APRIL 2014 Volume 6

From Our Principal

Dear Bailey Lake Families,
Did you know that the PTA budget is larger than the building budget I manage? The BLE PTA plays an integral role in the learning that occurs at our school. Funds raised by the PTA support field trips, enrichment activites, special events, classroom supplies, etc Most recently, the PTA has contributed to our growing classroom libraries and purchased technology enhancements for our classrooms. Many of the extras that students receive are due to the support of our PTA. Thanks for continuing to support our students with being involved in the BLE PTA! Parent Input on Classroom Placement 2014-15 Considerable work is done to ensure the proper placement of each student from one grade level to the next. The principal begins the process in the spring with input from teaching staff and parents. Teacher input: Teachers fill out a placement form for each student which includes information on special assistance, known disabilities, achievement levels in math and language arts, test scores, areas of strengths, areas of academic difficulties, and special interests of the child. In addition,

there are comments regarding initiative, self-control, and work habits. The teachers use this information to build and balance class lists, keeping in mind the number of teachers provided to staff the building and provisions relating to class size. Parent input: Information from parents must be submitted during the planning and information-gathering period. District Policy prohibits parents from requesting a specific teacher, but parents may describe their childs learning style to help us place the child in a suitable learning atmosphere. Parent input letters (in writing) must be received by Mr. Gualtieri by Thursday, May 1, 2014. Notification of student placement will be made in late August via a letter from the childs new teacher that will be mailed home. Sincerely, Glenn Gualtieri, Principal

Connecting, Cultivating, and Thriving

Where Education at Clarkston Community Schools will Take Your Child

Discover Our Story

April 17th, 2014

Remember to order

In Conjunction with Body Mind Green Expo

On Thursday, April 17th, at 5 p.m. Clarkston High School will host an important collaborative conference and exposition focused on the concept of the whole child. This event will feature a keynote presentation by Dr. Rock (5:45 p.m.), breakout sessions with Clarkston teachers and administrators, displays of student work from around the district, and Body Mind Green Expo with the Clarkston Chamber of Commerce. Speakers will address Cultures of Thinking in Clarkston as well as how learning has to feel for our children and whom students to become as a result of the time they spend in our schools. Displays will feature various ways all areas of student learning are now being considered. The Mind-Body exhibits will include healthy eating demonstrations, wellness, fitness, anti-aging, longevity, stress relief and more! The conference will start in the Cafeteria and Lobby area near the Performing Arts Center. Please attend to learn what education at CCS will mean to your child.

Market Day by Tuesday, April 22 11 p.m.!

We offer convenient pick-up. 10% of our profit every month goes towards our school! Every little bit helps! They have great food items to select from and offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee Policy.

Mark Your APRIL Calendars:

************* Important *************

Make-up Days for School Cancellations

As you know, winter weather and power outages have caused cancellations at all Clarkston Community Schools beyond the six days allowed by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). There is proposed legislation (HB4295) that may favorably impact the number of days to make-up; however, while this legislation has passed in the House of Representatives, it is still pending in the Senate. Based on the information we have today, Clarkston Community Schools will be in session through Tuesday, June 10. Thursday, June 5, which was formerly a half day, will be a full day of school, and we will be in session full days on Friday, June 6 and Monday, June 9. Tuesday, June 10 will be a half day. In the event the legislation indicated above passes, we may have fewer days to make-up and this schedule will be revised with immediate notification sent to parents. Please remember that student attendance is of utmost importance on these added days. We must have at least 75% of our students present to count the day and receive state funding. There will no change to the current schedule for high school seniors.

From Our PTA President

Dear Bailey Lake Families, When you received your childrens MEAP results last month, you experienced an historic moment - the last report of the MEAP era. The standardized test that has been used as the sole means to measure our students proficiency in reading, writing, and math has proved to be ineffective. So what exactly will come in lieu of the MEAP and how is the new assessment going to work? According to the Michigan PTA February issue of Common Core Standards Newsletter, the Michigan Department of Education stated that the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment would replace the current MEAP test that students take in October. It is prepared to begin testing during the 2014-2015 school year. The rationale behind this new testing is that the MEAP and other older tests do not align with the Common Core State Standards. They often assess how well a student could memorize material and then select the right answer on a multiple choice test. As more rigorous standards that encourage problem solving and critical thinking are implemented, assessments designed to more accurately measure deeper knowledge and critical thinking are needed. The Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment is a computer adaptive assessment. This means that it will adjust the difficulty of questions based on the test takers previous responses. Ideally, it should give a more accurate snapshot of what the student actually knows. In addition, the test results turnaround time is much shorter. Teachers should have test results in weeks instead of months, which would give them more opportunities to work with individual students. As for our schools computer system and support that could be an issue, according to the Smarter Balanced Consortium, The assessments are being designed to work with the computing resources in schools today, meaning that they dont require the latest and greatest. Lets hope they dont.

