Bushy Bear Tales

From Mrs. Ketterer:

Happy Autumn! Just two weeks until we celebrate it Bushy Park style with Fall Fest! The classrooms are active with learning and it is amazing to see what is already being accomplished!

Interim Reports will be sent home on Tuesday, October 9th. Thank you for your support with volunteer requests and attendance at school events and PTA meetings!

October

1 Flu Clinic
3 School 3-Hour Early Dismissal: Professional Work Day
3 Team & Room Parent Meeting @ 9:30 a.m. in the Cafeteria
9 1st Q Interim Reports Go Home
9 Parent Math Event: HCPSS Mathematics Coordinator John San Giovanni 7:00-8:00 p.m. in the Media Center
12 PTA Fall Fest
16 PTA Meeting in the Media: 6:30 for New Families / 7:15 for General Meeting
18 Picture Day: Individual Photos by Strawbridge
18 2nd Grade Field Trip: CEU Archaeology to Ellicott City
19 No School for Students: Professional Work Day
23 Field Trip: 4th Grade to Annapolis
24 2nd Grade Parent Math Night @ 6:45-8:00 p.m.
25 2nd Grade Master Gardener Presentation @ 10:30 a.m.
26 Bushy Bear Dash- Throughout the Day during Related Arts
31 Halloween Parade and Classroom Celebrations

Bushy Park ES has 79% of our Family Files Updated! Our goal is 100%.

Thank you for taking your time to offer or update your family’s information!

We are 21% away for celebrating 100% of our families being connected!

If you haven’t done so already, please complete the Family File

for your child(ren) now.

Information on completing or updating your Family File is below:

Log into HCPSS Connect and select the Family File tab and then click on Family File. You will be asked to update or provide the following information:
Parent/guardian contact information. Please provide the most current contact information.
Emergency contacts. Who do you want to pick up your child in case you cannot?
Medical information
Arrival and dismissal procedures. How will your child arrive to school and be dismissed on a daily basis? Additionally, provide what procedure your child should follow in case of an unscheduled early closing of schools.
Media coverage. This includes students being photographed for ACE awards.
Data confidentiality.
PTA directory. What information do you want included in our BPES PTA Directory?

Resources on how to access Family File may be found online . Parents who have forgotten their login credentials may click the “Forgot Password” link on the sign in page. If you need additional assistance, please fill out this Connect Help Form.

SAVE-THE-DATE- Parent Opportunitly: MATHEMATICS MINDSET on October 9th

We have been working on providing opportunities for dialogue and experiences to engage our parents with the current expectations of teaching and learning mathematics.

Last year, we welcomed international author, Greg Tang, who offered his expertise to parents and to our students!

This year, we are very excited to have our own HCPSS Elementary Mathematics Coordinator, John SanGiovanni (pictured left), here at Bushy Park for an evening conversation with parents. John will be with us Tuesday, October 9thd from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in our Media Center.

The time together will feature John sharing the journey of mathematics and the current expectations and methodology. He will be focusing on:

Expectations for Mathematics in 2018
Balanced Mathematics Teaching and Learning
Myths and Facts about Teaching and Learning Mathematics
Practical Ways to Help our Students at Home.

Time for Questions and Answers will be provided! There will also be math prizes! A flyer requesting RSVP's will come home next week.

Spotlighting Classroom DOJO Students

The following students were recognized for September 28th. Congratulations to:

KINDERGARTEN
Mrs. Bohn's Class- Marvin Lawrence
Mrs. O'Leary's Class- Brody Langley
Mrs. Powell's Class- Anna Sterrett
Mrs. Wilson's Class- Caitlin Abrecht

1st GRADE
Mrs. Bruner's Class- Allison Smith
Mrs. Hintz' Class- Charlie Clark
Mrs. Lambros' Class- James Stockwell
Mrs. Payne's Class- Teja Narapusetty

2ND GRADE
Mrs. Follmer's Class- Vincent Paik
Mrs. Hogan's Class- Kelly Moran
Mrs. Keats' Class- Katelyn Hannan
Mrs. Stumpfl's Class- Tate Skrtic

3RD GRADE
Ms. Griffin's Class- Harrison Lee
Ms. Hewitt's Class- Lamiah Ahmad
Mrs. Hovis' Class- Somara Whitney
Mrs. Pickett's Class- Elliott DeRosa

4TH GRADE
Ms. Lyter's Class- Seamus Seaman
Mrs. Perry's Class- Kaitlyn Carr
Mrs. Richmond's Class- Lisa Richardson
Mr. Wilson's Class- Emmet Connolly

5TH GRADE
Mrs. Cole's Class- Raymond Liu
Mrs. Little's Class- Ishaan Mohsini
Mrs. Stanton's Class- Skyler Mitchner
Mrs. Yakscoe-Markle's Class- Marisa Argumedo

THIS WEEK'S FOCUS: Safety for After School Activities

This year, we are going to be putting additional security measures into effect for events that occur at Bushy Park ES before and after the school hour. Currently one door remains open when there are activities in the building. We have needed to monitor additional people in the building in areas that were not designated for activities.

