Keystone Newsletter #27
Dear Keystone Families,
Wednesday, March 13th is an early dismissal (1:15pm) day, due to professional development for the staff in the afternoon.
Starting this week, Girl Scout Troop 2151, will be collecting donations to support the Birthing Center at Capital Health Hospital. Please see the flyer below, along with their shared Amazon wish list, if you would like help support this cause.
March 19th, our fabulous PTO has arranged a fun-filled night of magic tricks and ice cream. Please make sure to RSVP on/by March 15th. The flyer for this even can be found further down in the newsletter.
May your week be filled with happy moments, wonderful opportunities, good health, and great success!
Be safe and be well!
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📚
March
Collection of Donations
Early Dismissal- 1:15pm
March 13th
Professional Development in PM for School Staff
End of 2nd Trimester
March 13th
PTO Sponsored Event- Ice Cream and Magic Tricks
March 19th from 6:30-8:30pm
Elementary Conferences- 1:15pm Dismissal
March 20th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, and 26th
Late Night Conferences- Wednesday, March 20th
Reading Olympics Competition
March 21st at Mill Creek Elementary School
Rock Your Socks Day- Wear Your Craziest Pair of Socks
March 21st
🌷Spring Break- No School💐
March 28th-April 1st
Looking Ahead
📚Scholastic Book Fair📚
April 12th-19th
April 12th-April 18th- Students will attend book fair during scheduled library time.
April 19th will be the make-up day.
2nd Grade Field Trip
Group 1- April 22nd
Group 2- April 29th
📝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.
1st Grade Field Trip
May 9th
🎵Spring Music Concert🎵
Wednesday, May 15th at 7 pm
Keystone Community Dinner/Spring Engagement
May 29th
Kindergarten Field Trip
May 31st
🍎5th Graders Visit Future Middle School🍎
June 3rd
Kindergarten Move-Up Day Celebration
June 5th- AM
👕Field Day⚽
Thursday, June 6th- AM- K/1
Thursday, June 6th- PM- 2/3
Friday, June 7th- AM- 4/5
Rain Dates: June 7th (PM), June 10th (AM and/or PM) and/or 11th (PM)
5th Grade Move-Up Day Celebration
June 11th- AM
😎Last Day of School- Students😎
Thursday, June 13th
Revised 2023-2024 District Calendar
2024-2025 District Calendar
Community Events
Donations to Support Capital Health Hospital- Sponsored by Girl Scout Troop 2151
Amanda Newsham-Tinsley, troop leader from Girl Scout Troop 2151 shared the following;
"The Juniors in the troop, who are currently in 4th and 5th grade, are working towards the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can earn: The Bronze Award.
5 of the 6 Juniors are students in the district. They have decided for their Bronze Award community service project to collect new items for new moms and babies.
The girls have also created an Amazon Wishlist too. Check out my list on Amazon! Thank you for helping these Girl Scouts achieve this high level award."
Donation bins will be located in the main lobby of Keystone Elementary School, starting this week.
Collections will be accepted starting tomorrow up until April 1st.
Keystone Staff Member Spotlight
Amy Waldron
Position: 3rd Grade Teacher
Worked at Bristol Township School District Since: 18
Strengths: I strive in making my classroom a place where children feel at home. It becomes a place where learning is fun and not a chore. It is very important to me that I am the teacher I would want my daughter to have in school. I am also very good at lazy Sunday's before the start of the week.
Pets: Jeter. He is a 3 year old Pitbull who believes he is a human.
Hobbies: My daughter and I enjoy crafting and coloring. I love coffee. I drink it so much I believe it is a hobby I am good at.
Favorite Color(s): Seafoam Green
Favorite Snack: Chips!
Favorite Sports' Team: I recently became a Kansas City Chiefs fan! #traviskelce
Three Fun Facts:
1.) I've been a cheerleading coach for the last 12 years.
2.) My sister and I both got inducted into our high school's Hall of Fame the same year. (Hall of Fame class of 2021).
3.) My entire family all lives within a mile of one another which makes our Sunday Dinners extra special.
