PRINCIPAL NEWSLETTER
April 2016
APRIL EVENTS
March 25
Mar 28-April 1
April 4-8
April 11-13
April 5
April 5
April 7
April 8
April 8
April 11
April 15-16
April 18
April 19
April 19-24
April 22
April 22
April 26
April 27
April 28
April 29
Holiday School and offices Closed
Spring Break
Family Life Instruction – 5th Grade
Family Life HIV Instruction -5th Grade
PBIS Town Hall Meeting 8:55-9:15am
PTA Meeting – MINDFULNESS
Walking Club Begins Grade 3 & 4
3rd Marking Period Ends
Spring Class pictures & student
individuals who purchase a picture
“Are You Up to the Fifth Grade
Challenge”- 7:00pm AFI Silver Theatre
and Cultural Center-Our 5th graders
Micah Byrd and Maya Ramaswamy
Variety Show 7:00pm
Go for the Gold-Silver Movie & Snack
Birthday Celebration in Cafeteria
Art Show Lake Forest Mall
Report cards Distributed
Earth Day
Election Day-NO SCHOOL
Secretary’s Day
Take your Child to Work Day
3rd Grade to Imagination Stage
School News
We hope everyone has a lovely spring break and we hope
the weather cooperates so everyone can enjoy some
sunshine and spring warmth. The 3rd quarter has been
extended by a week due to missed snow days and will now
end on Friday, April 8th. Report cards will be going home
on Friday, April 22nd. We still have a lot of work to do in
this last 4th quarter of school and we want the students’
focused and engaged throughout the remainder of the
school year.
PARCC State Testing Schedule
3rd, 4th and 5th grade
Monday May 16th through Friday, May 27th, our 3rd, 4th and
5th graders will be taking the PARCC State Assessments
for reading and math.
We will be testing in both the morning and afternoon
during those weeks, so please try to schedule all
appointments around these weeks.
Kindergarten Orientation
It is always very exciting to welcome and meet our new
Brooke Grove Kindergarteners at our Kindergarten
Orientation, which will be held on Wednesday, May 4th
and Thursday, May 5th. Anyone with a prospective
kindergartener who will be five (5) years of age by
September 1st, 2016, should call the school and ask for
Mrs. Wilson to sign up for a time to come meet the
teachers and see the classrooms. Parents will be sent an
enrollment packet of information. Please note,
THERE WILL BE NO KINDERGARTEN ON THESE DAYS FOR
THE CURRENT KINDERGARTENERS.
Class Pictures; Picture Day –April 8th
Please note: Classic Photography will only take individual
portraits of those students who purchase an individual
product on picture day. This is different than in the past
when they took pictures of all students and then sent
home order forms. Class pictures will also be taken.
Art Show—Lake Forest
We have many talented BGES artists. Please come to
Lake Forest Mall the weekend of April 19-24 and view all
the beautiful art work that was selected to represent
Brooke Grove Elementary School. Mrs. Mary Intoccia
produces and creates a wonderful display to showcase
our student’s work. Congratulations to our talented artist.
Go for the Gold Assembly
On Tuesday, March 22nd, we congratulated all of our
students who reached the Olympic levels by reading,
reading, and reading. We had a special Go For the Gold
Assembly to recognize our students for reaching the
highest levels of reading and celebrate as a school
community our collective learning and reading enjoyment.
A big thank you to Mrs. Karen Atabek for sponsoring this
reading incentive program, and to her reading committee
for their hard work and support. Time after time, our
students share that this program helps motivate them to
read, read, read.
Go For the Gold -Silver Celebration
On Monday, April 18th, students who earned the
Silver Medal will be treated to a movie and snack
celebration. Congratulations to all of our students
PRINCIPAL NEWSLETTER
April 2016
who read and added up their minutes. Thank you to
Mrs. Karen Atabek, our Reading Specialist who
organized and motivated our students to become
better readers through this program.
PTA Meetings - MINDFULNESS
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 – 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Have you heard of Mind Up? Did you know that every
morning at Brooke Grove your children and the staff all
Mind Up for 2 minutes?
