Berthoud Eagle

Principal to Parent
November 2010

Happy November! We have had a very busy first quarter starting with our literacy testing, Parent
Information Nights, Fall Fundraiser, Tipi Week, Field Day, great Parent/Teacher Conferences, and
culminating in Fall Carnival! Thank you for your continued support of Berthoud Elementary. Our
ongoing partnership is vital to all that we do.

Each fall the staff and members of the School Accountability Advisory Committee (SAAC) review
our School Improvement Plan (SIP) and set goals for the coming year. Goal setting is a great
process for our school. We take information and data from various qualitative and quantitative
sources to help us set reasonable targets.

The SIP is a document that is part of the district and state accountability process, and lists data
from last year, and goals we have set and hope to accomplish each year. The following are the
goals for the coming three years: to reduce any performance gap in writing for special needs, and
free/reduced students by half, increase the number of students who have an advanced proficiency
level in writing, and generally move all students forward in writing for a variety of purposes.
Additionally, we will continue to teach students about our Character Counts six pillars of character
and have added the Positive Behavior Intervention & Support (PBIS). You may have seen or heard
our acronym for remembering student’s expectations: SOAR – Safe, On-task, Achieving your best
and Respect.

Our ultimate goal is to provide the best possible educational experience for your children. We feel
we have had great successes in the past to build upon, and are always learning and looking for
new or different ways to accomplish our goals. Beyond our formal goals are our additional
aspirations that your children love learning, see school as valuable, enjoy being part of our learning
community, and feel safe and cared for.

With the holiday season starting this month, I want to wish you a peaceful, fun and relaxing time
with family and friends. We have much to be thankful for and great things to celebrate: Veteran’s
Day, Visitor’s Day, and Thanksgiving are a few of the opportunities we have this month. Have a
great month!

M rs. LoJeske

Volunteers Needed
We are looking for parent volunteers to put hand sanitizer on student’s hands before lunch. If you
are interested in helping please contact Cecelia Jamieson (970)532-5514.

Fall Carnival Thanks

Thank you to Jennifer Baker for chairing a very successful Fall Carnival. Many thanks, to Gina
Archuleta and Shannon Kinney for chairing the spaghetti dinner. Thanks to all of our families that
attended! What a great annual night of fun!! The raffle and gift basket auction brought an air of
anticipation and high hopes to all who participated! An amazing amount of work went into providing
the dinner, games, prizes, gift baskets and raffle. I am amazed at the efforts of our volunteers (both
adults and students) and the generosity of our community in providing items for our raffle and gift
baskets.

Our Thanks…
Goes to Mr. Tim Jones for organizing Field Day which was filled with so much fun and
excitement and to the PTA for our Field Day popsicles and water bottles!! To all of the
volunteers who washed and labeled the water bottles! To Linda Pennock and those who
participated in the management and support of our Fall Fundraiser. Thank you Reckase Family
for donating a computer to the Computer Lab! Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped
out during the picture days. Thanks to Toni Cox and all of the parent volunteers who provided a
delicious meal and treats during Parent/Teacher Conferences. Thank you to Susan Worrell for
her first aid supply donation to the Health Office. Many thanks too to Camille Jerden for
contacting Berthoud Drug. They also donated many needed supplies to the Health Office. A
special thanks to Dorian Tacy for providing the staff with fresh cut flowers over the past couple
of months. Thanks to our hand sanitizer volunteers for your continued support during
lunchtime. And to all of our kind and supportive parents and family members who give of their
time and energy every day!

Volunteer Sign-In
Volunteers please sign-in in the Vital Room each time you come to help out. It is not necessary
to sign-in in the front office. There are also logs in the Vital Room to keep track of the hours
that you are volunteering. Please make sure to keep track of your hours and fill out that sheet
each time you volunteer whether you are helping in the school or from home. Thank you for all
that you do!

CHP Insurance available

Do your children need health insurance? The CHP+ (Child Health Plan Plus) and Medicaid
Outreach Project is back in the community helping families apply for health care coverage. A
family of 4 can earn just over $55,000 a year and still qualify! If you’d like to apply or would like
more information on CHP+ and Medicaid, contact Rosie Duran at 970-472-0444. We look
forward to hearing from you! The project described was supported by Grant Number
H2PHS16502 from HRSA.

Healthy Snacks and Treats

With holiday celebrations approaching, please remember to send healthy snacks and treats with
your child and/or children. Snacks like sliced apples, carrot sticks, raisins, etc. are a healthier
choice over snacks containing fat and sugar. We do not encourage sending birthday treats, but
if you do, please make it a healthy treat. Please speak with your child’s teacher before bringing
treats of this type to the classroom. Thanks for supporting a healthy learning environment!

Visitor’s Day
Please join us for lunch on Tuesday, November 23rd for our annual Visitors’ Day. This event
provides our parents, family, friends and community members with an opportunity to share a
Thanksgiving lunch with our students. Our menu will include: Pot Roast, green beans, roll, fruit,
cake and milk. The cost of lunch is $3.60. More information will be sent home in the very near
future. We hope you will be able to join us!

