October 16, 2023
October 23, 2023
With our Professional Development day on Friday, this week is a short week for students; however, it will surely be a jam packed week of learning. In addition, we have a couple of unique opportunities to step away from our usual learning and routines this week as it is Red Ribbon Week and we will have our first Bobcat Bash Assembly on Thursday.
Red Ribbon Week - October 23-31
This week is Red Ribbon Week, which promotes kids living a healthy and drug free life. Please see the additional information about this week provided by Volition Franklin in the blurb below. To recognize Red Ribbon Week, we will have a school spirit day on Wednesday, October 25th. Students and staff are encouraged to wear red.
Bobcat Bash - October 26
As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, one of our biggest areas of focus this year as a building is engagement - we are committed to building a positive and supportive school community. To help us achieve this goal, we have adopted the motto “Model the Bobcat Way, every day” where “bobcat” stands for:
B - Be empathetic
O - Own mistakes
B - Be respectful
C - Care for others
A - Accept and celebrate differences
T - Take responsibility
On Thursday of this week, we will have our first Bobcat Bash Assembly of the school year. At this assembly, students will learn more about the Bobcat Way and we will spend time learning about our first core value “Be Empathetic.” To ground our conversations about being empathetic, we will read the book A Sick Day for Amos McGee and spend time considering what others might be feeling and how to offer support.
Please feel free to discuss these unique parts of our week with your child(ren) to learn more about their experiences!
Mrs. Jewell
Ben Franklin Principal
FPS School Closure Information
As we begin to move into the winter months, we want to share with you how the district plans to handle School Closures if needed for any reason including, most commonly, “Snow/Cold Days.” The state of Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) requires a minimum number of instructional minutes during the school year. Our current school calendar allows for one School Closure day across the district.
If we were to see subsequent closure days, FHS will need to adjust scheduling for the remainder of the school year in order to meet DPI requirements. If we experience more than three school closures at the elementary and middle school level we will communicate around further adjustments that may need to be made. Outlined below is what families can expect:
Closure #1 - 4K-12 no school, no virtual learning
Closure #2-3 - 4K-8th - No school, no virtual learning
9-12th grade - HS will communicate adjustments to accommodate instructional minutes per DPIClosure #4+ - The district will communicate any further changes that may need to take place district wide
BEN FRANKLIN FALL PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE SIGN UP
Please click BF Parent Teacher Conference Sign up for important information regarding conferences. We will be holding conferences on Thursday, November 9th and Thursday, November 16th. Sign up today to secure your time slot. Thank you.
BEN FRANKLIN BUS APP AVAILABLE
We are excited to announce the “Here Comes The Bus App” is now available for Ben Franklin Elementary! Our partners at GO Riteway Transportation have made the app available to families to use for free. Please see this communication that gives you the details on how to get started!
(NEW!) Report Cards Will Be In PowerSchool Parent Portal
As we approach the end of the 1st Quarter (November 8th for FPMS & FHS) and 1st Trimester (November 30th for all Elementary schools), we want to make parents/guardians aware of how report cards will work this year. Beginning with this first grading term of the year, all report cards will now be fully viewable in PowerSchool. As the first term ends for your child, you can expect to receive an email (and text message) with directions on how to access your child’s report card. We look forward to making this move to report cards being all digital.
Please note that you will receive communication from your school sometime after the term ends when report cards are available. This allows time for teachers to get all final term grades and comments in.
Talking To Children About World Events
In light of recent events taking place in the world, we understand that children may have questions or they might be looking for more understanding about what they hear is happening. We have pulled together these various resources for families that we thought might be helpful in how anyone approaches discussing tragic events with children.
- Coping with Violence (National Association for the Education of Young Children)
How to Talk To Children About What's Happening in Gaza & Israel Right Now (Newport Healthcare)
Resources in response to war (Family & Children’s Services)
Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Families and Educators (National Association of School Psychologists)
Talking to Children About War (National Child Traumatic Stress Network)
Helpful resources in addressing a mass shooting (Children's Mental Health Network)
In addition, if you, your family or anyone you know needs any help of any kind at any time, our Student Services staff has put together this community list of resources that may be helpful for families to utilize.
STUDENTS HELPING TO KEEP HOMES SAFE
Our partners at the Franklin Fire Department will be doing some sessions with students about how to prevent household fires throughout the month of October. The sessions will be led by our Franklin Firefighters and Ricely Restaurant Group McDonald’s has partnered with us to offer a sweet treat for their learning! Students that help prevent household fires by completing the checklist on the flyer will receive a sweet treat! Accomplish those four tasks together and receive one free cone or cookie at the McDonald’s located at 7501 W Rawson Ave. Thank you for helping make our student's homes and families safe! Flyers will come home with the students so they can check off their items but you can also see the image here. Thank you to the FFD and Ricely for providing this opportunity to help teach our students about the importance of keeping their home safe!
