Best of Bennet
March 25, 2022
From the Principal
I hope this message finds you all doing well. Spring is here and we are looking forward to the warmer weather!
Just a reminder that the 3rd quarter grades close on April 4th and report cards will be posted in Home Access Center (HAC) the week of April 11th. We are also looking forward to our spring school conferences which will take place for Bennet on Wednesday, 4/27/22 and Wednesday, 5/4/22. More information will be shared by your student's teachers, as we get closer, regarding signing up for a conference.
Again, thank you all for your continued support and partnership! It is truly a team effort!
With appreciation!
Joe Chella, Principal
Can my child go to school today?
Has your child or a family member been in close contact with a known positive Covid person?
Does your child or a family member have a persistent cough, or other respiratory symptoms, shortness of breath, lung congestion?
Has your child or a family member lost the ability to smell or taste?
Does your child or a family member have a fever over 100 F?
If you have answered YES to any of these questions for you or your child, your child should stay home and you should call the school absentee line.
If you answered YES to any of these questions for a member of your family, please contact the school nurse for advice prior to sending your child to school.
Additional Items Requested for Ukraine Backpacks:
There is also a specific need for teen backpacks.
Female backpacks might include feminine products, deodorant, face wipes, hair ties, etc.
Boy's packs might include deodorant, hair comb, face wash/wipes, etc.
Appropriate for any backpack would be packaged snacks, sanitizer, decks of cards or UNO, etc.
Does your child ride a bus? Do they need to go home with a friend?
A child may only ride the bus they are assigned to. If your child is not a bus rider they may not go home that way with a friend. Likewise, if your child is a bus rider, they may not ride a friend's bus, only their own. If your child is on the same bus as a friend and you need them to get off at a different stop there is a protocol. A written note should be sent in with your child and given to the office in the morning. At that point a staff member will call home to verify the plan and scan the note to the Transportation Department, who will then communicate with the bus company.
This is only if your child needs to get off at a different stop on their own bus. No bus changes will be made. This policy is for the safety and protection of your student. Thank you for your coopertion.
Attendance Line - 860-647-3582
Please take note, even if your child is in quarantine, it is important to call them in absent if they are to ill to complete assignments or participate in remote learning (if they qualify).
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CVS
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Spring Report Card Conferences!
Our Spring School Conferences are scheduled for two Wednesdays: 4/27/22 and 5/4/22. They will take place during PD early dismissal time. Teachers will be reaching out to schedule a conference. Most conferences will be virtual, however, if requested we can accomodate some in-person meetings.
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Things to note on the calendar:
REMEMBER WE HAVE EARLY RELEASE EVERY WEDNESDAY THROUGH JUNE 1st. Students will dismiss at 1:15 on Wedndesdays.
Home Access Center is where you access your child's grades. If you do not know your HAC information please email Mrs. Turner (b39hturn@mpspride.org). You can see your child's grades, attendance and progress notes as well as report cards, so take note of the different tabs.
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Parents please help!
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We are Nut-Free this year!
Bring those bottles in!
What's for lunch?
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Ms. Herbette - Grade 6 STEAM
In Math class everyone celebrated PI day on March 14th. Students were able to participate in fun activities related to PI, and we even had individual apple pies. Yummy! This past week we started our unit on Percents. This is a very short unit and students will be completing their next performance task before April Break!
In Science class, we are continuing our unit on Adaptations. Students this past week got to create their own Star Wars Alien. Make sure you ask your child about theirs. Students are also preparing for their “think tank” debate on whether or not we should intervene and save the declining salmon population.
Ms. Couch - Grade 6 STEAM
Currently in science we are learning about natural selection and change over time. We have also been learning about the impact of human activity and environmental change on Atlantic salmon.
In April, our group will be going on a field trip to Salmon River State Forest for the big release!
In math we are learning how to understand and write equivalent percent, decimals, and fractions. Our big picture question: “How are percent, fractions, and decimals all related?”
We’ve been working with Ms. Brown’s class on team-building and social-emotional activities.
Check out Austin, Quavion, and Antonio participating in Karaoke above!