Inclement Weather
Please make certain that your child/children dress appropriately for the changing temperatures
and snow. We want students to be able to go outside, as the weather permits, but they must be
dressed warmly enough for them to be safe and comfortable. If the temperature is 15 degrees
or less (including the wind chill) then students will be let in to their classroom at 8:30 am. They
will also spend recess inside if the temperature is lower than 15 degrees.
Spirit Days
This month on Friday, November 5th we will wear blue or a BES shirt to celebrate school spirit. Also
wear red, white and blue on Wednesday, November 11th, (Veteran’s Day) to honor the courage and
sacrifice of our veterans. Please encourage your child to wear these patriotic colors.

End of Day Messages for Students

Thank you for your cooperation with end of the day messages. We have seen a significant drop
in the number of requests at the end of the day. If you have a student who has a change in
their regular after-school transportation plan, please discuss the change with them prior to them
arriving at school. It may also be helpful to put a reminder in their agenda or send a note to
their teacher if they happen to be a younger student. If an emergency situation arises, please
feel free to contact the office 613-7500 and we will get a note to your child.

Communication
We have a new communication tool that we have been using to get important information to our
families. Messages will be sent to your home phone number and your email address (if
available). This tool will only be used for time sensitive information.

Emergency Procedures
Our priority is the safety of your children and the staff. Therefore, if an emergency should arise,
we will follow our emergency procedures according to the emergency we are facing. This
means that if you call the school, you will receive a voice message. The school will be under
lockdown and no one will be able to enter or exit. Please know that our responsibility is to make
sure your child is in a designated safe area and that the children remain calm. With 432
students, it would be impossible to field phone calls. We need the phone lines to remain open
so that the school district and/or staff members are able to communicate with the front office.

If for some reason, we need to implement an emergency closing, we will follow the contact
information you provided to us on the emergency closing form. Please contact the office if you
have any questions or concerns.

Coin Drive November 1st – 19th

Berthoud Elementary will be raising money for Christmas in Berthoud which is a community
charity drive to provide for families in need this Christmas. Families will receive food, clothing,
toys and gift cards to help them have a Christmas.

Monthly Glance
November
1-19 “Coin Drive”
5 Spirit Day! Wear Blue or BES shirts
9 Read Aloud Day!
9 Vision and Hearing Screening
9 4:00 – 5:00 PTA meeting in the library
11 Veterans’ Day! Wear Red, White & Blue
18 4:00 – 5:00 SAAC meeting
23 Visitor’s Day
24-26 Thanksgiving Break

December
10 Spirit Day! Wear Red and Green for the holidays!
13-15 Holiday Gift Shop
16 Kindergarten Showcase 6:30
17 Second quarter ends
17 Classroom Holiday Parties (last hour of the day, except morning Kdg.
classes)
20-Jan. 3 Winter Break
 THE LINK
Berthoud Elementary PTA Newsletter ‒November 2010

The next PTA Meeting will be held on Tuesday,

November 9, in the Library from 4 pm to 5 pm
Refreshments and free Child Care will be provided; Members in attendance will be
entered to win a door prize.
Thanks to all who attended last month’s PTA meeting! Here are some of the topics we discussed:

• Annual Budget Report

• Membership drive
• Allocation of carnival funds
• Results of Chick-Fil-A night and the Berthoud Fun Run
As always…..we would love to have your input on these and many upcoming important issues. Please
join us and have your voice heard!

 Please remember to check the school website for any important announcements
or information. The school is working towards a paperless system, and most
everything you need can be found at www.berthoudelementary.com

 Keep up the good work collecting BoxTops, Morning Fresh milk caps, Hay’s
receipts, and Capri Sun pouches. You may not realize it, but we are earning
hundreds of dollars for our school. ….you ARE making a difference!

Any comments or questions? Please contact any of the following PTA

members:
Pres: Ann Yuska 970-535-4875 Sec: Melissa Barcewski 970-532-3081
VP: Dawn Williams 970-532-3695 Treas: Susan Worrell 970-532-3802
 Family and Community Classes for the
2010-2011 School Year
presented by Thompson School District
Exceptional Student
Services Team

November 2nd--Exceptional Student Services Open House

Join us for exciting updates on promoting academic growth!
6:00pm-8:00pm Thompson School District Boardroom

December 1st--Understanding the Specific Learning

Disabilities Diagnosis Process for the Community
6:00pm-8:00pm Thompson School District Boardroom

February 26th--Understanding Data and Assessments

6:00pm-8:00pm Thompson School District Boardroom

April 26th--RtI: How it all works together

6:00pm-8:00pm Thompson School District Boardroom

May 3rd--Educational Activities to Promote Growth During the Summer

6:00pm-8:00pm Thompson School District Boardroom

Thompson School District

800 South Taft Loveland, Colorado 80537
Translators will be available