Paw Power Press

Butler is blessed with the greatest custodian team around! On October 2nd, we celebrated our day and night crew with appreciation and thanks! When you see Rick, Robert, Barry, Randy, and Jesse - be sure to express your thanks for their efforts in making Butler Elementary School so beautiful for students and staff! It's a great place to learn!

Last week, Butler shared details about student cell phone/SMART Watch/personal device usage when in school. As a reminder, these devices are to be silenced and remain in backpacks during the school day. Should there be a need for communication, that would take place with the support of the school office during the school day. Please be sure to share these expectations with your child as this policy will be enforced by teachers/staff in coordination with District policy.

CBSD provides a written review of Policies and Expectations for all students (and families) in the Central Bucks Family Handbook.

Additionally, Butler has a Parent/Student Handbook that applies these district policies specific to our school.

Please familiarize to both important documents as we continue throughout the school year.

School is full of learning routines and practices for students at the start of the year - not only for classroom and behavioral routines, but in staying healthy, too. Our custodial team does much in cleaning procedures each night and routinely addresses high-touch surfaces in classrooms and around the school. Additionally, we monitor absence rates and work to address specific classrooms throughout the winter months, as well. You'll see in department updates, that Nurse Gina shares reminders for washing hands during the upcoming sick season. In this month's NAESP Report to Parents, 4-Tips for Cleaning, school and home can work together to try our best to stay healthy this school year! As always, if your child has a fever, district policy is to stay home 24-hours fever-free (without the help of fever reducers) - Thank you for your support.

"Keeping your home clean is important, but it becomes more crucial during seasons when illnesses like the cold and flu are more prevalent. High-touch surfaces are prime spots for germs to gather and spread. Here are four practical tips to effectively clean high-touch surfaces—significantly reducing the chances of illness spreading in your household and school community."

To read the full 1-page article, please click here.

Schoolhouse Driveline is an internal system organizing our notifications for cars and buses. Relatedly - All Families - If you ever plan to have your child picked up during Dismissal by vehicle through our carline, it is necessary to have your Carline Tag now - even if your family does not typically use the carline dismissal option. This may be due to a dismissal change, bad weather, an instrument, etc. Please contact the main office to get your family's personalized car tag!

During Arrival and Dismissal, please remember the following:

1. Parents are asked to remain in vehicles while your children exit (arrival) or enter (dismissal) their cars. In the interest to the flow of traffic, please practice this process with your children so they are able to do this independently.
2. We encourage students entering their vehicles from the sidewalk (and not the street). This is to allow our staff to remain on the curb to support all the children transitioning to their vehicles.
3. For those children who need support buckling in, parents may pull around to an open parking spot to strap in before leaving the property.

Thank you for your efforts in keeping our carline efficient and safe!

Visit the CBSD Technology and Innovation website to troubleshoot issues with any district-provided device. Place a Help Desk Ticket through the website if the tips listed on the website do not resolve the issue.

To access the most current information on Central Bucks Realignment, please be sure to visit the Project Webpage by clicking here. Here, you can browse information related to the district's planning for and implementation of grade realignment and full-day kindergarten beginning in the 2026-27 school year. We encourage interested families to review this comprehensive resource. Additionally, a new “Realignment Handbook” is available on the Project Webpage.

Congrats to Tohickon 9th grader Greidy Hernandez for winning the first round of CBSD's lock screen contest! Her original artwork will be featured on CBSD devices beginning October 7 through the rest of the month. The district now invites students to try their hand in the next round of the contest, inspired by CBSD's "Portrait of a Graduate" Effective Communicators attribute. Submissions are due Oct. 20. More details and how to submit.

CBSD welcomes qualified candidates to apply for a range of full-time career opportunities with benefits. From head coaches to elementary 4th grade and Special Education teachers to a secondary school counselor to custodial staff to regular & special education assistants (and more!), there may be a perfect place for you to make a positive impact in CB. View available positions and apply now!

