September 2024

Dear Families,

Welcome to the start of an exciting new school year! We are thrilled to partner with you in your child’s educational journey. At Brooklyn Park Elementary we believe that a strong home-to-school connection is key to student success. We are committed to fostering an open line of communication and collaboration to ensure that every child thrives both academically and personally. As we embark on this new year together, let’s work together to create a supportive and engaging environment for our students.

We look forward to an incredible year ahead!

Tanya Montgomery, Principal

Karyn Chisholm, Assistant Principal

Pre-K 3

Hello Parents/Guardians,

In Pre-K 3 we will be starting school with our Frog Street theme Awesome Me!- Soy fantastico! In math students will learn about attributes, colors, shapes, and position words. We will be building structures, mixing colors, and taking turns. We will listen to stories about how we feel and making friends. Please remember to label your child's backpack, lunch box, jackets, snack, etc. Please remember to check your child's green folder each night. We are going to have an AWESOME year.

Pre-K 4

We are so excited to welcome our youngest students to Brooklyn Park Elementary! This month, our theme is "Connecting with School and Friends". We will learn all about what happens at school, how we learn and get along at school, and what makes a good friend. We will be spending significant time learning our classroom and school procedures, rules, and routines. Our students will spend time learning our schedule, building stamina to work independently, and learning our routines for math and literacy centers. By the end of the month, we will begin small group instruction to meet your child's individual needs through differentiated instruction. We can't wait to learn all about our Pre-K friends! Please remember to check your child's folder daily, there will be many important notes coming home this month. Thank you for your support!

Pre-K Team

Kindergarten

We are having a great time in kindergarten! This month in math we met Dakota and Riley. They are teaching us what it means to be a doer of math which includes explaining our thinking, shapes, and patterns. We are also learning how to count, show, and compare numbers up to 5. During our CKLA skills we are learning how to identify and count the different sounds we hear within our environment and how to correctly hold a crayon/pencil. In our CKLA Knowledge block, we are tackling how to identify the characteristics of nursery rhymes like Ring Around the Rosie and Rain Rain Go Away to learn. During Science/Social Studies we are learning why rules keep us safe inside the classroom. Please remember to send your child to school each day with their blue folder, water bottle, and snack for the afternoon.

1st Grade

Hello families! First Grade has been hard at work practicing routines and building classroom communities. This month in Math we are starting to explore patterns on a 120 chart and on a number line. We will also start learning about place value, specifically the tens and ones place. In Literacy, we are listening to fables and identifying characters, setting, plot, and the moral of the story. We are also reviewing letter sounds, letter formation, and blending sounds to read words. This month will be an exciting one for Science! First Grade is starting our unit on the Monarch Butterfly. Arlington Echo will be dropping off monarch caterpillars very soon. We get to watch them grow, turn into butterflies, and then release them in our community garden. Please remember to check your child’s folder and return any papers to school promptly.

Thanks!

The First Grade Team

2nd Grade

The 2nd grade team has really enjoyed getting to know each of our students! We can see that we have a brilliant, kind, and unique group!

In Math this week we have been working on reviewing what math is and how we can solve problems. We have been working on forming relationships and learning routines for our classroom. We have connected how to be respectful, responsible, safe, and accepting to go along with our school theme and vision.This year we are starting a new Literacy curriculum! You should have received information from the letters we sent home! Please make sure your child brings their Blue take home folder each week.Once again, we are truly excited to see all the exciting things we will learn and grow from.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child's teacher. We look forward to having an AMAZING year!

• 2nd Grade team

3rd Grade

Welcome to third grade!

READING and WRITING

Reading and writing is the foundation for everything we do. This year, your student will be using the reading program called Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA). It is an innovative set of instructional materials developed by the Core Knowledge Foundation. During the early weeks of the school year, students will rereview previously taught literacy skills. This review period will help us get to know your student better so we can identify their areas of strength and weakness in reading and writing and support them accordingly. Please look for copies of chapters that we have read together in class and encourage your student to reread the stories and discuss them with you at home. This at-home practice will help reinforce the skills they are learning during their daily lessons.

