Monthly Update from Mrs. Knights
Dear Parents/Guardians:
Happy October! First off, thank you for your emails and phone calls. Keep them coming! Because of you, we have made small changes that have had a BIG impact. Your partnership and support continues to make all the difference!
During the month of October, you will have a few opportunities to chat with me and other BLES staff. Please note this very important change on the Family Calendar. Wednesday October 13th is the District 23 Dads Take Your Child to School Day at 9 am. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the dads, uncles, godfathers, granddads, big brothers and mentors for this amazing annual event! Because of this event, I will be rescheduling my Principal's Coffee Chat to Wednesday October 20th at 9 am and 5 pm. The link for the Principal's Coffee Chat on 10/20 is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89719811313?pwd=ZDhKSG5VWHpWTW0vT2ovRWhqU3ZyUT09. On October 22nd, the Family Engagement Committee and Title 1 Committee will host their first virtual Parents & Pancakes event. More details about this workshop are forthcoming.
Our Community Circles will start this month and they will be held in the auditorium, TOWN HALL style. K-2 will meet on Friday 10/29 and 3-5 will meet on Friday 10/22. Because of the health and safety restrictions, we will only meet once a month for Community Circle. Teachers will hold daily morning meetings and closing circles, so scholars are still building community and celebrating individual and class accomplishments. During the monthly Community Circle, scholars will be socially distanced, seated 2 seats apart and remain in the auditorium for no more than 30-35 minutes. Community Circles will be facilitated by our school counselor and social workers. School chants and other BLES traditions will be led by our awesome scholars!
On 10/15, BLES will celebrate LatinX Heritage month. Classes will take a Gallery Walk through the school to see what other classes have been working on. They will see dances, hear stories read aloud, participate in Food tastings with Wellness in the Schools, practice doing the salsa and merengue with AP Dawson, play games and more. You can take part in the festivities via Facebook LIVE from 9:30-10:30.
On 10/29, individual classes will celebrate Character DAY. Scholars will dress up like characters in a book they've read in class. The book may be one of the Teacher's PICKS of the week, the Book of the Month or a book that they've read during Reader's Workshop. The teachers will reach out to families regarding the chosen book and the outfits that scholars should wear to school on the 29th. Please do not send scholars to school with costumes that are not related to the chosen book. They will not be allowed to wear it and they will be very disappointed.
Brighter Bites is returning to BLES this month. If you haven't already done so, please enroll at the Brighter Bites link http://brighterbites.org/enroll
Finally, I want to remind every parent that ATTENDANCE MATTERS. Our goal is 90-100% attendance for every scholar. In order for that to happen, vacations and appointments must be scheduled when school is not in session. Success Mentors will continue to reach out to families of children that have an attendance percentage below 90% to ensure that scholars are in school every day and on time, unless they are sick. I want to shout out all 264 of our scholars who have 90-100% attendance so far this school year. Please see the Attendance attachment for the list of scholars with 100% attendance for the month of September here. I'm looking forward to seeing many more names on this list next month! Congratulations!
Stay safe and Be Well,
Joyce Beckles-Knights