Bates Family Newsletter

It feels like a long time ago that we were on winter break, doesn't it? The students settled back into a full-week quite well despite having to stay from recess Monday through Thursday due to frigid temps. A note about that: We keep students in from recess when the "real feel" is 20 degrees and under. As soon as it gets above that number, we head outside!

We have lots of events coming up, so see below for calendars that will take us through February. Enjoy this snowy Saturday. It looks like beautiful out there!

My best,

Ms. Smith

After-school clubs for students in grades 3-5 start on Tuesday. Remember, clubs run on Tuesdays only. Students should be picked up at 3:30 unless they are taking a bus. Grownups who are picking students up will wait outside. Club facilitators will walk all students out the main doors and wait to be sure they see their ride.

Access testing starts this week. Best of luck to all of our multilingual learners who will be taking their Access test in the coming weeks! We know they will try their best and do great work😀

Our Beacons of the Week showed excellent self management skills this week with a special focus on following rules and meeting expectations. We are so proud of these Beacons:

Roan Kurteshi

Leo McKinney-Pecora

Olivia Healy

Rea Berisha

Josephine Bauer

Alonso Gonzalez Santos

Enzo Carvalho Silva

Gio Espinal

Arianna Murphy

Moises Santiago

Michael Carter

Ronan Lawless

Makayla Taveras

Rex Salomon

Austin Collazo

Jayrian Perez Urban

Scarlet Shomo

Leslie Abreu Matos

Twice a month, two of our wonderful families will be featured on our morning announcements that are shared each day to build community in our school as well as in our family newsletter. Our hope is that this will create new friendships, bring us closer as a community, and help us celebrate the beautiful diversity that we have here at Bates. It ties in with our motto: "Believe, be you, belong, at Bates!".

Your family can record a Zoom with Ms. Roz, create a poster to share a little about your family, or come into school for a fun interview. Want to learn more? Contact Ms. Roz at rguevera@salemk12.org. Want to sign up? Fill out this form, and Ms. Roz will contact you.

Managing Myself - Rules Review, submitted by Ms. Amanda, Adjustment Counselor

Welcoming in 2025, we spent time this week reviewing why “rules” are an important part of self-management. We all know that rules are often seen as “boring” or “annoying.” However, this week, classrooms discussed how rules keep things safe and FUN. We used realistic examples from classroom time and recess to unpack how school would not be as enjoyable without rules.

Some ideas of how to enhance this understanding with your child could be:

-Name rules that you don’t like (at home, at school, in the world) but agree are important

-Discuss games that can be played with different rules, which do you like best

-Ask if there are rules your family has that other families don’t (or the other way around)

-Decide if you created your “dream school”, what rules would exist and which wouldn’t

-Make guesses about what the world would be like with NO rules at all

These types of conversations can go a long way. The way young people understand things at different developmental stages varies. And when we continue to lean into these more abstract ideas, we give kids the opportunity to grow their brains in important ways! Perspective taking is a key part of teaching self-management, and we appreciate your partnership in this work.

Shout out to the PTO for sponsoring this free and fun event!

Ms. Villano's third graders explored inherited traits this week and created this amazing offspring!

Ms. Digaetano's first graders were super chatty about math this week! They are learning how to communicate with one another about strategies for arriving at answers, assisting one another with problem solving, and sharing out efficient ways to problem solve. Way to go, mathematicians!

Our goal is to keep our chronic absence rate under 19.5% this year. This week, our chronic attendance rate is at 18.9%. There is so much sickness going around, so take care of yourselves! Remember to call the absence reporting line if your student will be out sick.

If you need any assistance with getting your student to school, please reach out to Rosalyn Guevara, Family Engagement Facilitator at rguevara@salemk12.org.

As temperatures drop, we want to ensure everyone stays warm this winter. If you or someone you know is in need of a winter coat, please reach out to our Family Engagement Facilitator, Rosalyn Guevara.

You can contact her at rguevara@salemk12.org or 781-771-8309. We want all our kids to stay warm!

Have any other clothing needs? Please reach out to Ms. Roz.

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

January

• January 13 - February 14 - Access testing for ML students
• January 14 - PTO meeting, library
• January 20 - No school, MLK Day
• January 23 - Grades 4/5 chorus concert for families, 8:15 am
• January 23 - All City Grade 5 Concert (an evening event for families - information sent out through the instrumental music department)
• January 24 - Fandom spirit day! Wear your favorite sports gear, support your favorite singer, show off your best loved movie/TV characters, etc. Let's flood our school with what you all think is awesome!
• January 29 - Town Hall + 1/2 day

February
2/6 - PreK/K Expo at Collins Middle School for any family interested in enrolling their children for the 25/26 school year
2/11 - PTO meeting, library
2/13 - All city grade 4 concert (information comes from instrumental music teachers)
2/14 - Valentine's spirit day😍 Wear red, pink, heart-y things, whatever makes you happy!
2/17-2/21 - February break!
2/26 - Trimester 2 ends

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