Family News
Dear families,
As we approach the February break (February 19-27), I wanted to share a number of things we are working on as a school:
- Building Strong and Calm Morning Routines
- Improving Attendance
- School Safety
- Drop-off and Pick-up
- Ensuring ALL Students Feel a Sense of Belonging at BAIS
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One of the things that makes Bentley Academy unique is our early start time. While this start time (7:30) may be challenging, it is important that students arrive to school on time each day. One of the most important reasons for this is to support your child’s social emotional development. In each class throughout our school, the time of 7:45-8:15 is dedicated to Morning Circle. This is when teachers intentionally teach lessons that help children build a kind a respectful classroom community, learn how to navigate challenging social situations, and build friendships.
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See these flyers for more information about why attendance is so important,
especially in the early years of school.
In March, we will be completing a school safety drill. Before this type of drill, students learn about it ahead of time using social stories and by having conversations with their teachers and other trusted adults in the school. You can help alleviate any anxiety students have about this by relating it to fire drills. The chances of something happening in our school (like a fire or an intruder) are extremely low due to many precautions we take, but we make sure we are prepared for these events to ensure that we all know how to keep everyone in our school community safe. Families will receive notification of the date of this drill and are urged to reach out to Ms. Rogers or Ms. Tully with any concerns. Speaking of safety, here are reminders about drop off and pick up designed to keep all of our children safe. |
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Please drop off children for school on time AT THE SIDE PARKING LOT. We open the SIDE door at approximately 7:20 and keep it open for drop-off until the line of cars is finished (usually around 7;40). If you arrive after the side door is closed, you can drive to the front to drop your child off.
When families drop off their children at the front of the building INSTEAD of the side parking lot, it compromises our ability to ensure student safety due to the fact that our front door is for BUSES only from 7:20-7:40.
In the afternoons, the same system is in place. Stay in your car, waiting in the pick-up line. If you want to walk up to pick up, you are welcome to park your car in a designated space and go to the playground. If you arrive after the pick-up line is finished (usually around 3:20), please pick up students at the front door. Again, it is not safe to pick up children at the front of the building until buses have had a chance to depart.
Please be prepared to show an ID if you are picking up your child early. Ms. Caldeira and Ms. Cruz are working hard to get to know all of our families, but they may request to see your ID to ensure your child is sent home with a trusted family member or family friend.
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We recently completed our 3rd school wide project this year. Through our identity project, where students explored their own identities as well as those of their classmates, we all learned a lot about each other! Some of the things I learned when talking with students about these projects:
- Many of our students have hopes and dreams for their futures. Students at Bentley want to be doctors, chefs, digital artists, social media influencers, and athletes! This project helped some students think about their hopes & dreams for the first time.
- A couple of our older students will be fasting for the first time during Ramadan this year.
- Many of our students take pride in their families’ ethnic and racial backgrounds, whether they have roots connected to the Dominican Republic, Albania, Nigeria, or Italy (and many more!).
- Lots of our family traditions and celebrations are connected to FOOD!
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If you or anyone you know has a preschool-aged or child who will be 5 years old by the end of August, visit this page on the SPS website for information about registration and presentations by each school.
Here are links to kindergarten registration packets:
Kindergarten Registration Packet (English)
Kindergarten Registration Packet (Spanish)
