November 2024

Dear Families,

As the days grow shorter and the cool breeze of November sweeps in, we are reminded of the season of gratitude. This month, we reflect on the incredible support and partnership we've built with our school community. Your engagement and dedication to your children's learning continue to inspire us daily. With fall well underway, we have many exciting events and learning opportunities ahead, including seasonal activities and our parent-teacher conferences at the end of the month. We look forward to sharing these moments with you and celebrating our students' growth as we journey through this school year. Thank you for being such a vital part of our school family!

With gratitude,

Tanya Montgomery, Principal

Karyn Chisholm, Assistant Principal

As the academic year progresses and the material gets more challenging, your child's mindset and the way they approach learning play a crucial role in their success. We understand this can sometimes feel overwhelming for both students and parents. We want to encourage you to support your child by fostering a growth mindset at home.

When talking to your child about school, focus on the effort they put into their work rather than the outcome. Phrases like "I'm proud of how hard you tried!" or "I see you worked really hard on that!" help reinforce the idea that learning is a process that takes time and persistence. This encourages children to see challenges as opportunities to grow rather than obstacles to avoid.

Maintaining a growth mindset is especially important as your child encounters more difficult concepts. Remind them that it's okay not to understand everything right away and that making mistakes is a natural part of learning.

We know that every child learns at their own pace, and we believe that through our home school partnership we can help them in developing their confidence, resilience, and love for learning. Thank you for being such an integral part of your child's educational journey. We appreciate all you do to make learning a positive experience!

Pre-K 3

Hello Parents/Guardians,

We have been having a great year in Pre-K 3. Theme 3 is Color, Shape, and Size (Color, forma, y tamaño). For this month your child will be learning about shapes, colors, size, and multiple attributes. They will revisit the stories Three Bears' Vacation, Jasper's New Bed, and Helping Grandma and Grandpa and read Finding Colors with Fernando, Kate the Chameleon, Finding Shapes with Fernando, Coletta's Cookies, The Enormous Turnip. Focus letters for the month are R, r, U, u, L, l, S, s, B, b, T, t, D, d, W, w. Please work with your child to recognize their name, know the first letter in their name, and begin trying to write the first letter in their name. As the weather begins to get colder, please remember to label your child's jacket/coat and send in pants as an extra change of clothes. Thank you for your continued support!

We had so much fun exploring the world around us using our senses. I think the taste test was the class favorite! We are looking forward to exploring pumpkins a little more in the next few weeks! Their oral language skills are blossoming through exploration projects like these. Please continue to do fun activities like this at home! This truly helps build the love of learning for our students. During this month we will be learning the letters: Bb, Ee, Ll, and Oo. In math, we will be naming and describing shapes and identifying numerals 0-10. We will begin creating our coral reef soon in Science. Please continue to read to your child daily and check folders for important updates. Thank you for your support! We look forward to speaking with you at your child’s conference.

Pre-K Team

Kindergarten

Happy November!

We can't believe it is already November! We have been learning so much in kindergarten the past few months and it is amazing to see how much growth that has already been made!

In November, we will be learning the following:

Math: We are finishing up our unit on comparing numbers to 10. We will be working on counting and sorting objects based on attributes. Please have your child practice writing their numbers to 10 at home and counting household objects!

SS&S: We will be talking/learning about our community and all it has to offer!

Literacy: We will continue working on letter sound identification & letter formation. We are also working on blending and segmenting words! Ask your child what they have learned so far so that they can share it with you at home! We are also learning about concepts of print and folktales in our Knowledge block.

Reminders:

-It is starting to get chilly outside! Please make sure your child comes to school with gear for the colder weather. If you could also practice putting jackets on and zipping at home, that would be a huge help!

-Please make sure you are checking your child's folder every night! There are alot of important papers that are coming home each day.

-Homework will be starting in November! Please check your child's folder at the beginning of the month to see what activites we would like them to complete at home to futher their learning!

