Bennett Bear Business Newsletter
Week of February 3, 2020
Dear Amazing Bennett Families,
Proud to be a BEAR,
Amy
Club Pictures for the Yearbook - Tuesday, February 4th
o Batons
o Choir
o Tech Crew
o Safety Patrol
o STUCO
o SWAT Technology Team
o Bear Buddies
*Running Club will take their picture on Friday, February 7th, at 7:30AM
World Read Aloud Day - Wednesday, February 5th
PTO's Warrior Martial Arts Night - Friday, February 7th
Information from Christie Thompson, The WHO Program
Per the Texas Education Code 38.004, elementary schools are required to provide child abuse anti-victimization programs. This month, all of our students will participate in the WHO program, an age appropriate anti-victimization curriculum that has been adopted by McKinney ISD and has been shown in elementary schools across the district for many years by the school counselor.
During the program, we discuss several ways children can be victimized by adults as well as peers, including situations with strangers and physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. While appropriate touching is addressed, the anatomical names for “private parts” are not used. In the program, “private parts” are simply defined as the areas that your bathing suit covers.
The major points covered are to know the rules you and your family have decided on for safety, do something if faced with a dangerous situation, and get help from an adult. Students are taught to say NO, GO (get away), and TELL (an adult).
Your student will receive a parent letter the day of the program. When you receive that letter, I encourage you to talk to your child about the program and reinforce the aforementioned major points.
If you have any questions, please contact me:
Warm regards,
Christie N. Thompson
School Counselor
504 Campus Coordinator
469.302.5437
Bennett's Best Recipients
Bennett's Best Award
This week, Tactic Team 5 is celebrating and recognize
two Bennett staff members for going above and beyond to serve our school and promoting a positive school culture at the BEST school in McKinney!
Kaylea Daubenspeck Bennett's Best Recipient
Tracy Fanning Bennett's Best Recipient
School Board President, Curtis Rippee, Visits Bennett's Makerspace
Class Picture Day - Tuesday, February 11th
Middle School Open House for Incoming 6th Graders - February 20th
Important Information from Nurse Martin
FLU is Here!
With flu and other communicable diseases going around, please remember to keep you sick student’s home from school. If they have had a fever or vomited within 24 hours, they need to stay home. Sometimes kids feel better after they throw up or take medicine to reduce a fever, but they still need to stay home. Student’s may even start playing again and seem fine, but they can still be shedding a virus or bacteria. Below is the McKinney ISD Communicable Disease Policy.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES/CONDITIONS EXCLUSION FROM SCHOOL
To protect students from communicable illnesses, students infected with certain diseases are not allowed to come to school while contagious. If a parent suspects that his or her child has a communicable or contagious disease, the parent should contact the campus nurse so that other students who might have been exposed to the disease may be alerted according to Department of State Health Services. Students should be symptom free for 24 hours before returning to school.
The guidelines below have been developed for the exclusion of students who have communicable or contagious diseases. A student with any of the following symptoms must be excluded from school until such time as the student is free from symptoms.
Temperature of 100.0 degrees or more. Student must be fever free for 24 hours, without medication, before re-entry.(Texas Administrative Code)
Vomiting(not related to a single event such as gagging, positioning, mucus, running after eating or eating spicy food) Student must be symptom free for 24 hours, without medication for re-entry
Diarrhea, of two or more loose or watery stools; all students must be diarrhea free for 24 hours without the use of medications before re-entry(Texas Administrative Code)
Pain and/or swelling at angle of jaw
Undetermined rash over any part of the body accompanied by fever
Under diagnosed scaly patches on the body or scalp
Red, draining eyes
Intense itching with signs and symptoms of secondary infection
Open, draining lesions or wounds
Jaundice
see McKinney ISD Lice guidelines
A vaccine preventable illness in question will require a physician’s note for re-entry (pertussis, mumps, measles, etc.)
For any infection, antibiotics must be taken for a minimum of 24 hours prior to re-admittance to school.
A physician’s letter to readmit to school will not supersede the Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
A certificate of the attending physician attesting that the child does not currently have signs or symptoms of a communicable disease or to the disease's non-communicability in a school setting; may be deemed necessary for reentry into school.
Stephanie Martin, BSN, RN
Bennett Elementary Clinic
469-302-5407
Attendance Reminders from Ms. Halpin & Ms. Jakobsen
All students should attend school 90% of school days to receive credit for their class. The Bennett Attendance Committee will address extenuating circumstances in accordance with MISD and TEA guidelines TEC 21.035(b). Research shows excessive absences and missed class time affects student learning and interrupts student achievement. It is best to schedule doctor appointments after school hours, or if unavoidable, after 9:15am, and family trips during Thanksgiving Break, Winter Break, and Spring Break.
When your child is absent from school, a written form of documentation is required.
Approved/Acceptable forms of documentation for an absence include:
Parent Note stating reason for the absence (handwritten or an email to the Ms. Jakobsen)
Doctor Note, from their office, stating the absence is excused
Counselor or Therapist Note
Absence notes must be provided to the school registrar, Susan Jacobsen, within 3 days of the student returning to school.
