October 2025

Dear Families,

As we step into October, I want to take a moment to celebrate the tremendous start to our school year. We’ve officially completed our first full month, and the energy throughout our school is truly inspiring. Each morning, students arrive eager to learn, grow, and connect, and that excitement is contagious.

Across classrooms, we are seeing outstanding instruction take place daily. Our educators are fostering engaging, rigorous learning environments where students feel challenged and supported. From foundational skills being taught in our primary grades to advanced reasoning happening in our intermediate classes, we are seeing the energy and success of thriving learners.

This early momentum sets the tone for the months ahead. We are building a culture where high expectations meet high support, and every child knows they belong. Thank you for partnering with us, your trust and involvement make a real difference.

Here’s to a strong October filled with continued growth, connection, and celebration!

Dear Families,

We’re excited to offer families an opportunity to join us for Campus Conversations this year. This will be a series of informal gatherings created to keep you informed about key aspects of our school community, including academic initiatives, student attendance trends, school culture, and overall campus progress. These sessions offer a valuable opportunity to hear directly from school leadership, ask questions, and stay closely connected to the heartbeat of our campus.

Our second Campus Conversations session will be held virtually on Thursday, October 23rd at 6:30pm.

Please note: These gatherings are focused on schoolwide updates and initiatives. While we welcome your participation, this is not a setting for discussing individual students or personal concerns. For any student-specific matters, we encourage you to schedule a meeting directly with your child’s teacher or administrator.

Please use this link to RSVP in advance. You will receive the link to our Google Meet once you have registered. We look forward to working together to make this year one of connection, clarity, and shared success!

Pre-K 4

We are settling into our routines and showing great progress thus far in Pre-K! In the month of October, we will be ending our School and Friends unit and beginning the Our Environment unit. We will focus on habitats and the plants and animals that live there. This month, we will learn the letters Ss, Tt, Ee, Ll, Mm, Oo, Bb, and Aa, as well as the sounds they make. In math, we will focus on counting objects using 1:1 correspondence (pointing to each object as we count) and shapes. Please continue to check your child's folder daily for important newsletters, notes, etc. If you have not already signed up for ROOMS, please reach out to your child's teacher for more information. More information regarding parent teacher conferences towards the end of the month!

~ Pre-K Team

Kindergarten

Happy October!

We've had a wonderful month in Kindergarten! Students are setting into the school year beautifully as we continue to practice our routines and expectations each day! Our young learners continue to learn how to be a kind friend, interact positively with other peers, and show respect, empathy, and teamwork in our classroom community!

Within our CKLA Literacy curriculum, we are building strong reading foundations this month!

• We're learning to blend syllables and then individual sounds to read basic picture-cards.
• We continue our pre-writing practice by drawing lines and shapes that will build fine motor skills, and prepare our little learners for writing alphabet letters, basic words, and simple sentences in the future!
• We're beginning to explore alphabet letter-sounds (/m/, /a/, /t/, /d/, /o/, /k/, /g/, /i/), basic CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant), and identifying beginning sounds in words.
• We've introduced "Our Five Senses" as we explore our sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch through our interactive read-aloud!

Within our Reveal Math curriculum, we continue to identify, count, and write numerals 0-10! Kindergarteners are introduced to our new Reveal Friend - C.J. and we continue to build number sense by:

• Identifying, counting, and writing numbers 0-10.
• Using manipulatives to explore numbers in hands-on ways.
• Developing our "math thinking" by showing our work and explaining our ideas.

Within our Science/Social Studies curriculum, our kindergarteners are introduced to being the role of a 'Scientist' as they explore and discover the Needs of Plants! Our young scientists are learning about:

• The needs of plants (sunlight, water, air, and soil)
• The parts of a plant and how they help it grow.
• Living vs. Non-Living Things.
• The basic needs of both plants and animals.

~ Kindergarten Team

1st Grade

Hello families! We are halfway through the first marking period, and first grade has been working hard! First graders finished our first unit in our CKLA reading block. Our new topic for Unit 2 is The Human Body. We will be learning about our different systems and organs that make our amazing bodies work. In Math, we have started learning about place value and how to represent 2-digit numbers. We will finish Unit 3 with comparing numbers and then move into addition strategies within 20. Our caterpillars arrived from Arlington Echo, and we have been watching them grow. Our next topic will be day/night and how the seasons change. Please make sure you are connected to Rooms so that you don’t miss out on any announcements.

