Bates Family Newsletter

We are pleased to share that we held our first town hall meeting of the school year this week, and it was an exciting and engaging experience for everyone involved. One of the key highlights was the opportunity for our older students to meet with and develop relationships with younger students. This interaction allowed for the building of community across grade levels, fostering positive relationships and a supportive environment.

We are thrilled to see our fifth grade students take on leadership roles as we launch our community helper program. If you have a fifth grader, ask them about the opportunities that have been presented to them! We look forward to continuing these town hall meetings as a way to strengthen our school culture. Town hall meetings are made possible through the hard work and planning of our Culture and Climate Committee. Big shout out to all staff who helped facilitate this community-building opportunity, too. Ask your Beacons about their favorite part of the town hall!

We hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Ms. Smith, Mr. Mac, and Mr. Lister

We really crushed rolling drop off by the end of the week. Nice job, families! Just a few reminders:

• Drop off lane = single lane. We don't pass the cars ahead of us. True story...last year, Mrs. Smith was out at morning duty. A student jetted out into the street because he forgot something in his vehicle. As he ran into the street, his mother was passing the car in front of her. She didn't see him and nearly hit him. That's when the idea to do the rolling drop started. We got lucky that day, and we never want kids getting hurt. Safety first.
• Students shouldn't be exiting vehicles until your car gets past the front doors.
• Grown ups need to remain in vehicles.
• Again, if you want to walk your child to the door, please park on Liberty Hill Avenue.
• Afternoon pick up...please do not park in the pick up line if you are going to the playground after dismissal. The driveway is getting very crowded with parked cars. It's good practice to park on Liberty Hill and walk up to dismiss your student(s).
• PreK/K arrival - Please be sure to stay in your vehicles. Those arriving early, please remain in your car until staff starts the arrival procedure.

Thanks for your continued cooperation as we work together to make this the safest possible arrival/dismissal plan we've seen at Bates!

At town hall this week, students voted, and we listened! We are thrilled to announce that we have a new mascot at Bates. Meet Bright! We offered students choices of Beacon designs and gave them a list of names from which to choose. They chose this Beacon and named them Bright. How cute is this? Shout out to our very talented art teacher, Mr. Bleckley, for bringing the beacon to life, and to Ms. Amanda, Student Adjustment Counselor, for writing a beautiful story about Little Beacon who just needed some encouragement from friends to feel like they belonged!

Huge shout out to the following students who were nominated by their teachers as Beacons of the Week. This week's Beacons exemplified safe, respectful, and responsible behavior! Way to go😃

Alicea Romero

Amelia Santiago-De Melo

Luna Pichardo-Lavandier

Camrin Sakelakos

Maisie Dunn

Sarah Rico

Ophelia Cruz

Lejla Jakupi

Teagan Holden

Lorel Zorrilla

Rhys Thompson

Kaim Duran

Nolan Heffner

Oliver Leigh

Rose Thompson

Jayrian Perez Urban

Wyatt Gordon

Lily Woodfin

Anna Coates

Monster Mash coming soon on Friday, October 18th, is one of Bates' most beloved events, and we need your help to make it a night to remember! There are so many ways to get involved and help create a magical, spooky experience for the kids. Whether you can assist with setup, run an activity, donate supplies, or provide baked goods, there's a spot for everyone to pitch in and make this event spectacular!

Want to be part of the fun? Join us for our planning meeting on Monday, September 23rd at 6:45 PM in the Bates Library. Let’s make this year’s Monster Mash unforgettable!

Monster Mash this year will be from 5-7pm with games, raffles, spooky fun + trunk or treat from 5-6pm. More details coming soon!

Bates families, we are kicking off our 1st fundraiser of the school year! We are raffling off the chance to "Name the lane" out front of our school. The student that sells the winning ticket gets to name the lane, gets to keep the street sign (at the end of the year), and gets a limo ride to school with 2 friends on Friday, Oct 18th. What's in it for the purchaser of the winning ticket? A $100 gift card.

All ticket entries and money/checks (payable to Bates PTO) should be sent in your child's folder and are due by Friday, Oct 4th. The winning ticket will be pulled on Oct 8th.

Raffle tickets cost $5 each. Extra tickets can be found in the main office or here

Any questions, please contact Bates PTO at batesschoolpto@gmail.com

Good luck and thank you all for your continued support. All of the money raised through this fundraiser will pay for field trips and other enrichment opportunities for students.

Please join one of our grade-specific Facebook groups to stay connected with other parents and families in your child’s grade! The Bates Elementary School PTO helps manage these groups to foster community and communication tailored to each grade level. Whether you want to share updates, ask questions, or plan events with fellow parents, these groups are a great way to stay in the loop.

