Berthoud Eagle

September 2011

Principal to Parent I am so thankful that our Berthoud community has consistently demonstrated a commitment to the education of our children, and our families continue to share their desire to participate and support our students and staff at Berthoud Elementary. We have seen the impact of this commitment in the ongoing support for student wellness, technology, academic achievement and community service/partnership opportunities. The effect of these positive interactions and supports significantly impact our students overall desire to learn and grow as individuals. Thank you for the part each of you plays in providing a successful school experience for our children. As parents there are several actions we can take to assist our children in being successful and fulfill their potential. Begin by getting to know your childs teacher. Our dedicated and talented staff has student well-being and achievement as their primary goals. Sharing information with your childs teachers makes it easier for teachers to understand your children and better meet his/her needs. For example, sometimes things happen at home that can affect how children learn: a new sibling, a move, divorce, or an illness. Also, find out school/classroom expectations by reading communications from the school/classroom and utilizing the agendas. Another great way to partner with our school is to join the Parent-Teacher Association. This week we begin the annual membership drive for PTA. This organization has a long-standing history of helping parents learn about what is happening in schools locally and nationally as well as how best to be involved in your childs education. Finally, ensure your childrens daily, timely attendance. The attendance patterns set, starting in kindergarten, influence the likelihood a child will graduate from high school! Of course students have an occasional day when they are ill with a fever or virus, and we dont want to share germs, however, when students attend school regularly, they feel connected and confident about what is being taught and what activities are occurring in the classroom. This year we will continue teaching our students about Positive Behavior Interventions & Support (PBIS). We are sending home specific information for families that should help to answer questions. We will also renew our focus on the six pillars of character development in the Character Counts program. Thank you for all you have done to help your child/children and Berthoud Elementary have such a great beginning to our 20112012 school year! Students again did a wonderful job with the assessments during our first two days of school, and it is clear that many of them read over the summer. I am so proud of them! Thank you for partnering with us to provide our children with a rich school experience! We appreciate you taking the time to read the following information. You may wish to keep this information to reference throughout the year. Mrs. LoJeske

Introductions We wish to introduce our new staff members: Melissa Hall; Kindergarten, Melissa Stapleton; Counselor, Pam Wright; Tech Facilitator, Rebekah Beckett; Health Aide, Cynthia Lewis Jessup; Librarian, Jackie Penn; Para, Holly MacMahon; Para and Emily VanderWall; Teacher Early Childhood & Jennifer Brunner; Early Childhood Para. We are thankful that theyve joined our BES team and look forward to a great year together.

Contact Information Parents if you have changed your address over the summer or changed phone numbers, please contact the front office. It is important for us to keep the records up to date so that you will receive information in a timely manner. Berthoud Elementary Website The new website will be up and running on September 8th. Check out the new layout! The address has changed to [Link] STUDENTS ARE ASKED NOT TO ARRIVE AT SCHOOL BEFORE 8:30 AM. Students should stay on the North and South sides of the building where adults on duty provide supervision beginning at 8:30 AM. Students need to line up outside of their class upon their arrival. If your child is eating breakfast from the school menu, they may enter the lunchroom at 8:15 AM. Otherwise, students should not be on the school campus until 8:30 AM. Parents will be contacted if students regularly arrive at school before supervision is available.

Early Release Reminder Thompson School District has early release every Wednesday afternoon. That means our 1st through 5th grade students and afternoon kindergarten are released at 2:10. Morning kindergarten is released at 11:10. Talking each day about what will be occurring after school helps your child know what to expect; riding the bus, waiting for a family member or whatever is appropriate. Berthoud Elementary Homework Policy If a student is traveling for a vacation or personal reasons, homework will not be distributed prior to their trip. The homework will be held and can be completed upon their return. We do encourage students to keep a journal of their trip, to practice math facts and read during their absence. If a student is absent for two or more days due to illness, parents may contact the front office to request work. Please consider that teachers will need time to gather work from your childs other teachers. If a request is received first thing in the morning, work can usually be ready for pickup in the front office at the end of the school day. Please call first to make sure the work is in the office. An absent student will receive an equal number of days to complete their make-up compared to the number of days absent.

Elementary School Parties In accordance with district procedures, there shall be no individual birthday parties at school. In an effort to be fair to each child, and to ensure that there is no pressure or expectation that would make individual students feel uncomfortable, we ask that no birthday treats/snacks be sent to school. We know that each family will want to celebrate birthdays at home in accordance with their own traditions. This comes from the District Parent Elementary Handbook, on page 12. We will continue to recognize each student and celebrate them, but that is not considered a party and will be a classroom practice to teach social skills and be used as a 'bucket filler' activity. We also discourage sending birthday invitations to school for distribution. Instead, please send these through U.S. Mail.