-We will have conferences at the end of November. Be on the lookout for a sign up in the coming weeks!

-Please make sure your child is at school and on time every day! Our literacy Skills block is first thing in the morning and it is the most important time of the day!

Please reach out if you need anything from the Kindergarten team! We are here to support you!

1st Grade

Hello families! We have made it to the end of the first marking period. So much progress has been made! First graders finished our unit on the Human Body. We learned about our different body systems and how they all work together. We have started Unit 3: Different Lands, Similar Stories. We are looking at fairytales and folktales from different lands. We are using a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast. In Math, we have started learning different addition strategies to add numbers within 20. We are using number lines, connecting cubes, and ten frames. In our Skills block, we have started learning our long vowel sounds and magic e. Science and Social Studies is finishing with looking at our environment and moving into solving problems with our first PTD unit. Please make sure to check your child’s folder daily so that you don’t miss out on fun things happening.

Thanks!

The First Grade Team

2nd Grade

Extra, extra hear all about it! The CogAt test is approaching and 2nd Grade is ready to SHOUT IT! Beginning November 4th -8th we will start testing. A letter has been sent home, with more information. Quarter 1 moved extremely fast and we are looking forward to continually working on being positive star students while modeling our school's mission!

Math has been a blast so far! We are learning how to represent and solve Add To and Take From problems. Diving into new skills such as, Put Together, Take Apart, and Compare word problems, too! There’s no time like the present to reinforce and practice your math facts when you can! Our school is hosting a Reveal’s Math Night on November 14th. Come on out and get a little hands-on experience yourself!

Our new literacy curriculum has been a positive experience so far. Our writing, editing, and grammar skills have truly strengthened so much. The readings of the different Civilizations over the past couple of weeks has given us insight to the new cultures! Looking forward to reading much more.

Thank you to our families that were able to attend our first field trip to the Chesapeake Arts Center. We enjoyed every bit! Don’t worry, there will be more trips in the future.

Quarter 2 is upon us now; we will work extra hard to master many skills we previously learned and practice new ones! Thank you for your love and support!

2nd Grade Team

3rd Grade

READING

Reading is the foundation for everything we do! This month, we will begin Unit 3 of CKLA. In this unit, students will further their scientific understanding of the human body by learning about the skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems. Students will review the spelling of regular and irregular plural nouns, as well as adding -s or -es to certain verb forms.

WRITING

Third grade writers are expected to write a lot of sentences using details from the texts they read. Writers need to remember to capitalize the first letter of each sentence, end each sentence with punctuation, and capitalize the pronoun "I" and proper nouns. We have been applying these skills in our daily writing.

MATHEMATICS

This month we begin a new marking period with the start of the second quarter. Our mathematicians will be extending their understanding of multiplication by using patterns to multiply by 0, 1, 2, 5, and 10. Students will learn how to recall multiplication facts involving 2, 5, 10, 1, and 0. They will learn how to connect a given multiplication fact with its related division fact. Recalling basic multiplication within 3-5 seconds is a very important skill students will need to be efficient mathematicians.

SCIENCE

This month our scientist will begin exploring and observing the life cycle of a plant as it progresses from germination to death. Encourage your child to keep a journal as they observe the life cycle of the plants around their homes.

SOCIAL STUDIES

In our next social studies unit students will be exploring the people in their community. Some of the questions of exploration are: Why do people migrate/move from one location to another? and How are different cultures represented in our community? We are excited to learn about the people and cultures of people in our communities.

~Third Grade Team

Mrs. Bonaparte, Ms. Dacus, Ms. Mason and Ms. Reed

4th Grade

CKLA/ Knowledge:

The two topics of study are tied by a common past (the decline of the Roman Empire) and intersecting events such as the Crusades and the movement of knowledge, philosophy, and science from Greek into Arabic into Latin. Students will continue to dive into understanding history and informational text while learning to use that information to form of persuasive writing.

Math: In math, students have begun to focus on multiplication comparison statements and equations.

