Babcock Neighborhood School
TRAILBLAZERS
Babcock Neighborhood School
Email: sarthur@babcockneighborhoodschool.org
Website: http://www.babcockneighborhoodschool.org/
Location: 42891 Lake Babcock Drive, Babcock Ranch, FL 33982
Phone: 239.567.3043
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/babcockneighborhoodschool/
Thankfulness
I am so thankful for our Babcock Neighborhood School, our students, our teachers, and our families. Each day our work to build a school from the ground up creates joy for our team as we get to experience the reality of building a wonderful school! Yes, of course we experience hurdles, but this team tackles them head on as we strive to make this the best school in America. For that, I am thankful.
I am thankful for our students who bring many achievements, personalities, and much fun to our environment. I am thankful for the challenges they bring as that makes us better teachers. The students here are amazing and having the opportunity to work here with them in our first year fuels my soul every single day. Getting out of bed is easy, I wake up ready to see their smiling faces.
I am thankful for our families who took a risk on a new opportunity and pitch in to help even when we are not exactly sure what we need! You are patient as our team works to develop systems that create efficient processes and you continue to be patient when our first attempts have holes and we readjust. You truly are wonderful and make us feel better when we feel overwhelmed with our lists that need to be completed. See below for volunteer opportunities, hint, hint. I am thankful for you!
Thank you for all your support and for giving us the opportunity to serve your family. It takes a village and as we continue to build out Babcock Neighborhood School we are beyond thankful to have you in our family. I hope that each of you have a wonderful month of Thanksgiving as we celebrate our thankfulness each day at BNS. There is no place like BNS.
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving in the upcoming weeks!
Very Respectfully,
Mrs. Shannon Treece, Principal
ATTENDANCE
Parents, this is a friendly reminder that attendance is critical to success of our students (especially in a PBL environment). In the first few months of school we were all finding our routines, now I would like to reiterate the importance of attendance. Please make sure that family vacations, doctors appointments, and other needs are taken care of during our time off. It is imperative that students are here every single day. Yes, there is sickness and when that happens keep them home and get them better. However, we ask that you please work with us to have your children present. Students who miss need a note the following day. Please state specifically why your child missed school. These notes are kept and are filed for our school attendance audit.
Please note that after 5 unexcused absences you will begin the truancy process. Three unexcused tardies or early dismissals equal one full unexcused absence.
There are several families who are acquiring several unexcused absences and will be in a truant status. Please read the Code of Conduct book (pages 16-21) on attendance to ensure you understand the expectations and consequences of missing school. We need attendance to be a top priority to all our families.
Communications
First and foremost it is my priority to ensure the safety of all our students. In the event of an incident, my focus will be on our building and addressing any issue that is prevalent. This could take minutes or hours, depending on the situation (this is where it is hard for a parent as you are waiting while we are working). When I am able to communicate, I will. If it is easy, it will be via a Remind message. If it requires more characters than 140, you will likely receive a letter.
Please know that when information is shared it will likely not have specific details. As a school we are responsible for protecting students and must honor a high level of confidentiality. I will share what I can. In many cases they end up being an open investigation and no one is allowed to comment as a result.
I often also have to share with parents that news sources have the luxury of reporting stories with little or no accountability. Remember, their goal is to get ratings. They get to share what they want, with the spin they desire, to equate to the most viewers. I rarely watch the news myself due to the sensationalism that I now better understand as a result of sitting in the principal seat. I cannot watch a story without questioning, "the rest of the story" and do not even get me started on social media. Social media is a nightmare for schools as it often takes on the resemblance of the telephone game and more time is spent conjuring up untruths or hypotheticals rather than picking up the phone and calling the person who would have the answer.
That shared, in times like these, it can be intense, frustrating, confusing and it takes everyone being patient and allowing the system to process and respond in ways that we have been trained to respond. Often, (I am guilty, we get busy and forget to share processes ahead of time) we spend a lot of time training on how to respond, but we overlook the importance of preparing stakeholders ahead of an unexpected event. It reminded me this week that I had not shared this information with you and wanted to provide in the event something does emerge. I literally pray every day for the safety of the children entrusted to my care. I do not ever take lightly the fact that I am taking care of other peoples babies.
FOCUS Parent Portal & Communication of Classwork
Teachers are updating their Edmodo and Class Dojo accounts with specific details for communication, but we are finding that many parents are not taking advantage of those informative tools. Please make sure you are utilizing those modes of communication to stay in the loop about what is happening academically in your childs classes. It is imperative that they are completing work at home that is not finished in class (this is a focus in grades 4-6).
Please do not hesitate to send the teachers an email or give us a call if you need to inquire about any academic concerns or just have questions.
Tutoring
Drop Off and Pick Up Requests & Reminders
Thank you to everyone who has a car hanger for your sign, it saves us time in calling the names for pickup when we can see the sign. The students get called faster and they are ready at the cones quicker as a result. Again, thank you to those who honored our request. It is much appreciated.
Reminders (previously addressed items that still need attention):
- Please refrain from talking on your cell phone during car line (this includes Bluetooth as that is a distraction). While my team is trying to address this individually as needed, it creates an unsafe environment for our students when people are distracted with children around. The best measures of safety are to proactive and we need your help to achieve this piece. The safety of the children is our #1 priority. Please help us honor our students.
Lunch Menus & My School Bucks
You are probably noticing some adjustments in our lunch menu. Based on student feedback, the Chef has been working closely with us to develop food choices that would entice more participation.
Please check your My School Bucks for invoices. If you are not seeing invoices, please connect your child to your account. You must manually do this in the user app. If you are not seeing the charges and are unable to connect your child to your account, contact My School Bucks and they will be able to assist you. I can share that I wasn't seeing my own invoices until I connected our child. Once I completed that step, the invoices immediately populated.
Uniforms
Please make sure your child is in uniform and that they have appropriate bottoms. Blue jeans are permitted only on specific occasions and will be announced as needed by administration or teachers. If you are one of our few families waiting on uniforms, we know who you are and this is not directed towards your family.
I want to THANK all of you for your patience in this process! You have all been awesome! The sale of these shirts, while crazy for me, has helped us purchase classroom items for our students and teachers!
Volunteers Needed
First EVER Exhibition Night
Wednesday, Nov 15, 2017, 05:30 PM
Babcock Neighborhood School
Scholastic Book Fair
Monday, Nov 13, 2017, 07:00 PM
Hatchery @ Babcock Ranch
Make Up Picture Day
Tuesday, Nov 21, 2017, 09:00 PM
Babcock Neighborhood School, Lake Babcock Drive, Punta Gorda, FL, United States
Christmas Celebration at Babcock Ranch
6:30 Santa arrives on his carriage with horses
6:45 Tree Lighting
6:45 Photo opportunities with Santa
7:00 Babcock Neighborhood School Group – 7.20 PM
7:20 Alva School
7:40 “Charisma” Port Charlotte High School Group
8:20 CLOSE of event.