Thanks!

~ 1st Grade Team

2nd Grade

Wow, the month of September flew by pretty fast! The 2nd grade team has really enjoyed getting to know each of our students! We can see their unique personalities shining already!

We are continually working on being positive star students while showing respect, being responsible and safe in school. Please make sure your child brings their take home purple folder every day! Instruction time has been jam packed.

In MATH we’ve worked with Place Value. Students learned to work with hundred, which is formed from ten groups of tens; • compose and decompose 3-digit numbers by place value; and • compare 3-digit numbers as well as learning routines and rotations to support math instruction. Our next unit will be working with numbers, patterns, addition and subtraction to close out the quarter. There’s no time like the present to start practicing those facts when you can! Feel free to use the Additional Practice Book to reinforce what we have taught during instruction time.

Continue to look for the Literacy curriculum we’ve learned. SKILLS activities include sounds, grammar and sentence structure along with our KNOWLEDGE activities as we listen and read about Early Asian Civilization. This will be a growing experience together!

We are looking forward to an amazing experience this school year! We know your support is worth everything! Thank you!

~ 2nd Grade Team

3rd Grade

Reading & Writing

Congratulations to those students who have returned their signed reading homework passages! Keep reading; practice makes progress! This month, we will begin Unit 2 of CKLA. In this unit, students will be researchers. They will develop scientific skills while they observe and practice identifying important characteristics of organisms and objects. They will also have numerous opportunities to engage in discussions with classmates to share their observations and thinking that occurred while reading.

Writing

In writing, students will focus on an informational writing piece that will extend their understanding of animal classification. They will have many opportunities to work with their peers, share ideas, and provide feedback on their writing. Please encourage your student to start every sentence they write with a capital letter and end every sentence with a form of punctuation: period, question mark, or exclamation mark. They have also learned that the pronoun I is always capitalized, and students need to be capitalizing it in their writing.

Math

We are ready for our Mathematicians to jump into multiplication and division. This month we will explore the meaning of multiplication and division. We will build on what they have learned about arrays and repeated addition to make the connection to multiplication. In division, we will investigate the idea that you can separate objects into smaller, equal sized groups. Look out for the math parent newsletters for examples of how to support your child at home. As we begin our unit on multiplication, please have your child practice the basic multiplication facts regularly. They can use First in Math to help them practice multiplication fact fluency. This is a very important skill in 3rd grade. Thank you for your support.

Social Studies

We've spent the past few weeks identifying positive behavior choices that can help us be Safe, A Team, Accepting, Respectful and Responsible. Now, we're ready to build upon that knowledge as we discover more about our communities and our responsibilities as members of those communities. We'll view multiple perspectives to identify values of individuals and being to examine ways in which we can take action.

Science

We will continue to explore forces and motion, experimenting with mass, gravity, friction, and patterns of motion. We'll also explore ways in which objects interact with each other and continue to form and test hypotheses in order to gather information and collect data. We'll end the month with some exploration of magnetism! Great scientists will be coming to you soon!

~ 3rd Grade Team

4th Grade

Reading: We are entering Unit 2 The Empires in the Middle Ages! This unit covers the history of both the Middle Ages in Europe and the Islamic Medieval Empires. The Middle Ages in Europe and Islamic Medieval Empires units have always been companions in the Grade 4 sequence because their subjects are highly related. While the Middle Ages deals primarily with the events of western Europe, and the relationship between the Christian Church and the rulers of the region, the concurrent Islamic Empires in the Middle Ages unit looks at events in another part of the world (particularly in what is now called the Middle East). Separated by the Mid-Unit Assessment, 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. They are also tied by their impact on the present: it is difficult to understand the modern world without knowing about these two regions and their medieval history. We are aware that the subject matter of this unit can be controversial, particularly given current global tensions. The urgency and relevance make this unit all the more fundamental to cultural literacy. In creating the unit, we have consulted heavily with scholars of the period. We would like first and foremost to thank Professor Ahmed al-Rahim, a specialist in Islamic Studies and the director of the Medieval Studies Program at the University of Virginia, who has been instrumental in the structure, writing, and review of this unit. We would also like to thank Professor Suleiman Mourad at Smith College and Dr. Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, for their expert reviews, and for the additional perspectives of teachers and educators who have reviewed this unit.

