BROOKDALE BOBCAT PRINTS
March 21, 2022
Brookdale Elementary
611 132nd St. S, Tacoma, WA 98444
Connie Holman - Principal ~ Kari Ferguson - Assistant Principal
School hours 9:35 to 4:05 ~ Office Hours - 9:00 to 4:30
253-298-3100 / FAX 253-298-3115
PRINCIPAL NEWS
It is hard to believe that we are already at the beginning of spring! This has truly been a whirlwind of a year. As we move into the final trimester of the school year, I am looking forward to some of the events that we've had to put on hold for the last couple of years. We are just finishing our March Madness 4-Square Tournament and we are in the middle of planning Field Day. Hopefully, we'll continue moving to a more 'normal' time!
Spirit Week will be March 28-April 1 -
Monday, Mar. 28 - Sports/Favorite Team Day
Tuesday, Mar. 29 - Movie Character Day
Wednesday, Mar. 30 - Culture Day
Thursday, Mar. 31 - Color Wars -
Kindergarten - Red
1st Grade - Orange
2nd Grade Yellow
3rd Grade - Green
4th Grade - Blue
5th Grade - Purple
Support Staff - Tie Dye
Friday, Apr. 1 - Pajama Day
SBA Testing will start the week of April 16th and will run through early June. Please make sure your 3rd, 4th, and/or 5th grader is at school on time on their assigned testing days and that they have gotten plenty of rest. Be sure to avoid scheduling appointments on testing days. We will send out a testing schedule in early April.
Looking for a job? We would love for you to join our FP Team. In hopes of filling current vacancies and anticipated openings for the 2022-2023 school year, the district will be hosting an FPS Career Fair on Monday, March 21st from 3-6pm at Ford Middle School (1602 104th St E, Tacoma, WA 98445).
We would love to hear your feedback on the 2022-23 school year calendar! While we are bound by state and federal holidays and the requirement to have 180 school days per school year, we have some flexibility in how we structure the year. Please take a moment to look at the different options in this survey and provide feedback by Friday, March 25.
I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Spring Break! Take that week to rest, relax, and enjoy some family time. By the time we return, students and staff will be in the home stretch of the school year.
Please do not send speciality drinks (Frappuccino's, coffee, soda, etc.) with your child. Often they are not able to finish the drink in a timely manner and it ends up getting thrown away.
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS WITH THESE IMPORTANT DATES
March 21 ~ Job Fair at Ford ~ 3:00-6:00 pm
March 23 ~ End of 2nd trimester - Early Dismissal - 12:35
March 25 ~ No School ~ Snow make-up day
March 29 ~ Health Screening Day
March 30 ~ Early Dismissal - 2:35
April 1 ~ Report cards go home
April 4 - 8 ~ No School ~ Spring Break
April 11 ~ Registration begins for the 2022-23 school year
April 13 ~ Early Dismissal - 2:35
April 20 ~ Early Dismissal - 2:35
April 27 ~ Early Dismissal - 2:35
THANKS FOR THE HELP AND SUPPORT!
This week we recognize the good work of the district Professional Technical Staff. We want to thank the staff from Computer Services, but especially Kevin Zulauf, for his invaluable help with all Brookdale computer needs and problems. Also being recognized are the staff members from Purchasing, Facilities, Headstart, and the Assessment Coordinator.
Ramadan begins the evening of April 2 and will end the evening of May 2.
HEALTH SCREENING DAY
All students will have their vision and hearing screened at school on Tuesday, March 29. If your child has glasses or contact lenses, please be certain they are wearing them on screening day. Referrals to a health care provider will be sent home with the students who do not pass the vision screening. We will re-screen students who do not pass hearing, before sending a referral home. If you have any questions, please call our nurse, Sierra Rambow, at 253-298-3108.
A NEW WAY OF COMMUNICATION
I’d like to welcome you and your child to using Remind to help keep you informed about school and classroom activities and assignments. Remind is a free service that lets your child’s school send quick messages via text, push notifications, or email to everyone involved with the class. We’ll be able to stay in touch without revealing our personal contact information. For more news and information please visit www.fpschools.org/remind “ You will receive a note or email from your child's teacher when they are ready to set-up remind for their classroom.
PROJECT EXCEL REMINDERS
Third grade families - The Cognitive Abilities Test will be administered to all third-grade students (universal screening) this week. The CogAt measures general reasoning abilities in three domains: verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal. The verbal domain tests a student’s vocabulary, comprehension, memory, and ability to discover word relationships. The quantitative domain tests a student’s reasoning and problem-solving ability. The nonverbal domain tests a student’s ability to make sense of a sequence of images using geometric shapes, paper folding or figures. Sample CogAt questions are available here. Scores are reported in national percentiles by age using the most current norms and provide a snapshot of students’ reasoning abilities.
