A Message from the Mindy Ahrens sent Aug 16, 2022
Hello BW Families,
I’m thrilled to welcome you back to school in a few short weeks. I hope your family had a fantastic summer. My husband and I were able to take a cross country road trip and had a blast! I think our highlight was visiting Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. I can’t wait to hear all about your summer adventures too.
We have been very busy getting our school ready for the new year. We have several new staff members, new turf, and a few other colorful surprises around the campus. Our teachers are busy unpacking STEAM supplies for our new science curriculum and many have engaged in multiple trainings over the summer including teaching STEAM, using Restorative Practices in the classroom and Adaptive Schools training to help our staff increase our communication and collaboration skills.
All of these learnings and facilities upgrades will make a huge impact on our 22-23 school year. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for the first day of school to arrive! I look forward to going into a lot more detail about all of these topics at Curriculum Night on Sept. 7th. Here are a few other dates to pencil into your calendar…
Save the Dates:
8/26 10-11:30am UTK & Kindergarten Orientation and Picnic (All UTK/K students and parents are welcome, more info coming soon…)
8/26 5pm Classroom Placements will be shared out by email
8/29 7:40am First day of school (Minimum day- 11:45am dismissal)
9/2 Picture Day
9/5 Labor Day (no school)
9/6 Book Fair week begins
9/7 times TBD Curriculum Night (parents and guardians only please)
9/9 5:30-7:30pm Back to School BBQ (families are welcome)
Finally, you received an email last night from our district sharing the newest health and safety guidelines. Here is a quick summary:
- Masks: Currently, masks are strongly recommended but no longer required for district employees, students and visitors.
- Visitors and Volunteers: No restrictions but regular volunteers need to adhere to the same vaccine or testing guidelines as staff.
- Testing: Testing will continue at sites weekly on a voluntary basis. Everyone who wants to participate needs to sign up again for the 22/23 school year
- Contact Tracing: Will continue
- Covid test kits distribution- You can pick up one kit per BW student in our office between 7:30am and 2:30pm. Testing before the first day of school is recommended but not mandatory. Results do not need to be shared with school staff.
I look forward to welcoming you all back for the 22-23 school year with a focus on rebuilding our connections and community. You can follow our updates on Twitter @BenchleyElem
Cheers,
Mindy Ahrens
Principal
Benchley-Weinberger Elementary