To join your child’s grade-level group, choose from the links below and connect with your community today!

Pre-K: https://www.facebook.com/groups/485498594339444/
Kindergarten: https://www.facebook.com/groups/577598387707785/
First Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/531679862007811
Second Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/817468265619990/
Third Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/564691241575172/
Fourth Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/708827276592535
Fifth Grade: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bates5thgrade20242025/

Also, please follow our new Bates Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bateselementarybeacons
Bates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bates_elementary

Thank you for your continued engagement!

Written by Ms. G., Student Adjustment Counselor

This week’s SEL focus was “responsibilities”. An important start is just to define responsible behavior and responsibilities! Being responsible is a Bates Beacon core value, along with being safe and respectful. Classrooms had some great discussions around what responsibilities they have as students- at Bates, in their classrooms and in their homes. They were also able to share what responsibilities parents and teachers have- it was quite the list!

Responsibilities give kids a sense of significance- that what they do matters and has an impact on others! To support our students’ sense of belonging, significance and responsibility, students are given roles and jobs to do within the school community.

Here are some questions you can ask your kid about being responsible:

Did you try your best?

Did you do what you said you were going to do?

Did you take care of your things and your

surroundings?

Did you accept feedback and take responsibility for

your actions?

Did you use your words to get your needs taken care?

Here is a fun game you can play around being responsible:

https://www.playworks.org/resource/game-of-the-week-ants-on-a-log/

You can also help your kid develop responsibility by giving them a specific chore- even let them pick out a few to support their feelings of agency! Here is a helpful list of age appropriate chores:

https://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/chores-for-children

Chores and responsibilities can be fun! Put on a song and do a super clean sweep! Race to see who can get more things picked up in a certain amount of time! Pick chores out of a hat! Cook with your kids!

Always let your kid know how important their role is within the family and household!

The school menus are posted on the SPS website. Find them here.

Our goal is to keep our chronic absence rate under 19.5% this year. We're also looking for under 11% for the month of October. If you need any assistance with getting your student to school, please reach out to Rosalyn Guevara, Family Engagement Facilitator at rguevara@salemk12.org.

• September 24th - School Site Council, 7:45-8:45am
  
• September 30th - SMILE! It's school picture day! Get ready to smile and shine! Don’t forget your best outfit and a big grin! You can place any orders using this link here, enter code: 94524F

• October 3rd - Haunted Happenings Grand Parade
• October 4th - Bruins Spirit Day
• October 8th - PTO Meeting, library, 6:30-7:30pm
• October 14th - No School, Indigenous People's Day
• October 15th - School Site Council, 7:45-8:45am
• October 16th - ILT Meeting, 2:15-3:30
• October 18th - Monster Mash (5-7pm) + Trunk or Treat (5-6pm)
• October 23rd - 1/2 Day, PTO Enrichment (Anti-bullying assembly)
• October 31st - 1/2 Day - Happy Halloween! (Black and orange spirit day - no costumes, please)

Mark your calendars if you want to join us for the Haunted Happenings Parade on Thursday, October 3, 2024. The parade will follow the normal route from Prime Group Shetland Park to Salem Common. The theme for this year’s Parade is “Our Time on Earth”, inspired by the 2024 exhibition that was previously on view at the Peabody Essex Museum, which should give parade participants a wide array of costumes and stories to tell! If you've never been, it's a real trip and worth doing at least once!

Mr. Bleckley, our art teacher, will be hard at work making our float pieces. Our theme is going to be "It's about time!" He'll create time pieces through the ages: an hourglass, cuckoo clock, pocket watch, digital alarm clock, Mickey Mouse wristwatch. Students and families will dress as anything that matches this "march through time" from medieval costumes (hourglass section), to lederhosen (cuckoo clock section), costumes including pocket watches (pocket watch section), 70s, 80s, 90s gear (electric alarm clock), Disney gear (Mickey Mouse watch section). This march through time and fashion trends is going to be so fun. We're going to look great!

Did you know you can earn money for our school just by scanning your grocery receipts? All you need to do is download the Boxtops app, and scan those receipts! Don't want to scan? No worries, you can always send receipts into school with your student in an envelope marked, "PTO Boxtops".

Our Bates spirit rock is available for weekly rentals. Celebrate your student's birthday or other accomplishments by painting a message on our rock. Please click here to rent the rock!

Bates Elementary School, in partnership with our families and community, will provide all students with a culturally responsive, student – centered, and equitable learning experience that celebrates our students’ diverse backgrounds, creative pursuits, and their academic, social, emotional success.

School Hours:

Regular school hours:

Monday through Friday: 7:45am to 1:50pm

Early Release (Grades 1-5) at 11:15am

PK at 11am

Kindergarten at 11:10am