Brookside Bulletin

April 27 - May 8 - MAP testing (see teacher emails)

May 5 - Author Visit

May 5 - Bobcat Walk

May 20 - 5th grade Recognition Assembly

May 21 - Last Student Day - BASH

Welcome to April, Brookside Families!

Can you believe it’s already April? While the warmer weather and blooming trees are a welcome sight, this month marks a very important "home stretch" for our students. As we enter these final two months, our focus is on keeping our momentum high and finishing the year strong. Here is how we can work together to ensure your child feels confident and prepared.

Gearing Up for Testing

State and district assessments are just around the corner. These tests are a chance for our students to show off everything they’ve learned this year! You can help ease "test jitters" at home by:

• Prioritizing Rest: Ensure your child gets plenty of sleep, especially during testing weeks.

• Fueling Up: A healthy breakfast goes a long way in maintaining focus.

• Positive Vibes: Keep the atmosphere light! Remind them that these tests are just one way to measure their amazing growth.

The "Power Three": Reading, Writing and Math

Even as our schedules get busier with spring activities, consistency is key to finishing the year at grade level or even beyond.

• Daily Reading: Aim for at least 20 minutes of reading every night.

• Math Fact Mastery: Fluency in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division is the foundation for more complex problem-solving. A quick 5-minute flashcard session or a math game app can make a huge difference in their confidence.

Finishing Strong

It’s easy for "spring fever" to kick in, but we have a lot of exciting learning left to do! We are encouraging all students to stay focused on their goals, be kind to one another, and keep up their hard work until the

final bell rings.

Thank you for being such incredible partners in your child’s education. We can't do this without you!

MAP Testing Window April 6-May 8

• Kdg - Math, 1st-2nd ELA & Math, 3rd-4th Science
• Specific dates TBD

Encourage your children to show what they know and be proud of all they've learned thus far. We are so proud of them!

Warmly,

Dr. Jenny Wielinski

Teacher Appreciation Week is here!!!

Monday: Bouquets of flowers

Wednesday: Lunch provided from McGinnis Grill

Friday: Shower your teachers with their favorite things from this list

The PTA wants to thank everyone for their overwhelming generosity in buying lunch for their teachers and sending wonderful notes of appreciation. We couldn’t do this without you!

🚶🏻‍♂️Bobcat Walk

Join us on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, from 9:45-10:30AM to cheer on students while they take a short, supervised walk through the neighborhood.

The Bobcat Walk is one of our biggest fundraisers of the school year and we are currently at 25% to our goal of $4000. Funds raised by grades K–4 support The Brookside Bash. Funds raised by 5th graders support their class gift.

For more information and to donate to your child's class, click here! The grade that raises the most wins a pajama day and a PTA-sponsored pizza party!

🥗5th Grade Fundraiser

The 5th grade will be holding a fundraiser with Sumac Mediterranean Grill on 5/12 from 4-9. Sumac will give 20% of sales back to the 5th grade, just mention Brookside at checkout. You can view the menu here!

📚Order your School Supply Kits today!

Parents, your 2026-2027 school supply kits are now available! Skip the store lines and start next year stress-free with the exact supplies your child’s teacher requested. Ordering now ensures you're ready for back-to-school, no guesswork and no last-minute shopping. Order today and cross one thing off your list! https://1stdayschoolsupplies.com/gs/79943

🎨Worthington’s Reflections committee will be launching a weeklong showcase of Reflections artwork at Barrel & Bloom Coffee Shop (2365 W Dublin-Granville Rd) starting April 20. This will include all artwork that advanced to the district level. The showcase will kick off with a celebration event on Monday, May 11 from 5-7pm. Please stop by to celebrate our students’ interpretations of “Belonging”!

🥳As the school year starts to wind down, we are getting ready for our annual Brookside Bash! This is a field day celebration on the last day of school (May 21) with games/activity stations set up outside of the school that classes will rotate through. In order to help this go smoothly, the PTA is looking for parent volunteers to help oversee each station throughout the day. Directions for each game/activity will be provided at the stations. We have shifts available for morning only, afternoon only or all-day. Lunch will be provided for anyone who is volunteering for an all-day shift.

We also have volunteer opportunities to help kids tie dye t-shirts with Ms. Murray in art class or to help with washing the shirts after they’ve been tie-dyed.

Below are links for each volunteer opportunity. Please consider helping us celebrate another wonderful school year!

T-shirt Tie Dying Sign Up: Tie Dying Assistance

T-shirt Washing Sign Up: Tie Dye T-Shirt Washing

Day of Bash Volunteer Sign Up: Bash Station Volunteers

Dear Worthington Schools Families,

Infinite Campus Parent has a NEW feature starting the week of April 13th! Now you can notify your child’s school of a student absence or appointment right through the Infinite Campus Parent app - it’s quick, secure, and available 24/7.