All CBSD parents and guardians, employees, students and members of the public are invited to the district’s annual and free-to-attend Wellness Fair, to be held on Tuesday, October 15 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Central Bucks High School South (1100 Folly Road, Warrington). Featuring over 60 vendors from various sectors, including mental health professionals, behavioral health experts, and wellness providers, this complimentary event is designed to support mental health, behavioral health, and overall wellness for individuals and families. No pre-registration is required. Learn more

Central Bucks School District is proud to offer healthy meals every school day. As a reminder, we continue to accept applications for free and reduced meal pricing for the 2024-25 school year. Please note, if you have not completed a new application since August 10, 2024, you must reapply for this school year. Last year’s status carries over only until October 16, 2024. Please do not delay.

Learn more about applying for free and reduced meal pricing and apply here. You can also visit the full informational webpage here.

As we begin the 2024-25 school year, CBSD wishes to remind families of important information regarding attendance. Pennsylvania's school laws, like Act 138 of 2016 and the updated Act 16, outline what is required for mandatory school attendance and procedures to follow when students are absent or late. Learn more

The 1-to-1 fee payment system opened on August 14 for families of students in grades 3-12. There is no fee for families of K-2 students as devices for these grades stay at school. All CB students will either receive a device this year or continue to use the device that was issued last year. Even if your child has their own device, we ask that you participate in our program to allow for a consistent learning platform for our students. Read more about the plan, the fee amounts, and next steps here.

If you have moved, please make sure you update your address with Central Registration. The office can be reached at 267-893-2111 or centralregistration@cbsd.org.

1st- 6th graders all designed an artwork of their name which became part of a collaborative mural called “You are a Rainbow of Possibilities.”

To celebrate Latin American Heritage Month, students in all grades are learning about famous Latin musicians as well as Latin American music heritage. A variety of artists such as Celia Cruz, Selena, Lin Manuel Miranda and Carlos Santana will be showcased this month. Students will experience mariachi music and traditional Mexican children’s folk music. We do not need to understand the language to appreciate the beauty and magic of music!

Each new year, proper book care is introduced to our youngest students and reviewed with all of our returning children. Putting books in the hands of our students helps to foster a love and excitement for reading - one we hope is carried with them throughout life! For all to benefit from our Butler book collection, it is very important for the home and school to partner in the collective care of our books.

Please remind your Butler Bears to treat library books with care. We will continue to do that in our library and reinforce the message with visual posters created by our second graders during their Library class. These posters will be in various hallways throughout the school.

Sadly last year, we had to remove many brand new/newer books due to unrepairable damage (like books chewed by dogs, books left outside in the rain, books scribbled in by siblings, books with food squashed in between the pages, and books in backpacks damaged by the dreaded water bottle leak (causing mold on the pages)). With your support, we hope to provide these books for many years to come! Thank you, as always, for your support of the Butler Library!

Butler Physical Education classes have worked on introductions to expectations and safety rules - with getting to know you activities that continue to build on our fundamental pillars of being respectful, responsible, and kind. Moving forward, we have been busy with invasion/tag activities like capture the flag and hula-hoop tag. Now we have started going over recess games like kickball and gaga. This has been an exciting start to our physical education year and we are looking forward to more activities!

QUEST teachers, Bridget Augustine and Nicole Smith, kicked off the year by engaging students in challenges aimed at strengthening the 4 C's of the QUEST program: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.

The 4 C's are essential for students in the QUEST program because they equip learners with the skills needed to navigate complex problems and innovate solutions. Critical thinking allows students to analyze data, question assumptions, and approach problems systematically. Communication is vital in sharing ideas clearly and effectively, whether working in teams or presenting findings. Collaboration fosters teamwork, enabling students to combine their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals. Creativity encourages them to think outside the box, making it possible to develop new and better approaches to scientific and technological challenges.

2nd grade: These junior animators have just learned about the early forms of animation.

3rd grade: We have just begun our architecture unit of study. Students have recently received a “save the date” for our trip and more information will be coming later.

4th grade: Students are getting creative as we practiced reading and writing in gibberish. Ask them for some examples.

5th and 6th grade: These budding comedians have started honing their craft as our humor unit kicks off with learning about memes.

Recently, NOVA provided important online safety information to families at a recent Back to School Night followed by links to some of their materials from the evening. NOVA also provides Workshops & Trainings for Parents - which can be accessed by anyone interested in more information. When working with children, open and honest communication is key to protecting your child, but these conversations can be tricky to navigate.

