Berthoud Eagle

Principal to Parent Welcome to 2013! I hope your holiday was warm and restful.

January 2013

As we approach the mid-year point it is important, and a part of our School Improvement Plan (SIP), to update our school community on our progress in our goal areas. The following are highlights in the basic skills areas (reading, writing and math), and safety and belonging. This will serve as our schools mid-year report. Academically, we continue to evaluate assessments in reading that align with the Colorado Basic Literacy Act (CBLA) guidelines. These assessments provide us with data about our students progress and instructional needs in the five reading areas: phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Based on this data, we use a variety of core materials and interventions to meet the needs of our students. We continue to focus on writing instruction as excellent writing skills are an essential asset for all students to express themselves creatively and to demonstrate what they know in all content areas. Our approach to mathematics instruction is to incorporate a balanced curriculum that includes the Investigations materials that are based on a constructivist approach to solidify concepts and numerical reasoning. Additionally, some supplemental materials have been carefully selected to support fluency in computation techniques, enrichment and extra support for struggling learners. We support our goals in safety and belonging for our students by emphasizing student responsibility for their own learning and behavior. This year we are continuing to implement the Positive Behavior Intervention/Support (PBIS) program. Our PBIS acronym of SOAR (Safe, On task and responsible, Achieve your best, and Respect) encourages students to meet behavior expectations where ever they are on our campus. We also continue to promote a sense of belonging through a variety of programs and services such as after-school clubs, friendship groups and Bucket Filling. Everyone in our school community has shown exceptional dedication in supporting our school goals, and all are responsible for the excellent progress made thus far this year. We appreciate all that you do to support the learning here and at home. Your involvement and the emphasis we all place on our childrens education greatly influences their attitudes and success. And in that light I am happy to report that BES was awarded the John Irwin Excellence award that the state presents to the top 8% of schools for academic achievement and growth for the third year in a row. And finally, I want to thank our school community for their support and wisdom is response to the tragedy in Connecticut. You will continue to see a heightened awareness around safety and security. We are evaluating our practices and security measures with help from district and community experts to do all we can to keep our students and staff safe and growing together. Mrs. LoJeske

A Big Thank You Goes To Our Holiday Gift Shop chairwoman, Amie Burrows and all of her helpers who assisted students in selecting gifts during the Holiday Gift Shop. Many thanks, to all of the parent volunteers who assisted with classroom holiday parties. Also, a big thank you to all of our families who donated $325 in coins to Christmas in Berthoud

After-School Clubs Berthoud Elementary has fun learning opportunities after school each winter as staff members offer special clubs. The clubs will be sponsored this year by the Berthoud Bash and Wal-Mart Distribution Center so there are no student fees! We look forward to this great time of learning and bonding. The absolute deadline to register is Friday, January 11th, however for a better chance of being in a club, please register as soon as possible! Information will come home with students on January 8th. Healthy Tip It all adds Up: Exercise doesnt have to be done all at once. Encourage your children to be active throughout the day small amounts of time will add up! In general, school-aged children should get at least an hour of physical activity a day. Here are some ways to put more exercise into your childs routine: invite a friend over for a backyard game of tag, suggest a jump rope competition for 10 minutes, dance to music during breaks, bike together to the library or a friends house; park farther from the store to walk in, and take the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator! (Brought to you by Nutrition Nuggets). Healthy Kids Club Fit Families on the Move http://pvhs.org/body.cfm?id=728 This is an excellent resource for families looking for fun activities in Northern Colorado during winter break. Scroll down to the last pages for Loveland-specific activities. Library News
Happy New Year from the library! We have been BUSY!!! Here are just a few of the things weve been learning about so far: st Kindergarten and 1 graders have been working on learning the parts of the book, the difference between the author and the illustrator, and simple storyboards. Second graders have done mapping activities. They came up with some great map legends for maps of our library. Third grade have worked on some author studies. Ask them what they know about Jeff Kinney, Louis Sachar, Andrew Clements, and Kate DiCamillo. Fourth graders have been enhancing their global skills and weve started working with reference materials. Heres a fun link that we used, I've Been Everywhere, to listen for names of places and then find them in an atlas. Fifth graders have just started researching explorers. So far, weve used biographies, encyclopedias, WorldBook online, and All About Explorers as resources. Did you know you and your kids can find library books from home? Click on Berthoud Elementary Online Catalog (no log-in or password required). Type a title, subject, or author in any of the search bars. Using the tab titled Reference on the left side of the screen you can access BrainPOP, WorldBook, and Proquest from the Berthoud Elementary Online Catalog home page. BrainPOP - Log-in: thompsoncounty_4 password: brainpop World Book - Log-in: 1bes password: worldbook Proquest (Culture Grams) - User name: 1bes password: proquest Please contact Mrs. Kouns with any questions about our library or the online resources we have available