From Mrs. Christensen (STEAM) and Mr. Green (Humanities) Grade 5:
Ms. Swensen - Grade 6 Humanities
In Social Studies students are actively working on their projects from the Interactive Read Aloud novel Refugee, by Alan Gratz, that spans both their ELA and Social Studies classes this year. Favorites seem to be the "Tale of Two Backpacks," where the kids have to plan and pack two different backpacks. One backpack has supplies a refugee might pack if needing to escape from Germany, Cuba or Syria. The other has the supplies they might need if simply traveling or vacationing to one of those countries. One thing they all seem to struggle with is the weight of their "necessities!" They also are having a hard time remembering that they won't have any refrigeration abilities--ice packs and water bottles are heavy--and they can't rely on any transportation other than their ability to walk from place to place. It has been interesting to hear their shared "Aha" moments!
The student's other favorites are the "Two-Person/Voice Poems," where they partner up and write a poem from the perspective of two different yet similar people and personalities (such as Batman and The Joker, who obviously would be opposites, yet somewhat "dependent" upon the other). I am very much looking forward to hearing the final results!
Greetings from Ms. Crudden & Mrs. Randazzo's Crew, Grade 6:
Spring is in the air and we are excited to see how our salmon eggs are developing. We can’t wait to see them hatch!
In Math we are finishing our ratio and rates unit and starting to learn about percents and decimals. In Science we are learning about natural selection, mass extinctions, and the fossil record of salmon. Will our salmon continue to be an endangered species? How will natural selection determine the course of evolution of salmon? What is threatening their survival? Can humans intervene to save them?
Let’s hear some of our student responses to the recent debate question: “Should We Save the Salmon?” Our students have such great reasons for and against - ask your student their thoughts!
Cole: I think we should save the salmon. If the salmon went extinct than many animals will run out of a food source and will become confused, finding food is hard, like it is hard to find the food that will fill you today.
Makayla: Both. We should let natural selection do its thing... but at the same time so many other animals may go with them. and humans love to eat salmon. so we should do some things to save them.
Luke: I believe we should save the salmon because of what they do for rivers and oceans. They help control the bug population like mosquitoes, flies and other insects. They also bring fertility and nutrients to their environment. For starters, the first thing I would do is reduce fishing in rivers and other bodies of water with salmon in them. Next I would build more fish infrastructure like fish ladders and other methods of helping salmon reach their breeding ground. Last I would try repopulation efforts to help boost salmon numbers.
K.P.: Save salmon because we don't think mosquitoes could help us, but salmon could help us.
Shanelis: I think we should save the salmon because they help keep some of the populations in order and if they go extinct it may impact the ocean
Connor: Yes I think we should save the salmon because people have already made so many animals go extinct!!!!!!!!!!
Vinny: I would try to take a few salmon from their environment and start to breed them in an enclosed habitat so that I can increase the population of salmon and then bring a bunch of their eggs to the wild every breeding season to increase the population. If they went extinct, then pests would go out of control.
Brittany: I think we could stop just eating salmon and start eating different sea animals. I think if they die then the animals that eat salmon will also die.
Ayden: I think we should save the salmon because if they go extinct other bugs and fish that salmon eat will have an outrage.
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Art at Bennet is AMAzing!
SOCIAL STUDIES at Bennet!
In fifth grade social studies, students are learning about 18th century America - the establishment of the 13 colonies! They are focused on understanding how the climate and geography of a region affect the economy and the culture. Students are using atlases to create maps of each region as well as investigate land usage. Students are using primary sources, texts, and videos to develop an understanding of what life was like in the late 1600’s and 1700’s in colonial America. This is connected to our ELA unit on informational writing where students are researching and writing about a topic related to colonial times. Ask your child what topic they decided to write about!
In sixth grade social studies, students are fully immersed in the Refugee unit. This is truly an interdisciplinary unit as students work through a book study of Alan Gratz’s novel Refugee and research about the countries depicted in the book. Students have chosen a character from the book and are focusing their studies on the country that character is escaping. They are using atlases and other reference material to create maps, timelines, scrapbooks, and virtual backpacks about that country. In addition, the current situation in Ukraine is being discussed and related to the experiences of the refugees from the novel.
The Bennet Bear Den
SHOUT OUTS!
We are going to continue highlighting the positives this school year. Throughout the year please let us know who has made you smile, or been a wonderful role model for your child, went that extra mile, or was there when you needed a shoulder. This could be a student, a teacher, support staff, or even an administrator. Remember, we rise by lifting others!