Mind Up comes from the
evidenced based curriculum that teaches kids to learn to be
in the present. Parents can Mind UP too! Minding Up or
using mindfulness while parenting is simply paying
attention in a specific way to yourself and to your children.
Parents who use Mind Up (mindfulness) strategies in
parenting and family life often are better able to handle
ongoing parenting challenges, and report having stronger
relationships with their children. We hope you will join us on
April 5 at 7:00 pm for a brief informational session that will
cover Mind Up/Mindfulness and how these strategies can
be integrated into your parenting and impact family life.
Walking Club
The Walking club will begin April 7, 2016 and will walk
outside or inside depending on weather. It will be
every Thursday from April 7-June 9 at 8:15am-8:45am
.The program is for 3rd and 4th Graders. Students meet
in the health room. Please remember to come every
Thursday if you are signed up. Exercise is a great way
for the students to start their day and learn.
Variety Show Get into the Zone-The
with Girls on the Run this year. They are waking up to be
at school by 7:30 a.m. every Tuesday & Thursday
mornings. The girls participate in activities that promote
positive life and health habits while engaging in healthy
exercise. It would not have been possible without the
dedication and time from our wonderful staff and
parents. Thanks to Terry Briscuso, Bonnie Helvey,
Vanessa Fuss, Irene Cunningham, Kelsey Raley, Lisa
Mitchell, Jamie Katzen and Donna Scott.
The Science (STEM) SHARE
We are very proud of our Science share participants this
year. The Science Share was Wednesday, March 16th.
We have 100 students participating and showcasing
their projects. Thank you to the Science Advisors who
joined us for this year’s Science Share. We have so
much talent and expertise in our community. It is very
impressive to have doctors, scientists, physicists,
engineers, educators, cancer researchers, teachers,
and many other professionals with a wonderful interest
and dedication to learning and children, provide
feedback and encouragement to our Brooke Grove
children with their Science projects. I want to thank Amy
Blachere and Beth McNichol for their efforts and talent
in organizing this event, to the science share committee
and to our wonderful parents for supporting their children
in producing these Science projects. It is very exciting to
see our students enjoying learning about the world
around them. Please come and enjoy.
Students Arriving Late! Dismissal Important!
Students are arriving LATE to school. Students are to
be at school between 8:40 a.m. and 8:50 a.m. Class
BGES Zone
begins at 8:55am.
Congratulations to all the children who tried out and are
going to be showing their talents in our upcoming Variety
Show, scheduled for April 15 & April 16, 2016. We are
very proud of you and can’t wait to see the acts. Thank
you to Mrs. Bray, Mrs. Mitchell, and Mrs. Fahmy, for
organizing the try outs and this exciting event. We have
a great deal of talent at BGES. Please email the Variety
Show planning committee at [email protected] if you
have any questions or concerns.
Early Dismissal-Please try not to take students out
early. They learn until 3:25pm. Thank you.
Girls On The Run
We are so excited to have 18 girls in grades 3-5, who are
Dates to remember:
The Patrol Picnic
New Date: May 19th, 2016 9:30-1:30pm. There will be
more information to come.
Music Program
Spring Music Concert May 26, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
School performance at 2:15 p.m.
It is expected that every student attend this night
performance. Performing is an important part of the
choral and instrumental program, and is part of their
PRINCIPAL NEWSLETTER
April 2016
music grade. Please let us know if you need
assistance with getting your child to the
performance. Thank you.
Lost and Found
Please come claim lost hats, coats, sweatshirts and
gloves near the gym.
2nd Grade Global Screening for Gifted & Talented
Every 2nd grade parent received a survey to complete
as part of the 2nd grade global screening for Gifted and
Talented. Please complete and send in your survey so
we can include it as part of the decision process. Your
knowledge and insights about your child are extremely
valuable. If you have any question, please call the
school to speak to Mrs. West.
Read. Read. Read
Here are some pictures from Read Across Brooke
Grove. Everyone was enjoying reading all over
Brooke Grove.