April 2025

Spring is in full bloom, and so is our calendar! We have an exciting month ahead, filled with learning, fun, and connection.

📣 School Assembly - Our monthly assembly will honor students who have earned Character Awards, and we will enjoy our monthly Minute to Win It competition

NED Show - We’re kicking off April with a high-energy assembly promoting positive behavior & academic achievement.

👀 Peeking into Pre-K - Incoming Pre-K families, don’t miss this special opportunity to learn more about our early learning program.

⚾ All-School Field Trip - We’re heading to see the Bowie Baysox this month for an unforgettable day of fun and school spirit!

🌷 Spring Break - Schools will be closed from April 14 to April 21

🎉 MCAP Test Prep Rally - To get our students pumped for testing, we’ll be hosting a fun, motivational rally full of energy, encouragement, and school pride.

📚 Spring Book Fair - Our Book Fair begins at the end of this month! It’s a great chance to stock up on exciting reads and support our school.

We wish all our families a safe and restful break! Thank you for your continued support. April is shaping up to be a great month of learning, growth, and celebration!

Tanya Montgomery, Principal

Karyn Chisholm, Assistant Principal

Regular attendance is essential for student success, yet chronic absenteeism -missing 10% or more of the school year (about 18 days total) can significantly impact learning. Research shows that students who miss too many days often struggle academically and socially, making it harder to stay on track with their peers. Whether absences are excused or unexcused, missing school affects a child’s ability to reach their full potential. While we understand that illnesses and emergencies happen, we encourage families to prioritize consistent attendance.

For the month of March:

Chronic absenteeism:

33% of students are identified as chronically absent (down 2% from February)

At risk for chronic absenteeism:

30% of students are currently at risk, (up 2% from February)

This is a critical time for learning, and we want every student to be fully prepared for the next grade level. Every school day matters! Let’s work together to ensure our students have the knowledge and skills they need to move forward successfully. If your child is facing any challenges that impact attendance, please reach out, we are here to support you!

Thank you for making attendance a priority!

Just a reminder - any and all medications must be dropped off by a parent in the health room with the appropriate documentation signed by both the parent and a physician. Please do not send any medication to school in your student's backpack, it will be confiscated and thrown away. For the appropriate documentation, please contact the health room.

Pre-K 3

Hello Parents/Guardians,

We have just begun Theme 7: On the Go- En camino. Your child will be learning about places kids go- Lugares donde van los ninos, wheels- Ruedas, Wings- Alas, water- Agua. They will listen to the stories The Places I Go, Get Moving!, Wheels Are All Around, The Three Bears' Vacation, If I Had Wings, Little Bee's Journey, The Zebra on the Zyder Zee, Boats Float. In math they are learning about order- size, position, size & position, quantity. Letters for this theme are S, s, B, b, T, t, D, d, W, w, J, j, M, m, N, n, H, h, X, x, V, v, K, k, Q, q Y, y Z, z, C, c, E, e G, g, A, a, P, p. Please remember to label your child's jackets/clothing and send in an outfit in case of an accident. Please continue to read to your child each night. Thank you for your continued support.

We are going to begin our second to last unit in Pre-K! It is hard to believe how fast the year flew by and how much our students have learned. They have mastered so many topics and we are so proud of them! We appreciate all of your support at home through reinforcing skills and communication with us. Thank you! ​ Our new unit is Growing Our Garden. We will be exploring growth over time by investigating gardens and living things within them. Students will learn about what plants need to grow, what creatures live in and benefit gardens, and how people grow gardens for food. We will be learning about our final four letters; Ww, Xx, Yy, and Zz. We will continue reviewing the other 22 letters through upper and lower case matching, letter sound games, and handwriting. In math, we will focus on simple addition, review shapes, and subitizing. Thank you for your continued support! Please keep an eye out for Pre-K conference information coming in May.

Kindergarten

April is a big month in kindergarten! For one, it means that your children are three-quarters of the way through their kindergarten year and so close to being in first grade! We have a lot of fun stuff this month so please reach out to your child’s teacher with any questions or concerns.

