Thursday, May 10, 2012

Thank you!

What a great turn out for Kindergarten Orientation tonight!  It was wonderful to see many familiar faces, as well as meet many new families joining BRES in just a few short weeks.  The Kindergarten Team did a great job of sharing information about the staggered entry process and activities that students will participate during a school day.  Thank you to the PTA for coming out and sharing the wonderful work you do to support the school, the staff and the students.  I hope everyone was able to get to the spirit wear table so you and your child can start participating in school spirit days (Fridays) in the new school year.  The new t-shirt design is very collegiate and the students and staff love it.  You will see my girls and me in our new shirts tomorrow!  Additionally a thank you goes out to the Kraft YMCA Director Dedrick Woodard and  counselors for sharing information about our wonderful before and after-care program. If you have any questions regarding staggered entry or kindergarten please contact the Front Office at 919-890-7333 and we will be more than to assist you.

Lastly, thank you to the parents who attended the 5th Grade Human Growth and Development information session in the Media Center tonight.  Thank you goes out the 5th grade team for their work in preparing for the information session.  If you have any questions about the health unit, please contact the Front Office and we will have a 5th grade teacher get in touch with you.

As always thank you for your continued support of BRES. 

Tonight is THE Night!

Tonight we are hosting our Kindergarten Orientation for all rising Kindergarten parents for the 2012-2013 school year.  We will meet from 6-7 p.m. in the multipurpose room for a general overview of Kindergarten and preparing for the transition to school.

Calling all 5th grade parents:  please attend the Human Growth and Development session scheduled from 5:30-6:30 tonight in the 5th grade classrooms.  Fifth grade teachers will be on hand to share the unit, materials and resources they will use to teach this critical unit. 

This message is repeated in Spanish below.
Esta noche vamos a celebrar nuestra orientación de kindergarten para todos los padres de kindergarten el aumento para el año escolar 2012-2013. Nos reuniremos de 6-7 pm en el salón de usos múltiples para obtener una visión general de jardín de infantes y la preparación para la transición a la escuela.

Llamando a todos los padres de 5to grado: por favor asistir a la sesión de Crecimiento Humano y Desarrollo programado de 5:30-6:30 esta noche en las aulas de 5 º grado. Quinta maestros de los grados estarán disponibles para compartir la unidad, los materiales y los recursos que se utilizan para enseñar esta unidad fundamental.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Carnival is Coming...

Let the countdown begin!  10 full days until the BRES Carnival is here.  Our PTA is working to make the final arrangements for an evening full of fun here at BRES.  Our school grounds will be transformed into a carnival with bounce houses, food vendors, sno cones, face painting, music by a DJ, and so much more.  Please come out and join us, have some dinner, play some games and enjoy the company of other BRES families.

Want to learn more about the carnival? Interested in volunteering? Visit this link to PTA website for more information https://sites.google.com/site/banksroadpta/home or call the Front Desk and we would be happy to assist you. 

Just a reminder...

This Thursday all rising Kindergarten parents are welcome to attend Kindergarten Orientation.  We will meet in the multipurpose room from 6-7p.m. to learn about the typical day in Kindergarten and learn more about BRES.  Due to the number of rising Kindergarten students this year the information session is for parents only.  This session will be geared toward supporting you in transitioning your child to school and answering all of your questions.  There will be an opportunity for you to hear about the lunch program, transportation, meet staff members and purchase BRES Spirit items. 

From Kindergarten to fifth grade...Thursday night the 5th grade teachers will host a parent information session about the Human Growth and Development health unit.  All 5th grade parents are invited to attend to learn more about the health unit, view the video and review the instructional materials used in the classroom.

If you have any questions about either of these events, please call the Front Office at 919-890-7333 and we would be more than happy to assist you.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Many Successes to Celebrate at BRES

Whew! What a wonderful week we just had here at school.  We had many activities that need to be celebrated.  Where do I begin?  Let's start with our Title I PAC Event.  On Thursday at 2:15 p.m. our Title I Team welcomed parents to a "Make and Take" session.  Parents were able to move from station to station to learn about various literacy skills and how to support reading and comprehension at home.  A big thank you goes out to our Title I team for their work in organizing the event.  A big thank you also goes out the families that attended!

The 2nd Annual Talent Show was a great success.  Over 20 individual and group acts performed Thursday evening showing off skills such as playing the piano, guitar, and the drums.  There were several vocal performances, as well as many dance routines.  The students all did a wonderful job!  A big thank you goes out to the behind the scenes people who made the night happen:  Mr. Capps, Ms. Stephenson, Ms. Rutherford, Ms. Blackmon, Ms. Talley, Ms. Bethel, Mr. Tart, and Ms. Goodson.  Without their efforts the night would not have been possible!  Thank you for attending and supporting the students on Thursday night!

