Dear Bordeaux Families,

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Popcorn and Playground event on Friday. Our parent connection between home and school is what helps make BDX such a fantastic place to be. Through our Kelso’s Choices program we are teaching students problem solving strategies and the ability to discern between big and small problems. Our 2nd Step curriculum teaches students how to regulate their emotions and be able to handle problems with a cool head.

School Improvement Plan

Did you know that Shelton School District leads the state in early literacy growth? One of the documents we use to help guide our work is the School Improvement Plan or SIP. This plan has our current goals of achieving 60% proficiency on the 3rd grade SBA and lowering our chronic absenteeism rate. The Bordeaux SIP has seven different strategies that we’ve committed to for this year. I would like to share one strategy and our commitment to it over the next seven weeks so that you are aware of the work teachers are putting forth to help your students be successful. Though our goal is for 3rd grade, every class in Kindergarten through 4th has committed to the strategies and is a part of our success.

Our first strategy is teachers will utilize the Word Study Curriculum for 30-40 minutes daily to teach foundational word work skills, including phonics, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary.

We commit to being reflective in our teaching practices through progress monitoring, goal setting, and collaborating with a variety of staff members.

When we do this, students will experience a love for learning and literacy and a growth in confidence.

New Staff Members

I’m excited to welcome Ms. Ruth Bowcutt to our BDX staff. She will be helping serve our Native American students 1.5 days a week. Ms. Bowcutt has worked in multiple buildings throughout Shelton, with an extended run at Mountain View. We’re excited to welcome Ms. Bowcutt to our team.

Madeline Cain has also joined our team as our Native Ed Tutor and Advocate. She has been in the building for the past couple weeks learning the routines and has already begun building relationships with our students. I met with her Friday to talk about how she can best support our students and was encouraged by her forward thinking and commitment. She's going to be a wonderful addition.

Please join me in welcoming Ms. Bowcutt and Ms. Madeline to our Bulldog team.

PTSO Events and Upcoming Important Dates

On October 5th we will be having our annual Vision and Hearing screening at BDX.
On October 6th the PTSO will be holding their next meeting in the library from 5:30 – 7:00.
On October 7th, students will be released at 12:30 for a staff development training.
Mark your calendar for Books and BINGO on Friday, October 9th and our annual Harvest Carnival on Friday, October 30th. Both are always well attended events and the Harvest Carnival is your student’s opportunity to wear their costumes to school. Times and additional details will be coming home soon.

We’ve made it through three, then four, and then five day weeks. Everything is up and running and we’re now full steam ahead. As always, it’s a great week to be a Bordeaux Bulldog!

Kyle