MISD allows 8 parent notes per year. Once 8 parent notes have been accepted by the school, a physician's note is required for each absence thereafter, for the absence to be excused.
Parents will receive a letter from the district after 3, 7, and 10 unexcused absences. Upon the 10th unexcused absence, the school is required, by law, to file truancy. We do all we can to avoid this, thus Attendance Plans may be developed to support our families and your child’s attendance.
Tardiness
Our building opens each day at 7:15am for our Bears! A Bennett staff member is in the cafeteria each morning to welcome students with breakfast or students wait in the cafeteria until 7:30am. At 7:30am, the Bennett staff member helps 3rd-5th grade students transition to wait in the gym and our kindergarten- 2nd grade students transition to wait outside their grade level hallways until the first bell rings at 7:50am.
Students begin entering their classrooms when the first bell rings at 7:50am to allow time to unpack their bags and prepare for their day. Live Morning Announcements begin at 8:00am and our Bears begin their instructional day. Students not in the building by 8:00am are considered tardy and are required to check in with the front office for a tardy slip before going to class.
If your child arrives after 9:15am, they will be counted absent. Those students who arrive after 8:00am due to a medical appointment are not counted absent or tardy, if a note is provided.
Please contact Kassie Halpin at khalpin@mckinneyisd.net or Susan Jakobsen at sjakobsen@mckinneyisd.net if you have further questions.
MISD Update on Coronavirus
McKinney ISD works with the Collin County Health Department to manage communicable illnesses including the flu, and the same precautions are in place as we monitor the Coronavirus. We also work closely with Aramark custodial in deep cleaning rooms as needed where we see pockets of illness such as vomiting, flu, and strep infections. In addition, the campus nurses encourage and teach hand washing, as well as covering your cough. The Immunization Care Van is utilized 4-5 times per year offering preventable illness/disease vaccines and flu shots.
The school district has received the following information from the Collin County Health Department. “We (health department) are monitoring the 2019 Novel Coronavirus situation closely and are receiving updates from the CDC. At this time, there is no guidance for schools to do anything differently. Schools should continue to practice normal flu season precautions, hand washing, cough etiquette, routine disinfection of high touched surfaces, and excluding children with fever until fever-free for 24 hours. Schools should not be excluding returning travelers from China. Parents are encouraged to watch for signs and symptoms of illness in their children and other household members. Children with symptoms of the flu or a flu-like illness should not be sent to school.”
Please note that no one should be wearing a face mask at school, unless the person is immunocompromised. Face masks give a false sense of security, do not effectively prevent the spread of viruses unless worn appropriately, and should only be placed on a person who is ill. MISD will notify parents and staff should any new information or guidance be received from the health department.
For more information on our Communicable Diseases/Conditions Exclusion from School, please view our guidelines located on our website at https://www.mckinneyisd.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Communicable-Disease-Exclusion-from-School-040618.pdf.
February Breakfast & Lunch Menus
February & March Staff Birthdays
February 16th - Amy Covey, 1st Grade Teacher
February 19th - Jill Sullivan, Kindergarten Teacher
February 23rd - Tracy Fanning's 1st Grade Teacher
March 3rd - Sandra Reinhard, Kindergarten Teacher
March 4th - Teri Danstrom, 5th Grade Teacher
March 5th - Beth Higgins, 5th Grade Teacher
March 7th - Snooky Tidwell, STC Aide
March 13th - Ann Sanders, Secretary
March 21st - Kayla Baker, 4th Grade Teacher
March 21st - Stephanie Cusack, PE Teacher
Mark Your Calendar for Upcoming Events
February 3rd-7th:
Middle School Registration Information goes home
February 3rd-7th:
School Counselor Appreciation Week
Monday, February 3rd:
PTO Watch DOGS begin
Creed Lunch at 12:30PM
Tuesday, February 4th:
Club Pictures
Wednesday, February 5th:
Choir Practice at 7:15AM
World Read Aloud Day
PTO General Meeting & Bear Lunch - 11:30AM-12:30PM
Progress Reports go home
Friday, February 7th:
Bear Feet Running Club - 7:30AM
K-2 Dental Presentation with Dr. Buchanan - 2:00PM in Cafe
PTO Sponsored Parent Night Out at Warrior Martial Arts (K-2 5:00-6:45) and (3-5 7:00-9:00)
Monday, February 10th - Friday, February 14th:
STUCO sponsored SPCA Event
Tuesday, February 11th:
Spring/Class Picture Day
Wednesday, February 12th:
3rd Grade Living History Museum
Friday, February 14th:
MAP Closes
Class Valentine's Day Parties - 2:00PM-2:45PM
Monday, February 17th:
Staff Development Waiver Day - No School for Students
Wednesday, February 19th:
Choir Practice at 7:15AM
3rd Grade Field Trip Money Due
Thursday, February 20th:
5th Grade Middle School Parent Meeting at Middle Schools - 7:15PM
Friday, February 21st:
3-5 Dental Presentation with Dr. Jensen Orthodontics at 2:00PM - in Cafe
Monday, February 24th:
TELPAS Opens
Thursday, February 27th:
Special Olympics Basketball - 10:00AM-2:00PM
Friday, February 28th:
Friday Live - 2:15PM