Monthly Update from Mrs. Knights
Happy New Year BLES families!
I pray that you all had a safe, restful and enjoyable holiday recess with your loved ones. 2020 has come and gone and although I'm tempted to say "Good riddance 2020!" I will instead say that despite the many challenges that this year brought us, we have learned and grown in unimaginable ways. Because of 2020, instruction will never look the same. Our scholars have been introduced to many digital tools that enhance their learning including Jamboard, Nearpod and Padlet. In 2020, scholars as young as 6 years old were leading and participating in discussions in breakout rooms in Google Meet and Zoom. Our scholars participated in a variety of school-wide virtual events and learned all about digital citizenship. They learned how to troubleshoot technical issues and navigate the many platforms they were introduced to. These are skills that they will need well into their college and career years. Parents, you have done an amazing job assisting your children during this time and they will continue to need your support in 2021. I am super proud of our teachers who have risen to the challenge that this situation has placed us in. They continue to work hard every day to ensure that high quality learning continues daily at BLES.
I am happy to say that the majority of our blended learning scholars in K-5th grade are now able to attend school 4 days a week and our 3K and PreK scholars are in school 5 days a week. We have had a couple of isolated COVID cases but overall, our scholars and staff have remained healthy and safe since the beginning of the school year. Thank you parents for keeping your children home when they aren’t feeling well and for ensuring that they wear a facial covering to school every day. I am confident that we can make it safely to the end of the school year if we all do our part.
This month, we will be starting a few after school and early bird programs. We will be bringing back the CHAMPS physical education early bird program with Mr. Santimauro. We will also have virtual clubs on Wednesday afternoons for all scholars in grades K-5. These clubs will be facilitated by one of our program partners, NY Cares. We are also making plans to begin our academic after school programs for both in-person and remote learning scholars. You can learn more about these programs at any one of our upcoming events.
Here are a few key dates you should remember this month:
January 8- Parents & Pancakes/Title 1 Workshop at 9 AM
January 12- UCS Advisory Board Meeting- 3:30
January 14- PTA Meeting at 5:30
January 18- Dr. King Day- NO SCHOOL
January 19- Principal’s Coffee Chat at 9 AM & 3:30 PM /Special Guest- Power my Learning
January 26- School Leadership Team Meeting- 4:00 PM
Every Wednesday in January- TOWN HALL- 9 AM- Gr 3-5 and 10 AM- Gr K-2
I hope to see you at these events. Stay safe and be well!
In partnership,.
Joyce Beckles-Knights