April 7-11 Spring Break April 14 School Resumes April 15 Reflections Reception, 6 p.m. April 17 Discover Our Story Connecting, Cultivating and Thriving, Clarkston High School, 5 p.m. April 18 No School, Good Friday April 23 Late Start April 24 Kindergarten Orientation April 28 Market Day Pick-up April 30 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon, 12 - 1 p.m.

Jr. Optimists

I would like to thank Becky Walker and Laura Cadreau for creating our schedule for Reading Month. The children had a great time reading books with their teachers. As usual, Seuss Night, a big and traditional part of this month, was another wonderful event dedicated to reading and math. Thank you, The Seuss Night Committee, our great staff, parents, and all the volunteers who spent their evening bringing joy to the children! A few activities coming up are the Reflections Awards Reception on April 15th and Kindergarten Orientation on April 24th. Have a wonderful Spring Break! Arina Bokas BLE PTA President 248-330-2408

Raise Money for a Rescue Dog!

In March, the Bailey Lake Jr. Optimists Club sponsored a rescue dog from the Semper Fidelis Pet Rescue. To raise money, they sold green and white suckers for St. Patricks Day. The response from our school family was fabulous with students and staff buying hundreds of suckers to send to their friends, families and teachers. Our sponsored dog, Bailey, made his appearance during the 1st day of sales and we are happy to report that he has successfully been adopted out to his forever family! Additionally, the Jr. Optimists continued selling suckers during Seuss Night and altogether raised $431.01 for the pet rescue! This money will be used for vetting, food and toys for the dogs waiting to be adopted. Ryan Anderson presented the money to the pet rescue during a recent pet adoption event and they were quite humbled and thankful for the generous donations of our school family. Thank you to all who participated!

And all that participated!

This years winnersGuys With Glasses: Brendan Collica, Tyler Crockett, Ryan Kisser, Kyle Crockett, Aidan Hepler

Battle of the Books Winners!

Congratulations

Its time to Re-Enroll in our

Kroger Community Rewards Program!

Night 2014!
Seuss Night 2014 was a huge success! We had approximately 350 kids and their families enjoy the event with us! Thanks to our wonderful volunteers who make it all possible BLEs dedicated staff and parents who gave their time to make the night fun, as well as, the energetic teens who ran the games, painted Seuss-erific faces, and served as our fun-loving mimes. A very special thank you also goes out to the families who donated delicious cookies. We couldnt do it without all your help. See you next year! The Seuss Night Committee Kristine Barber, Amy Darnell, Judy Haas, Sandi Larkins, Tina Redmond, Whitney Schmidt, Gustina Sell, & Becky Walker

The 2014-2015 Kroger Community Rewards Program begins May 1, 2014. All supporters who registered prior to April 1, 2014 must re-enroll online to continue supporting your organization. Below are the steps to re-enroll your Kroger Plus Card so that it continues to earn fundraising dollars for Bailey Lake Elementary School! Please pass along this notice to friends & family who can help. Re-enrolling only takes a few moments and is completed in a few simple steps: 1. 2. Visit our website at www.krogercommunityrewards.com. Sign in using your email address and password. If you have forgotten your password, just click on forgot password and a link will be sent to your email to change your password. Enter BLEs five digit NPO number (82526) or the first three letters of the organizations name, click search. Select your organization by clicking on the circle to the left of your organizations name. SAVE CHANGES.

3. 4. 5.