Fourth Grade families ~ All students will not be tested. If you feel your child fits the questions below, please nominate your child by the deadline of Wednesday, March 23. If your child was in our Excel program in fourth grade you do not have to do anything. They will roll over to fifth grade automatically.
For interested fourth grade families, complete a Project Excel Program Referral here.
Do you have a student who…
- learns easily and quickly?
- thinks up unusual ways to solve hard problems?
- has a clever sense of humor?
- dislikes doing the same thing over and over?
- thinks logically and wants things to make sense?
- is open to new ideas?
- is persistent and wants to keep trying with difficult tasks?
Conoce a algún estudiante que…
¿Aprende fácil y rápido?
¿Piensa de forma inusual cómo resolver problemas difíciles?
¿Tiene un sentido del humor ingenioso?
¿Le desagrada hacer la misma cosa una y otra vez?
¿Piensa de manera lógica y quiere que las cosas tengan sentido?
¿Está abierto a nuevas ideas?
¿Es persistente y quiere seguir tratando con tareas difíciles?
Complete una referencia del programa Project Excel aquí.
LINDQUIST DENTAL CLINIC
They will be at Brookdale on Tuesday, April 12. Only students that turn in their permission slips will receive an oral screening. Forms will be going home this week. Students will be provided with an oral health screening & assessment. They will also receive an oral health report and a goodie bag to take home at the end of their visit. No child is turned away due to the inability to pay. If you have questions, please contact Sierra Rambow at 253-298-3124.
REPORT CARDS GO HOME APRIL 1
As you know, this Wednesday will be the end of the second trimester. It is hard to believe how quickly this school year has gone by. Before you know it, we’ll be saying good-bye to students for the summer and making plans for next year. On Friday, April 1 your student will bring home the second trimester report card. The purpose of the report card is to give families consistent, accurate and meaningful feedback about their student’s progress in school. The grades assigned are based on end of the year standards, and the goal is to have a 3 by the end of the school year in each area. The grading scale is as follows:
4 - Student is working above the grade level standard
3 - Student has mastery of the grade level standard
2 - Student is working toward mastery of the grade level standard
1 - Student is working significantly below the grade level standard
We will continue our work each day to help students master their grade level standards by the end of the school year. We need your help with supporting your student at home with their homework and nightly reading. The purpose of homework is for students to have more practice with the content they are learning.
Please sign the report card envelope and send it back to school with your child. This helps us to know that you have received the report card and you understand your child’s progress to this point in the school year. If you ever have a question about homework or your student’s grades, please contact the classroom teacher. Thank you!
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION FOR NEXT SCHOOL YEAR
We will be accepting online kindergarten registrations for next school year beginning on April 11. To be eligible for kindergarten, children must be five years of age by August 31, 2022. Please go to fpschools.org and click on the Enrollment button at the bottom of the page to start the registration process. Very important is that you register in the 2022-23 school year. Enrollees must download a copy of their child’s birth certificate, immunization records, and proof of residency to complete their child's registration. We fill up fast, so register as soon after April 11 as you can. If you have any questions on the registration process, please call 298-3100.
YEARBOOKS PICTURES NEEDED
Don't miss out! Reserve your yearbook by April 1st for just $12. Yearbooks purchased after April 1st will be $15. Do you have pictures you would like to share with us for the yearbook?
Upload here. https://plicbooks.com/go/T14EEP
IMPORTANT SCHOOL REMINDERS
STUDENT EARLY DISMISSAL – If your child has an appointment and is leaving before the end of the school day, please make sure you send a note that morning letting the teacher and the office know. If you call, we must receive it before 3:00 and students should be picked up no later than 3:30 due to our end of the day congestion. Also, please allow enough time for pick up. To preserve precious class time, we do not call students to the office until you have checked them out in person (remember your ID).
SCHEDULE CHANGES - The end of the day at Brookdale is very hectic. If you forgot to send a note in the morning (which is preferred) and need to call the school with a change to your child’s schedule, please do so before 3:00 p.m. After 3:00 the office is busy assisting students and parents and will not be able to answer your call or get a message to a student before they leave for the day. All end of the day schedule changes must be made through the office, not with the classroom teacher. Thank you!
UPDATE CONTACT INFORMATION - If any of your information has changed (address, contact info., email address, etc.) please contact the office right away. This year more than ever, it will be important to have the most current information. Also, let us know what your preferred method of contact is - phone, email, text. You can reach the office at 253.298.3100.
FREE DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING
Children ages 3-5 who reside within the Franklin Pierce School District are eligible for free developmental screening. Hearing, vision, kindergarten readiness, speech and language, motor skills, and behavior are checked. Screenings take place regularly. See their web page here. To schedule an appointment, call the Early Learning Center Child Find hotline at 253-298-4658.