Attendance is tremendous, all day, every day!
Arbutus Elementary School
September 2015 Newsletter
Principal: Brent Grabill Assistant Principal: MaryJane Salaga
Entrance and Dismissal Procedures
Coming Events
Mon., Sept. 7th - Labor Day / School Closed
Students are admitted into the school building at 8:45 a.m. The
school day starts promptly at 9:00 a.m. If children are not in
their classroom by 9:00 a.m. they will be marked tardy.
Wed., Sept. 9th - ARBUTUS SPIRIT DAY
Mon., Sept. 14th - Rosh Hashanah School Closed
Wed., Sept. 23rd - Yom Kippur School Closed
Wed., Sept. 23rd - PTA Golf Tournament 9am / Timbers at Troy
Welcome Back
We are all very excited for the new school year. Our focus this year is on studentcentered learning and making choices. Our English/Language Arts (ELA) classes
will focus on the Daily Five. The Daily Five is a framework for structuring literacy
time so students develop lifelong habits of reading, writing, and working
independently. Teachers continue to provide whole-group and small-group
instruction to meet individual needs and students are able to select from five
reading and writing choices. These choices include:
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In the morning all walkers will enter the building through the
front lobby doors. Bus riders will arrive in the school driveway
and also enter the building through the front lobby doors. Car
riders will enter the school through the back door. Parents are
asked to follow the car line in front of the building. PLEASE
BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS AND DO NOT DROP
YOUR CHILD OFF IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING. We
ask that you DO NOT attempt to make a left turn into the car
pool line.
The doors will remain open until 9:00 a.m. At that time, late
students must check in at the office before going to class.
Breakfast will be served from 8:45 – 9:00 a.m. in the cafeteria.
Parents are asked to allow their child to enter the building on
their own through the front lobby doors.
Students prepare for dismissal at 3:20 p.m. and we begin
dismissing students at 3:25 p.m. Kindergarten students will be
dismissed at 3:20 p.m. Car riders will meet in the cafeteria and
will be called as parents arrive at the back of the building. Bus
riders will line up in the gym.
Read to Self
Work on Writing
Read to Someone
Listen to Reading
Word Work
Taken from https://www.thedailycafe.com The Daily Café by Two Sisters, Gail
Boushey and Joan Moser
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To Flip Flop or Not
Wearing flip flops, or shoes without backs,
can be very dangerous in P.E. class,
playing outside, and going up and down stairs.
For the safety of all children, we encourage
students to wear athletic shoes to school.
Arbutus Elementary School
Code of Conduct
As an Arbutus Elementary School Bulldog
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I am respectful
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I am responsible
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I am prepared
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I am safe
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I am important
More Important News
Breakfast and Lunch
Free and reduced lunch forms were sent home with every student. These forms must be completed EVERY YEAR.
Please complete the form and send it back to school by September 30th. If your child will be purchasing breakfast or
lunch, please consider putting money in their account rather than having your child bring money to school every day.
You can do this online or by sending money in to the cafeteria. You are able to place some restrictions on the account.
For example, you are able to stipulate if you do not want your child to buy snacks.
Arrival and Dismissal
Please understand that during arrival and dismissal, teachers are not available to speak to parents about
children. During this time, they are responsible for all their students entering and leaving the classroom
safely. Please consider emailing or calling your child’s teacher if you need to speak to them.
MAP
MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) will begin on or about September 8th. MAP is an online assessment which tests
what a student knows and can do at the time of the test in reading and mathematics. MAP is given three times
throughout the year and takes about an hour or less to administer for each subject. Kindergarten students do not take
the assessment in the fall. All students take it in the winter. Kindergarten, first, and second grade students take it in
the spring. Grades 3, 4, and 5 take PARRC in the spring.
Volunteers
If you would like to volunteer you must watch the volunteer training and complete the volunteer application which are
on the BCPS website. You must print out the certificate after watching the video and the application and send it to
school ASAP. If you plan on attending a field trip this MUST be completed at least 10 days before the trip.