Ms. Kehoe shouts out to guidance counselor Julie Pagano for going above and beyond DAILY. She is always willing to help out with students and parents. I appreciate you!
We want to hear from parents and staff alike - email cberman@mpspride.org with your shout-out!!
March Dreambox Challenge
Who will meet the Dreambox March Madness Challenge?
How far in the challenge can you get?
Challenge 1:
Week 1 (March 6-12): Complete 60 minutes on Dreambox
Week 2 (March 13-19): Complete 6 lessons
Challenge 2:
Week 3 (March 20- 26): Complete 80 minutes on Dreambox
Week 4 (March 27- April 2): Complete 7 lessons in 7 days
Rewards
This month’s rewards will be STEAM related challenges and games in the Courtyard. These will include Minute to Win-It games and STEAM Challenges.
Complete both Week 1 & 2 - Earn an invite to our STEAM celebration in the courtyard on Wednesday, March 23.
Complete both Week 3 & 4 - Earn an invite to our STEAM celebration in the courtyard on Wednesday, April 6
Nurse's Corner
Parents please talk with your children about not texting or calling home from their cell phones when they feel ill and would like to go home. If your child is not feeling well the protocol is for them to get a pass to the nurse, who will then evaluate their status and determine if a call home is warranted, or if they need a little TLC, a snack, a rest, some ice, etc. and to go back to class. It is becoming an issue with students using their phones and parents arriving unexpectedly.
Bennet School Nurses
Penny Parent & Elisha Mathews
860-647-3582 (p)
860-647-6348 (f)
Attention: Sixth Grade Parents
Requirements for your student to start Grade 7 include:
-a copy of your child's most recent physical dated January 1, 2021 or later
-Tdap booster
-MPV/meningococcal vaccine
These documents can be faxed to Nurse Michaud at 860-647-6348. Please call 860-647-8189 with questions or email cmichaud@mpspride.org.
Christie Michaud BSN RN
Manchester Public Schools
District Nurse Substitute
Take a look at our Virtual Backpack!
PTSA
Jackie Wood- president
Brooke Barber- vice president
Howard Rovegno- treasurer
Deanna Sokola- secretary
Alison Watson- event/fundraiser chairperson
To join the PTSA as a regular member please fill out the membership form below and send it in with your child or email it.
News from the Bennet Office:
Picking your student up early? Please call about 10 minutes ahead and we will have your student ready. Let us know when you arrive and we will meet you at the front door with your student to check your ID. Thanks for being patient with this early dismissal procedure as we limit visitors.
For all technology assistance (including Chromebooks, laptops and iPads), go to the IT Helpdesk or call / text 860-682-0607, Monday - Friday from 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
- Did you move? Please see the list of required documents. Contact Registrar Heidi Turner to update your information: b39hturn@mpspride.org or 860.647.8275. Remember we cannot change your child's bus information until you have provided your new proof of residency.
- New number? Please remember to update the registrar with any changes to your phone number or email so we can reach you! We send out newsletters twice a month and emails from the principal weekly and you do not want to miss anything!
- New email? If you are reading this on our app and not in your email it may mean we have old information. Please contact Ms. Turner with your new email address so you don't miss out!
NOTES FROM SECURITY
If you pick up your child utilizing the School Street to Vine Street route please be aware that you may be blocking driveways of the residents on School Street. We have had several compaints about people not being able to get in or out of their driveways as cars are sitting in line, blocking the driveways and not yeilding for a resident to pull in or out. If you are blocking a driveway and see a car trying to get in or out, please yeild to them. It is very frustrating for our neighbors to have to fight to get in and out of their property every day. We appreciate your being aware of your location and helping spread goodwill!
Please be aware as you drive through our pick up/drop off area that students are everywhere!
Please do not stop on the CVS side of Wells Street to drop off or pick up your child. It is much too dangerous to have students crossing that narrow road and causes traffic issues on both sides of the road. Also, there is no parking in the CVS parking lot for drop-off or pick-up.
Please be sure to discuss pick up and drop off plans with your student to eliminate any confusion and keep your plan consistent. Thank you.
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Bennet Academy
Email: jchella@mpspride.org
Website: https://www.mpspride.org/Domain/9
Location: 1151 Main Street, Manchester, CT, USA
Phone: 860-647-3571