Math: In this unit, Addition and Subtraction Strategies and Algorithms, your child will learn how to add and subtract multi-digit numbers. Your child will learn how to make reasonable estimates for sums or differences. Students learn how to use rounding, compatible numbers, and ranges to estimate. Estimating sums or differences allows students to determine if an answer is reasonable. Your child will use an algorithm, or a set of steps, to find the sums of multi-digit whole numbers. Students will learn that they add the digits in the same place value from right to left. The ones are added, then the tens, then the hundreds, and so on. Students will also learn how to add when regrouping is required. Below are two examples of using an algorithm to add. The first problem requires no regrouping. The second problem requires regrouping.

Science: Students are building an understanding of habitats, plant and animal structures. Students' goals are to understand how adaptations and structures are established to help plants and animals survive.

Social Studies: Students are exploring the world of explorations prior to settlement in the United States. Students are building a background of what the United States was like prior to settlement and will then learn about the early settlements in the Americas. Students have begun learning about the Vikings, Spanish and English explorers.

~ 4th Grade Team

5th Grade

Reading: For our upcoming Unit 2, The Big Idea of this unit is that large complex civilizations, including those of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, developed in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans. This unit orients students to the geography, climate, flora, and fauna of the Americas. It also presents an overall history and timeline highlighting the rise and fall of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. In addition, the unit describes innovations and discoveries of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca and features myths from these ancient civilizations.

Math: In this unit, Place Value and Number Relationships, your child will learn about place value, decimals, comparing, and rounding. Your child will compare two decimals to the thousandths place using place value and a number line. It is important that students line up the decimal point when comparing with place value. The strategies show how to compare 5.847 and 5.841. Your child will read and write decimals to thousandths. Children will learn three ways to express decimal numbers: standard form, expanded form, and word form. The word and is used to represent the decimal point.

ELD

Hello Families,

We have been working to support your students in and out of the classroom with their English Language Development with a curriculum that closely aligns to what students are learning in reading. Students practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing using academic vocabulary.

The CKLA program has family newsletters that teachers regularly send home with topics that have been discussed in class. Speak with your child in your home language to strengthen their vocabulary of key terms learned in class! This greatly supports new language acquisition as well as refines home language skills.

If you have not done so already, please complete the parent notification form for English Language Development. You can also access the form by clicking this link: https://secure.aacps.org/webapps/SEFP/en-US/ESOL/Placement

This form only needs to be completed once a year!

Title I

"Please be sure if you have not done so already to fill out our lunch forms for the 25-26 school year! Even if your child does not buy lunch, or you do not plan on having your child buy lunch, this is extremely important and helpful for our school. When the lunch forms are filled out, we are able to keep our Title 1 funding and get amazing resources and host events for our school such as Math and Literacy night, extra staff members to support students learning, and materials to help students learn hands on. Please reach out with any questions to Laura Roussey, our Title 1 Math Resource Teacher! Please use this link to fill out your form today: https://www.aacps.org/page/apply-for-free-or-reduced-price-meals"

CSI

Our school has been designated as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) School by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), based on schoolwide performance and other criteria. In partnership with MSDE, Anne Arundel County Public Schools has provided a dedicated team to address the unique needs of CSI schools. This team works to support students and teachers through targeted interventions, data-driven individualized plans, professional development for teachers, and family and community engagement initiatives.

These efforts aim to create a supportive and effective learning environment that accelerates student achievement and enhances overall school performance. If you have questions about the resources and supports available at our school, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Together, we can ensure the success of every student.

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.)

Come join us for a night of fun and to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month! The event will be October 8th and will begin at 5:30 in the media center for a Title 1 Parent Advisory and Powerful Partnerships meeting and move into our celebration from 6-7.

Families that attend the Title 1 event will receive a special stamp for their passport and will be entered into a raffle to win a gift card, and their students a special treat from Mrs. Montgomery, our principal! If you do not win the raffle, students will get a special lunch bunch with their teachers. All families that attend will be able to receive stamps in their passports that the students can then use for a pajama day. Be sure to join us for a night of fun and celebrating the amazing cultures that make up our BPES family!

Hello Music Families!