BEN FRANKLIN PICTURE MAKE-UP/RETAKE DAY
School Pics is no longer sending home order forms for parents to fill out and return with their students. All orders will only be placed online.
Pictures can be ordered online here:
https://orders.schoolandsportpics.com/ordering
Use the drop down menu to select your school name
LOST & FOUND
Click here for items currently in the lost and found.
TRUNK OR TREAT - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
This event is Free for all families to attend! We do ask those attending to please bring at least 2 NON-PERISHABLE food items to donate to our Food Drive. Our goal is to collect 1,000 items!
If you are interested in hosting a trunk, please click here. There will be a prize for the most creative trunk setup!
Rain Date is Friday, October 27 6-7:30pm. We’ll make the call on Thursday mid-morning and IF we need to postpone, we’ll send a message via email and post on facebook.
QUESTIONS? Contact Kristin Klemmer at Kristinmu@hotmail.com
*TOBACCO & ALCOHOL USE IS NOT PERMITTED ON SCHOOL PROPERTY*
FALL SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
If you’re interested in volunteering (and earning a punch for your punch card) please click on the link below to signup for a time slot that works! Questions? Contact Nicole Stuebner at bfpto53132@gmail.com
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0D4CAEA62CA2F94-45180592-fall
SAVE THE DATE
November 6th-10th - Fall Scholastic Book Fair
November 13th, Cousins Dining Night | 4-7pm | Franklin location (by Target & Pick-N-Save on Drexel)
BOOKMARK
Ben Franklin PTO’s LinkTree so all the info. you need it just a click away!
Stay informed about Activities, Events, Fundraisers, and more Ben Franklin PTO’s website!
FRANKLIN MUSIC PROGRAM SPIRITWEAR
Our K-12 music program is looking to foster engagement and a sense of belonging through our music community by offering a wide variety of spiritwear now through Sunday, October 29th at 11:59pm. Choose from a wide variety of apparel, and customize it for band, choir, orchestra, music, and more! Youth sizes are available for our youngest learners! Pay online! Orders will be delivered to each school, sorted by student, for distribution by mid-December.
RED RIBBON WEEK OCT 23-31
DID YOU KNOW? Children of parents who talk to their teens regularly about drugs are 42% less likely to use drugs than those who don’t; yet, only a quarter of teens report having these conversations. Red Ribbon Week (October 23-31), the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the nation, is your opportunity to get the ongoing conversation started! This year’s theme is Be Kind To Your Mind. Live Drug Free. Visit www.redribbon.org to learn more about Red Ribbon Week® and get tips for talking to your kids about drugs.
Volition Franklin, a coalition that works to prevent alcohol, tobacco and other drug use by educating young people to make informed decisions, also has some activities running to help promote Red Ribbon Week including a photo contest and word search activity for our younger students. Go here to learn more.
NEW EVENT TICKET INFORMATION PAGE
With many local districts changing their ticketing policies for athletic events (i.e. online sales only, have to buy tickets before a certain time, using an online ticket vendor different from our Ticket Spicket site), we felt it was important to better organize where families, staff, and community members can find up to date ticketing information.
This page on our website (www.franklin.k12.wi.us/tickets) contains links to where we host tickets for our home athletic events, Saber Center performances, and upcoming WIAA Playoff events. We share this with you so you have one place to look when you have ticketing questions. We will do our best to update this page as we receive updates from those we partner with for events and happenings.
SABER SPOOKFEST ON SAT 10/28 - GET TICKETS NOW
The FHS class of 2027 is hosting SpookFest, a Halloween themed event for kids, on Saturday, October 28th from 1-3pm in the main commons of FHS. We'll be offering Halloween games, crafts, indoor Trick or Treating, a costume contest, fall snacks, and more! Click here or on the flyer to get your tickets now!
SCHOOL INFORMATION
Parents, Guardians, and Staff are set to automatically receive our District and Building Newsletters. If you are a community member that would like to receive any of our newsletters, please complete our SUBSCRIBE FORM.
Email: Jennifer.Russell@franklin.k12.wi.us
Website: https://www.franklin.k12.wi.us/ben-franklin-elementary-school
Location: 7620 S 83rd St, Franklin, WI 53132, USA
Phone: 414-529-8270
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/BenFranklinElemFPS/posts