Bates Family Newsletter

Wow! What a turnout for the Halloween Grand Parade. There were so many people in Salem last night, and the Bates team had lots of fun walking through the streets showing off our "It's About Time" pieces created by our very talented art teacher, Mr. Bleckley. Shout out to him for always creating floats that look beautiful! Please see some pictures from the event below.

October is a busy month in Salem, so stay safe out there while traveling about the city!

Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Ms. Smith, Mr. Mac, and Mr. Lister

Our Beacons of the Week — These students were able to evaluate situations this week and worked to resolve issues, be good friends, and be roles model problem-solvers!

Beacons of the Week:

We're please to announce that after-school clubs will start on Tuesday, October 15th, at no cost to families. Clubs will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Your child/children may sign up for more than one club. Note the grade levels in each description below. We will not be running clubs for students in grades K-2 at this time.

Please see the club descriptions below. Questions? Reach out to Ms. Rudolph, City Connects Coordinator at srudolph@salemk12.org. Clubs run from 2-4pm, and transportation home is available.

Clubs running on Tuesdays

Clubs running on Thursdays

Monster Mash coming soon on Friday, October 18th, is one of Bates' most beloved events, and we need your help to make it a night to remember! There are so many ways to get involved and help create a magical, spooky experience for the kids. Whether you can assist with setup, run an activity, donate supplies, or provide baked goods, there's a spot for everyone to pitch in and make this event spectacular! SIGN UP TO HELP OUT HERE!

Monster Mash this year will be from 5-7pm with games, raffles, spooky fun + trunk or treat from 5-6pm. More details coming soon!

The winning ticket will be pulled on October 8th.

Good luck and thank you all for your continued support. All of the money raised through this fundraiser will pay for field trips and other enrichment opportunities for students.

Written by Ms. Gojanovic., Student Adjustment Counselor

The SEL topic of the week is "Evaluating Situations." Sometimes, people also use the term "reading the room" which basically means a person's ability to get a feel for what is going on around them.

Being able to evaluate a situation is an extremely important life skill so that our kid's know how to assess for safety and how to adjust their behavior so it matches the context of the situation.

For example, if a person was hurt in the middle of the playground, it would be important for other students to know that they should ask the person if they need help, seek assistance and stop a game that is happening.

It is just as important to be able to evaluate a social situation. For example, if a class was sitting in a circle, it would be important for our kids to know that they should walk into the classroom with a calm body and quietly join the circle or wait for a direction from the teacher.

A great game to play with your kids around evaluating situations is "WHAT WOULD YOU DO?" Give a scenario and see what they would do. You can also flip it just for fun and say "WHAT WOULDN'T YOU DO?!".

Another game to support observation skills while also having family fun time is to have a kid look around a room, have them leave and then while they are gone, rearrange some things in the room- see what they notice.

Our kids look up to us, so the best way we can teach them skills is to show them, point them out when we are doing them and talk out loud through the process!

Have a great weekend and enjoy everyday opportunities in evaluating situations with your kids!

The school menus are posted on the SPS website. Find them here.

Our goal is to keep our chronic absence rate under 19.5% this year. We're also looking for under 11% for the month of October. This week, our chronic attendance rate was 14.9%...down from last week! Shout out to PreK and grade 5 this week!

If you need any assistance with getting your student to school, please reach out to Rosalyn Guevara, Family Engagement Facilitator at rguevara@salemk12.org.

Yesterday, members of the PreK and Kindergarten teams, our Site Council representative, Kate Carmody, and Ms. Smith met with the head of buildings and grounds and an architect to start planning our new PreK/K playground! We expect this playground to be completed in time for the start of the 25/26 school year. More details will follow. So cool, right?

If your student wasn't here on picture day or needs a re-take, please mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 19th.

• We encourage students to complete approximately 15-20 minutes of ST Math daily and aim for about 12 puzzles a day.
• This October, we are challenging each class at Bates to increase their completion percentage by 10%. Your engagement is crucial, so please check in on how your child is doing by accessing ST Math!

Celebrations from the month of September
Congratulations to the following classrooms for completing 6% of the ST Math curriculum in September:

• Ms. Brennan., Ms. Digaetano, Ms. Larrabee, Ms. McLaughlin, Ms. Allen Ms. Villano, Ms. Fairmann, Ms. Hatfield, Mr. Demonitier, Ms. Sazillo Ms.Silk, Ms. Van der Burg

We are so proud of these classrooms and their dedication to learning! Each achievement is a testament to the hard work of our students.

October

• October 8th - Bruins Spirit Day + PTO Meeting, library, 6:30-7:30pm
• October 14th - No School, Indigenous People's Day
• October 15th - School Site Council, 7:45-8:45am
• October 18th - Limo ride to school for the Name the Lane winner + Monster Mash (5-7pm) + Trunk or Treat (5-6pm)
• October 22nd - Celtics Spirit Day
• October 23rd - 1/2 Day, PTO Enrichment (Anti-bullying assembly)
• October 31st - 1/2 Day - Happy Halloween! (Black and orange spirit day - no costumes, please)

November

November 5th - No School (Election Day)

November 11th - No School (Veteran's Day)

November 12th - PTO Meeting, 6:30, Library

November 13th - End of Trimester 1

November 19th - School Site Council Meeting, 7:45am + School Picture Retakes

November 20th - Polished Dental

November 27th - Report Cards Published + Crazy Sock Spirit Day! + 1/2 Day!

November 28th - No School, Happy Thanksgiving!

November 29th - No School

Did you know you can earn money for our school just by scanning your grocery receipts? All you need to do is download the Boxtops app, and scan those receipts! Don't want to scan? No worries, you can always send receipts into school with your student in an envelope marked, "PTO Boxtops".

Our Bates spirit rock is available for weekly rentals. Celebrate your student's birthday or other accomplishments by painting a message on our rock. Please click here to rent the rock!

Bates Elementary School, in partnership with our families and community, will provide all students with a culturally responsive, student – centered, and equitable learning experience that celebrates our students’ diverse backgrounds, creative pursuits, and their academic, social, emotional success.

School Hours:

Regular school hours:

Monday through Friday: 7:45am to 1:50pm

Early Release (Grades 1-5) at 11:15am

PK at 11am

Kindergarten at 11:10am