St. Barnabas Elementary School
Friday, March 24th
Value of the Month - Service
Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due
time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
Lent 2023 Intentions and Prayers
Lift us up and keep us faithful in friendship to one another, that your healing purposes may shine through this broken, beloved world. In your holy name we pray. Amen.
#BackToBarnabas for 2023 - 2024!
Re-registration for current students began February 17th for the 2023 - 2024 school year. Please remember that enrollment must be completed for the 2023-2024 academic year by April 17, 2023 to receive the reduced non-refundable registration fee of $125 per child. Questions regarding the re-registration period? Call 718-324-1088.
Thank you for your continued support of Catholic schools and Saint Barnabas Elementary School!
Principal's Corner
Spring is here and learning is in full swing at Saint Barnabas. It is hard to believe that we only have 3 months of school left in this school year. With April on the way, we are gearing up to learn about taking care of our planet, helping the animals, recycling, climate change, conserving water, caring for our community and identifying what each of us can do to move forward in a more sustainable and respectful way.
Some important notes/reminders for the upcoming week ahead include:
1) Join us for light refreshments, prizes, and great fun for your family at our Family Trivia Night, being sponsored by our HSA, TONIGHT, Friday, March 24th. Doors open at 5:00PM with games to begin at 5:45PM. Will your family be one of our big winners? Fries, nachos, chicken tenders and more will be available for purchase. See you then!
2) Registration for Spring Clubs, which begins the week of April 17th, officially began on Monday! All registrations with payment must be returned by March 28th in order to secure a space for your child. Please see below to view registration options and offerings. We are excited to announce we will be adding Flag Football and Crochet, while Chess, STEM, Gaming AND Lego returns by popular demand!
3) Our next #STEMSATURDAYS, hosted by the Class of 2023, will take place this Saturday, March 25th from 11AM to 1:00PM. Join us as we engage our Kindergarten through Grade 6 students in a variety of fun STEM activities on select Saturdays at our school this Spring. Activities will include slime making, clouds in a jar, an egg drop challenge and even a popsicle stick catapult challenge, just to name a few. Students may sign up for one or two of the remaining Saturday dates. Limited spaces still remain for the April 1st session. If you haven't registered yet - don't wait! All contributions will be used to fund the 8th Grade End of Year field trip to NYC.
4) Please be mindful that the online portal to student grades will be closed, beginning March 24th, until report card distribution on April 4th. Please ensure that any outstanding tuition balances are cleared in order to receive your child's third quarter report card on April 4th. We will be unable to distribute report cards to families with outstanding balances. Thank you for your cooperation.
5) On Thursday, March 30th there is NO SCHOOL for all PK - 8 students! Please note this is an adjustment from the initial calendar.
6) Stop into the main office, by Monday, April 3rd, to purchase raffle tickets to win either an Easter themed chocolate filled gift basket, or, the Mystery Basket which includes a cash prize and gift card within the eggs, donated by the McGinnis Family! All proceeds will be used to support the Class of 2023 and their End of Year Trip to NYC. Ticket price will be 2 tickets for $1.00. Good luck!
7) As a friendly reminder, requests for transportation to your students’ nonpublic school must be submitted to your home school district in writing by April 1, 2023.
- All non-public school transportation applications submitted after April 1, 2023 are not guaranteed.
- Transportation will be provided ONLY to students who attend a school that is at least 1.5 miles (walking distance) from the home address.
- The students’ distance eligibility is determined by a state approved routing system; we do not refer to GOOGLE Maps/Map Quest to determine distance eligibility.
For more information on requests, specifically to Yonkers Public Schools, please see the link below:
https://www.yonkerspublicschools.org/Page/57147
8) Thank you to everyone who has supported our World's Finest Chocolate Fundraiser! As a result of your hard work and/or generosity, we have reached 80% of our goal! If you have not had a chance to send in the money for the boxes you signed up for, we ask that you do so by March 31, 2023, so we can calculate our First and Second Place winners. The race is very close with some families selling as many as 18, 15 and even 10 boxes!!! We still have a small amount of boxes left to sell. If you are interested, please reach out to Mrs. Linda Vedral in the main office. Even one box sold makes a big difference towards our fundraising goal! Thank you once again to everyone!