• In literacy…

We are going to continue learning other vowel and consonant sounds and how they blend into words. We are also going to be learning a lot of new tricky words. It is very important to practice with these skills at home, as our curriculum moves quickly, and each skill builds upon the last one. Additionally, we will be finishing our unit on Christopher Columbus before moving on to our next unit called Taking Care of Our Earth. We are excited for all that we will read and learn about!

• In math…

We are going to begin learning about 3D shapes! They really are all around us so encourage your child to identify them whenever and wherever they see them. Although we are moving to a new unit, the importance of number identification, counting, and simple addition and subtraction skills have not gone away. It is important to continue practicing these skills so your child can stay sharp for the future.

• In science and social studies…

We are going to discuss how us and the world around us change over time. This will include discussing why change happens, how technology has changed, and what we think the future will be like. We will end the month by discussing how to take care of the Earth and what Earth-friendly choices look like.

• Outside of the classroom…

April is a big month in kindergarten for FIELD TRIPS! We have two field trips this month!

• April 9th- Trees are Terrific!- Field trip to Downs Park to explore nature and learn more about trees.

• April 10th- Chesapeake Baysox Game- Whole school field trip to see a baseball game.

We are excited for all of the fun that April has in store for us in kindergarten! Please continue to support your child in all the ways that you can and reach out to your child’s teacher with any questions or concerns!

1st Grade

Hello First Grade Families!

We have made it to Marking Period 4! First graders have been working so hard! We start Skills 6 with learning alternative spellings for /s/, /n/, and /w/. We will also be working on writing a personal narrative. Be sure to practice your spelling words! We have a test every week. Math has had us living in the land of place value. We looked at 2 digit addition with and without regrouping. We will be using those skills to solve compare word problems and 2 digit subtraction. Knowledge has taken us on a trip around the world as Rattenbourough takes us to visit and learn about different animal habitats. After habitats, we will be reading and comparing different fairy tales. In Science and Social Studies, we will start our Bubblology unit and learn all about bubbles and how we can make them. Make sure you check your child’s folder for our permission slip for our May field trip to the zoo. If you would like to chaperone, please make sure you have your background check completed.

Thanks!

The First Grade Team

2nd Grade

Wow, the testing time flew by and we can see the growth in our 2nd grade scholars. Let’s continue to practice for 3rd grade readiness! Thank you to our parent chaperones who were able to attend our trip to the Baltimore Museum of Industry. What a fun experience! We are looking forward to our school wide trip to see the Bowie Baysox baseball team. Keep a look out for a future trip before the end of this school year. As Spring Break approaches, we want to continue to focus on what we are learning.

For our Math focus, we are back to learning to use place value patterns to mentally add and subtract 10 or 100 to a 3-digit number and add 3- digit numbers with/without regrouping. Students are learning to use different strategies for adding 3-digit numbers and explain why they chose the strategy they used. Please don’t forget to practice homework. It is a great reinforcement.

Literacy/Knowledge curriculum has introduced us to the U.S Civil War and learned about the controversy over slavery between the North and the South, which eventually led to the U.S. Civil War. We will also learn about some women and men who were significant during this time, including Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant. This lays the foundation for in-depth studies of the U.S. Civil War in later grades. It will also set the stage for when we learn about Fighting for a Cause, which will be taught later in the school year. Our Skills curriculum continues to focus on spelling alternatives for vowel sounds. We will continue to review previously taught grammar skills, including capitalization and punctuation, use of apostrophes, and the identification of nouns, adjectives, the concept of verb tenses (present, past, and future) and the components of a sentence, subject and predicate. Narrative writings will come from the short stories we’re reading. Please continue to be on the lookout for literacy material we send home about our curriculum.

As always, we want the best for our soon to be 3rd graders and will continue to push them to their best potential. Again, we thank you for your love and support.

~2nd Grade Team

3rd Grade

Reading

The nonfiction Reader for Unit 7, What’s in Our Universe? consists of selections describing the sun, the eight planets, our moon, asteroids, comets, meteors, galaxies, stars, the Big Bang theory, and important figures in the history of space exploration, including Nicolaus Copernicus and Mae Jemison. Students will be given opportunities throughout the unit to demonstrate Read-Aloud fluency.