Parent/Teacher Conferences Conferences will be held in the evenings on February 6th, 7th, 12th and 13th. This is a great time to communicate about student progress and expectations for our third trimester. Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) Our third, fourth and fifth grade students will be tested in reading, writing and math, and fifth grade will also be tested in science. The tests are 6 hours total for third grade, 9 hours total for fourth grade, and 12 hours for the fifth grade. The testing window will be from March 11th through March 29th. As you can see, it will be a very busy time and we appreciate your efforts to schedule any appointments or trips outside of the testing time. Book Fair Our book fair will be held in February in the Library, dates will be finalized for the next newsletter and more information will be sent home next month.

Spirit Days Our Spirit Day this month will be on Friday the 18th when we celebrate the Stock Show by wearing western clothing! Board of Education Meetings Please find attached the revised 2012-13 BOE meeting calendar. The January 9, 2013 BOE work session was moved to January 23, 2013

Box Tops Update We are 33% to our goal of $2,000 for the school year. Let's keep up the great work! During the busy Holiday season, remember to looks for Box Tops on all your favorite products! Did you know, we can earn cash for our school online, too?! There are two ways You can shop online through the Box Tops website and earn eBoxTops credits on all your purchases. Just click the earn section at the top of the BTFE.com homepage and scroll down to shop marketplace. You can take part in any of the activities on the eBoxTops Click & Earn page. Again, click the earn section at the top of the homepage, then scroll down to click & earn. Any eBoxTops you earn will be automatically credited to our school. Each eBoxTop is worth 10, just like a regular Box Top and you don't have to buy anything. Look for the collection sheet at the end of this newsletter. Remember to send all clipped Box Tops and finished collection sheets back to school in your child's folder or drop them off in the VITAL Room. Thank you for all your support with earning money for our school! Here's to a Happy New Year! ~ Jessica & Melissa
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 8:40 am and they will also spend recess inside. THOMPSON EDUCATION FOUNDATION ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2013 THOMPSON SCHOOL DISTRICT EDUCATORS OF THE YEAR Thompson Education Foundation (TEF) continues to honor excellence in education with the fifth annual Educator of the Year awards for the Thompson School District (TSD). Nominations for the 2013 Educators of the Year are now being accepted for the following categories: 2013 Elementary Teacher of the Year (pre-kindergarten - fifth grade) 2013 Secondary Teacher of the Year (sixth grade - twelfth grade) 2013 Principal of the Year 2013 Classified Employee of the Year 2013 Administrative, Professional, or Technical Employee of the Year Nominations can be made online through the Thompson Education Foundation website www.thetef.org. Nominations close on January 11, 2013. Educator of the Year awards recognizes outstanding TSD staff members. Community members are invited to share in this recognition program by nominating a TSD educator for excellence in education through their ability to empower, challenge, and inspire. Criteria for selection for the awards include a candidates dedication to their work, a high level of skill, and the ability to inspire those they interact with in the course of their work. Award winners will be honored at Embassy Suites Loveland on March 8, 2013. Last years breakfast was a tremendous success; the foundation expects 300 attendees this year. The breakfast is open to the public and promises to be exciting with presentations from the 2012 Creativity Grant winners. Creativity Grants are one of the many ways that TEF supports the students and staff in the TSD. Creativity Grants provide up to $1,000 for educators to implement unique learning experiences for students. Through the Educator of the Year breakfast, grant winners are able to demonstrate to the community the inspiring ways that they have used their grants to motivate students to learn. Reservations for this event will open on January 28, 2013. Table and event sponsorships are available for the Educator of the Year Breakfast. For more information, contact Executive Director Kim Akeley-Charron at (970) 613-5074.

Monthly Glance January 1 7 8 11 15 15 18 21 22 25 29

Welcome to 2013! No School; Teacher Work Day First Day back from break for students; Club information home with students Return Club Choices 7:30a PTA Exec. Meeting 4:00p SAAC Meeting Spirit Day: Wear Western clothes to celebrate the Stock Show! No School; Martin Luther King Jr. Day 4:00p PTA General Meeting 6:30 Family Movie Night; TBD by student council 6:30 3rd Grade Showcase; 7:30 4th Grade Showcase