If you want to enroll a new card, follow the instructions below. Click Enroll if you have never been a part of KrogerCommunityRewards.com. Have your Kroger Plus Card ready. If you use your phone number at the register, call 1(877)576-7587 to get your Kroger Plus Card number. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Sign up today (to the right) Enter your zip code and click Search Click on the arrow to display the list of stores in your zip code and highlight your preferred store Enter in your email and password Click Next Key in your Kroger Plus Card Number (if it says that this card has already been used, please call the number on the back of your card) Enter the security code (from the box above it) Enter in your contact information Click on Next Verify that your account information is correct. Check box for agreement of the terms and conditions and click Complete Information Kroger will send an email that you entered earlier in the process (this can take up to 10 minutes) Open the email that Kroger sent. Read the email and either click on the link within the email, or copy and paste it into your browser Sign in: click on the Click here button and then type in your email and password Under Kroger Community Rewards Section at right, click Edit Kroger Community Rewards Information Find your organization by typing in your organizations name or NPO number Bailey Lake Elementary NPO# 82526 Click on the organization name that you want. Please make sure that you click on the circle to the left of your organization so that it becomes highlighted Click on Save Changes Scroll over the page and make sure all information is accurate.

17. 18.

Kindergarten

GRADE AT A GLANCE
Our Teachers: Mrs. Sprague, Mrs. Reis, Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Secord, Mrs. Morris
All of our classes recently celebrated 100 days of school Mr. Gualtieri read Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of School to the kindergarten classes. They also made pattern necklaces with 100 Fruit Loops and crowns. The children are all 100 days smarter! In Mrs. Spragues class We celebrated various events in class such as 100th Day of School, Spider day and Pajama day, as well as having a visit from the local Fire Station. In Mrs. Reiss class This month the class has been working on their favorite school lunch graph. Room 27 won pizza! We read the book Put Me In a Zoo and wrote about if we had Magic Spots what we would do with them? and why? Ms. Reis class also did a shamrock art project to hang in the hall. Their was alot of concentration on this project!
Hannah Lesnau Mrs. Spragues Class

Intermediate Musical Composition Winners (l to r) Ashley Petker, Taylor Hartline, Turner Guillery Intermediate Video Production

Celebrating 100 Days os School

Mrs. Reiss Class

Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Secords Class

Mrs. Morriss Class

In Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Secords class We love Reading, Writing, and Math Workshop! The photos show us decomposing the number 8. We made 8 in many different ways with our group! We love our Specials Classes! The photos show us being creative in Art! In Mrs. Morriss class Students made tents using their rest time blankets to read in for pajama day! They also acted out the story, Ten in a Bed. This helped the students read with fluency and expression while having a great time!

Board Positions
Now Is YOUR Time to be Part of our Success!
The PTA is currently seeking Board/ Chair position nominations for the 2014-2015 school year. If you would like to nominate someone, or yourself, please contact Kim Hardtke at hardtke@comcast.net. Alternatively, posters are hung in the Bulldog hallway where you can fill in names for desired positions. More than one person can run for a specific Board position and Board elections will take place in May. We cannot have all the wonderful PTA events for our kids without volunteers - please consider joining the fun! The following is a listing of the Board/ Chair positions with brief descriptions of the duties. Further information can be found on the PTA website. Please let Kim know if you have any questions. Thanks, in advance, for your consideration. President: Preside over meetings, coordinator the work of officers and committees, and perform duties as directed by the bylaws. 1st VP: Act as aide to president and perform duties in their absence and handle Ways and Means. 2nd VP: Act as aide to president and perform duties in their absence/1st VP absence and act as Legislative Officer. Secretary: Keep an accurate record of the minutes of all meetings. Treasurer: Keep full account of receipts and expenditures, submit treasurer reports, and write checks with proper approvals. Assistant Treasurer: Assist treasurer in money handling activities and assume duties of treasurer in their absence. Membership Officer: Responsible for all new memberships, maintain records of memberships and compile/ distribute school directory. Assist. Membership Officer: Assist membership officer and assume duties in their absence. Volunteer Coordinator: Recruit for and compile volunteers for PTA events, obtain Room Parents for all classrooms and hold volunteer training session. Assist. Volunteer Coordinator: Assist volunteer coordinator as requested and assume duties in their absence. Public Relations/Website Officer: Keep PTA informed of pertinent community information and maintain PTA website. Newsletter Officer: Compile and distribute monthly newsletter.

