Benefield Family Newsletter
October 7, 2022
Greetings Benefield Parents/Guardians:
Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. It continues to be an honor and privilege to serve as the principal of such an exemplary and student-centered learning community.
Teachers will offer in-person and virtual conferences start the week of October 17-21. Teachers will be providing a link to sign up for conferences starting next week. All parents are encourged a conference with teachers to ensure students are making progress toward end of grade level expectations. Students will be dismissed at 12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, October 19 & Thursday, October 20.
Some other important dates in October are below. Please save these dates:
- Great Days of Service, Week of October 17-21
- Red Ribbon Week, Week of October 24-28
- Trunk or Treat-- October 28, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
Please keep reading for more important information.
Honored to serve as your principal,
Mrs. Shonda Gipson Stevens
Principal
Message from our superintendent, Dr. Watts...
Counselor's Corner
Our attendance incentive program has kicked off! Please do your best to get your students to school on time and each and every day. Attendance is a key factor in academic success! Classes with 5 days of perfect attendance will enter a chance to win treats, such as popcorn, chips and ice cream! The raffle winner for the month of September will be chosen and rewarded the second week of October.
During the month of October, we will also celebrate Red Ribbon Week and Great Days of Service. Red Ribbon Week is an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign. It will take place October 24-28 and each day of the week will require student participation. Please click the link to see the Red Ribbon Week Flier on activities to get your student(s) involved! Our Great Days of Service project this year is a Necessities Drive. We will collect items the week of October 17th. A flier will be distributed in the next few weeks with more information!
The Benefield Elementary School Counseling Department is committed to developing and implementing a school counseling program for students that focuses on academic, personal/social, and career development. A School Counseling Advisory Council is implemented to review and improve programs, goals and service delivery.
On October 26 from 7:30 am-8:15 am, we will hold our 1st Semester School Counseling Advisory Council meeting. We will virtually meet 1-2 more times this year.
MEETING PURPOSE
To share data on program goals and results
To allow stakeholders (teachers, administrators, parents, and students) to provide feedback and recommendations, based on data and current school needs
If you would like to become a member of our Advisory Council, please click the link to complete the form.
SEL/PBIS
Hi Titan families!
The Fall season is upon us. This holiday season offers a variety of ways for us to foster the five competencies of Social Emotional Learning: Self-Awareness, Social-Awareness, Relationship Skills, Self-Management, and Responsible Decision Making. One beautiful way to encourage this is to build an acceptance, appreciation, and understanding of the diverse cultures that make up our Benefield Family, and the world. As you enjoy Fall Break, take time to honor the many ways Fall is celebrated around the world.
As the season changes here in Georgia, it is evident that Fall is a beautiful and magical time of year for many people. The weather becomes a perfect blend of sunny days and chilled breezes. For many, it's a fulfilling season of sports, with football starting and baseball coming to an end. For others, it's a time for apple picking, baking, and pumpkin carving. And still, for others, it’s a time to be someone (or something) else and gather with family for food and joy.
Whole Fall is a beautiful time of year to savor, the season can also be a great learning opportunity for students when considering all of the festivals and activities. Please enjoy this collection of customs and traditions around our wonderful world.
In the United States, we have our traditions during this festive time of year. Yet, what is familiar to us in America, is not common to many around the world. Also, some of our neighbors have traditions of their own that are meaningful to their culture. There is beauty in the various cultures that surround us and beautiful opportunities that can expand our knowledge about people, traditions, and holidays that surround us. When we combine holidays with strategies that help children learn about others and themselves, they can grow into competent young people.
The fall season brings one of the most gracious holidays, Thanksgiving. The tradition of this holiday dates back hundreds of years for Americans. With this perfect holiday comes delicious food, family, and friends, bringing a beautiful feeling of gratitude.
Explore Your Future With Career and Technical Career Event
Join us!
The Academics and CTE Department is hosting a community-wide, K-12 career and exploration experience for all GCPS families on Saturday, October 15.
What: Explore Your Future With Career and Technical Career Event
When: Saturday, October 15, 9:00 am -1:00 pm
Where: Discovery High School(1335 Old Norcross Road, Lawrenceville, GA 30046)
The Family Center
International Night was a success! Families enjoyed sampling foods from the 7 continents The public library shared resources to meet the needs of our second language families. Mathnasium offered information to help build partners with mastering the AKS.
