May Bryn Mawr Bulletin
May 2026
Dear Families,
Spring has arrived, and our students are enjoying more time outside, fresh air, and sunshine! This is a great time to review a few important health tips to help keep our elementary students safe, healthy, and ready to learn.
🌼 Spring Allergies (Hay Fever)
Many children experience seasonal allergies this time of year due to pollen from trees, grass, and flowers.
Common symptoms include:
Sneezing
Runny or stuffy nose
Itchy, watery eyes
Cough or throat irritation
Helpful tips for home:
Have your child wash hands and face after playing outside
Change clothes after outdoor play if symptoms are strong
Shower before bed to remove pollen
Keep windows closed on high pollen days
If your child takes allergy medications, this is the time to start them back up! Please reach out with any questions. While symptoms of allergies can be annoying, they are not infectious and thus can attend school with seasonal allergies!
💧 Stay Hydrated
Active kids need plenty of water! Please send your child to school each day with a labeled, refillable water bottle.
🦠 Reminders on When to Stay Home
A fever of 100°F or higher (must be fever-free for 24 hours without medication)
Vomiting or diarrhea (must be symptom free for 24 hours before returning to school)
Not feeling well enough to participate in a full school day
👟 Safe Play at Recess
Sneakers are best for running and playing safely
Remind your child to use playground equipment appropriately
🐝 Bug & Tick Awareness
As we enjoy the outdoors, please:
Check your child for ticks after outdoor activities
Dress them in light-colored clothing when possible
Notify your healthcare provider if you notice a tick bite or rash
Wishing all of our students a safe, happy, and healthy spring season!
Stay well,
Nurse Jill
Spring has sprung at Bryn Mawr and just like a garden, every child grows at their own pace, and we’ve been celebrating the unique "blooms" that make each student special. Here is a look at what we’ve been up to and how you can keep the growth going at home!
All students read “The Reflection in Me” by Marc Colagiovanni, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Through this story, students created self portraits and identified characteristics about themselves that make them the awesome person they are! Make sure to be on the lookout for your child’s self portrait to come home- they are refrigerator worthy!
Every Wednesday the whole school shares in some positive affirmations together. Our April Affirmations are “I am strong”, “My mistakes help me grow”, “I am an amazing person” and “I believe in my hopes and dreams”. Some of our classrooms have Affirmation Stations set up for students to use. You can create a DIY affirmation station for kids at home by hanging a mirror and surrounding it with positive "I am" statements. Print or write affirmation cards and attach them to a mirror. Encourage your child to visit the affirmation station daily– it’s great for adults too!
As your child gains reading skills and practices at home, they may struggle with some words and need support. Here are some steps to give them support and coach them to success.
When a child gets stuck on a word, what should you do?
Wait! Give them a few seconds, especially if it’s a word they should know.
Prompt them to sound it out/blend the sounds. Remind them to look at all the letters in the word! (I find students sometimes just start guessing and they aren’t even looking at the page!)
If it’s a tricky word with sounds they don’t know, have them say the sounds they DO know and provide them with the others. Then have them blend all the sounds together.
You can say the sounds for them and ask them to blend them together to say the word.
For multisyllable words, prompt them to break it into chunks (usually by dividing between the vowel sounds).
Cover any prefixes or suffixes (dis-, re-, -ing, -es), read the base word, then uncover and read the whole word.
Tell them the word! This is okay if they have tried a few strategies or if it’s a word with a pattern they haven’t learned yet. We don’t want them to start to dislike reading, but we don’t want them to always rely on an adult when they are stuck.
Providing these prompts will help to guide the reader to use strategies to figure out the word. It can be frustrating for them and hard for us to see, but this productive struggle is when reading growth happens! It might take time, but their confidence will grow and they will be empowered to attempt more words on their own.
