Banyan Parent Bulletin

Banyan Family,

This week was cold but we did our best to get outside and get some fresh air. Wednesday, we had an evacuation drill and walked safely (with a police escort) to Stevenson School. Students moved in an orderly and organized manner while enjoying some sunshine and time with their friends. We practice these drills so in the event of a real emergency, our students are comfortable and prepared.

We had a student medical emergency on Thursday and had to call a Shelter in Place. Because of our drills, students were prepared. The students handled this well and we immediately moved to lunch and continued with the rest of our day.

Today was our first school store. Our Applied Math students did a wonderful job ordering, doing inventory, and selling their new products.

You will see the folders in your child's binder have been (or will be ) updated shortly to designate a "Leave at Home" side and a "Bring Back to School" side. This will help them stay organized.

This Saturday is a Saturday Social and PTO Ice Cream Social. I hope to see you there.

Next week will be a fun filled week:

The Book Fair is Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Schedule has been shared. Teachers will inform parents of your child's scheduled time.

Tuesday is Special Person's Day. Visitors will sign in with an ID and get a visitor badge. They will come to class at 11:30-12:10, then lunch/recess/LCS and the book fair before they leave. The deadline to register for this event was 10/15. All guests MUST be registered.

Wednesday -we will wear Blue and Yellow in recognition of Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

Friday is Trunk or Treat. Please park in the two rows closest to Hollywood Ave. (The custodians will block the spaces off for you to set up Trunks around 12pm.) We have 21 families signed up to participate.

Parent Teacher Conference registration opened on Monday. Conferences will be held November 2-4. You do not need to schedule conferences with your child's lunch and recess teacher on their schedule.

The following week we have another super busy but short one :

Conferences Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with early dismissal for students. No lunch will be served.

*A virtual teacher meet and greet for Mrs. Dippolito will be held on 12/4 at 10:30 am. Conferences for her math class will be held in January.*

Student Council Elections 11/3/26

We are closed November 5th and 6th.

As always, please reach out with any questions.

Best,

Heather Rotolo

hrotolo@banyanschool.org

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on November 2nd-4th. School will run on single session schedule on those days with no lunch served and dismissal at 12:30 PM. Evening conferences will be on 11/2 from 6:00 PM to 8:00PM and afternoon conferences will be on 11/3 and 11/4 from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM. The online scheduling process will begin on the Parent Portal from October 20th until October 30th.

Families will be able to register for conferences for both teachers and related service professionals on the Parent Portal. Picture prompts are listed below. Please keep in mind the following guidelines:

• If you have a teacher for more than one period, please make sure to schedule only two blocks so the teacher has enough time in their schedule to meet with all of their parents.

• Try to give yourself a break in between conferences so that you have some wiggle room if conferences are running late and you don't miss your time.

• While the conferences will be in person, please email the teacher if you would like a zoom link or phone conference at the time you set them up.

• If possible, please arrange for child care at the time of your conferences. If you bring them with you, the child will have to be in the classroom with you during the conference.

• Some part time staff, like Ms. Paserchia and other special areas, may not be available for all of the conference blocks. Feel free to email them to set up a phone call at a mutually agreeable time.

NJSLA Testing Information

We are required by statute (N.J.S.A. 18A:7C-6.6) to annually notify parents and guardians of any statewide student assessment or commercially developed standardized assessment that will be administered over the course of the school year. This school year, students in grades 3 through 8 may participate in the following standard assessments: NJSLA or the DLM.

NJSLA English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics - 4/19/27 through 5/21/27

NJSLA Science (Grades 5 and 8 only) - 4/19/27 through 5/21/27

DLM - 4/5/27 through 5/28/27

Students will receive the testing accommodations as indicated on their IEP. If you have any concerns about your child and participating in the assessment, please contact Rachel Trainor at rtrainor@banyanschool.org and your child’s case manager.

Other Standardized Assessments

Upon enrollment at Banyan School, students participate in the following standardized assessments as part of our educational program:

-WRMT-III: Woodcock Reading Mastery Test, Third Edition

-WRAT5: Wide Range Achievement Test: Math Computation portion only

-WIST: Word Identification and Spelling Test

The WRMT-III & WIST are administered once per year at the end of each school year, WRAT is administered twice per school year- beginning and end.

In the afternoon of 10/30/26, we will do a trunk or treat from 1:30pm - 2:30 PM. The children will change into their costumes after lunch. Please make sure that masks and weapons are not included in the costumes. Costumes should be school appropriate.

We need parent volunteers to provide the trunks - if you are available, please email me at hrotolo@banyanschool.org. Parents can come between 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM to set up their trunks. The nurses have created a list of safe candy to distribute listed below. Students will be guided by their teachers in small groups, and we will have the students come out in small shifts to prevent crowding.

On that day, we are asking all staff and parents to park only in the designated rows so that our children can move from car to car without leaving our designated "safety circle," which will have all cars parked facing away from each other, and trunks facing in.

As your view our parking lot, we will ask that no one park in the row closest to the building. All should park in either Row 2 or Row 3 as pictured below, filling in the spaces from right to left, creating a safe area in which the children can circulate:

Row 3 - Faces tress and Hollywood Avenue

Row 2 - Faces building

Row 1 - Closest to building, should remain empty

(a diagram is listed below)

Following the Trunk or Treat, the children will re-enter the building for small group activities in their homerooms. Parents who wish to take their children home early should sign them out in the office.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation! We look forward to seeing those of you who can join us, and wish you all a safe and happy Halloween!

We have filtered water coolers around the building.

Please click here for our agendas, minutes, and financials.

Ice Cream Social 10/24/26

Book Library Fundraiser ongoing

If you are interested in helping our school in a real, practical way, this is the perfect opportunity to step up. The fact is that our PTO sponsors so many amazing events throughout the year! Unfortunately though, continuing many of those hinge on the board and volunteers we have. And as several of our current board members are stepping down for various reasons, this is a really pivotal time for our PTO. Be a part of it!

Please email us at banyanpto@gmail.com to nominate yourself or another parent, or if you have any questions about the open positions. We've had a great year; let's keep it going!

Here is a link that explains what each position does. PTO board position roles click here

PS - All board positions can be shared. So, if you're interested but worried it may be too much for you, run with a friend!

October 2 Grace

October 3 Amy

October 4 Balina

October 5 Elliot

October 7 Angelina

October 14 Valentina S.

October 21 Akin

October 23 Finn

October 29 Efe

October 30 Ziya

RSVP the link below

Email: hrotolo@banyanschool.org
Website: https://banyanschool.org
Location: 12 Hollywood Avenue, Fairfield, NJ, USA
Phone: (973) 439-1919
Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063632976200