BEAR MAIL

Hello Everyone,

Short weeks always go by so fast. Thank you to all that came to the Ice Cream Social last week. Thank you to Parents Club for organizing. It was a great event and always great to see the community come together.

We have had our first month of school. Our amazing registrar Leanne Piccolo has set up a monthly incentive for Perfect Attendance. Read more about this below. We were excited to pull our first winner this week - Aiden Chase in Ms. Herrell's class. Congrats, Aiden!

Our Jr. Coaches (50+ this year) did a great job this week learning all about the program, how to support on the year, some conflict manager strategies and so much more. We are excited to see them all in action in the coming weeks.

We will be installing new fencing starting next week along Harmon street. Please note that parking along that area will be closed off for the time of installation. It will likely take a week or two. Thank you for your understanding as we make the campus that much safer for our BCE Bears.

Have a great weekend,

Gerri Fippin
Principal, BCE

Our school will be implementing a new rewards system for our students to promote good attendance! It is designed to motivate kids to be present everyday, be on time and ready to learn.

Using "brag tags" from the School Life company, every student will receive a starter chain necklace and for every month they have perfect attendance, they will earn a new tag to add to their necklace. For the month of August, students will receive a perfect attendance tag, or if they were absent, they will receive a paw pride tag with our school colors. Kids who are absent can reset each month and hopefully become motivated to earn and collect the monthly tag, while ultimately improve their attendance.

If a student receives perfect attendance in any given month, they will also be automatically entered to win a small prize in a monthly raffle.

If a student has perfect attendance for the entire school year, they will receive a more significant reward at the last awards assembly of the year and be known as an Attendance Champion!

Necklaces will be distributed to students during the first week of September. Students will receive their new tags during the first week of each month, if eligible.

It is recommended that every student write their name with a Sharpie on the back of their first tag (since they will all be the same, depending on which type they receive). Students can keep their necklaces at home if preferred, to avoid getting lost, taken or broken.

There is also a brand new Perfect Attendance display board in the office. Students who are working towards perfect attendance for the entire school year will have their names on the board each month. Stop by in September to check it out! Every month will have a new and fun theme.

Please motivate your child to be present and earn a tag every month!

San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District is starting the third year of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee. The committee represents a wide spectrum of SLVUSD stakeholders, including but not limited to district and school leadership, board members, school staff, parents/guardians, etc. We are looking for 5 to 7 new members, and if you are interested and would like to be considered for this committee, please complete the DEIB Interest Form by Friday, September 18, 2026.

The committee meets on the following Monday’s: September 28 (in-person), October 26 (virtual), November 30 (in-person), February 8 (virtual), March 22, (in-person), April 19, (in-person). The in-person meetings will be held from 5:00 – 6:30 pm at the District Office - Board Room located at 325 Marion Avenue, Ben Lomond, 95005. To know more about the committee, such as our Purpose and Charter, please visit our DEIB page or if you have additional questions, please contact Amy Chruchill, Student Services Coordinator at achurchill@slvusd.org or (831) 335-1753.

Bear Paw Store!

BCE Staff hands out Bear Paws to students when they practice the BCE Way - being kind, safe, responsible and respectful. They get to shop using their Bear Paws at the Bear Paw Store several times during the school year. Our first Bear Paw Store is on September 11th. If you'd like to help, you can take a look at our Amazon Wish List. Thank you for the donations and for helping us celebrate and encourage students for doing their part to make BCE a safe and fun place to learn! A big thank you to our Parents Club for volunteering to run the Bear Paw Store - this event doesn't happen without you!

New Junior Coaches

This week we trained our new 4th and 5th grade Junior Coaches. They will begin helping at recess next week. They learned about strategies for helping students solve problems and make safe choices during recess. Thanks to Ms. Long for organizing this great program! There will also be other leadership opportunities and clubs for students this year as well- Bear Buzz, Student Leadership, Green Team, Multicultural Club, Crochet Club, and Construction Club.

Building Community at BCE

Last Friday Parents Club hosted BCE's annual Ice Cream Social. Our 5th Graders scooped ice cream to to earn funds for Science Camp. Great job, 5th ! Thanks for coming out to support!

We’re looking for parent/family volunteers to help with the yearbook this year! Whether you have lots of time or can lend a hand here and there, we’d love to have you join us. Volunteers can help with photos, organizing, collecting memories, and creating a yearbook that captures the highlights of the school year.

Interested? Sign up here: https://bit.ly/BCEY2627

Thank you for helping us make this year’s yearbook special!

Drop Off and Pick Up

We have had several issues the past couple of weeks at both drop off and pick up. Please know that all of us out at the cross walk are only trying to keep our students and families safe. I wanted to remind everyone to please first be Kind and Patient. Here are a few reminders about pick up and drop off

• You can drop off on either side of Laurel Street.
• You can NOT drop off coming up on Lomond street.
• You can only leave your car in designated parking spots on Laurel street.
• Make sure you are not parking in front of our neighbors drive ways
• On Lomond Street, you need to park in the right direction. Buses are not able to get through when cars are away from the side and parked in the wrong direction.
• When walking down Lomond Street please use the sidewalk. We have had a few close calls with kids and parents walking in the center of the street.

Thank you everyone for helping ensure safety of all of our students. Below is the parking map again for reference.

We will continue to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students this year. We do ask that you complete the application on the district webpage. It is very important that ALL families complete this form, as it helps us with funding in several different areas.

If your child will be riding the bus this year and will need a bus pass, please make sure you purchase your bus pass online here. Once you log in to LinqConnect you will see "School Store" on the bottom right hand corn. Click that to buy your pass. Any questions contact the transportation department at 831-336-2223

Please also complete the following form for all students riding the bus.