Please add December 17th to your Calendars! Our BPES annual Winter Concert will be held at the Chesapeake Arts Center on 12/17/25 and will start promptly at 6:00 p.m. This is not a ticketed event; any family members or friends may attend. However, concerts at BPES are mandatory for all Band, Strings, and Chorus students.

Please reach out to Mrs. Israel or Mr. Henning via Thrillshare or email with any questions.

STEM has begun! These are the titles of the projects by grade level.

Kindergarten: Saving Norman

1st grade: Senses in Nature

2nd Grade: Inclusive Playgrounds

3rd Grade: Zoo Habitats

4th Grade: Animal Bionics

5th Grade: Fair Flight

🎃 Happy October, BPES Families!

As the leaves change and fall sets in, we’re excited to share what’s happening this month with the PTA at BPES. October is packed with ways to engage, support, and celebrate our students and staff!

💌 Membership Drive – Still Time to Join!

👉 Join here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuCl739dve0aOiKSTA2NoFExFoGKBNf6zc1orB0d3B7XC-2w/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=104851392129972298733

📅 October Calendar Highlights

🛍️ Oct 1–5: Virtual Fundraiser with Double Good Popcorn

👻 Oct 13–25: Boo Grams for Sale

Send a sweet surprise to your child, friend, or teacher! Boo Grams will be on sale until Oct 29 and delivered on Oct 31.

💌 Order forms wil be sent home in the near future!

🎉 Oct 24: 4th Annual Trunk or Treat| 5:30–7:00 PM

October 28: Chuck E. Cheese Spirit Day | 12:30 PM – 9:00 PM

We hope to see you at one of our events this month!

Change of Clothes!

We kindly ask that all students in PreK through 5th grade keep an extra change of clothes at school. Spills, playground accidents, and unexpected mishaps can happen at any age, and having a clean set of clothing on hand helps your child feel comfortable and ready to continue learning without interruption. Please include a shirt, pants, underwear, and socks in a labeled bag, and be sure to update the clothing as the seasons change and your child grows. Thank you for your support in helping us keep students comfortable throughout the school day!

Leading by Feeding

We are excited to announce that this month’s Leading by Feeding Food Giveaway will take place on Thursday, October 9th, beginning at 4:00 PM in the back parking lot. Families are invited to come and receive free food items to help support their household needs. This monthly event is part of our commitment to serving and caring for our community, and we welcome everyone to join us. Supplies are limited, so we encourage you to arrive early.

Background Checks for Volunteers at Brooklyn Park Elementary School

Anne Arundel County Public Schools is committed to providing safe and secure learning environments for all students and employees. Successful completion of a background check is required before any person has access to students, either on or off school property. The Office of Investigations has continued to work closely with the Office of School Security to review AACPS protocols for conducting background checks.

Background investigations are divided into two categories: fingerprint-supported background checks and commercial background checks. Once a fingerprint-supported background check is performed, applicants no longer need to submit an electronic background check. Anyone applying to be a chaperone or volunteer must be at least 18 years of age.

Fingerprint-supported background checks must be scheduled through the Fingerprinting Office at 410-222-5045. The Fingerprinting Office is located at the AACPS Central Office on Riva Road and is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, during the school year. The cost of fingerprinting is $63.00 and it includes the commercial background check. Fingerprint-supported background checks for chaperones should be completed at least 3 weeks prior to the scheduled field trip.

Each applicant requiring a fingerprint-supported background check is provided with a pink Fingerprint Verification Card. This card should be kept with the applicant while on school grounds and should be displayed to an administrator upon request. Each school should keep a running list of chaperones and volunteers that have been fingerprinted.

All questions regarding this process, or to confirm the results of a fingerprint-supported background check should be directed to the Office of Investigations at 410-222-5287.

Commercial Background Check

All chaperones and volunteers without one-on-one unsupervised or unrestricted access to students must complete the online request for a commercial background check. This group is inclusive of PTA and PTO officers, CAC officers, Booster Club officers, and chaperones or volunteers who work with children in the presence of an approved AACPS representative (e.g. daytime field trip to the zoo). These background checks are at no cost to the applicant and are valid for 2 years. All applications should be submitted electronically at least 3 weeks prior to the intended school event.

*Persons without personal computer access may access this process on a school computer or use computers in a public library.

https://onboard.screenid.net/gen/inquiries/

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.