Brookside Bulletin

• November 18 - Butter Braid pick up
• November 26-28 - Thanksgiving Break
• December 22 - January 2: Winter Break - No Classes

Dear Brookside Families,

As the beautiful month of November begins, I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the wonderful partnership we share. Your involvement is truly the heart of our school's success, and it makes all the difference in our students' educational journey. I am thankful for the many ways you support your children and our school community, whether it's through encouraging reading at home, attending parent-teacher conferences, volunteering for school events, or simply ensuring your child arrives at school ready to learn each day.

Your dedication to education, alongside the commitment of our amazing teachers and staff, creates a warm, supportive, and engaging learning environment here at Brookside. When we work together, our students thrive. As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday later this month, I wish all of your families a wonderful time with family and friends. Thank you again for being such an essential part of the Brookside family. I look forward to a fantastic November together!

Warmly,

Dr. Jenny Wielinski

Skate Night - November 17th

Our annual PTA skate night is Monday November 17th from 5pm - 8:30pm. The first hour is a private skate for Brookside only. You can purchase tickets here. To save time, complete the waiver before you show up so you can immediately strap on your skates and show off your skills! There will be Skate Zone signs in the front lawn of Brookside. Anyone who brings in a Skate Zone sign the night of the skating event will get a free pizza and pitcher of soda!

Apparel Sale - Ends December 1st

The PTA Apparel Sale is running through Monday, December 1st. There is a wide range of t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, and pants! Any apparel ordered will be delivered to the school before winter break. Order your Brookside apparel here!

Parents, grandparents, and community members tell us all the time that we have wonderful teachers, office staff, specialists, assistants, custodians, bus drivers, etc. Now it is your chance to recognize a Brookside staff member for their outstanding dedication, commitment to excellence, and genuine care for others. This is your opportunity to share how you, as a valued member of our school community, have experienced the positive impact of their hard work and uplifting attitude at Brookside Elementary. Simply click the link and fill out the form to nominate an outstanding staff member. Thank you for supporting this new initiative. Golden Bobcat Award Nomination Form

Congratulations to our September and October Golden Bobcats, Mrs. Reiner and Mrs. Bazemore!

Who will receive the next award in November?

This fall, Worthington will launch the new Portrait of a Learner Survey to help us better understand and measure students' durable skills- like flexibility, organization, emotional control, and task initiation. This new survey replaces Panorama and gives us more flexibility and a stronger connection to the Portrait of a Learner and our ongoing focus on executive functioning skills. Please read more about this survey, Parent Portrait Survey Fall 2025 .

Hello, Parents! Worthington is offering FREE parenting workshops! Topics include:

• Dealing with Disobedience

• Managing Fighting and Aggression

• Hassle-Free Bedtimes

Meet with other parents and trained facilitators in a relaxed, supportive session. See this FLIER for more information regarding dates, times, and locations.

At Brookside we believe in celebrating positive behaviors in many ways. We are delighted to announce our Students of the Month for September and October for demonstrating outstanding integrity and moral courage! Integrity means doing the right thing even when it's hard or when no one is watching. Moral courage is the special kind of bravery it takes to stand up for others and to speak the truth. Students receive this recognition because they consistently show us what it means to be a truly good friend and an honest member of our school community. These students are honest in their words and actions, they stand up for classmates, and they choose the hard right over the easy wrong. Congratulations!

Canned Food Drive - Update

We collected over 4,000 items! Thank you so much for helping others.

Pick up is on November 18 from 5:00-6:00!

We have a new attendance email address for the Brookside office. If your child will be absent for any reason, please call (614-450-5300) or email (broattend@wscloud.org) attendance. If you know about a planned absence, please share that information prior to the absence.

Please have your child arrive to school and be an active and engaged learner by our tardy bell at 7:40am. It is important that your child arrives on time as school attendance is calculated by the minute and accumulates quickly when tardy.

Arrival occurs between 7:30am and 7:40am. The tardy bell rings at 7:40am.

Free & Reduced School Meals for Students

Worthington Schools offers Free & Reduced-Price Meals for students who qualify. A new application must be submitted each school year—eligibility does not carry over from the previous year. If you haven’t yet applied for the 2025–2026 school year, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible to avoid any interruption in benefits. For more information and to access the online application, click HERE. Paper applications are also available in the school office.

Student Lunch Accounts

Families can add money to their student's lunch account through My Payments Plus by clicking HERE. You can also use MPP to track your student's account and see much money remains on it. My Payments Plus is also used to pay other fees, like high school parking permits and AP testing fees.

Are you looking for activities, clubs, or events for your kids such as Young Rembrandt's, WYB, etc. If so, click the Worthington Schools Electronic Backpack link below. This is where you will find notifications from groups about memberships, registration, and event dates/times. It's always changing, so check back often!

Electronic Backpack

We’re teaming up with Stay in the Game and our regional partner, the Columbus Crew, to promote strong attendance and keep our students “in the game” all year long.

Why does attendance matter so much? Missing just two days of school a month can add up to over three weeks in a school year—that’s considered chronic absence. And just like on the field, being part of the team every day makes all the difference for learning, growth, and success.

Families are key teammates in this effort. To learn more, check out Stay in the Game’s Family Resources. You can even show your support by taking the Attendance Pledge—let’s make attendance a winning goal!

By working together, we can keep our students in the game and set them up for success—on and off the field.

See a video from members of the Columbus Crew HERE. And, then sign the STAY IN THE GAME pledge.