Please click on the link to register for the Nutrition Education Program
Building Babies Brains
You might be thinking, “I’m a parent, not a teacher.” The great news is, whether you’ve had training or not, you are your child’s first teacher.
Many simple, everyday routines are excellent opportunities for developing your child’s emergent literacy skills. Emergent literacy refers to the point in children’s development before they are able to read on their own or write words that others can read.This concept assumes that literacy learning begins at birth and develops gradually over time. It also suggests that the pre-literacy skills children develop at this time are the critical foundation for later reading success. For example, by the time Lucas turns 1, his parents will have spent 8,760 hours providing him with consistent care. When Lucas is ready to start kindergarten at the age of 5, his parents will have accumulated 43,800 hours —over 1,000 days—with him, where growth and development are continuously occurring. This is a crucial period of development when it comes to literacy.
So what can you do? Below are three quick, yet impactful suggestions for quality literacy experiences. These ideas will help you promote literacy in a way that makes sense for you
and your family.
* Tell Stores
* Look Around You
* Make books available
https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/childs-first-teacher
Would you like to bring learning to the living room?
Family Engagement Tips
K-2
Pack your child some lunchtime reading
Do you want to squeeze a little more reading into your child's day? Include a note with your student's lunch. It doesn't have to be sentimental. You could give a compliment or offer encouragement before a test. Or write down a joke or a silly poem. You could share some good news: "Surprise! Grandma's coming today!" Encourage your child to write notes back to you, too.
3-5
Keep an eye on your child's schoolwork
Children get more out of schoolwork when parents monitor their efforts. Each day, take some time to review assignments and any classwork your child brings home. Is it neat? Complete? Ask your child to explain anything you don't understand. This will reinforce the material in your student's mind and help you both know if your child understands it. Together, double-check the assignment to make sure your child has completed everything.
Health Education/PE
The Strong 4 Life Team hosted a Pep Rally at our school last week. The students were so excited about working on the four healthy habits:
- Eat smarter, drink water
- Screens away, go play
- Get rest to be your best
- Emotions are real, express how you feel
This month we are focused on building healthy eating habits.
Easy breakfast ideas for kids
Starting the day with a balanced meal does more than just calm that first bout of hunger. It helps kids stay focused longer and perform better academically than those who skip eating or start with a sugary option.
Try these easy breakfast ideas to boost kids’ brainpower:
- Oatmeal with nuts and fruit
- Veggie and egg muffins
- Cereal trail mix with dried fruit, whole-grain cereal and nuts
Hectic mornings ruining your breakfast plans? Ask your school nutrition team about their breakfast menu!
Visit Strong4Life.com for more tips for raising healthy, safe, resilient kids. You can also subscribe to the Strong4Life newsletter and follow Strong4Life on Instagram.
Media Center Minutes
The Book Fair is coming to Benefield October 13-20! Scholastic and Benefield have many safety features in place including, limiting the number of students in the fair, using eWallet, and sanitizing stations. In order to limit the number of students in the fair at a time, teachers will be signing up for shopping dates and times for their classes.
In order to limit cash transactions, Scholastic is offering eWallet. eWallet is a digital payment option that allows families to add funds to a digital account that can be used at the Book Fair. Visit our fair homepage to get started. We will also be accepting checks made out to Benefield Elementary, credit cards, and cash. Be sure to include sales tax in your purchase price. In Gwinnett County, we pay 6% sales tax. For example, if your student would like to buy a book that costs 5.99, you would place $6.35 on their eWallet account to include sales tax. Click here to learn more about eWallet and view a tax calculator.
We are offering an online fair option for those who are unable to visit the fair in person. Click here to visit our online fair. All orders from the online fair will be shipped directly to your home.
Thank you for your support of the Book Fair! We use our funds to support our reading promotion program, author visits, and book giveaways. Today a reader, tomorrow a leader!
Titans READ!
This year the theme for our reading promotion program is Titans READ! Students will be receiving a baseball hat, and each month that they meet their reading goal and complete their reading log, they will receive a button to add to their hat. Our monthly reading goal is 500 minutes. We will also have drawings for special prizes like Makerspace parties, extra book checkouts, book fair gift certificates, and limited edition bookmarks.
Community Helper Parade
Play 2 Learn
International Night
Benefield Elementary School
Heather Tack, Assistant Principal
Kelli O'Loughlin, Assistant Principal
Michelle Vendryes, Assistant Principal
Website: https://www.gcpsk12.org/benefieldes