Friday, May 29, 2020

Principal's Notes 5/29/20

Message of the Month
Communication and Friendship- Conversation Skills

Important Dates
  • June 4 - Kindergarten Recognition - 9:30am 
  • June 5 - 4th Grade "Honk -Out" 10:00am
  • June 5 - Last Day of School work for students
  • June 8-11 - Collection of Chromebooks and Distribution of student materials
Family Resources:

Report Cards
As a reminder, student report cards are available online only in the PowerSchool Parent Access Portal. To access your child's report card online, log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal and you will see a Report Cards icon in the left hand pane. When you click on this icon your child's report card will appear on the screen. You can scroll to see the entire report card and choose to print it, if you'd like. If you’d like a printed report card, please print it prior to July 1st, as it will not be available after we do roll over (sometime in July). Anytime you click on the Report Cards icon, the most recent report card will generate. Quarter 4 report cards will be available to view on Tuesday, June 9th at 12:45 PM.

School Chromebook Drop-Off and Student Materials Pick-Up
Collection of student Chromebooks and any school materials/books that students have at home will take place Monday, June 8 – Thursday, June 11 from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Please return Chromebooks to the school in which your student currently attends.

Teachers bagged up student materials that were left in the classroom. We will use this same
schedule to distribute those materials to families.  Distribution times are scheduled by child's last name.
  • Monday: A-C
  • Tuesday: D-J
  • Wednesday: K-O
  • Thursday: P-Z
Click HERE for detailed instructions of the process that we will use.

*Library books will also be collected at the cafeteria station.

Kindergarten Recognition
Our Kindergarten Recognition is scheduled for Thursday,June 4th at 9:30am.
Please see THESE INSTRUCTIONS for Kindergarten Recognition at MEM.


BSD Honk Outs
It has been the tradition at our respective K-8 schools to "clap out" the oldest grades as they move up to the next school on Move Up Day. The students that were clapped out were 4th graders at the elementary schools, 6th graders at McKelvie and 8th graders at Lurgio.

We would like to continue this tradition by "Honking Out" these students on Friday, June 5th at the times listed below:

10:00 to 11:00 All Elementary Schools (4th Grade Students)

10:30 to 11:30 McKelvie School (6th Grade Students)

Parents/students should arrive at the school(s) they attend during the time frames listed above. Please follow social distancing guidelines by staying in your cars, to ensure the safety of our Bedford community.

Please see THESE INSTRUCTIONS for 4th Grade MEM Honk Out at The Manchester Christian Church.


Bedford Public Library Summer Reading Challenge
We invite you to join us for the 2020 Summer Reading Challenge! Registration will open June 9th and you can start logging your reading on June 15th!

This year we will be using Beanstack software to track reading minutes, which you can use in a web browser or via the Beanstack Tracker App. We’ll also bring back the beads and necklaces from last year! Every hour will earn you 1 bead, and every 5 hours will earn you a special bead. Complete activities to earn additional special beads and be entered into a weekly raffle. Reading 15 hours by July 31st will complete the program, although you can keep reading to earn extra beads if you like. Details about Zoom book clubs and storytimes as well as make and take crafts will be coming soon!

And don't forget that our Summer Reading Challenge is open for adults and teens who want to participate and read for prizes too! 
Please keep an eye on our website and social media pages (including our new Youtube channel) for more information.


Boredom Busters
Click HERE for some exciting activities with a camping theme in the Boredom Busters Blog.  

Free Program for Four-Year olds
Please see This Letter for information on the New Hampshire UPSTART Program.


Reminders

If Your Family is Planning a Move
If you have plans to move after school gets out, please contact our secretary, Debbie Gelinas (gelinasd@sau25.net), as soon as possible to let her know. This information impacts placement for us. In addition, she will let you know what you need to do in terms of paperwork. Thank you!


Memorial Day Virtual Field-trip
Because our annual tradition of walking with our students to the cemetery couldn't happen this year we decided to share a slideshow with you all of you to show that our tradition continues. Please share with you children.  You will have to advance the slides by pressing the space bar on your computer keyboard.  HERE it is!

2020/21 Student Class Placement
Placement will take place over the summer this year. We are aiming for the end of July. At that time, your child’s new teacher will reach out via email with a welcome letter and supply information. Please make sure that your email information is up to date in Power School.

Quarter 4 Report Cards
As a reminder… Governor Sununu recommended schools report a Pass/Fail reporting system. Bedford does not use letter grades at the elementary schools, but we will make the adjustments described below.

Based on participation in the subjects of reading and mathematics, please expect your child's fourth-quarter progress to be either "Meeting District Expectations" or "Meeting Some District Expectations.” For those rare instances when students did not participate in remote learning, they may receive “Not Meeting District Expectations.” This information will be provided in the comment section of the report card. Since the entire fourth quarter instruction has been under the conditions of Remote Learning, it is more difficult to provide a four-point reporting system as we had in the first three quarters of the year. Your child will also have a comment section from the teacher providing more detail.

Integrated Arts (Specialist Teachers) will also provide progress on the report card (grades 3 & 4) with "Good" and "Satisfactory" in the area of participation. For those rare instances when students did not participate in remote learning, they may receive “Needs Improvement.”



Playground Access
I know that it is tempting as the weather continues to get nicer, but in staying in compliance with the Town of Bedford and given the guidance from the CDC and DHHS about stopping the transmission of the COVID-19 virus, we are asking that students DO NOT come to our playgrounds.  Thank you.


Breakfast and Lunch other Food Options
The Bedford School District Food Service Department continues providing grab-n-go breakfast and lunch for all students in the community at no charge.  Pick up is available 9am-12pm at the High School gymnasium entrance.

PLEASE fill out the Food Service Meal Order Form (Link is below). Deadline for pre ordering is 2pm the previous day. Please know that pre-ordering is a must in order to ensure you have meals.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSefPlzhEtEz3Dx5eu9p0yK_zziRbCtnlsy-fc4AWcoB1idnjw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Contact Emily Murphy at murphye@bedfordnhk12.net for any questions or concerns.

For additional meal and food support contact the Bedford Community Food Pantry.  Click HERE for more information.

Bedford Presbyterian Church COVID-19 Resources
The Bedford Presbyterian Church and Bedford Food Pantry reached out to us offering resources to our community.

These include:
A dedicated COVID-19 Fund to provide assistance to community programs and individuals
Helping Hands Outreach Ministry, that can provide necessary urgent home repairs to people that are unable to afford or perform them themselves.
Bedford Presbyterian Church also houses the Bedford Community Food Pantry, which is open every Saturday from 9am-11am. (603) 867-1445


School Offices
All physical buildings in the BSD are closed to the public. Employees will be working remotely. If you need to get in touch with someone at the school, please call our main line 603-627-1776 and leave a message. Messages will be returned within 24-36 hours. Email is the most efficient method of contacting the schools.

Wellness Team is here for you
Memorial School's Wellness Team consists of our School Nurse, School Counselor, Social Worker, Assessment Specialist and Assistant Principal. Throughout the school year, we've met to support students in a variety of ways. As we transition to Remote Learning, please feel free to reach out to us individually or as a group if needs arise. Please let us know if you have concerns about emotional and behavioral support, school supplies, access to food, illness and any other needs for additional resources or support. We will continue to be here for you! 

- Anna Cook (School Nurse), Christine Hodgdon (School Counselor), Katelyn LeBlanc (School Social Worker), Beth Purcell (Assistant Principal) 




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