The Barnard Broadcaster

Dear Barnard Families,

We have officially entered October, checking off a successful first month of school! This week's highlight was most definitely our Fun Run mid-week, in which all grades took to the track to run their hearts out for our school fundraiser! We enjoyed a beautiful day together and had a huge turnout of helping hands. A big shout out to our PTO for organizing and running this event! Thank you Brandy McMillion, Stacy Fisher, Charlene Nagy, Jeremy Vinyard and Jeff Zendler for all your hard work over the past month to plan and prepare for this fun and important event. Thank you also to Michele Himelson for her very generous donation of Boba Tea for each student to enjoy as a refresher at the the end of the race! Of course, a huge thank you to ALL Barnard Families that participated and helped with donations. If you haven’t had a chance to donate yet, there is still time to help us reach our goal! We are at $28,982. It certainly takes a village, and we can’t do without everyone's contributions.

As we look ahead to October we have another busy month planned, kicking off with our Scholastic Book Fair and conferences this week, followed by 5th camp and many more grade level field trips, including Trunk or Treat and of course our Halloween parties and parade at the end of the month. Below are several details about each of these events, please be sure to take time to read about them all and click on all the links to stay connected.

Looking forward to another great week ahead!

In partnership,

Karen Bush

Principal, Barnard Elementary School

kbush@troy.k12.mi.us

• Monday, October 6th- BlueJay Bright Beginnings Morning Walk/Run Club- 8:30-9:00am

• Tuesday, October 7th- *8:00am* PTO Meeting with special guest Dr. Machesky, TSD's Superintendent, with his Fall Update and Q&A time!

• Monday, October 6 through Friday, October 10; Scholastic Book Fair!!- Evening Shopping Time 10/9 5pm-8pm *Details below- sign up for an e-wallet for easier shopping.

• Thursday, October 9th and Friday, October 10th- Conferences; 1/2 Days Dismissal at 12:59pm

• Monday, October 13th-Wednesday, October 15th- 5th Grade Goes to Camp Copneconic

• Tuesday, October 14th- 4th Grade Field Trip to Lansing!

• Saturday, October 18th- Trunk or Treat *More details to come!

• Monday, October 20th- NO SCHOOL- Staff Professional Development Day

• Monday, October 20th- Troy Bookmobile Visit 4:15-5:15pm

• Thursday, October 30th- Kindergarten Field Trip to Westview Orchard

• Friday, October 31st- 1/2 Day Dismissal at 12:59pm.- Halloween parties at 11:15, parade at 12:15pm. (Parents can arrive at 11:00 to begin set up for parties.) *Staff Professional Development in the PM.

• Wednesday, November 5th- PTO Monthly Meeting at 6:00pm! *Come be a part of important conversations and shared learning. We want all voices to be hear and need your help. 😀

• Friday, November 7th- Donuts with Grownups Before School 🍩

A huge shout out to all the Barnard families that worked so hard to help raise money this year for the Fun Run! We have a celebration planned for everyone's hard work, as we know by Wednesday with final contributions we will reach our $30,000 goal! The students will enjoy a fun assembly this Friday morning to Dunk Mrs. Bush in a Dunk Tank! Parents are welcome to come watch as well. 3-5 will run from 9:30-10:00 and K-2 will run from 10:00-10:30. Later in the spring, all students will enjoy our annual visit from the Kona Ice truck to cool off on one of those hot May days to end the year!

During the week of your child's birthday, they will receive a book of their choice to celebrate their birthday with a special visit to the Book Vending Machine with Mrs. Bush.

Students receive tickets to fly for practicing the Blue Jay Way! We love celebrating students as they demonstrate responsibility, respect and building positive relationships!

Tickets are placed into a drawing and pulled every Friday for PRIZES!

One of my favorite things to do at Barnard is to spend time in the classrooms alongside the kids to see and experience first hand the incredible learning that takes place each day with our Barnard students. Come along with me on my journey as I travel through classrooms across the year to see the transformation that students go through under the care and guidance of our exceptional teachers. Magic truly does happen in each one of our classrooms.

This year, there will be a one time opt in for bagel days across the year! Please send in $10 with the slip below (forms went out last week with your child in class) by Friday, October 17th to sign up for the year. No need to remember each month moving forward, one slip covers you for the year! 😀 Bagel days will be the 2nd Wednesday each month, starting on October 22nd!