Chair Positions
Academic Service Learning: Event to help students understand the importance of volunteering and helping others. Back to School Night: Event to welcome families back to school, sign up for various PTA programs and meet the teachers. Book Fair: Opportunities for families and staff to purchase multi-media materials. Disability Awareness: 4th grade students are taught awareness of a variety of disabilities through this districtwide, 1 day event. Doughnuts with Dad: Program to promote family time/ family fun by having morning refreshments for kids and their dads. Field Day: A fun fitness event that allows children to participate in a few hours of recreation. Usually near the last day of school. Fifth Grade Celebration: Celebrates 5th grade accomplishments through a slide show of their elementary years, award ceremony and refreshments. Health and Wellness: Work with BLE staff as needed for education and support of health/safety issues and keep school families and staff informed. Market Day: Monthly opportunity for families to order food products. We earn a 10% profit on any orders that are placed. Mornings with Mom: Program to promote family time/ family fun by having morning refreshments for kids and their moms. Passive fundraising: Collects information and educates families on programs that bring money into our school without active solicitation. Read to Me: School-wide program to encourage students and families to read at home. Reflections: National PTA Fine Arts competition to highlight the importance of Art in education. School Fair: One day event to raise funds to support Field Trips, Assemblies and PTA programs. This is the main school fundraiser.

Seuss Night: An evening of math and reading games and activities. Sign Coordinator: Post information on the sign in front of school for school related events. Spirit Wear: Program that offers logo clothing, school or recreational products for sale to staff and families to promote school pride. Staff Appreciation: Program for staff at BLE to show our appreciation throughout the school year with refreshments, meals & other small gifts. Theme Day: One day event featuring activity based workshops and assemblies. Alternates between Career Day, Fine Arts Day, International Day, and Science Day or other theme. Talent Show: Program giving students the opportunity to perform onstage for their peers and families.

Why get involved?

As a parent it is very important to me to be involved in the lives of my children. Being active with the PTA allows me to be a part of there education, which is a major aspect in their life, and it shows my children that I care about their educational success. Becky Walker My decision to get involved was mainly because if I am helping out, I am ultimately helping out my own children too. Being involved in their education is my top priority, and they know it. The PTA provides resources and programs that otherwise may not be available to ensure the growth and success of our students. A great example would be Reflex Math online. Kids enjoy it, and I appreciate it! By being a Chairperson or a Board Member, and participating in meetings when I can, I am more aware of the school activities, and also the needs or issues that our educators and principal have. I have also made wonderful friendships with parents, and have developed a working relationship with some of the BLE staff and administrators VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE! these are individuals whom our young children look up to and admire, and spend so much time through the week, helping to enrich and develop academic success. Theresa Rotman Being involved in the BLE PTA has been so rewarding to me over the years. Personally, it has strengthened the bond between my kids and I while at school. Watching their eyes light up when I help make an event or program possible is the greatest reward! Further, its helped me instill the importance of giving back to others for them. To share a specific story of realizing the impact of helping the PTA, I remember one particular day when my youngest son was in 3rd grade. While helping in the classroom, the new COW Cart rolled in the door opening a new learning experience for all. As the kids explored the new laptops purchased by the PTA, I saw an amazing level of excitement to learn and explore in their faces I had not experienced before. Wow! I knew many of us worked hard for the PTA, helping whenever our schedules permitted, to provide items such as these, but to witness the result 1st hand made me so proud of our PTA. These are moments, experiences, lasting lessons that Ive experienced through my years helping the BLE PTA. Kim Hardtke

Learn About Food Allergies

In early March, BLEs Allergy Awareness Group hosted Dr. Reba Johnson, MD who spoke with students about food allergies. Dr. Johnson explained what food allergies are, what allergic reactions can look like and how to help those reacting. She discussed how we can all help keep our classmates safe by not sharing food and reading labels. She also emphasized, along with Mr. Gualtieri, that teasing or bullying those with food allergies is unacceptable and can be life threatening.

BLE Students

Students were extremely attentive and asked some very insightful questions. These questions started conversations about what causes food allergies, what to do if an adult is not around when a friend has a reaction, how you cannot catch food allergies from someone and how people with food allergies are regular people like you and me that just have to be careful around food. A big thank you goes out to Dr. Johnson for her time and knowledge on this important issue!