I offered another Common Core Parent Information session on Friday morning.  Thank you to the parents who joined me to hear about the new curriculum for the 2012-2013 school year.  Friday the 18th will be another session from 8:15-8:45 in the Media Center.  If you plan to attend please call the Front Office and reserve your seat and handout. Want to learn more about the Common Core on your own? Follow this link http://www.corestandards.org/   or visit http://www.wcpss.net/ and click on the Common Core icon. 

Friday also marked the Geo-Animal Tour in the Media Center for Ms. Bethel's and Ms. Garvey's classes.  Parent and families were treated to a zoo of animals on Friday as they traveled from table to table to see and hear about zoo animals as our first grade students practiced 21st century learning skills!  Students prepared for the event by researching animals using non-fiction texts and media, drafting a report and then publishing their final copies.  Students used a variety of materials to create their chosen animal.  Check out the pictures below to see the fruits of their labors in the classroom.





Additionally, Friday also brought about Lemonade Day for our after school YMCA program students.  Have I told you how wonderful our YMCA program is here at BRES?  Well we have an outstanding before and after school program here with professional and dedicated YMCA staff members.  The program director and counselors plan thoughtful events and make the before and aftercare program a continuation of learning combined with great fun.  Our students learned entrepreneurial skills, effective communication skills and marketing in preparing for the Lemonade Day event.  Students set up their own stands, created their own stand name, developed a lemonade recipe and they presented their lemonades for tasting on Friday evening.  Parents, staff members and students were able to travel from stand to stand to "taste test" and then vote for their favorites in categories such as:  Best Lemonade, Best Business and Best Stand.  Each stand had something to offer and voting was extremely difficult!  Below are a few pictures I took and wanted to share with you. 




We had wonderful events that celebrated learning all week here at BRES!  We continue to blaze down the trail of educational excellence in all we do and I'm so proud to share all of these learning activities with you. 


Thursday, May 3, 2012

Talent Show Tonight & Common Core Parent Information Session Tomorrow

I just wanted to remind everyone to come out to see a star-studded line up performers at our Talent Show tonight at 7:00 p.m.  The show will feature over twenty individual and group acts.  Ms. Bethel, our own first grade teacher will be the MC for the event.  She has her jokes ready to go and the show is sure to be a success!

Tomorrow morning we will hold our second Common Core Parent Information Session in the Media Center from 8:15-8:45 a.m.  Please join us to hear for a general overview of the new curriculum for the 2012-2013 school year.  Please call the front office to reserve a seat and a handout for either session. 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Mark Your Calendars

Happy May Day!  Do you know the origins of May Day?  Check out this website to find out about how May Day came to be on our calendars today, http://www.marxists.org/subject/mayday/articles/tracht.html. 

In addition to May Day, we have many activities and events taking place in May here at BRES.  Please read below for dates and descriptions.  If you have any questions, please call the Front Office at 919-890-7333 and we would be happy to assist you!
  • May 4th:  Interims go home for Tracks 1 & 2
  • May 4th:  Principal's Coffee:  Common Core Parent Information Session from 8:15-8:45 a.m. in the Media Center (please call the office to reserve your seat.)  Please join Mrs. Graf and Mrs. Goodson to hear about the new curriculum for the 2012-2013 school year. 
  • May 8th:  PTA Board Meeting
  • May 7th-10th:  Track 2 EOG Testing
  • May 7th-11th:  Teacher Appreciation Week (more information is coming)
  • May 10th:  Kindergarten Orientation Parent Session 6-7 p.m. Media Center
  • May 14th-17th:  Track 1 EOG Testing
  • May 16th:  Common Core Parent Information Session from 6:00-6:30 p.m. in the Media Center (please call the office to reserve your seat.)  Please join Mrs. Graf and Mrs. Goodson to hear about the new curriculum for the 2012-2013 school year. 
  • May 18th:  Principal's Coffee:  Common Core Parent Information Session from 8:15-8:45 a.m. in the Media Center (please call the office to reserve your seat.)  Please join Mrs. Graf and Mrs. Goodson to hear about the new curriculum for the 2012-2013 school year. 
  • May 18th:  PTA sponsored Spring Carnival (more information to come) 
  • May 24th :  Field Day for Tracks 1 & 3
  • May 25th:  10:00 Tour!  Prospective families from Round 1 & 2 can join Mrs. Graf for an informational tour of the school.  Please call the office to confirm your attendance. 
  • May 28th:  Memorial Day (No School)
  • May 29th-June 1st:  NC Extend 2 Tracks 3 & 4 Testing
  • June 1st:  Last day of school for Track 1 & 5th Grade Track 1 Celebration at 10:00 a.m.