Dear Worthington School Families: Circle of Grandparents (COG) is a character education program that operates in the Worthington School District, having been established in the year 2000. With the support of Worthington Schools and the nonprofit Partners for Community and Character, senior volunteers use community-chosen qualities to teach students the importance of good character. We’re looking for volunteers! Our goal is to have a grandparent in each Worthington School elementary classroom. As a “Grandparent”, you can draw from your own life experiences and individual talents to teach concepts of character to your “adopted” class. No classroom or teaching experience is required, COG will provide support and materials to you through monthly, optional meetings. You do not have to be an actual grandparent to participate, however, if you are a grandparent to a child in the Worthington Schools, you may request your grandchild’s class. Any “Grandparent” has the option to choose the school and grade level they wish to assist. This is a wonderful opportunity that benefits all who are involved. Interested in learning more? Please contact Jim McElligott at jamestmcelligott53@gmail.com.

Please read this INFORMATION SHEET to understand what we look for in volunteers.

View our Lost and Found items HERE. Simply call, email or have your student stop by the office if you see an item that belongs to them. Please label all of your student’s belongings so that they are easily reunited.

Brookside uses a car loop for parents who choose to drop their children off in the morning. Please be sure your child is ready to exit the car in a quick, but safe manner on the passenger side only. We do this for safety puproses. Please keep your speed to a crawl. Now and then we have family members who are not familiar with our process or are simply new to our school community so your patience is appreciated. Feel free to park in the front parking spaces to drop your child off should you not use the car loop.

Thank you in advance for adhering to our guidelines. 🙂

Dear Elementary Parents,

Worthington Schools is excited to announce its growing partnership with Securly in safeguarding students. Securly is used to monitor students’ online content, blocking access to inappropriate websites and materials on our school network and school-owned devices. Starting with the 2025/26 school year, Worthington Schools will make the Securly Home app available to elementary families.

Chromebook Content Filtering

District-owned Chromebooks will now have similar content filtering whether they are at school or away. This means that Chromebooks will have a base level of filtering no matter what network they are on. Content filtering is an uphill challenge and a very fine line to ensure students have access to the content and resources needed for effective learning while keeping harmful material at bay. While Internet content is ever-changing, our goal is to ensure a safe online experience.

Parental Control

Parents will have access to a website and mobile app, through Securly, to adjust their student’s district-provided Chromebook filtering levels when the device is away from the district network. You can determine the appropriate categories and sites your student has access to. More details can be found at our Parent Securly Information.

Activity Alerts

Worthington Schools' building leadership receives alerts when activity, such as searches or sites visited, indicates a student may be considering self-harm, harming others, or other inappropriate behaviour. This service was implemented so that school administrators are able to partner with you to provide a safer online experience. While these alerts are not perfect, we feel it is an important tool in ensuring your student’s safety

We take student safety very seriously, and online safety is part of the overall approach. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to your principal. Or if you need specific support from Securly, you can contact them at homesupport@securly.com.

Additional resources can also be viewed below.

Securly Getting Started Video

Securly Home App Walkthrough (English).pdf

Sincerely,

Worthington Schools

Worthington Connects is a community-driven organization dedicated to supporting local families in need year-round. We partner closely with schools to identify families who could benefit from assistance and rely on generous donations from the community to make our efforts possible. Every contribution helps us provide meaningful support to those in need.

If you would like to donate or get involved, please visit https://www.worthingtonconnects.org Families seeking assistance are encouraged to reach out to their school counselors, who work with us to connect resources to those who need them most. Together, we can make a lasting impact in our Worthington community!

Direct donation: https://www.worthingtonconnects.org/giving-page-3

For the safety of children, do not send any nut or peanut items to school in your child's lunch, snack, or school party item as we are a nut and peanut free school. It could literally mean life or death to another child. Thank you in advance for your understanding and compliance.

Please be sure you are observing road safety laws and educating your student(s) as well. Please always stay vigilant.

• Pedestrians: Where neither sidewalk nor shoulder is available, pedestrians shall walk as near to the outside edge of the roadway and only on the left side of the roadway, facing traffic. Any pedestrian upon a roadway shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway. Cross streets at crosswalks or intersections.
• Cyclists: Cyclists should ride on the right half of the roadway, riding with traffic instead of against it. Please wear a helmet!
• Drivers: Yield the right-of-way to pedestrians at intersections and crosswalks.

Field Trip volunteers/chaperones must have their volunteer badges. If you are interested in volunteering in our school or for a field trip. Please go to the district website and follow the instructions HERE.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Parents, if you have not done so this year, please make sure to verify/update information in the Emergency Data Review through the parent portal. You can access the portal* on the WCS website. This process must be completed every year in case of an emergency and in order for your child(ren) to participate in class field trips. Instructions for using the parent portal appear here.

The Special Education Road Map has been translated into 21 different languages!!

This roadmap is helpful to all families, especially families who are just beginning the special education process.

https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Special-Education/Families-of-Students-with-Disabilities

Worthington’s Special Education Key Communicator Committee strives to build positive, productive and collaborative relationships and partnerships amongst the educators and community of families whose children receive special education and related services. We will engage in two-way communication, with the goal being to provide a circle of influence where we can share out and learn from and with each other.

The key communicators will convey information from their building to the committee, as well as information from the committee to their buildings.

The Key Communicators for Brookside are Sandra Sell at snsell74@gmail.com and Emily Smith at lightseekerem@hotmail.com 614-563-3687. Please reach out to either of our communicators if you have questions or topics to discuss.

Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA), provides financial assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. Our school receives Title IA funding.

Parents/families of students in our building have a right to know about teacher qualifications and state-mandated assessments. All teachers providing Title I interventions are properly licensed for their positions and anyone can search licensure information on any educator at https://core.ode.state.oh.us/Core4/ODE.CORE.Lic.Profile.Public.UI/ . In addition to being linked here, these documents are available on the Title IA page of our school website.