Bear Essentials

We hope you can come and cheer for Berkeley Lake Elementary during the Duluth Fall Festival Parade. We will be celebrating our 2026-27 Teacher of the Year, Ms. Trina Ashadele. The parade will take place on September 26 at 9:00 AM in Downtown Duluth.

Change for this year: The parade is no longer allowing students and families to walk with their schools during their parade. Families are welcome to show their BLES pride as they watch the parade.

Parent Teacher Conferences will take place October 26th - October 30th, with Early Release days on Wednesday, October 28th, and Thursday, October 29th. We encourage all parents to sign up for a conference. If your student has multiple teachers listed, please ONLY sign up for a conference with their homeroom teacher.

You will notice a new feature this year that allows you to pick your Meeting Type, either "In Person" or "Virtual Conference". If you select "Virtual Conference", your student's homeroom teacher will send you a link to join via Microsoft Teams.

To request an interpreter or for other staff members to attend (Special Areas, Resource, Special Ed, or Administrators), please use the "Special Request" button or send a message or note to your student's teacher. The best time to book if you need an interpreter is Wednesday and Thursday between the hours of 1:00PM-5:00PM.

Click the link below to enter to Parent Teacher Conference scheduling system.

There is not a volunteer sign-up this year. Field Day will be held on the dates below. Families should bring an ID and check in at the front office before heading to field day location. Families should follow their student's class through the stations and help lead the station with other adults.

Field Day Schedule:

October 5

8:45-11:00am: Kindergarten and 1st Grade

11:00am-12:00pm: Pre-K

12:00-2:15pm: 2nd and 3rd Grade

October 6

8:45-11:00am: 4th Grade

12:00-2:15pm: 5th Grade

*****Important Note: If it rains, Field Day will be canceled.*****

Who: ALL Berkeley Lake Elementary Families (all students must be with a trusted adult. A permission form will be required)

When: Wednesday, October 7th (morning arrival) 7:45-8:15, tardy after 8:15 am

Where: Walk from home to Berkeley Lake Elementary OR Families who live outside of walking distance can park at the Berkeley Lake City Hall or the Berkeley Lake Chapel (not in handicapped spaces) and walk to school from from there.

How to Participate: Wear Your favorite BLES Spirit Wear and let's walk! Walking together with other fellow school families is highly encouraged. Fill out the Permission Form here.

Please fill out the form attached to indicate if you would like to join us on International Night to celebrate our diverse community! Please note that there will be NO forms accepted after OCTOBER 16th! Thank you for your support and partnership in making this a great night!

🔗Link to Form

Donate Items: We are looking for donations to stock our store shelves as soon as possible.

🔗 Link to PBIS Store Amazon Wishlist

Join us in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Week from October 5th through October 9th with a fun themed dress-up week! Students and staff are encouraged to show their spirit each day by wearing soccer jerseys, bright floral attire, flag colors, cultural icon outfits, and traditional clothing. We look forward to seeing everyone participate and honor Hispanic culture together!

October 5th – 9th

Monday: Soccer Jersey

Tuesday: Bright Colors/Anything Floral COMO LA FLOR

Wednesday: Represent Country's Flag Colors

Thursday: Cultural Icon

Friday: Traditional Clothing

We are so excited to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month through language and literacy with two fun activities for our school community!

Activity 1: Cultural Book Showcase Share a book that represents your culture! Fill out the interest form, and Ms. Tran will reach out to you. Depending on the response, participants will be featured on the morning announcements or in a special school-wide slideshow. This is open to students, parents, and teachers!

• English Form: https://forms.gle/43StpAJC22Bu4iyj7

• Spanish Form: https://forms.gle/DE3zuGdspAhDHzth7

Activity 2: Hispanic Heritage Month BINGO Pick up a BINGO board in the library featuring books available right here in our BLES collection that highlight these vibrant cultures. Complete a full row and turn your board in to Ms. Tran by October 9th to be entered into a grand prize raffle!

Thank you for celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with us—happy reading!

Are you looking for a way to give back to our community? Do you have teens or Scouts in need of volunteer opportunities? Please consider volunteering with the Duluth Food Pantry on Sundays. Use the QR code on the flyer to learn more and sign up.

T Mobile's Project One Million provides free internet for qualifying families of K-12 students. If you are interested in learning more, please go to https://www.t-mobile.com/brand/project-10-million.

Hello families! If you received an automated email about your student's overdue library book this week, this email may have been sent in error. I have not seen all of the classes back in the Library Media Center for this rotation of specials yet, so they have not had a chance to return their books with their classes. We have a new library system, and our overdue emails are a new feature this school year.

Mrs. Norby is working to update the schedule for these automated emails to be sent to families every three weeks. This will ensure that your students will visit the Library Media Center for Library Media Specials class to return their books on time before you would receive an overdue notice email.

Please note that the county has updated the Library Book Fines this school year for Lost/Damaged Library Media Center books:

Hardcover Books: $20 fine if lost/damaged

Paperback Books: $10 fine if lost/damaged

(If materials are later found and returned, the fee will be reimbursed.)

Book charges (fines) can be paid with cash, check, or on MyPaymentsPlus.

We appreciate your students being responsible with their Library Media Center books and returning them on time when their class visits for Library Media Specials!

Volunteers needed for our Berkeley Lake Elementary School Fall Scholastic Book Fair!

BLES Fall Scholastic Book Fair dates: Monday, October 26th - Friday, October 30th

(Please see the volunteer times we need to fill in the link below.)

Our Book Fair week will be here before we know it, so we are hoping to start filling our volunteer spots as soon as possible!

If you’re available to lend a hand at this upcoming event, please take a look at our Book Fair Sign-Up schedule in the link below.

FALL 2026 BOOK FAIR VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E44ABAA22A0FBC70-65881598-fall

We look forward to bringing this exciting Book Fair to our BLES Students!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at nicole.norby@gcpsk12.org.

💜Find the PTO event calendar and announcements on our website and on Facebook and Instagram.

🧢Still need to get your best fit for Field Day? Pop-up sale on field day hats ($10) and field day shirts ($5) while supplies last. 👚Thursday, Oct 1st 8:30am-12:30pm.

🎃 Fall has arrived and soon so will all the cars for our annual Bear Scare Trunk or Treat! Sign up today!

Duluth Youth Basketball is holding tryouts for 3rd through 5th-grade boys and girls in the Duluth/Peachtree Ridge Cluster. Tryouts will take place on Monday, September 28th, from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Duluth High School Gymnasium under Coach Rodney Kellum. For questions or additional information, please contact duluthyouthbball@gmail.com or call 470-238-8454.

Thank you for reading our weekly newsletter!

Berkeley Lake Elementary

4300 S. Berkeley Lake Rd.

Duluth, Georgia 30096

P: (770)446-0947

F: (770)582-7514