9) While we are so excited that Spring weather is in the air, please be mindful that the winter uniform for students will not switch over to spring until we return from Easter break on April 17th. More information regarding uniform requirements can be found on our school website.
Some important forms that have been linked below include:
- Spring Club Registration Flyer - Registration and payment is due by March 28th to secure a space for your child.
- The Spring Fling Returns to SBES this June! - See the HSA section of this newsletter for more information on fundraising goals, registration and donation information for this event. This will be our LARGEST fundraising event this school year and we greatly appreciate your contributions to this event.
- STEM Saturdays - Sponsored by our Student Council. Limited spaces remain for our April 1st sessions.
- March 2023 calendar - See the calendar section of this newsletter. This calendar was revised on February 24th, 2023.
- Tentative April 2023 calendar
- Updated everyday lunch menu and March lunch specials for students in K-8 (See HappyKid Lunch section of this newsletter)
- March and April breakfast and lunch menu PK3 and 4 students (See Early Childhood section of this newsletter)
Early Childhood (PK3/4) Parents, please scroll down to find more specific information regarding our program in the early childhood section of this newsletter. An updated lunch menu for March has been posted along with a reminder of our school absence protocols.
As a reminder, newsletters will be sent weekly on Fridays with important school information and updates. However, to stay up to date on all things Barnabas - be sure to follow us on our school instagram at @be_barnabas.
Thank you for your continued support of Saint Barnabas Elementary School and your partnership in Catholic Education! Have a great weekend.
Appreciatively,
Ms. Lauren Iorio
Principal
Highlights from Instagram
Calendar Items
Upcoming Dates...
March-
30th - No School for all PK - 8 students! Please note this is an adjustment from the initial calendar.
31st - End of Quarter 3!
April-
1st- Transportation requests must be made to your child's public school district for yellow-bus transportation!
4th - Quarter 3 report cards are electronically released!
5th - No School! Tentative Snow Day Give Back Day
6th - 14th - School closed! Easter Vacation.
17th - School resumes! Spring clubs begin.
June-
3rd - 4th Annual Spring Fling, hosted by our HSA. Doors open at 6:00PM!
15th - Uniform Fitting (Liebmans), 2:00PM - 4:00PM.
Year at a Glance- Tentative Calendar
Please see the attached tentative year at a glance for the 2022 - 2023 school year along with the January calendar of events. Monthly Calendars will be sent home throughout the school year and posted to our newsletter.
Morning Care/ After School Reminders
Morning care and after school began on Monday, September 12th for pre-registered families only.
Morning Care Students may be dropped off as early as 7:20AM to the side school door opposite the L-yard. Please look for the door labeled 'Morning Care'.
After School Students in Grades K-8 must be picked up by 5:45PM at the cafeteria door on 241st street. Enter the gate and down the stairs. The door will be labeled 'After School Pick-Up'. Children in PK enrolled in after school must be picked up by 5:45PM as well, however, the pick-up door is located at our school auditorium doors on Saint Barnabas Place.
Home School Association 2022 - 2023
I am excited to share the following assignments for the HSA Board for the 2022 - 2023 school year board with all of you.
Co - Presidents Mr. and Mrs. Victor Acevedo (6th Grade Parent)
VP Danielle Nussbaum (8th and 5th Grade Parent)
Recording Secretary Silvia Patalano Ross (4th and 1st Grade Parent)
Questions or concerns? You may reach the board at hsa@stbarnabasschool.org at any time.
"2019! Time flies! How did the Spring Fling go?"
You may have received flyers about the Spring Fling in your child's backpack over the past few days. This is the largest event of the year, and allows us to generate thousands of dollars for the school. This year is extraordinarily special, as it is the first time since 2019 that the Spring Fling will be held!
In 2019, the Parent Association was able to generate over $12,000 in donations from local businesses, organizations, families, and the community. The money went directly back to the school, making it possible to procure the following:
● (2) interactive smart boards
● (10) iPads
● Online Science Textbook application
● Various other small technical needs
"That's impressive! What are the goals for this year?"
Our goal this year is to generate $15,000 dollars, all of which will go directly to the expansion of the school's Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (S.T.E.A.M.) curriculum and the creation of a MakersSpace. STEAM-based education focuses on hands-on learning with current real-world application and helps develop a variety of skill sets, and further prepare students for high school, college and beyond.