Instructions for accessing your Infinite Campus Parent account can be found at our Family FAQ page.

If you know about a planned absence, please share that information prior to the absence. It is important that your child arrives on time as school attendance is calculated by the minute and accumulates quickly when tardy.

We also have a new attendance email address for the Brookside office. If your child will be absent for any reason, please call (614-450-5300) or email (broattend@wscloud.org) attendance.

Arrival occurs between 7:30am and 7:40am. The tardy bell rings at 7:40am.

Worthington Kilbourne and Thomas Worthington High Schools both have a variety of summer camps available for many ages. Please visit the District E-Backpack to get more information and sign up.

ELIGIBILITY: to attend CAS, your child must be toilet trained and plan to attend one of the Worthington

Elementary Schools during the 2026-27 school year. Students must be eligible to attend CAS during

the 2026-27 school year to be included on a waiting list.

HOW: registration is online only at careafterschool.com/registration-information.

WHEN: register between April 27th and May 10th to be included in the lottery to determine enrollment

or waiting list status. Enrollment and waiting lists fill up quickly and many close shortly after the

registration period. Your enrollment or waiting list status will be emailed to you no later than May 20th.

COST: there is a $40 per family non-refundable registration fee.

PLEASE NOTE: REGISTRATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE ENROLLMENT

Parents, grandparents, and community members tell us all the time that we have wonderful teachers, office staff, specialists, assistants, custodians, bus drivers, etc. Now it is your chance to recognize a Brookside staff member for their outstanding dedication, commitment to excellence, and genuine care for others. This is your opportunity to share how you, as a valued member of our school community, have experienced the positive impact of their hard work and uplifting attitude at Brookside Elementary. Simply click the link and fill out the form to nominate an outstanding staff member. Thank you for supporting this new initiative. Golden Bobcat Award Nomination Form.

Golden Bobcats: December - Miss Boyle, January - Mrs. Harrison, February - Mrs. Sayre. Congrats!

For those who have nominated a teacher and/or staff member - THANK YOU! Please know that we share your nomination to the staff member of your choice, regardless if they are selected for the Golden Bobcat of the Month. Everyone appreciates a genuine shout out! Thank you, again. 😁

(For our Golden Bobcats of the Month - monthly entries are put in a randomizer for selection).

Brookside honors our Students of the Month for March and April for their perseverance and respect. These students are full of empathy and have the ability to understand and share the feelings of their classmates, and families. They are honest, trustworthy, and reliable. What terrific role models! Keep up the great work! And, parents...thank you for raising such wonderful children.😊

Free & Reduced School Meals for Students

Worthington Schools offers Free & Reduced-Price Meals for students who qualify. A new application must be submitted each school year—eligibility does not carry over from the previous year. If you haven’t yet applied for the 2025–2026 school year, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible to avoid any interruption in benefits. For more information and to access the online application, click HERE. Paper applications are also available in the school office.

Student Lunch Accounts

Families can add money to their student's lunch account through My Payments Plus by clicking HERE. You can also use MPP to track your student's account and see much money remains on it. My Payments Plus is also used to pay other fees, like high school parking permits and AP testing fees.

Are you looking for activities, clubs, or events for your kids such as Young Rembrandt's, WYB, etc. If so, click the Worthington Schools Electronic Backpack link below. This is where you will find notifications from groups about memberships, registration, and event dates/times. It's always changing, so check back often!

Electronic Backpack

Dear Worthington School Families: Circle of Grandparents (COG) is a character education program that operates in the Worthington School District, having been established in the year 2000. With the support of Worthington Schools and the nonprofit Partners for Community and Character, senior volunteers use community-chosen qualities to teach students the importance of good character. We’re looking for volunteers! Our goal is to have a grandparent in each Worthington School elementary classroom. As a “Grandparent”, you can draw from your own life experiences and individual talents to teach concepts of character to your “adopted” class. No classroom or teaching experience is required, COG will provide support and materials to you through monthly, optional meetings. You do not have to be an actual grandparent to participate, however, if you are a grandparent to a child in the Worthington Schools, you may request your grandchild’s class. Any “Grandparent” has the option to choose the school and grade level they wish to assist. This is a wonderful opportunity that benefits all who are involved. Interested in learning more? Please contact Jim McElligott at jamestmcelligott53@gmail.com.

Please read this INFORMATION SHEET to understand what we look for in volunteers.

View our Lost and Found items HERE, it is growing again. Simply call, email or have your student stop by the office if you see an item that belongs to them. Please label all of your student’s belongings so that they are easily reunited.

