The Badger Bulletin
Brandywine Elementary Monthly Newsletter
Message from Mrs.White
Dear Brandywine Community,
I am thrilled to be a Brandywine Badger! This is my first year as a Badger and I have loved every minute of my time learning about this wonderful community! My role here at Brandywine is to support teachers, students and parents to ensure interventions and accommodations are in place to support teaching and learning. My office is always open and I love meeting new people and supporting in any way possible.
Summer is right around the corner and the routines and rush of the school schedule will be quickly coming to an end. Below are some tips to help establish some routines and practices to help support the learning over the summer! The goal is to continue reading, writing and basic math skills daily!
Visit the public library and attend the events, check out books and enjoy the amazing resources
Classlink resources (MyON, ARC, Dreambox)
Visit parks and rec site for fun adventures and family time
These are some free community resources that you and your family can enjoy! Establishing routines and incorporating academic activities daily is vital to ensure growth continues, even during the summer months. My hope is that you have an amazing summer and if you need anything to help support the learning, please reach out to me!
Parents, with end of the year events happening, please remember that safety of staff and students is our number one priority. We require that all visitors check in through the main doors and bring a valid identification card. For larger events, we are asking that visitors pre-register so we can have your badges ready. You will receive the pre-registration information as needed from your teachers. Thank you for your cooperation!
Looking forward to the 2022-2023 school year, we are projected to be at approximately 1,200 students. Our staff will look very similar to what we have this year. As we plan for class placements, please know that if you would like to give input towards your child’s teacher for next year, you will need to send in a letter addressed to me. We do not accept specific teacher names but do want to know if a sibling had a specific teacher. The best feedback we need is about your student’s personality, disposition, and needs. You can also describe the characteristics of an ideal teacher for your child based on that information. Please have this letter to me by May 5th.
From the PTO
We are having so much fun spoiling our teachers this month for Teacher Appreciation. Keep sending in the treats to let them know how much they are loved!!
Want to help plan awesome events like Father/Daughter Dance and Heritage Night? Then you want to be a PTO board member. Look for more information on how to be nominated shortly!!
Want to get involved with more events at Brandywine?
JOIN the PTO!!!
Go to https://brandywinepto.membershiptoolkit.com/ to learn more!!
Hi Badger Families,
Happy May! Yes, that’s correct, it’s MAY a.k.a. the end of the school year is closer than ever! How can it be?! This year has flown by, and we know everyone is looking forward to a long summer break.
Before summer break, however, we have some important things on the schedule:
(1) Our last Coffee & Conversations will be happening April 20th at 9am. We are focusing on growth mindset: what it is, how we talk about it in the classrooms, how to implement it at home, etc. We are also going to provide some resources from our favorite authors and podcasters, so you have plenty ideas for your summer booklist. In case you won’t be able to join us, please look for the presentation on the school website.
(2) End of the year testing begins soon and will go into the first part of May. During this time, you might see your student experience some nerves and/or anxiety around coming to school. As parents and guardians, you can assist in setting the tone for your students’ day by reminding them that it’s normal to feel nervous. Additionally, encouraging them to simply try their best will help keep them in a better frame of mind. If you notice your student is feeling nervous about testing, encourage them to take deep breaths. Deep breathing causes an immediate physiological response that will help calm down feelings of nervousness or anxiety. A few of our favorite breathing techniques are Box/Square Breathing and Starfish Breathing; these techniques are taught to all students in the classrooms. Remind your student that the great thing about focusing on taking deep breaths is that it can be done anywhere, anytime, with anyone.
(3) With the end of the school year being near, lots of fun activities like field day, field trips, classroom parties, 5th grade graduation, etc. create an extra amount of energy in school. This can easily be the best part of the school year! It’s important to remind your student to continue to follow the 3 B’s to ensure the last few weeks are fun and safe. We love to support all our students and teachers in having a fun last stretch of school, but also need your partnership at home to help keep everyone safe throughout the activities.
Lastly, it wouldn’t be the May newsletter without doing a reflection of all the exciting things we did this year. We started in the classrooms talking about the Zones of Regulation. Our catchphrase for the four zones was and still is, “you can feel however you’re going to feel, but you still need to make good choices”. We stressed that it’s important to recognize our feelings while still finding a way to productively communicate and regulate. Second semester started with safety, moved into kindness, dove into problem solving, and wrapped up with careers. We hosted three successful Coffee & Conversations with our admin team, and we were so happy to see an awesome amount of you there. To say the least, it was a very productive school year!
We are so thankful that we have such a large community that supports our counseling department at BWE. We are looking forward to next year, but first…SUMMER! Stay safe Badgers and we will see you soon!
- Complete the survey for SPARK! Ignite Learning for parent technology trainings. Here is the survey in English and here is the survey in Spanish
Denmark Community of Schools Family Connect Night happens each month! Teachers will not assign homework and we encourage students to engage with their families without technology. Upload any fun pictures here so we can share!
- Check out the Brandywine Family Podcast
DeSana Basketball
Hello Parents,
I wanted to let you know of a few opportunities for your child regarding basketball this summer here at DeSana Middle School. We will be hosting two camps this summer and I have attached the informational flyers to this email. Some camp and registration information is listed below.
The WARMUP Skills Training Camp
Featuring Professional Basketball Player: Fineto Lunguana
June 12 – June 15 (Session 1: 8:30 am – 11:00 am for Rising Grades 4th – 6th BOYS and Grades 6th – 8th GIRLS)
(Session 2: 11:30 am – 2:00 pm for Rising Grades 7th through 9th BOYS)
DeSana Middle School
Register: Contact Coach Fineto Lungwana @ finetolunguana@gmail.com or 678-446-6208
Collegiate Prep Basketball Academy
Featuring former D1 and D2 College Coach Bert Tucker
June 26 – June 29 (Session 1: 8:30 am – 12:00 pm for Rising Grades 4th – 6th BOYS and Grades 6th – 8th GIRLS)
(Session 2: 12:30 pm – 4:00 pm for Rising Grades 7th and 8th BOYS)
DeSana Middle School
Register: https://app.teamlinkt.com/register/find/collegiateprep