Another Great Pay-Out for Box Tops and Labels for Education!
Once again, our Bailey Lake families contributed an amazing number of Box Tops and Labels for Education, resulting in a huge boost to our Passive Fundraising efforts! Once cut, counted and sorted, our 2nd Box Tops submission of the year yielded another $1500 for our PTA! That makes it $3935.06 for our grand total this year! This money will be put in our Ways and Means fund from which teachers and staff may submit requests for needed items. Examples of past requests which our PTA fulfilled includes building the just right libraries in our classrooms, musical instruments for students, composition books for students, and even laptops for students to use! Many products contain box top labels which can be easily cut out and submitted and what a difference those little $.10 labels make! For a complete list of Box Top products, go to www.boxtops4education.com. Our most recent submission of Labels for Education (Campbells soup labels) resulted in over 14,000 points! With those points, we were able to select a Top-loading Compact Disc Player, World and US Wall Maps, Parachute 24 Canopy and 2 sets of Stereo Headphones all which will be used in our kids music classes. Once again, clipping those labels makes a huge difference for our school and our kids. For a complete list of products, go to www.labelsforeducation.com. Thanks to all who help us with these important programs. If you have questions, please contact one of our Passive Fundraising Chairs, Kimberly Siegner (bubblysiegner@gmail.com) or Kim Hardtke (hardtke@comcast.net). Keep on clipping, even through the summer!

Good to Know
By Jessica Lahey
(an educator, writer and speaker. She writes about parenting and education for The New York Times)

1. Your kids can do much more than you think they can do. Despite all evidence to the contrary, your children do not need your help tying shoes, zipping jackets, sharpening pencils, packing their backpacks and lunch, or any of the million other tasks they expect you to do for them every day. The next time your child tells you they cant do something, step back and wait. 2. Its not healthy to give your child constant feedback. When children require approval on every scribble, homework problem and picture they draw, its probably because they have been offered feedback on every scribble, homework problem and picture they draw. Its vital that children develop their own internal locus of approval and honest self-assessment, because as they grow up and face hardship, they need to be able to look to themselves for strength and approval. As you wean them off of your feedback, turn their Mommy, is this picture good? or Daddy, did I do a good job? back on them, and ask them how they feel about their work. 3. We promise not to believe everything your child says happens at home if you promise not to believe everything your child says happens in our classrooms. Experienced teachers know that not everything children share during circle time represents an accurate reflection of what goes on in their home. When, for example, my cousins son told to his entire class that a robot had come to his house, his teacher was wise enough to remain skeptical. Accordingly, when your child comes home and claims that the teacher screamed and yelled at him in front of the entire class for his low test score, try to give his teacher the benefit of the doubt until youve had a chance to talk to the teacher about it. 4. Your children learn and act according to what you do, not what you say. You are your childs first and best teacher, and they learn more from your actions rather than your words. When you tell your child that its rude to text during conversations, yet you continue to read your email while pretending to listen to him talk about his day, you are teaching him to distrust your words and your intent, while reinforcing the very behavior you seek to modify. 5. Teach your children that mistakes arent signs of weakness but a vital part of growth and learning. Let your children see you fail, admit to your mistakes, and talk openly about how you have learned from those mistakes. Failure is part of the process. Its what they do after they fail that matters. If you pick them up after their every failure, they learn nothing about how to begin again.

About your PTA

The Objects of the Bailey Lake Elementary PTA, in common with those of the National PTA and the Michigan PTSA are: a. To promote the welfare of children and youth in home, school, community and place of worship. b. To raise the standards of home life. c. To secure adequate laws for the care and protection of children and youth. d. To bring into closer relation the home and the school, that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of children and youth. e. To develop between educators and the general public such united efforts as will secure for all children and youth the highest advantages in physical, mental, social and spiritual education.
BAILEY LAKE Elementary School 8051 Pine Knob Road Clarkston, MI 48348 Phone: (248) 623-5300 Fax: (248) 623-5305 Student Absence Line: (248) 623-5390 School Hours: 8:35 a.m. - 3:50 p.m. Arina Bokas, PTA President Glenn Gualtieri, Principal www.clarkston.k12.mi.us/ble

Save the Date

Staff Appreciation Week is coming up Monday, May 5 - Friday, May 9
Help us let our BLE staff know how much we love them! Please look for the Sign Up Geniuses coming the week of April 14. If you want to sign up early or have any questions, please contact Amy Darnell at AmyMDarnell@yahoo.com. Thanks in advance for your help!