NOVA Workshops help parents and caregivers learn about:

• Strategies to protect children
• Healthy development throughout childhood
• How to tackle tough conversations with your child
• Small, easy steps to create a safer environment

For questions or more information, contact: Jamie Pfister, Training Coordinator at jamie.pfister@novabucks.org

We hope your child is having a healthy start to the school year! As we enter October, please be mindful that we are entering flu season! Remind your child to practice good hand hygiene, cover their cough, and stay home when they are sick.

Additionally, the Health Office will be beginning our annual student health screenings. Please click here to learn more about the screenings we will be conducting.

Do you want to know what's cooking in our October newsletter? Our Cheesy Chorizo Enchilada Bake is coming to the school cafeteria October 14-18. Discover how we use delicious local produce in Central Bucks schools, find useful information for parents, and fun facts. Click here to read the full newsletter.

October:

Oct. 3 - School Closed (Holiday - Rosh Hashanah) - Offices Open 9:00 AM-3:30 PM

Oct. 7 - Extended Day Kindergarten Begins (By Invite Only)

Oct. 8&9 - 5th Grade Soil Secrets (Peace Valley Park) - 1-Day by Schedule

Oct. 9 - Extended Day Kindergarten "Back to School Night" - 5:00 PM

Oct. 11 - Fire Prevention Assemblies - K-3

Oct. 15 - Butler PTO Dine & Donate - McDonalds (Chalfont) 4pm-8pm

Oct. 18 - Haunted Gym - Grades 3 (w/parent) through 5th Grade Only - 6:30 PM

Oct. 22 - Picture Retake Day

Oct. 24&25 - 6th Grade Ropes - Elbow Lane

Oct. 28-31 - Red Ribbon Week - Living Drug Free

Oct. 30 - AM Kdg Halloween Parade (Classroom Details to Come)

Oct. 31 - Half Day for Students - Dismissal Begins 12:25 PM (PM KDG Reports in AM)

Oct. 31 - Halloween Parade - 9:30 AM (Outside - Details to Come); Classroom Parties to Follow

Come on out if your child is in 3rd through 6th grades! Haunted Gym is a family-only event for those ages of students (please no un-related students from Unami or CB South). 3rd graders must be accompanied by a parent through the gym.

It’s not a race. It’s a challenge! Take Flight With the Fab Lab Aerial Drone Competition!

6th Graders - The Bucks IU is coordinating Aerial Drone Teams - meeting two-hours / week from October through April.

Teams learn about drones, flight principles, programming, documentation, and communication skills while expanding their understanding and building interest for drone-related workforce and career

opportunities. Students pilot and program drones, and document their process in a competition logbook. The competition has FOUR focuses: Teamwork, Autonomous Flight Skills Challenge, Piloting Skills Challenge, and Competition Logbooks.

Teams will use CoDrones to prepare for competition in the spring of 2025. Competitions are organized through the REC Foundation. Families will be invited to the first team meeting to learn more about the schedule and plans for the year!

Registration Fee: Thanks to generous grant funding from PECO, an Exelon Company, the total cost of joining the Aerial Drone Competition Team is ONLY $75 for the year. The true cost of joining this team would have been $799 - that's a $724 savings! Thank you, PECO! To register, click here.

To participate in Butler's Chess Wizards Program, please be sure to register at:

https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome

-or- 267-893-5707

Butler Elementary is already planning and preparing for Halloween, Thursday, October 31st!

Parade - Thursday, October 31 - Outdoors - Beginning at 9:30 AM. All are welcome to join the parade route - which will be shared in the next two weeks.

Classroom Parties - Following the parade, each classroom will host our first Party Celebrations for the school year! This event is for staff, students, and confirmed Parent Party Volunteers Only.

Half-Day Dismissal - Dismissal begins at 12:25 PM (PM Professional Development Day). For those parents volunteering, if you plan to take your child for early dismissal, please notify the office in advance.

November 1st - There is no school for students/staff the day following Halloween (Holiday - Diwali) - Offices are open from 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM.