"I would love to be a part of this. How can I help?"
There are several ways to help our community reach our goal...
1) Making a monetary donation directly to the SBES Main Office
2) Purchasing tickets to any SBES Event, including the Spring Fling
3) Donating a gift certificate to your business that can be utilized as a raffle item (with complimentary promotion and credit to your business)
...and most important & fun of all....Your Child's Classroom Gift Basket!
Each Classroom is currently outfitted with a Donation Bin. All donated contents will go towards the creation of that grade's Spring Fling Gift Basket. These Gift Baskets are auctioned off at the Spring Fling Event and have historically generated much of the proceeds. Each grade has a Theme, so check out your child's grade and be as generous as your means allow!
We can't wait to see how our Classroom Bins fill up! We thank you for your support, and look forward to making this year's Spring Fling the most successful yet.
Early Childhood at SBES
Bronx NYC Family Survey Reminders
After distributing online survey administration materials to eligible Bronx 3K and 4K families at the end of February, we were made aware that many of the access codes were incorrect. We have reached out to the NYC Department of Education who has reissued new codes so that families may access the survey. Please disregard the first notice that was sent home and utilize the new form that was sent home on Wednesday, March 1st to access the survey. We truly regret the inconvenience and appreciate your flexibility and understanding! If you have any further questions regarding the survey, please reach out to Mrs. Proto at s.proto@stbarnabasschool.org.
Absence Protocols
As a reminder, if your child is absent on any given day, please be sure to communicate the absence with your child's teacher, Ms. Proto, Ms. Iorio and Ms. Rivera, via email. All children must be 24 hours symptom free in order to return back to school. Thank you for keeping our school healthy and safe!
Breakfast and Lunch
Please see the attached menu below for your child's breakfast and lunch meals for March and April.
Monthly Newsletter
Every month, your child's teacher will provide a newsletter to you via email, hardcopy, and this newsletter. The newsletter will contain important information about the current unit of study for the month, calendar dates, contact information and will even provide ideas and opportunities for enrichment at home with your child. Please be sure to click the link below to view your child's newsletter.
SEESAW
Please be sure to reference your child's class specific SeeSaw account for important updates and reminders that are sent daily and weekly. If you need any further help accessing your child's SeeSaw classroom, please reach out to your child's teacher as soon as possible.
Early Childhood Department Contacts
Ms. Lauren Iorio, Principal, l.iorio@stbarnabasschool.org
Ms. Stephanie Proto, Early Childhood Instructional Coordinator, s.proto@stbarnabasschool.org
Ms. Teresa Rivera, UPK3/4 Bronx Administrative Assistant, t.rivera@stbarnabasschool.org
Mrs. Linda Vedral, 3-4K Yonkers/ Tuition Administrative Assistant, l.vedral@stbarnabasschool.org
Uniforms
Please reach out to Ms. Linda in the main office if you would like to purchase items from our Gently Used Uniform Sale. The building is open from Monday through Friday from 8AM to 3PM.
K-8 Lunch Service
More information can be found at happykidlunch.com or by reaching out to Bo DiBuono, owner of HappyKid lunch at bo@happykidlunch.com.
Physicals and Immunizations
As a reminder, every student must have an updated physical on file each school year. ALL students must have up-to-date immunization records and a physical exam form completed each school year. For convenience, all forms are linked below. Please note that all NYC Pre-K students, under the age of 5 by December 31, 2022, will need to have a current flu vaccine on file. For those students that require an inhaler, or other medications such as an epipen, to be administered in school, I have linked the medical administration forms.
Medical Administration Form - Epipen
News from the Church
PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND
Join Father Brendan Fitzgerald from July 16th to July 25th! More information can be found in the Sunday bulletin.
BULLETIN
Included here is a link to the weekly church bulletin. Father Brendan includes a lot of important parish and school news in his bulletin.
St. Barnabas Elementary School
Through an enriched curriculum, complete with after-school offerings, St. Barnabas provides the tools and teaches the skills necessary for future success. In the way of Jesus, our children are taught the discipline, charity and grace of our Lord.
Email: l.iorio@stbarnabasschool.org
Website: https://stbarnabasschool.org/
Location: 413 East 241st Street, Bronx, NY 10470, USA
Phone: (718) 324-1088
Twitter: @barnabasbronx