Science: In the new quarter, students will begin to learn about geographical features on a map and then move into understanding earthquakes.

Social Studies: Students will learn about settlements and colonization of America.

Reminders:

• Nov. 4th field trip to the aquarium
• Nov. 11th-14th will be the Stem in the Box in class trip
• Please check your child's backpack and blue folder for work sent home weekly.
• Please make sure you are connected to the AACPS website.

5th Grade

In November, 5th grade will be learning about poetry in ELA. In math, we will be starting our unit about multiplying multi-digit whole numbers. We will be opening our science unit about stars and space as well as the 4 spheres of the earth. In social studies, we will be studying the challenges our nation faced during its expansion. At the end of the month, November 25th and 26th will be parent teacher conference days. I look forward to meeting with you about your child’s performance in school, more details to come about signing up for a conference time!

CKLA Family Engagement Nights

Please join us for a CKLA information session that will provide families and caregivers with hands-on activities to support their child’s CKLA experience. The flyer for the event is available in English and Spanish. We hope to see you there!

ESOL

Hello Families,

We have truly been getting into the swing of the school year as we begin new units and support students with new vocabulary and reading comprehension. Our new reading curriculum has a website called “Fun Hub”. On the Fun Hub, students can practice letter sounds, vocabulary, and reading stories that they have been learning in class. The books are a great way to practice reading and listening because there is an audio reader for emergent readers that can be turned on or off. The Fun Hub can be accessed on Classlink via Amplify and some teachers have added bookmarks to their Thrillshare pages.

We look forward to meeting face to face with families for our parent-teacher conferences this month. Please be on the lookout for invites from classroom teachers! Conferences will take place November 25th and 26th.

PTA

The PTA is so thankful for all of our supporting BPES families and staff! Our annual Trunk or Treat was a huge success as all seemed to really enjoy themselves! Our next PTA meeting will be December 3, 2024, at 6:00pm in the Media Center. We will be discussing some upcoming events and looking for volunteers to help. Also this month we will have the following events:

11/1: School closed for students - BPES Day at MD Corn Maze (Flyer sent home)

11/5: Bubba’s Dine and Donate Event: Visit the restaurant for lunch or dinner and mention BPES and they will donate a portion of your bill to us!

11/8: Donuts with Grown-Ups: 7:40am - 8:10am

12/14: Winterfest Vendor Fair- stop in for some shopping, tasty food and a special visit from a special guest!

All flyers and information will be shared on the BPES PTA Facebook page, the app as well as flyers sent home. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at bpes_pta@yahoo.com.

Chorus and Band

Hey Music Families!

Chorus Band&Strings are off to amazing first 6 weeks! The Winter Concert is on December 16th at the Chesapeake Arts Center at 6:00pm. Please save the date! Lastly, if you are the parent of a 5th grade student and would like your child to apply to the APEX Arts magnet program at Brooklyn Park Middle School, please register on the APEX website for your child's audition. If your child is auditioning, please let myself or Mr. Henning know so that we can help prepare them.

PBIS

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m9D0XpblrHN471KzL-manZKibqvzFSEx_Usj-i9kshY/pub

Counselor

What does a School Counselor DO?

I work alongside teachers and parents to help students develop

socially and emotionally, and to help remove any barriers to learning!

I Provide:

•Classroom lessons teaching social skills, how to take care of strong feelings, study skills, etc.

•Small group counseling

•Short-term individual counseling

•Consultation with parents and teachers

•Parent workshops

•Community resource referrals (including longer term therapy services)

•Schoolwide programming (Kindness Week, Harvest for the Hungry etc.)

5K celebration will be at the University of Maryland Baltimore County on Sunday, November 24th. Stay tuned for more info on this exciting event. Registration for 5K buddies and community participants will open on Monday, October 7th.

If you would like to be a running buddy the registration opens today Monday October 7th

We would love running buddies who are teachers and other AACPS staff members to support our girls.