Spelling

During this unit’s spelling exercises, students will review words with spelling patterns /j/, /n/, /ae/, /k/, and /s/. In Lessons 1–5, students will review words with spelling patterns of /j/ spelled ‘g’, ‘j’, ‘ge’, ‘dge’, and ‘dg’. For Lessons 6–10, students will review words with spelling patterns of /n/ spelled ‘n’, ‘nn’, ‘kn’, and ‘gn’. Finally, in Lessons 11–15, students will review words with spelling patterns of /ae/, /k/, /s/, /j/, and /n/. Students will have two or three Challenge Words and one Content word added to each spelling list.

You will also continue to teach dictionary skills. As this unit progresses, students should become proficient in the application of guide words.

Grammar

In grammar, students will review the conjunctions and and because and be introduced to the conjunctions so and or. Students will continue their study of cause and effect, understanding that the conjunction because announces the cause and the conjunction so announces the effect. Students will also recognize that the conjunctions and and or are opposites, as the conjunction and includes topics, ideas, or things in sentences, whereas the conjunction or excludes topics, ideas, or things in sentences. They will be introduced to the correct punctuation needed for presenting items in a series in a sentence and will review the use of quotation marks in dialogue. Students will be introduced to singular and plural possessive nouns.

Morphology

During the morphology portion of the lessons, students will study the common suffixes –ful and –less. Students will also review the suffixes –ous, –ive, and –ly. Students will continue to practice using their knowledge of how these suffixes change the meaning and part of speech of these words. Students have done sufficient word work to be able to apply what they have learned as they encounter unfamiliar words in text and content.

Math

This month our Mathematicians will work on solving two-step problems as we wrap up our unit on multiplication and division. We begin our next unit will focus on determining the perimeter of a figure. We will continue focusing on fact fluency. Students should be fluent with the 0s, 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, and 10s facts. This is such an important skill. Please ensure they are practicing daily. Thank you for your support.

Science

In Science, we will begin to investigate and classify fossils and the fossilization process. As part of our investigations, we'll talk about both living and extinct organisms and ways to identify them in fossils. Later, we will begin exploring the effects environmental change has on animals. By the end of the unit, your student should be able to identify changes in environments and discuss how those changes impact the lives of the animals in that environment.

Social Studies

We will continue to focus on economics for the beginning of the month as we talked about scarcity, production and resources. We will end this unit with our culminating project where students will design and build a good or service and develop a business plan considering factors like resources needed, time for production, costs of production, and profit.

4th Grade

Reading: The Reader for this unit, The Road to Independence, includes complex text and prepares students in Grade 4 for the increased vocabulary and syntax demands aligned texts will present in later grades. The Road to Independence focuses on important events and people that led to the colonists’ decision to declare independence from the British government. Students will examine the sequence of events leading to the American Revolution and what happened during the war itself. Students will also read two literary selections about the time period.

Math: Students apply what they learned in Grade 3 and earlier in Grade 4 about composing fractions, together with their understanding of multiplication, to multiply fractions and mixed numbers by whole numbers. Students will represent using visual models and number lines in order to multiply a fraction by a whole number.

Science: As we prepare for Arlington Echo, students will revisit conservation and energy resources at school and at home.

Social Studies: Students will continue to build their understanding of the American Revolution by continuing to analyze different points of views. Students will also analyze different battles throughout this time period.

Reminders:

4/1- Arlington Echo (Rain or shine)

4/10- Whole School trip to Chesapeake Baysox Game

4/30- Terp Trip (10 selected students)

5/1- Baltimore Zoo

5/22- Baltimore Museum of Art

6/5- B&O Railroad

5th Grade

5th graders have an exciting April ahead of them! We will be having back-to-back field trips on April 9th to the Chesapeake Arts Center and April 10th to the Chesapeake Baysox game! Then, we will have a restful spring break! Students should come back to school on Tuesday, April 22nd READY TO GO! We will have MCAP testing that same week, so their brains must be warmed up!

In ELA, we are starting our Native Americans unit and writing persuasive essays.

