Bulldogs Newsletter October 2, 2023

Remember there is no school on Monday, May 6. This is a Licensed Staff Workshop Day!

Dear Basswood Families,

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is beginning the process of redesigning the statewide assessment reports. This includes evaluating how student results are organized and communicated (including the labels like "does not meet” or “exceeds" the standards, and what the reports will look like for new academic standards). The redesigned reports will be seen for the first time in summer and fall 2025.

Please take the survey to share your experience: tinyurl.com/state-testing-survey. It should take no longer than 15 minutes. Responses are completely anonymous and needed by May 19.

Your voice is important to this process. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Please reach out to mde.testing@state.mn.us with any questions or concerns about the survey or feedback process.

In Partnership,

Steven Schwartz

Basswood Principal

At Basswood, we enjoy our School Spirit Days and we LOVE it when we see our students participating! We have two Spirit Days coming up on Friday, May 10, and Friday, May 24. On May 10, we have Decades Day. Turn back the hands of time - back to the 1950s, 1960s, and beyond! Let's rock around the clock, bust out your cardigans, bell bottoms, neon colors, denim jackets, and poodle skirts! And on May 24, we have Class Color Day! Represent your grade level with the appropriate color. 4 Star/ECFE Preschool wears pink, Kindergarten wears red, 1st grade wears orange, 2nd grade wears yellow, 3rd grade wears green, 4th grade wears blue, and 5th grade wears purple. It will be so fun to see the rainbow of colors!!

We will be having our annual 5th grade career fair on Friday, May 17th, 10am to 12:30pm in our Media Center. The purpose of the career fair is to expose our 5th grade students to a variety of careers and hear about people’s experiences and education levels. This gives the students a chance to start setting educational and career goals and practice their interviewing skills. A flyer went home to families this past Wednesday. You can reach out to Amy Paton, our school counselor, at patona@district279.org with your questions.

The 4th grade Recorder Concert will take place on Wednesday, May 8, at 6:30pm. We cannot wait for our 4th graders to show us all they have learned!

• May 6: NO SCHOOL - Staff Workshop Day
• May 8: Safety Patrol field trip to MOA
  
• May 8: 4th grade Recorder Concert 6:30pm
• May 9: Orchestra Concert 8pm at OMS
• May 10: School Spirit Day - Decades Day!
  

• May 16: Evacuation Drill 10:35am
• May 16: PTO Meeting 6:30pm - Media Center
• May 17: 5th grade Career Fair 10am to 12:30pm - Media Center
• May 23: All School BBQ during student lunch times
• May 24: School Spirit Day - Class Color Day!
• May 27: No School - Memorial Holiday
  

Every parent or guardian of enrolled students of Basswood Elementary is an automatic member of the PTO. We encourage you to join one of our next general meetings - or just send us a note if you have a question. You can find more information on our PTO website: https://sites.google.com/view/basswoodpto/home?authuser=1 or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BasswoodElementaryPto

First bell rings at 8:40am letting students into the school. Second bell rings at 8:50am letting students know they should be in their classroom ready to start the day! At 8:50am, the front doors are shut and student will need to come through the office to get a late pass.

Yes! You will be able to follow us on Facebook. Our first posts went live on September 5th. Please note that we are moving away from Twitter (@BWPrincipal279) for Basswood social media. Click here below to follow us.

If you are planning a family vacation or just time away from school, please remember to call your student's absence into the attendance line. You can call 763-494-3858 and press 1 to leave a message with your student's name, student's teacher, reason for absence, and dates that your student will be gone. We really appreciate your assistance!

Basswood staff is required to leave a voicemail if you do not answer your phone when we call. Please check your voicemail before calling Basswood back. Thank you!

Our district Community Education department offers a variety of after school classes. If you do sign your student up for one of these classes, please remember to let your student's teacher know about the class and when your student needs to stay after school.