MATHEMATICS

We are excited to start the school year and have students get their hands on math tools as they begin to make real world connections to solve math problems. This year we are excited about continuing to use Reveal Math. We will engage in activities to support a positive math culture. In the month of September, we will focus on rituals and routines as we learn the structure of our math block. We will use place value to fluently add and subtract within 1,000. We are excited to see our mathematicians in action!

SCIENCE

This month third grade scientists will observe, collect, and evaluate data to share conclusions and take informed action about how force works. Students will conduct hands-on experiments to observe how objects react to pushes and pulls.

SOCIAL STUDIES

During the month of September, students will identify the four domains in the social studies content Civics, Economics, Geography and History. Students will explore what rules are necessary for a safe classroom/school community. As a class, we will establish a mission statement to reflect the civic virtues of a STARR Patriot.

4th Grade

Fourth grade is excited to begin this new year with our wonderful Fourth Graders. We have started to learn and see amazing things already and we cant wait to experience the rest of the year. If you have not completed the background check, please do so as soon as possible.

Math: Students are learning place value to the millions. As students learn to read, they will write in written, standard, and expanded form.

Reading: We have begun our adventure into personal narratives by reading about memoires from many people. At the end of the unit, students will write their own personal narrative.

Social Studies: Students are learning about the geography and culture of Maryland dating back to 1100's.

Science: We have just wrapped up plant structures and will spend time looking a animal structures and food webs.

Arlington Echo: April 1st.

5th Grade

Hi parents! In 5th grade, we are becoming better writers and storytellers by recounting a personal story. We are beginning our unit in math on volume of rectangular prisms, then later we will be adding and subtracting decimals.

5th graders also have the opportunity to run for student government this month! Posters are due to Ms. Nauman on Wednesday, September 11th. Speeches and elections will be on September 25th. We’re so excited to see our 5th graders demonstrate their strong leadership skills!

This month is crucial for students to start off the year strong, so attendance is very important!

ESOL

Welcome, Families!

It has been wonderful to see many new and familiar faces! We are excited to work with your students again this year and support them with their English Language Development. This year we have a new curriculum that closely aligns with the CKLA reading instruction in their general education class. This means students will get extra support with comprehending the reading content in class.

Also, please be on the lookout for the Parent Notification link that will be sent to your email or phone to confirm your child will be receiving language support service. This form only needs to be completed once a year! This quarter we will focus on getting back in the routine of using academic language in complete sentences.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us! We are able to connect with all ELD families through the Rooms app, email, or phone.

Here is our contact information below:

Brynita Lacey

Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grade English Language Development Teacher

Phone: 601.272.8611

Email: bllacey@aacps.org

Laura Dembeck

2nd, 4th, 5th Grade English Language Development Teacher

Email: ldembeck@aacps.org

Ms. Aga Ratliff

3rd Grade ELD Teacher

Email: aratliff@aacps.org

Happy Hispanic Heritage month to those who celebrate!

PTA

We are so excited to start another school year with our BPES community and we are looking forward to a great year of supporting our students and teachers! If you are interested in joining the PTA... you can use the link below to sign-up. Family membership is $10, payments can be made via Venmo @bpespta or send cash or check (payable to BPES PTA) in an envelope marked with your name, student name(s) and teacher; please put Attn: PTA.

https://forms.gle/4RQEHD6kJREUZYPC9

Upcoming Events:

Family Information Night 9/25/24: PTA/Title One/ Parent Advisory/ Community Schools presentations

Spirit Wear Sale now until 9/20/24: Online sales at https://chesapeakedistribution.com/collections/brooklyn-park-elementary-school

Chorus and Band

Welcome Back Music Families!

Instrumental music lessons will start on Monday, September 16th. All students will have received a lesson schedule prior to their first lesson. Remember to check your emails for a digital copy of the lesson schedule as well as any other important information Mrs. Israel has sent to you. Please also check our communication platform, Thrillshare, for other important information as well as a quick way to message Mrs. Israel or other teachers.

Looking forward to musical year!

PBIS

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m9D0XpblrHN471KzL-manZKibqvzFSEx_Usj-i9kshY/pub

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.)

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. 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.

https://www.aacounty.org/services-and-programs/child-care-programs

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.