In Math, we will be converting units of measurement in both conventional and metric units.

In Science, students will engage in Engineering Design to create a water filtration device.

In Social Studies, we will be discussing challenges of American economic, political, and civic life from 1900-present.

PTA

Spring has sprung and we are so excited about some of the upcoming activities!

First, thank you to everyone that participated and/or supported our Double Good Popcorn Fundraiser last month. Congratulations to The Willis Family for being our Top Seller!

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week is right around the corner, May 5th -May 9th! We are working on some great ideas to show the BPES staff just how much we appreciate them. More information will be sent home after Spring Break. In the meantime, if you are willing and able to donate, please click the link below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D4BABAA2CA0FB6-55852675-teacher

Events this month:

4/4: Family Movie Night- 5:30pm, Join us at 5pm for a presentation from our Title I Team!

4/21: Chick-Fil-A Spirit Night, Glen Burnie location 4:00 - 8:00pm

4/28: Dine and Donate Bubba’s 33 - All Day event.

Chorus and Band

Hello from the BPES Music Department!

Band, Strings, and Chorus are working hard on all our Spring Concert preparations. All families must be involved in our preparedness as well! Does your child still have their yellow super power concert t-shirt? Are they attending all of their instrumental or chorus classes? Do you hear them practicing their parts at home? Remember to check in with your child about their musical progress so that they are confident when the concert arrives. Teamwork is important! Mark your calendars, our Spring Concert is on June 2nd at the Chesapeake Arts Center at 6:00pm. Be sure to contact Mrs. Israel or Mr. Henning with any questions.

Media

📚Please double check that your child has their library book in their backpack on their library day. Overdue slips were recently sent home with pictures of the book's cover to help you locate missing books. We want students to read and check out books weekly. Read, read, read!📚

BOOK FAIR COMING SOON! April 28th-May 2nd

SAVE THE DATE-Family Night at the Book Fair-Friday, May 2nd

New books have arrived!

Encourage your child to share their library book(s) with you.

Please remind your child to read their book(s), keep them in their backpack, and return them to the Library-Media Center when they are finished or on their Library Day! Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten are learning how library check out works and will start checking out books in the near future.

Mondays:

3-Reed

1-Czorapinkski

Tuesdays:

4-Richmond

2-Mason

3-Dacus

Wednesdays:

4-Alvarado

2-Mathiesen

3-Bonaparte

5-Hudson

1-Dehaney

Thursdays:

2-Byer

5-Williamson

1-Harrison

Fridays:

4-Willet

2-Nappier

3-Mason

5-Frank

1-Taylor

ELD

Hello Families,

We are in the final stretch of the school year and we are going to finish strong.

In grade K-2, there has been a strong emphasis on writing our thoughts on paper by stretching out words to hear every sound in a word.

In grades 3-5, students continue to expand their academic vocabulary.

Thank you for all the support you are providing your students at home. Our students have made a lot of growth since the beginning of the school year!

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.)

Bring in your loose change and gain points by adding pennies and bills to your class jug. Lower other grade level totals by adding silver coins to their jugs. Penny Wars ends 4/11. Grade level winners will be announced when we return from Spring Break on 4/22!

Congratulations, to all the Gentlemen who participated in the AAASBE Oratorical Contest! Our gentlemen received a medal and honorable mention in the excellent category. Thanks to families for their support!

In the month of April, we will meet on Wednesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 23, 2025. We will not meet on the 3rd Wednesday, April 16, 2025 because we are out of the building for Spring Break.

On Wednesday, April 2nd, we will have “Grooming with the Guys”. Our gentlemen will discuss grooming tips, hygiene, and self care. If you do not wish for your son to attend, please let me know. There will be a barber on site to cut hair. Please reach out to me through email or phone if you would like your son to get a haircut. Only students who have signed parent permission will be able to participate in this activity.

On Saturday, April 5th, we will have a game truck activity at school from 10am-12pm. Only students, with a signed permission form are allowed to attend and participate. Students are encouraged to bring a snack and water bottle. Parents are responsible for timely transportation to and from school. Students will be dismissed at 12pm sharp!

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.