OCTOBER COUNT DATES

It is very important that all students attend school during the October Count scheduled from Friday, September 23th through Friday, October 7th. School funding depends on our students being in attendance on these days. If for some reason your child will be absent due to illness, please call our attendance line at 970-613-7590. If at all possible, please try to schedule appointments either before or after school and schedule family vacations outside of this time. If for some reason this is not possible, please contact the office. A letter will be required to excuse your childs absence during this time if the absence is due to a vacation. To celebrate attendance, students are invited to wear their favorite sports jersey on Friday, September 30th.

Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences Teachers will be scheduling conference times with parents in the near future. Conferences will take place from Wednesday, October 5th through Friday, October 7th. Students will be in school Monday, October 3rd through Thursday, October 6th. Kindergarteners will not have school on Thursday, October 6th and Friday, October 7th.

Parent Portal The Parent Portal allows parents to access the Infinite Campus student information system. Parent Portal is offered to parents as an online tool for viewing pertinent information about your childs school progress, attendance, etc. We will be sending home your childs Parent/Guardian Activation Key number in the near future. Please activate Parent Portal as soon as you receive the activation information. We will be moving forward this year with placing your childs report card on their Parent Portal page. This process also occurs at the Middle School and High School levels.

Absences If your child will be absent from school for any reason, please call the attendance line directly any time, day or night and leave a message, 970-613-7590. Please provide the students first and last name, teacher, reason for absence and length of absence. Calling the attendance line helps us during the busy morning hour. We will call to check on your child if we have not received a message. Tardy Policy If a student is tardy, a parent/guardian must come in to the front office to sign the student in. If a student comes in late unaccompanied by an adult then that student will receive an unexcused tardy on their attendance record. If your child is going to be late due to an appointment, please notify the office by 9:00 am if they need a hot lunch ordered. Teacher Visits If you have questions for your childs teacher please feel free to leave them a voicemail message. If you need to meet with them in person, please contact them by phone to prearrange a meeting. Often, teachers are preparing their lessons for the day or are in meetings, so it is important to set up a time to meet with them, rather than dropping by before or after school. This will ensure that you have a sufficient amount of time for discussion.

After School Transportation Please make sure to let your child/children know where they need to go after school or if someone is going to pick them up. If your child is in 3rd through 5th grades, changes to after school plans may be written in their agenda. If your child is in Kindergarten through 2nd grade, please send a note with your child regarding a change in their after school routine. If an emergency should arise, please feel free to contact the office and we will get a note to your child.

Student Safety We take the safety of our students very seriously and consider this an area of constant focus. Please remember to obey all traffic signs and to slow down when driving by our school. The parking lot can be congested during drop off and pick up times and we ask that you please follow the one way signs and the cones when entering and exiting. We do have a large parking lot and it is a much safer choice to park there and walk to meet your child than to park across Bunyan and call your child over through bus lanes and two lanes of traffic. Kindergarten parents please avoid parking in the bus lanes when picking up your children. Please use the marked crosswalks when crossing the street and parking lot. Additionally, please walk bikes, skateboards, and scooters while on the campus. One last request, please avoid bringing dogs on to school grounds. Thanks for your help in keeping everyone safe!

Flip-flops During warm weather, we see some of our students wearing flip-flops to school. There are times when we have received visits to the front office and health office because children are experiencing injuries to their feet or their flip-flops are breaking at school. Please encourage your child and/or children to wear sturdier shoes to school for their safety. Thank you!! Health Office Reminder When to keep your child home: Answer these questions each morning before sending your child to school: 1. Does your child have a fever (100F) 2. Does your child have a sore throat, cough, runny nose, body aches, vomiting, or diarrhea? If you answered yes to both questions above, your child might have the flu. Keep your child home until symptoms are gone for 24 hours (without the aid of medications like Ibuprofen or Tylenol or products containing these).

PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Support) Information Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) is a school-wide system supported by the Colorado Department of Education and Thompson School District to help all students achieve important learning and social goals. We know that when good behavior and good teaching come together, our students will excel in their learning. The schools in our articulation area are proud to be a part of this exciting initiative. Last year, our staff took the first steps in developing a more positive academic and behavioral environment for everyone at Berthoud Elementary School. As a staff and student body, we have devoted much time over the last year collaborating on the development of a school-wide PBIS system, which was fully implemented on the first day of the 2010-2011 school year. Part of this process included establishing clear expectations for the behavior we expect in all areas of our school and providing a common language for all staff and students. We explicitly teach those expectations to the students and reward them frequently with positive praise, S.O.A.R cards, golden S.O.A.R. cards, and other acknowledgements for their great behavior. These behaviors will be positively reinforced throughout your childs school experience at Berthoud Elementary. We expect all of our students to SOAR like an Eagle: Safe On-task and responsible Achieve your best Respect

We believe that by helping students practice good behavior, we will build a school community where all students have an environment where they can succeed and grow. Thanks for all of your support. We are looking forward to a SOAR-ing year! Berthoud Staff

News from the Kitchen Welcome back, everyone! We are recycling our spoons, all of our beef products are 100% natural beef, and we use whole wheat breads and offer fresh fruit every day. Our peanut butter and jelly lunch also comes with a cheese stick. New this year is our 3rd choice option which is a salad. The following are the salad options for Monday through Thursday: Monday Caesar Salad, Tuesday Crispy Chicken Salad, Wednesday Garden Salad, Thursday Chef Salad. Our breakfast, menu has also changed and we are now offering more items. Breakfast is served from 8:15 to 8:38. Come check it out! Now that we are having recess before lunch, we have noticed that students are coming in to the lunchroom very thirsty. We have seen an increase in milk and water sales. As a reminder, milk costs 50 and juice or water costs 75 each. We do have small disposable cups for students to get water from the water fountain. You can go to [Link] and review your childs account balance or call the kitchen (970-613-7508) if you any questions. Field Day will be coming up on September 28th. We will be serving the following menu on that day. The adult lunch price is $3.10 without milk and $3.60 with milk. Students will order lunch in their classrooms. Hamburger or Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Sun Chips Orange Milk We hope you can join us! Have a great month! Monica Koldewyn, Kitchen Manager My Lunch [Link] If you are interested in creating an online lunch account for your child, please visit [Link]. You will need your childs school name, grade, birth date and student ID# (this can be obtained from the office).

Summer Bridge Books If your child(ren) completed a Summer Bridge book this summer, please have them return the completed book to their teacher for a reward/recognition of a job well done! The deadline to return books is Friday, September 9th.

Many Thanks to April Lucero and Bambi Brownell for volunteering to laminate materials prior to the school year beginning, Heidi Adams for putting together the phone directory, the PTA Officers & VITAL Coordinators for participating in the Parent Information Nights.

Preschool Berthoud Early Childhood is very excited to be a part of the Berthoud Elementary community. We currently have openings available for children who are three or four years old by October 1st. Our sessions are from 8:20-11:20 and from 12:00-3:30 Monday through Thursday. Please feel free to fill out an application located at the front office and in the Early Childhood classroom. We look forward to a great year. Emily Vander Wall and Jenn Brunner SAAC The School Accountability and Advisory Committee will meet in the library from 4:00 5:00 on September 8th. We will discuss our School Effectiveness Plan, school data and plans for this years meetings. Anyone is welcome to join us for meetings. If you would like to be a contributing member of this committee we ask for at least a one year commitment to our monthly meetings. JOIN BERTHOUD ELEMENTARY PTA The Parent Teacher Association provides amazing support and resources to Berthoud Elementary staff and students. Fund raisers have helped build our athletic fields, provided risers for our student showcases, purchased Promethean/Smart Board technology for several classrooms, purchased materials, equipment and much, much more! Please join us in this important and influential partnership. The membership drive for PTA runs from September 2nd September 15th. We have five meetings per year. You do not have to attend meetings to join PTA. Information will be sent home for each family. If you have any questions, please contact one of the following officers: President Ann Yuska 970-535-4875 Vice President Dawn Williams 970-532-3695 Secretary Melissa Barcewski 970-532-3081 Treasurer Susan Worrell 970-532-3802. VITAL Volunteers In Thompson Accentuating Learning is a wonderful organization that supports those who volunteer in our schools. Our coordinators this year are Lisa Beard and Linda Pennock. Each year Berthoud Elementary students benefit from thousands of hours donated by our families and our community! There will be a volunteer training at Berthoud Elementary on September 13th at noon. If you would like to volunteer and have not filled out the goldenrod volunteer form, please pick one up in the VITAL room at the school. Fall Fundraiser The fundraising program this year will be similar to last year. We are offering prize incentives to students who participate. Frozen food products will be offered, as well as, a gift item [Link] frozen food products offer a way to increase the value for the individual customers by providing a high quality, consumable product. In this tougher economy, a product, such as a frozen pizza that tastes terrific, may be more practical for a family. Offering frozen consumable products gives the families of Berthoud Elementary School another alternative to support the school while still providing value to their own families. The Fall Fundraiser is very important. The funding we receive from this process goes directly to support students and teachers all year long. This is PTAs primary fundraising event. The Fall Fundraiser will run from Sept. 16th Sept. 26th. If you would prefer to make a donation rather than order from the catalog, 100% of your donation will go directly to our PTA. If you have any questions, please contact: Linda Pennock 970-532-2348.