We also can have a cheering section where we can make posters, wear our BPES shirts, and cheer loudly as they run and celebrate their accomplishment of completing the 5K.

Mark your calendars, set your alarms, and join us!

5K information

Date: Sunday November 24th

Location: UMBC

Time: 8:30am Pre-5K Fun and preparation - 9:30am 5K starts

5K Registration

Please come join us for a fun filled night of Math! On November 14th from 5:00-7:00 we will have some fun entertainment to start the night with North County High School's marching band. We will have dinner for families as well and math resources for you to take home along with some really fun activities to enjoy while you are here. We hope to see you there! Please be sure to fill out the form so we can order the right number of materials and food for the evening.

Scan the code or click on the link to RSVP!

https://forms.gle/Z4LqHMKxw5qhNtAS8

Last year we introduced our Appreciation Station Snack Cart to our staff! The cart will be filled every Wednesday full of sweet and salty snacks and drinks to show our BPES staff just how much we appreciate them. This school year we are looking for families to sponsor a week by either purchasing snacks or making a $40 donation so the snacks can be purchased. We ask that donations are dropped off to the school by Monday of the sponsored week. Please consider signing up below! Thank you for helping our staff know how much we appreciate them!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D4BABAA2CA0FB6-appreciation

Five Star Parent

1. Builds a positive relationship with all staff members.

2. Dedicated to the BPES community.

3. Builds a partnership with their child's teacher. This partnership is based on trust, communication, and student growth.

4. Dedicated to preventing chronic absenteeism and chronic tardiness.

5. Respects and honors our community of diverse learners.

Emergency card verification emails have been sent. Please make sure you check and update your emergency contact information. The links are only active for 10 days. If you need assistance, please contact the main office at 410 222 6590.

Doors open at 7:40.

Students are dismissed at 2:25.

Late arrival/Early Dismissal

If your child arrives at school after 8:00, they are considered late. Please make sure they are at school prior to this time. Students need to be in their classrooms by 8:00 in order to be marked on time. If your child is late to school, or is getting picked up early, an adult MUST come into the building to sign them in or out.

Early dismissals must take place before 2:00 pm. The office is busy after 2:00, preparing for dismissal procedures, and will not be able to call any kids for dismissal after that time.

Below is the link for Before/After Care for families who need childcare.

School start times:

The doors will open at 7:40am for breakfast and community building. Instruction will begin at 8:00am. It is EXTREMELY important that all kids arrive on time ready to learn!

Walkers

Walkers will be dismissed at 2:25

Bus-Riders

To access BPES bus schedules, please click HERE

Car-Riders

We will dismiss car riders car by car. Please have your child's name on the hang tag so we can quickly call them to your car. Please do not park on 13th Ave during dismissal or arrival. It can make it challenging for people to enter and leave the lot.

Arrival

When students arrive they will pick up their breakfast and report to their homeroom. Teachers will greet students as they arrive.

Dismissal

At dismissal, walkers will be released. Following the release of walkers, car riders will be escorted to the cafeteria. Bus riders will be called as buses arrive.

Visitors

We will be planning several events this year where we will be inviting parents into the building. Unfortunately, we will not be able to allow parents to have lunch with their children in the cafeteria.

Student Birthday Celebrations

• Each student will receive a Birthday pencil and be acknowledged by the whole school on the morning announcements.
• We will celebrate all students' birthdays each month.
• It is very important to understand that food cannot be shared to celebrate. Please do not bring food to share with the class for your child's birthday. We have students with allergies and food sensitive health conditions.

Families can pay for their student’s meals online by going to www.mypaymentsplus.com.

At schools this year, breakfast will be free, and lunches will cost $2.75 for full price students.

Students will need to log in with their student ID in order to get their lunch. Please work with your student at home to help them memorize their ID.

Apply for Free or Reduced-Price Meals: Online Meal Benefit Application (MBA) (English and Spanish) - Link to online MBA – www.aacps.org/mealapplication. Applications must be filled out each school year, even if you qualified the previous year.