Partnership w/ Pennsylvania State Police & Bristol Township Police Department
Some activities that have taken place with the support of the Troopers and/or police;
- reading to various classes throughout the building
- mentoring students
- attending SWPIS meeting
- attending recess committee meetings
- supporting students at 5th grade recess
- reaching out to community resources
- being involved in ongoing conversations to support the needs of the students
- organizing structured recess games for 5th grade
5th Grade Recess
With the help and support of PA Trooper Ryan Seiple, School Security- Mr. Alexis, Mr. Steve- Paraprofessional, and Mr. Pierce- Anti-Bullying and Climate Specialist, the fifth-grade students have been given the opportunity to participate in a structured and organized kickball games, during their scheduled recess time.
The goal is to continue to organize a game once a week, that continues to work on encouraging and fostering good sportsmanship, team work, following the rules of the game, positive peer interactions, positive attitudes, handling disappointment and teaching them how to lose at games gracefully, while working in a reward system to continue to encourage and acknowledge good sportsmanship like behavior.
Many thanks to all that have been involved in helping to create such positive learning opportunities and life long lessons for our learners!
Read Across America Week- March 4th-March 8th
PTO Sponsored Event
Timely Tigers- February
Student of the Month- February
Student Spotlight
By: Grayson Norris
Results from Last Poll
Thank you for all who have participating in our newsletter's weekly poll! It looks like most people's favorite pizza topping is plain pizza.
💐Something Fun!💐
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
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:
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!
Order Your Yearbooks
Yearbook Ordering Link
Ordering Online Access Code Needed:
Access Code: 11702YBDeadline to Order: April 22nd, 2024
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program- March
March Stories and Videos
Women's History Month
International Woman's Day
Ramadan
Pi Day
St. Patrick's Day
Social Emotional Learning Tips of the Week
Feelings Song
The Way I Feel Story
BTSD Opt out procedure for PSSA and Keystones
Section 4.4 of Chapter 4 of the State Board of Education regulations provides for the right of any parents or guardians to excuse their child from the state assessment if, upon inspection of the testing materials, they find the assessment to be in conflict with their religious beliefs. Please note that this is the only basis for a parent or guardian to excuse his or her child from the statewide assessments.
Parents/guardians requesting that their child be excused from the PSSA or Keystone Exam must adhere to the following procedural guidelines:
Within two weeks of the date the child is to participate in the PSSA or Keystone exams, parents/guardians must contact the Chief Academic Officer, Mrs. Amy Coleman, to arrange an appointment to review the assessment(s) by completing this survey.
Survey Link: PSSA REQUEST TO REVIEW
For more information, please visit: https://www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter4/s4.4.html
Attendance Policy
- Reminder, when your child is absent a written excuse note is required.
- For the first 10 absences the note may be from the parent.
- It can be in an email to: Donna.meehan@bristoltwpsd.org.
- If your child misses more than 10 days of school, then we only accept a medical note.
- Please email or send in the note within 10 days of their return to school, this is a PA State Law.
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
Anti-Bullying and Climate Specialist
Mr. Pierce has the pleasure of being the Anti-Bullying Specialist at Keystone Elementary School.
In the short time that he has been here he has been able to build a great rapport and begin teaching the Second Step Bullying Prevention curriculum and TKF curriculum.
Some of his roles include bullying investigations, conflict resolution, peer mediations, large group lessons and small group lessons. He also have been working to support the school climate at Keystone.
Mr. Pierce- Anti-Bullying and Climate Specialist
Report Form for Complaints of Harassment/Bullying/Cyber-Bullying
Click here for an electronic version of form; Reporting Form
Social Worker and Counselors Contact Information
Social Worker
Mrs. Jody Como
jody.como@bristoltwpsd.org
Counselors
Mrs. Tammy Surdo
tammy.surdo@bristoltwpsd.org
Mr. Brian Gianfrancesco
brian.gianfrancesco@bristoltwpsd.org
Health Office Contact Information
Lynn Thomson-Merrill
Certified School Nurse 267-599-2473 or 2490
Anna May Tannenbaum
Staff Nurse 267-599-2496
Annamay.Tannenbaum@bristoltwpsd.org
Christine Kelly (M, T, TH, F after 12:30 PM)
Staff Nurse 267-599-2473
Christine.Kelly@bristoltwpsd.org
Our fax number is 215-788-1516.
Breakfast and Lunch Menus- March
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: Justina Garofalo
Email: justina.garofalo@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