Bridge Point of View

October 20, 2017

Bridge Point Elementary

MRS. MEEK'S WEEKLY MESSAGE

Dear BPE Families,

Next week is a big week in the life of our school. Our Booster Club has an amazing 3 days planned for our students as we look forward to Arts Days next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Parent conferences are also in full swing. This means our students will be dismissed from school 3 hours early (11:50 am) and lunch will not be served October 25-27. If you have not had the chance to schedule a parent conference, please contact your child's teacher.

This month, our Life Skill is cooperation. In the spirit of being cooperative, I want to take a moment to remind parents about morning drop off procedures. Some of you may have noticed that we have had staff members stationed down at the lower parking lot to help keep the bus lanes free of cars until 7:30. While this has been a practice at BPE for some time, staff members enforcing the policy has frustrated some. In an effort to keep students safe and buses on schedule, I have given teachers a directive to help manage the parking lot. I ask that you not take your frustration out on them. Instead, pull up to the next driveway and drop off in the front circle.

We have had many calls this week with reports of parents arguing with staff about the rules, cars cutting each other off, honking, or driving too fast in the both parking lots. I also want to ask that parents NOT allow their children to get out of the car and run through the parking lot during morning drop off. Please pull up to a safety patrol attendant before allowing your child out of the car. I appreciate your sense of urgency in getting your child to school on time; however, safety is far more important. It may not seem like much, but leaving the house 5 minutes sooner each morning will make a positive difference during morning drop off. Thank you for your support and partnership in keeping our kids safe.

Finally, I shared the Principal Book of the Month for October with the students this morning at the assembly. This month's choice is Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena. All of our students have been taught how to create a video response to my secret question on Flipgrid.com. Starting this month any child that reads this book and responds to my secret question will receive a special edition Principal Book of the Month pencil. Happy Reading!

All My Best,

Heather Meek

BPE NEWS

GT Kindergarten Identification Process Parent Information Meeting

Parents requesting to have their kindergarten child assessed for Gifted & Talented Services are encouraged to attend a district-wide parent information meeting on Monday, November 6th, at 6pm at the Valley View Elementary Cafeteria.

Penny Swap & Drop/TRE Printable Handout Available

Download a printable handout on the Penny Swap & Drop/TRE

Counselor's Corner

Parent teacher conferences are coming up next week! Whether you're a parent brand new to elementary school or you're an old pro, we have some tips to help you make the most out of this brief, but valuable one-on-one time with your child's teacher.

Conferences are a great opportunity for you to get feedback from the teacher, but don't forget about your child! Conferences are the perfect catalyst for conversations with your child and provide an opportunity to assess how your student feels about school, both academically and socially. Below are some ideas for topics to bring up with your child prior to the conference and how to prepare yourself for the conference:

Explain that you and the teacher are meeting to help make this school year successful.
Ask your child how they feel about school: school work, friends, relationship with the teacher.
Ask your child if there is anything that they want you to talk about with their teacher.
Come to the conference prepared. Your child's teacher will likely have a list of things he/she needs to cover, but it is helpful to be prepared if you have specific concerns you want to address going into the conference, so that your time together can be as productive as possible. If there is something going on at home that may affect your child's performance socially or academically, this is a great time to bring it up!
If you have specific concerns, prepare a list of topics and questions such as:
- What are my child's strengths and areas for growth?
- How is my child doing socially?
- How does my child treat & respond to others?
- How is my child's behavior?
- What can I do at home to help support what you are doing at school?
Be open! It's a near year, new teacher. This means you may hear things from your child's teacher that are different from years past. Each year, with new class dynamics and new academic expectations students may behave or perform differently than in previous years.

Tips for Parents: Parent-Teacher Conferences

20 Questions To Ask During a Parent-Teacher Conference

Top 10 Questions to Ask During a Parent Teacher Conference

5 Smart Questions to Ask During a Parent Teacher Conference

Sincerely,

Addie Edwards and Amy Ashorn

Shelf Life: Library Update

Earlier this year, Ms. Ricter kicked off the first ever BPE Unusual Reading Spot Contest by having students submit photos of themselves reading in interesting places. The contest ran through September, and many students spent time over the summer coming up with creative ideas. Ms. Ricter was incredibly impressed by all of the submissions! Click here to see them.

All BPE students had the opportunity to vote on their classmates' pictures at the beginning of October. While the decision was a difficult one, the results are in and we have the winners! Thank you to everyone who participated, and keep an eye out for the winners' bookmarks and poster in the next few weeks.

Quick Report

We are always looking for ways to foster an even safer and more caring school community. We have added a new feature to our websites to ensure students, staff and parents have a voice to report issues that may affect their peers and/or schools.

Quick Report allows school administrators to receive tips at any time and have the ability to respond in a timely manner to issues that impact the school or individual students. The reported issues range from bullying to weapons/threats.

Students, staff, parents and other stakeholders can visit the district website or any campus website and click either "Connect" at the top navigation bar, "Quick Links" at the top navigation bar, or click under the "Students" section, then select "Quick Report".

Once on the Quick Report page, you can identify which school(s) receives the tip, select an appropriate topic from the dropdown list, write the message and submit the tip. There is also an option to include a photograph as appropriate. Messages may be communicated anonymously or with contact information.

Please note that in an emergency, you should call 911, or in the case of a mental health crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.