DISTRICT NEWS District Launches Virtual Family Resources Web Site Area The district has launched a virtual family resources web site area to provide parents and community members with help, information and resources about bullying, teenage mental health issues, and suicide prevention. The web page can be reached by going to: [Link]
The Thompson School District is committed to student safety. Please contact your school administrator, counselor, school psychologist, or social worker for additional support and information.

Colorado Sex Offender Registration Enforcement Act Information regarding the procedure by which community members may obtain law enforcement information collected pursuant to the Colorado Sex Offender Registration Enforcement Act is available online at: [Link] Offender/SO Pdfs/[Link] and on CDEs website at: [Link] Sex Offender [Link] In addition, main copies of this guide are available upon request for a $2.00 copying fee at the main office of every Thompson school and at the Thompson School District Main Office at 800 S Taft in Loveland, Colorado. Community members may view the document for free while at these locations and the document can be downloaded free of charge at the websites listed above.

Berthoud Family Fun Run/Walk The annual Berthoud Run/Walk will be held this year on Saturday, September 10th. For more information visit the following websites: [Link] or [Link] .

Monthly Glance September 1 6:30 - 7:30 1st and 2nd PIN 2 Spirit Day: Wear your Berthoud El. Gear or blue/white 2 PTA membership drive (2nd 16th) 5 Labor Day - No School 6 4:00 PTA; general meeting (Mrs. Spratts Room) 8 4:00 - SAAC meeting 10 Berthoud Family Fun Run/Walk 13 VITAL training 12:00 16 Fundraiser Assembly in the afternoon (16th thru the 26th) 16 Constitution Day (observed) wear red, white and blue to celebrate our Constitution! 23 Individual Picture Day 28 Field Day and Spirit Night at Chick-Fil-A Night 28 Fall Fundraiser Ends 30 Spirit Day Wear Favorite Sports Jersey for October Count

Berthoud Librarys 2011 Berthoud Elementary Summer Readers

Kindergarten Isabella DePumpo Amelia Hughes Lauren Knuth Conner Larrew Bryan Lawless Tadhg McDermid Carson Mead Allyson Miramontes Jaci Taylor Tyler Nelson (Preschool) 1st Grade Emma Bryant Sarah Bullett KeeLei Burrows Aiden Everson Casey Gustafson Cole Hanks Haley Hanks Bobby Holt Benjamin Hughes Jamin Hymel Niles Jablera-Rodriquez Maryn Maggi Clayton Maxfield Chelo Milligan Marlee Morris James Nelson Leia Nolen Kayla Petrovich Caleb Sherman Nolan Simon Kelsi Thoren Danny Vaca Abigail Wiggins Second Grade Maile Brunklacher Christine Doman Donovan Esparza Hudsen Grimditch Kian Kolek Ethan Larrew Kenna Lorenzen Ellie Mead Evan Morris Terra Nelson Sierra Pirkey Katie Rafferty Derek Rennaker Sarah Ross Maddisen Sherman Jesse White Annie Wiggins Third Grade Kendra Brownell Peter Bullett Justin Carter Abby Cunningham Jonah Doyle Samuel DuToit Alana Hymel Armando Miramontes Lane Pirkey Mireya Rennaker Miles Salazar David Sandstedt Zoe Segovia Nicholas Simmons Trenton Smith Kace Thoren Ellie Yuska Fourth Grade Anna Brooks Kevin Carter Caleb Cunningham Josie Doman Cody Gustafson Ashley Hiatt Amber Holt Kriselle Kolek Jeromiah Lewis Jacob Sisson Anna Starks James Strange Owl Calli Taylor Fifth Grade Will Bullett Joseph DuToit Abby Franke Caden Grimditch Kalenakai Hoshiko Ryan Howard Caleb Kelly Chistophe Kolek Nicky Major Madison Mastriona Aurelia Miramontes Jessa Pirkey Carly Rafferty Elliott Read Eriana Rennaker Tyler Smith Kali Thoren Kathryn Worrell