For our Kindergarten Families, PM Kindergarten is reporting in the morning to school on the 31st. Therefore, our AM students will hold their parade on Wednesday morning, October 30th.

Come on out 10/15 from 4 pm - 8 pm! Proceeds benefit the Butler PTO and support of our school!

Check out the details for our Butler BOO! throughout October.

During the week of 9/23, Kindergarten learned about the history of Johnny Appleseed with stories, taste-tested three different kinds of apples, and voted on our favorite apple! Students worked on our fine motor skills by making apple bracelets and investigated weight with our scale as we compared apples to various objects in the classroom! We learned about bar graphs and tally marks as we created visual representations of our favorite apples. It was a great day of fun and learning!

Our first exciting family event of the year - Butler Family Bingo Night - was a popular and enjoyable event. Held on Friday the 20th, families and friends attended the evening with a chance to win fun prizes! Thanks to the Beaver Family who MC'd the festivities - including bingo calling and puzzle checking. They even sprinkled-in some local trivia! Thanks for a wonderful evening, your participation, and the Butler PTO!

The fun never stops at Butler - with our Kindergarten through 2nd grade families joining our Butler PTO for our first annual Butler Monster MASH! Students enjoyed a variety of activities, games, snacks, and music to occupy the night - coming dressed in costumes to begin the Halloween Season! Students and parents enjoyed their night out!

On Monday, September 23rd, please join the Butler PTO for our first general meeting of the school year - held in the library at 7:00 PM! All parents are members of the PTO and invited to participate to learn more about the many ways to support our Butler School!

Butler is fortunate to have a local community of businesses and organizations who support our students and staff through material donations. Recently, Butler Elementary received a donation from Giant Food Stores in Chalfont with school supplies, tissues, notebooks, and more! Thank you to our community partners who support our students.

Photographs from the First Weeks of School!

Simon Butler's students and staff embrace the Butler Pledge, the foundation of our school's positive behavior program. Our Butler Community promises to:

Be Respectful * Be Responsible * Be Kind

This pledge to all Butler Bears upholds our traditional Pillars: B.U.T.L.E.R.

Butler (at its Best!); Understanding; Teamwork; Leadership; Educational Excellence; Respect

Each week, students earn Positive Paw Power Coupons for their good deeds and honorable actions as recognition. Children enter them into our collection bins where names are drawn to earn a special "Breakfast with the Principals".

9/20 Winners: Emma S. (Kdg.), Mabel S. (Gr.1), Claire L. (Gr.2), Madelyn F. (Gr.3), Mackenzie R. (Gr.4), Landon W. (Gr.5), Gia L. (Gr.6)

9/27 Winners: Molly M. (Kdg), Dreaneli M T (Gr.1), Leah R. (Gr.2), Anshika P. (Gr.3), Conley L. (Gr.4), Lucas J. (Gr.5), Owen L. (Gr.6)

Individual student winners choose a special activity from the "Choice Board" - where they identify a special event in which they will participate.

Again this year, Butler celebrates our students at the building, classroom, and individual level. Students earn Paw Prints by demonstrating our Butler values and consistent positive behavior that support our school mission. When a classroom reaches a collective 100-tickets for all their students, the teacher and children decide upon a reward. It is motivating and supports teamwork in meeting goals! A few of our classrooms shared how they celebrated below.

"Welcome Back!" - The Butler PTO Newsletter is an informative publication that provides insight and info for events hosted by the Butler PTO. Please click to open the newsletter.

Superintendent: Steven Yanni, Ed. D.

Assistant Superintendent-Secondary: Charles Malone, Ed. D.

Assistant Superintendent-Elementary: Nadine Garvin, Ed. D.

Website: cbsd.org
Location: 20 Welden Drive, Doylestown, PA, USA
Phone: 267-893-2000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cbschools/
Twitter: @CBSDSchools

Principal: Karl Funseth

Principal's Secretary: Peggy Bernabei

Assistant Principal: Lauren Dowd

Assistant Principal's Secretary: Michele Droxler

Website: https://www.cbsd.org/butler
Location: 200 Brittany Drive, Chalfont, PA, USA
Phone: 267-894-4250
Twitter: @CBButlerElem