the School Messenger text alert, CCPS mobile app, county website (www.catoosa.k12.ga.us), and news stations to alert parents of delays and closings. If you have not signed up for text alert, you can do that by texting Y or Yes to 67587. You can also download the CCPS mobile app. Directions for downloading the link can be found at: https://www.catoosa.k12.ga.us/departments/technology/c_c_p_s_mobile_app.
Below my article is a link for the parent calendar. I keep it updated with important dates at BES. I have also listed a few dates below
Important Dates:
Feb 16, 19, 20: No School
Feb 29: Talent Show @ 6:30
March Apex Fun Run (will send dates as soon as they are confirmed)
March 15: No School
March 22: 5th grade CHAMPS Graduation @ 9:00 am
March 29 - April 5: Spring Break
April 22 - 25: Georgia Milestones
April 26: Spirit Squad Night @ BES
May 23: 5th Grade Recognition 9:00 am @ LFO Gymnasium
We Are Battlefield.
Dr. McCrary
Updates from Nurse Ali
January Counselor's Corner
Parent Coordinator News
Parent Georgia Health Survey
It's time to complete the Georgia Health Parent Survey. Our score compares us against other schools in the state of Georgia. If you have any questions about the survey, please give me a call or send me an email. Please take a few minutes and complete the survey to show the state of Georgia why WE ARE BATTLEFIELD. The survey ends 3/1/24.
** The link was sent through text alert last week. If you completed the survey, Thank You. You do not need to complete it again.
February Love the Bus Month
Love The Bus Month is celebrated every February and is dedicated to the amazing bus drivers who transport students safely everyday. Catoosa County, specifically BES, has the BESt bus drivers. The drivers are the first school staff member that a child sees each morning and the last one they see in the afternoon. Our drivers take their job very seriously and love our kids as their own. I hope you will take the month and show your gratitude to your child's bus driver.
Moon Pies for Troops
As you may remember, part of our Moon Pie Fundraiser gave people the option to donate to Moon Pie and they would send shipments of Moon Pies to our troops. Here is the clip of that happening. Thank you for supporting this great cause.
February Menus
Catoosa County Updates
Beginning Feb. 1 through March 5, parents of 4-year-old children who live in Catoosa County may enter their child’s name in the drawing for the lottery-funded Georgia Pre-K classes.
A public drawing to award available Pre-K assignments will be held virtually on the Catoosa County Public Schools website (https://www.catoosa.k12.ga.us) on Friday, April 12, at 9 a.m. Parents or legal guardians who would like to have their child’s name entered in the drawing must complete and return a Request to Participate in Pre-K Drawing Form between Feb. 1 and March 5. Any request received after March 5 will be placed on the school system’s waiting list after the lottery drawing is completed.
The Request to Participate in Pre-K Drawing Form is available at all primary and elementary schools in Catoosa County (8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) and may also be completed at the Student Enrollment Center, 108 High St., Ringgold, Georgia, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday. (closed for lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.)
Pre-K enrollment is open and nondiscriminatory, based on a public lottery among those eligible to participate. Children will not be denied participation on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or disability.
Eligibility: Currently, a child must be born between Sept. 2, 2019, and Sept. 1, 2020, to be eligible for Georgia Pre-K services, and the child must be a Catoosa County resident at the time of the drawing. Georgia residents outside of Catoosa County will be placed on a waiting list until all children within the district are enrolled.
Catoosa County Board of Education
The Catoosa County Board of Education achieved the Georgia School Board Association (GSBA) Exemplary School Board Award for the ninth consecutive year. Only 66 out of the 180 public school boards in Georgia were recognized for this highest level of distinction.
The Exemplary distinction is the highest honor any board of education can receive. Catoosa County Board of Education met or exceeded the criteria for strategic planning, accreditation, compliance, and training to accomplish this honor.
Superintendent Chance Nix said, “Our board of education achieved Exemplary School Board recognition in the first year of the program, and I am very proud that they have maintained this status for nine consecutive years. Only 37% of the school systems in Georgia choose to implement the high standards and exemplary leadership required for this highest level of recognition. Great school districts begin with great school boards”.
Battlefield appreciates our school board and all they do to support our schools, students, and employees. We are Catoosa!