Reminders about our events this week! (Please note the tracks for the field trip)

Trailblazers,
Welcome back track 4!  We are so happy that you begin your 4th quarter of school this week.  Track 3 went out to enjoy their last break of the school year.
***Tomorrow we will have Holly Harps' in our building for our Cultural Program sponsored by the PTA.  We are excited to able to offer this wonderful learning opportunity for our students and we thank the PTA for being able to support this event.
***This is just a reminder about our General PTA Meeting and our first Family Fun Bingo Night tomorrow beginning at 6 p.m.  Come on out and vote on our PTA officers for the new school year, play bingo with your family and enjoy some time with your greater Trailblazer community.  We will be in the Cafe beginning at 6 p.m. 
***Friday, the 19th we will see 4th grade tracks 1 & 2 off on their field trip to Fort Fisher.  Parents please may sure you have good communciation about picking up your child on Friday evening.
***I  posted on the school website and the Principal's Desk blog that there was a misprint regarding the date for our annual talent show.  The recent newsletter that came home had April 25th listed as the Talent Show date, but the actual date is May 30th. 
***Finally, we received our Case benchmark asssessment data for the 3rd administration.  I am so proud and excited to share with you that we are making academic gains at each grade level with our students.  I am certain that our students are experiencing success in their classrooms.  I will post additional details on the Principal's Desk blog so that you can celebrate our academic success with us. 
***All of this information has already been posted to the school website.  If you have any questions, please call 919-890-7333.  Have a great evening! Mrs. Graf

Come one come all to BINGO at BRES!

It's a two day count down....come on out to BRES on Thursday evening, April 18th from 6-8 p.m. for our first annual BINGO Family Night! 

Please join us for a FUN night filled with lots of prizes and chances to win BIG! You are welcome to bring your dinner with you and eat in the Banks Road Cafeteria while playing Bingo, and there will be drinks and snacks available to purchase.

 

Along with playing FREE Bingo, there will be items to be raffled off such as: 

*KINDLE FIRE

*$100 Gift Card to Great Wolf Lodge

*NC Symphony Tickets

**Must be present to win!**

Raffle ticket prices: 1 for $5 or 5 for $20

 

For us to make sure we have enough Bingo supplies for everyone to play, please reply to this email and let us how many will be attending by Wednesday, April 17th.

 

 

PTA BOARD ELECTIONS: Thursday, April 18th at 6 pm

The PTA will have the 2013-2014 Board Elections just before Family Fun Night. There is currently no one running for the Secretary position at this time. If you are interested in running for Secretary or any other position, please contact Jenn Giancola at nc4colas@gmail.com. 

Quick description of the Secretary position:

*Attend PTA Board meetings monthly or as scheduled.

*Record minutes of all meetings, General and Board.

*Maintain a file of important documents.

*Attend & help with school wide programs & fundraisers.

PTA Board Positions: 

President, VP Programs, VP Ways & Means, VP Communications, Secretary, Treasurer.

Do you know about Parent Academies?

Trailblazers,
Here is information related to the WCPSS Parent Academies.  These are free classes that cover various topics.  The classes are open to all parents and offer support ranging from how to help with homework, wha the Common Core means for your student to understanding more about Special Education.  Here is information regarding the upcoming sessions for this week.  I know it is short notice, but I just received this today!  I hope some of you will decide to attend and take advantage of this great support. 

Support your child's academic and social success with FREE Parent Academy classes.  All classes are held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Millbrook High School on Tuesdays, Reedy Creek Middle School on Wednesdays, and Knightdale High School on Thursdays.  To register, visit www.wcpss.net/adult-edu or call 919-431-7411.  Childcare is provided for children ages 4-13 for free.

Apoye el e`xito academico y social de su hijo con clases gratuitas en als Academia de Padres.  Las clases se ofrecen desde las 6:30 p.m. a las 8:30 p.m. los martes en Millbrook HS, los miercoles en Reedy Creek MS y los jueves en Knightdale HS.  Para registarse, visite a www.wcpss.net/adult-edu or llame a 919-431-7411.  Habra cuidado de ninos para las edades de 4 a 13 por gratuitas.

What's Up? 

Identify and Protect Your Child against Bullying
4/16, 4/17, 4/18
Register:  http://bit.ly/BullyO

?Que Pasa?
Identificando y protegiendo a su hijo contra el acoso
Inscribase: http://bit.ly/BullyO

Have questions? Preguntas? Call me at 919-890-7333.  Thank you, Mrs. Graf

Correction to the Talent Show Date

Posted on April 9, 2013

by cgraf1

Trailblazers,
The PTA newsletter and our Google calendar had this Thursday, April 11th listed for our BRES Talent Show.  This is an incorrect date.  Our talent show is scheduled for May 30th.  We apologize for any inconvience this may have caused.  Thank you.

April is Autism Awareness Month

As a graduate of Meredith College I recieve alumnae emails.  I had forgotten about the wonderful work that Meredith does with children with Autism until this email hit my inbox.  Read below for information regarding their MAP program at Meredith.

April is Autism Awareness Month by Meredith Alumnae

April is Autism Awareness Month.  To lean more about autism and the Meredith Autism Program, known as MAP, please visit their website by clicking here.

The Meredith College Autism Program (MAP) provides full time treatment services for children with autism.  MAP is a specialized early intervention, teaching and behavior modification program for young children with autism and their families.  The Meredith Autism Program started as part of research originally funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

The mission of the Meredith Autism Program is to provide a behavioral intervention in which children with autism can develop to their fullest potential, provide experience and education in the field of autism to undergraduate students, while validating and expanding the current research.

As promised....learning and teaching in Ms. McLaurin's room!

I just spent wonderful time in Ms. McLaurin's classroom this afternoon. Students were working on writing in response to non-fiction texts. Ms. McLaurin and the class read a book about blue whales. They identified facts about blue whales, discussed what blue whales had in common with other mammals including humans and then made a list of facts about blue whales. The students were engaged and had all eyes on Ms. McLaurin as she walked 100 feet from her playground door, through the hall, into Ms. Garvey's room, out her classroom door, over the sidewalk and down two steps into the bus loop to model the length of the blue whale!!!! Students were amazed that a mammal could be that HUGE! After the students developed a list of facts about whales they were empowered to travel back to their seats to write about the blue whale. Students immediately grabbed their pencils and a clean sheet of paper and began to put the "lead to the paper!" What wonderful writers we have here at Banks Road Elementary. These students were excited to share their new learning with their teacher and I know that they will be heading home to share this knowledge with their parents as well! Here are a few pictures of the learning and teaching process. Enjoy!

Learning and teaching highlighted in two classrooms today....

One of the best aspects of my position as Principal is getting into classrooms and seeing the learning and teaching process in action. Today I was in Mr. Gordon's track 2 classroom and Mrs. McLaurin's track 3 classroom. Wow! These two Kindergarten classrooms are rocking and rolling with learning and teaching today. In Mr. Gordon's room students were reading a non fiction book about spiders. Mr. Gordon transitioned the students from reading and learning facts about spiders to writing and sharing their newly acquired non-fiction knowledge! Students worked independently to write one to over five facts about spiders. Students used resources such as the word wall, personal word walls and "sounded out" words to support their writing. Mr. Gordon and his instructional assistant, Ms. White circulated throughout the classroom from table to table assisting students in their writing process. Students were so engaged and excited to write about spiders. Check out these photos of the learning and teaching process in action in Mr. Gordon's classroom today! More about my visit to Ms. McLaurin's room to come....