Brookside uses a car loop for parents who choose to drop their children off in the morning. Please be sure your child is ready to exit the car in a quick, but safe manner on the passenger side only. We do this for safety puproses. Please keep your speed to a crawl. Now and then we have family members who are not familiar with our process or are simply new to our school community so your patience is appreciated. Feel free to park in the front parking spaces to drop your child off should you not use the car loop.

Thank you in advance for adhering to our guidelines. 🙂

Dear Elementary Parents,

Worthington Schools is excited to announce its growing partnership with Securly in safeguarding students. Securly is used to monitor students’ online content, blocking access to inappropriate websites and materials on our school network and school-owned devices. Starting with the 2025/26 school year, Worthington Schools will make the Securly Home app available to elementary families.

Chromebook Content Filtering

District-owned Chromebooks will now have similar content filtering whether they are at school or away. This means that Chromebooks will have a base level of filtering no matter what network they are on. Content filtering is an uphill challenge and a very fine line to ensure students have access to the content and resources needed for effective learning while keeping harmful material at bay. While Internet content is ever-changing, our goal is to ensure a safe online experience.

Parental Control

Parents will have access to a website and mobile app, through Securly, to adjust their student’s district-provided Chromebook filtering levels when the device is away from the district network. You can determine the appropriate categories and sites your student has access to. More details can be found at our Parent Securly Information.

Activity Alerts

Worthington Schools' building leadership receives alerts when activity, such as searches or sites visited, indicates a student may be considering self-harm, harming others, or other inappropriate behaviour. This service was implemented so that school administrators are able to partner with you to provide a safer online experience. While these alerts are not perfect, we feel it is an important tool in ensuring your student’s safety

We take student safety very seriously, and online safety is part of the overall approach. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to your principal. Or if you need specific support from Securly, you can contact them at homesupport@securly.com.

Additional resources can also be viewed below.

Securly Getting Started Video

Securly Home App Walkthrough (English).pdf

Sincerely,

Worthington Schools

Worthington Connects is a community-driven organization dedicated to supporting local families in need year-round. We partner closely with schools to identify families who could benefit from assistance and rely on generous donations from the community to make our efforts possible. Every contribution helps us provide meaningful support to those in need.

If you would like to donate or get involved, please visit https://www.worthingtonconnects.org Families seeking assistance are encouraged to reach out to their school counselors, who work with us to connect resources to those who need them most. Together, we can make a lasting impact in our Worthington community!

Direct donation: https://www.worthingtonconnects.org/giving-page-3

For the safety of children, do not send any nut or peanut items to school in your child's lunch, snack, or school party item as we are a nut and peanut free school. It could literally mean life or death to another child. Thank you in advance for your understanding and compliance.

Please be sure you are observing road safety laws and educating your student(s) as well. Please always stay vigilant.

• Pedestrians: Where neither sidewalk nor shoulder is available, pedestrians shall walk as near to the outside edge of the roadway and only on the left side of the roadway, facing traffic. Any pedestrian upon a roadway shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway. Cross streets at crosswalks or intersections.
• Cyclists: Cyclists should ride on the right half of the roadway, riding with traffic instead of against it. Please wear a helmet!
• Drivers: Yield the right-of-way to pedestrians at intersections and crosswalks.

Field Trip volunteers/chaperones must have their volunteer badges. If you are interested in volunteering in our school or for a field trip. Please go to the district website and follow the instructions HERE.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Parents, if you have not done so this year, please make sure to verify/update information in the Emergency Data Review through the parent portal. You can access the portal* on the WCS website. This process must be completed every year in case of an emergency and in order for your child(ren) to participate in class field trips. Instructions for using the parent portal appear here.

The Special Education Road Map has been translated into 21 different languages!!

This roadmap is helpful to all families, especially families who are just beginning the special education process.

https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Special-Education/Families-of-Students-with-Disabilities

Worthington’s Special Education Key Communicator Committee strives to build positive, productive and collaborative relationships and partnerships amongst the educators and community of families whose children receive special education and related services. We will engage in two-way communication, with the goal being to provide a circle of influence where we can share out and learn from and with each other.

The key communicators will convey information from their building to the committee, as well as information from the committee to their buildings.

The Key Communicators for Brookside are Sandra Sell at snsell74@gmail.com and Emily Smith at lightseekerem@hotmail.com 614-563-3687. Please reach out to either of our communicators if you have questions or topics to discuss.

Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA), provides financial assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. Our school receives Title IA funding.

Parents/families of students in our building have a right to know about teacher qualifications and state-mandated assessments. All teachers providing Title I interventions are properly licensed for their positions and anyone can search licensure information on any educator at https://core.ode.state.oh.us/Core4/ODE.CORE.Lic.Profile.Public.UI/ . In addition to being linked here, these documents are available on the Title IA page of our school website.