October Bowlesburg Newsletter

It has been an incredible autumn at Bowlesburg! Our halls are filled with hard work, learning, and school spirit. Here are a few quick celebrations and important updates as we head into November:

🌟 Academic & Wellness Spotlights

• 5th Grade CogAT Testing: Our 5th graders recently completed the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT). Unlike standard content exams, the CogAT assesses verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning skills. This data helps our teachers better understand how each student learns and allows us to personalize instruction to meet their unique strengths.

• Marathon Kids Champions: A huge shoutout to our Bobcats logging miles during the day with Ms. Docherty! Special congratulations to our milestone runners:

  • 5 Miles: Addison Sellers, Charlie Clark, Mason Reedy, Willow Watson, Ava Bryant, Benjamin Galley, Dominic Riley, Ezra Lance, Fatima Mohamed, Imogen Burroughs, Kenzington Simmons, Mylah Mooney, Zanab Hasbelnabi, Zoey Springer, Eliana Escobar, Jayden Campbell, Amena Vasquez, Joanis Kpandjar, Mustafa Adam Ezzeldin, Olivia Mittan, and Forest Fletcher.

  • 10 Miles: Keylan Shutes & Souleymane Barry

  • 20 Miles: Dylan Wells

  • 30 Miles: Barrett Marner & Rose Brooks

• 3rd Grade Pumpkin Patch Field Trip: Our 3rd graders took an exciting field trip to the pumpkin patch to learn all about agriculture and celebrate fall!

• Annual Halloween Costume Parade: Join us for our annual parade on Friday, October 30th at 1:30 PM in the Bowlesburg gym! Families and parents are warmly invited to attend and cheer on our students and enjoy the festivities with us!

• Conscious Discipline & Social-Emotional Learning: Our classrooms continue to emphasize active listening, emotional regulation, and positive conflict resolution. Ask your child what classroom calming or problem-solving tools they used this week!

• Safety Protocols: Thank you to our students and staff for executing our recent safety practices with care and accountability. Please remind your students that clear safety expectations help keep our entire building running smoothly.

• October Employees of the Month: We are proud to celebrate Angela Morrow (Front Office) and Ms. Tina Docherty (PE) as our October Employees of the Month! Thank you both for your tireless dedication to our school community!

New Feature: Text-In Attendance Line 📲 Morning routines just got a little smoother! We are implementing a text-only system to make reporting student absences faster and more convenient. Whenever your child needs to miss school, text their full name, absence date, and reason to 309-247-9110. Add "Bowlesburg Attendance Line" to your contacts today!

Morning Arrival: Doors open at 8:00 AM. Please do not drop students off before 8:00 AM, as no supervision is available prior to this time.

Late Arrival: If arriving after 8:20 AM, students must enter through the main front doors.

Tardies: School starts promptly at 8:30 AM. Students arriving after 8:30 AM are marked tardy and must be brought into the main office by a parent/guardian to be signed in.

🚌 Dismissal Notice: All transportation changes must be sent by 2:00 PM. Late updates disrupt instructional time and are hard to deliver when students are moving between classes, specials, or recess late in the afternoon. Thank you for helping us keep dismissal smooth and safe!

PTA scholastic book fair - Nov 2-6th (see student shop days below)

Parent Teacher Conferences Nov 5 @ 3:30 - 7:30 pm (Book Fair open with Free Popcorn!)

Parent Teacher Conferences Nov 6 @ 7:30 am -11:15 am (NO SCHOOL) (Book Fair open with Free Popcorn!)

Veterans Day Recognition & Thanksgiving Break November 25-27th (NO SCHOOL)

Winter Break December 21st January 1st

End of the Quarter January 8th, 2027

1/2 Day Early Release January 15th

M.L. King Day January 18th (NO SCHOOL)

🍂 Fall Festival Success!

A HUGE thank you to our PTA and to all the families who joined us for our recent Fall Festival! It was a fantastic time filled with fun games, festive energy, and wonderful smiles. Seeing our school family come together brings so much joy and strength to Bowlesburg.

📖 Scholastic Book Fair: November 2nd – 6th!

Get ready for book shopping! Our PTA is hosting the Scholastic Book Fair next week, from November 2nd through November 6th. Please be on the lookout for the Scholastic Book Fair flyer coming home with your student!

Here are a few quick highlights for the fair:

• 🍿 Parent-Teacher Conference Hours: The Book Fair will be open during Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday evening and Friday morning. Stop by to shop and enjoy FREE POPCORN!

• 🎟️ $5 Book Credit per Student: **Every student receives $5 to spend on a book at the fair. If students bring money from home, that $5 credit can go towards a higher-priced book!

• 💳 Book Fair eWallet: You can set up an eWallet online so your student doesn't need to carry cash to school.

• 🛍️ Classroom Shopping Schedule:

• Tuesday (Nov 3): Dowdal, Petersen, Roselieb, DeFrieze, Wynes, Lagerstam

• Wednesday (Nov 4): Schoeve, Richardson, Rumler, Davis, Smith, Caulkins

• Thursday (Nov 5): Ramirez

If you have any questions or would like to volunteer at the fair, please email pta.bowlesburg@gmail.com.

Digital backpack & Community Events

The Digital Backpack creates a place for community events to be shared with our EMSD families. The materials are provided for informational purposes and are not endorsed by the District.