We’re excited to celebrate Halloween together and want to make sure the day stays safe, fun, and comfortable for everyone! As you and your child start planning a costume, please keep these friendly reminders in mind:

Please keep the following in mind:

• Costumes should be friendly and non-scary—nothing ghoulish, morbid, or frightening.

• Costumes should not reference or make fun of real people, cultures, or human traits.

• Historical costumes should be respectful and accurate representations.

• Costumes must be non-violent; toy weapons such as guns, knives, swords, or light sabers are not allowed.

We’d hate for any student to need to remove a costume, so please check that your child’s outfit follows these guidelines before sending them to school.

If your family prefers to skip Halloween activities, please just let your child’s teacher know ahead of time.

Thank you for helping us make this a positive and enjoyable day for all students! 🎃

We want to share some good news following our last update. A state budget has now been approved by both the Michigan House and Senate, and it includes free meals for all students. The bill is now headed to the Governor for her signature.

Student lunch accounts will be credited, and you will not see new charges for meals that are covered under the free meal (breakfast and lunch) program by the State of Michigan.

We will let you know once these updates have been completed. Thank you for your patience and for your support of the Troy School District.

The Troy School District has transitioned from SchoolPay to MySchoolBucks this school year for Food Services payments only. Your child can now easily pay for a la carte items online with MySchoolBucks!

If you have an existing MySchoolBucks account, you can simply log back in or create your free MySchoolBucksMySchoolBucks account to get started. And not to worry, any existing funds in your SchoolPay account will be automatically transferred into your MySchoolBucks account.

With MySchoolBucks you’ll be able to view cafeteria purchases, check your student’s balance, receive low balance alerts and pay for school snacks from anywhere! *Remember, LUNCH IS FREE, A LA CARTE items are not (water and juice).

Get Started Today:
1. Go to myschoolbucks.com or download the mobile app.
2. Create your free account or sign in with your existing MySchoolBucks account.
Note: To reset your password, click the “forgot my username or password” link from the login page
3. Add your students using their school name / student ID.
4. Add funds using your credit/debit card or electronic check.
Note: For each transaction, you will be charged a program fee of $1.00
5. Set up automatic payments and never forget to send in lunch money again.

We appreciate you using this online option as a way to help reduce the amount of physical cash and check handling that would typically happen in the serving line.

If you need assistance with your account, you can find helpful how-to videos and answers to commonly asked questions by visiting myschoolbucks.com. Or, you can contact MySchoolBucks directly by logging into your account to start a chat conversation or give them a call at (855) 832-5226.

Please call the school office absence call-in line at 248-823-4301 if your child will be absent from school. The absence line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please leave the following information on the absence line: Your name, student’s name, illness or reason of absence, length of absence, and teacher’s name. If your child will be late to school, please notify the attendance line as well.

The school secretary will call the home of those children who are absent from school but who have not been reported absent by a parent. If the secretary cannot reach a parent at home, emergency contacts will be notified.

AM Tardy Times: 9:09-10:39- Please note your child will be marked absent in the AM if they arrive between 10:40-12:44 PM.

PM Tardy Times: 12:55-2:25 PM- Please note your child will be marked absent in the PM if they arrive between 2:26-4:07 PM.

Full Day: 9:04 am - 4:07 pm

• 9:04 is the first bell, teachers welcome students into class.
• 9:09 is the tardy bell. If you arrive after 9:09, your child will be marked tardy and you must come sign your child into the office. After 10 tardies you will receive a documented letter from the district.
• Attendance is very important! Data shows that consistent attendance is the strongest predictor of achievement - it's about building relationships and the skills that prepare students for life.

Half Day: 9:04 am - 12:59 pm

Dropping off (school work, water bottles, snacks, iPads, lunches, instruments, coats, boots, etc.) please label the item with Students full name & Teacher.

Leave it on the table in our lobby and staff will be sure to get items to students.

Supervision of students is available starting at 8:55 am.

For your child's safety, please do not drop off students any earlier as we do not have adult supervision. When students arrive, they should report to their assigned waiting area. Students waiting area is outside their exterior classroom doors. The Safety Patrol is on duty 10 minutes before school and 10 minutes after school.

Teacher's open classroom doors at 9:04 am.

All students should be in seats ready to start school by 9:09am.

Please read over prior to the start of the school year as this document includes a lot of pertinent information to keep you informed of our policies and procedures. Thank you!

Email: kbush@troy.k12.mi.us