Our PTA After School Activities chairs are already working with us to create new protocol for before and after school programs that reduce the amount of adults entering the building beyond the secure vestibule.

The following are examples of the protocol we will be collaborating on with PTA members this summer and early fall:

For before and after school activities, students will be picked up by the activity leader in our front foyer and brought to the space used for the activity.

Parent volunteers would need to sign-in through the front office and join the activity leader as they gather the children. This would be at the time designated by the activity leader and ideally occur during the Front Office hours of 8:00 a.m.-4:15 p.m.

For before-school activities, parents dropping off children would need to bring them to the front office.

Activity leaders will have a sign-in sheet to note attendance of both students and the parent volunteer(s).

All students participating in After School activities need a GREEN NOTE for EACH day they attend their activity. We appreciate the GREEN NOTE's that students bring to us in the mornings so we can account for their safe arrival to their afternoon activity.

When after school activities are completed, the activity leader will bring their group to the front foyer and sign-out students to an adult waiting in the secure vestibule. No students will be signed out without an adult picking them up.

We welcome your input and will be collaborating on these ideas and soliciting additional ones at our summer and early fall parent meetings.

Howard County Library 2018 Summer Reading Club

We would like to congratulate and recognize some of our students who participated and completed the Summer Reading Club. Students completed various reading related activities all geared to helping them maintain reading levels and academic progress while they were home for the summer.

Our Bushy Park students who have been recognized in our PA Announcements and here in our newsletter are:

Cooper Feldman
Dexter Feldman
Beckett Friedman
Emma Friedman
Liam Friedman
Chloe Huxford
Mason Jones
Hudson Kerber
Audra Kingsbury
Keira Kingsbury
Blake Levin
Dylan Levin
Amelia Miller
Brock Miller
Alexa Okojie
Gabrielle Okojie
Robin O'Neill
Logan Phelps
Batool Rizvi
Hasnain Rizvi
Christian Sexton
Jonathan Sexton
Ryan Sexton
Clarissa Stein
Veronica Stein
Anna Sterrett
Aubrey Sterrett

Early Dismissal Requests Until 3:15 p.m.

Please help us have an even more orderly dismissal. We are asking that all Early Dismissal requests are completed by 3:15 p.m.

If a parent arrives after 3:15 p.m. to pick up their student, we will ask them to wait until Dismissal at 3:45 p.m. Thank you for spreading the word and for your support!

Guidelines for School Visitation

The Howard County Public School System welcomes visitors to our schools. To limit interruptions and distractions to teaching and learning, and to maximize safety for everyone, persons who wish to visit a school building or classroom are asked to comply with the following procedures:

Anyone wishing to visit a school is asked to contact the Principal to discuss the purpose of the visit and to establish a convenient time for both the visitor and the school.

A teacher will be notified, either orally or in writing, in advance by a school administrator that a visit to their classroom has been requested. The teacher may request that the visit be rescheduled.

Upon entering a school, all visitors must sign in at the main office and receive a visitor badge.

To avoid interrupting instruction, no students are allowed to shadow HCPSS students.

Understandably, interactions between visitors and school staff and students will be limited.

If a follow-up meeting with school staff is desired, the visitor will schedule it for a mutually convenient time.

Cultural Arts News: Upcoming Event on November 15th

Award-winning author and songwriter Barry Louis Polisar will be visiting our students on November 15th. Barry has performed at The White House, The Smithsonian & The Kennedy Center. He hosted the TV Show Field Trip and sings the opening song “All I Want is You” in the movie Juno. Barry’s books and CDs will be available for students to purchase and have been personally autographed.

To take advantage of this opportunity, look out for our form in your Monday folder and attach a check made out to “Bushy Park PTA”. Barry’s visit to our school supports our efforts in promoting a love of reading and writing. Be sure to ask your child about Barry’s visit. To find out more about him, visit Barry on the web at www.barrylou.com .