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BUCKET FILLING AT HOME
WHAT IS IT?
The Bucket Filling program is a nationwide program designed to improve Social & Emotional learning at school. It is based on a simple
concept
where we each have an invisible bucket with the singular purpose of holding good thoughts and feelings about ourselves. When we are
happy
and good to others, our buckets become full. When we are sad or not nice to others, our buckets become empty. We become “Bucket
Fillers”
when we are nice to others. Bucket Fillers fill both our own and others’ buckets. But when we make someone feel bad, we become “Bucket
Dippers”.
Bucket Dippers dip into both of our buckets. For more information about Bucket Filling, please visit http://www.bucketfillers101.com.
Inspired by its positive impact at school, I would like to extend this program at home as well. It is my hope that by building on a concept already familiar to your child,
we can encourage a life-long strategy for being a positive impact on others.
Feel free to adapt these ideas to fit your family’s style. These are simply suggestions.
SUPPLIES
1 container per child/participant (Clear buckets work well, but any jar, box or container will do)
1 storage container to hold tokens
Tokens (Any type of sturdy token will do. Good tokens include marbles, pebbles, poker chips, even dry beans)
BUCKET FILLING RULES
1. Each time you catch your child filling someone’s bucket, your child earns 1 token or slip.
2. Each time your child informs you about someone else filling their bucket, they will earn a token. If that other person is a sibling, they both earn a token.
3. If you, the parent, notice an extraordinary act of kindness, feel free to give Bonus Tokens to reward extra acts of kindness or generosity.
4. If you catch your child Bucket Dipping, you will remove a token.
5. For siblings, if you catch your child being mean to their sibling, you will remove a token from the Dipper and give it to the other child.
6. Same rules apply for adults also participating in this program!
REWARDS LIST
Although many children will enjoy just earning tokens, most work better if these tokens can be cashed in for tangible rewards over a period of time. This allows the
added benefit of reinforcing and sustaining positive behavior day by day.
Rewards should vary quite a bit. There ought to be easy ways to earn rewards and ways that require effort, patience, and delayed gratification. Overall, try to minimize
rewards that cost money. There can be a few, but let them be hard to earn. The best rewards are those that encourage positive relationship building.
Let the kids help with making a list of rewards to get them motivated. Once the list is ready, apply a “price” for each reward. Prices range from 1 to 100. Once the child
has cashed in their tokens for that reward, the tokens are put back in the storage container to be reused.
Sample Reward Ideas
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Super Duper Hug
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Reading a story with a parent
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Getting to stay up an extra 30 minutes
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Having a cup of hot chocolate alone with a parent
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Playing a game with the family or a family member
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Getting to choose what to have for dinner
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Renting a special movie
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Inviting a friend over for a play-date
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Having a friend sleepover
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Extra computer time
ADDITIONAL TIPS
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When you give a token, also give praise. After all, praise is the best reinforcer and also models good bucket filling.
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Inform your child that if necessary, you, as the parent, can also apply additional consequences.
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Use parental judgment in developing rewards that are manageable & agreeable to both of you.
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Take a tablet/notebook with you when in public to track tokens earned/lost when away from home, to apply when you return.
GETTING STARTED
1. Explain to your child that you are familiar with the Bucket Filler program used in school. Encourage them to discuss/describe it. Let them know that you will be
doing this program at home as well.
2. Even though the concept is the same, explain how it is different from that at school.
3. Show them the containers they will be using. It is fun to let them label and decorate their container.
4. Show them the tokens you have decided to use, which will be stored in the storage container.
5. Explain the Bucket Filling Rules at Home to your child.
6. Create and post a Rewards List.
7. Implement the program and have fun!
8. We encourage even the adults at home to have their own containers.
HAPPY BUCKET FILLING!
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