Bromley East Newsletter: July 15, 2010

Hello Parents,

We have truly given wings to our motto of “Soaring to New Heights!” When your children return to school in August, they will find many new additions to enhance their educational experience here at Bromley. What will not change is our commitment to provide your children with a rigorous, academically challenging educational experience to make them the leaders of tomorrow. When you enter the school, you will first notice a fresh new look. Over the summer we have stripped and waxed all of the floors, painted the front office and cafeteria, and added pictures to brighten the school. The front office has a complete redesign with a more efficient arrangement to meet the needs of students, staff, and parents. The clinic has also been given a clean new design.

Walking down the hall, you will notice a new arrangement in the library. We have completely reconfigured the library to allow for a Library Media Center teaching area, a middle school research and study area, and a technology teaching/testing area.

Heading further down the hall and up the stairs you will notice new stairway coverings. Our stairway flooring was in need of repair and the final product looks great. Going down the 7th and 8th grade wing is probably the most exciting addition for our middle school students – LOCKERS! Long-requested by students, the lockers add the finishing touch to make our upstairs a true middle school. Also added to this wing you will notice new science tables and student desk/chair combos.

The changes are more than just aesthetic. Spanish instruction has been added as a core subject for all 7th and 8th grade students. This is in addition to 2 elective periods for 7th and 8th grade students. The electives replace the former “Specials” period of art, music, PE and tech. Next year, students will have the option to choose elective classes of their choice. You should have received a flyer which provides additional information regarding electives. Please locate this document for your child to register for electives. Sixth grade students will have one elective period to replace their “Specials” period. Again, please locate this form, complete it, and return to the school by August 4 to register for electives.

Updates to our technology infrastructure, our technology instruction program, and our staff access to technology tools have also seen a major remodel this summer. All K-8 teachers have been given laptops, projectors, document cameras, and wireless access to the Internet. This will allow teachers to integrate technology into their instruction more efficiently and effectively, beginning in kindergarten and continuing through eighth grade. New Promethean boards have also been added to three classrooms.

With all of these improvements, we want the students to have a new look as well. We are offering an additional resource to order student uniforms. You will now have two choices to purchase student uniforms: French Toast and Reflections Apparel. We will be enforcing the Dress Code policy this year and ask parents help to ensure that students come to school in appropriate attire. Just as in any job, coming prepared and in the correct attire adds to productivity on the job. Your children have a job to do at school, and it is our job to ensure that they do it well! Please take a moment to read over the Dress Code policy prior to the beginning of the school year.

We are looking forward to showing off the facility improvements to our school community at our Welcome Back Open House on August 10, from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. This will be your opportunity to find your child’s classroom, meet the teachers, drop off school supplies, and tour the facilities! Please note that no one will be allowed into the classrooms prior to 4:00 p.m. Our teachers are busy preparing their rooms for the first day of school! Thanks to PTO, we will have ice cream to help celebrate the beginning of a new school year. We are at full capacity, so we are looking forward to welcoming back current students and parents as well as meeting new students and parents.

We will have Back-to-School Nights on August 16-18. These important meetings are for parents to hear the expectations for their children from the classroom teacher. Your child’s education is dependent on a partnership between parent and teacher. In order for you to have the tools you need to assist your child at home, your attendance at this meeting is critical. Due to space, we ask that you leave all children at home.

Please mark your calendar for the grade level meeting(s) for each of your children:

Monday, August 16
Kindergarten    6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
First Grade    7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday, August 17
Second Grade    5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Third Grade    6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Fourth Grade    7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, August 18
Fifth Grade – Eighth Grades    6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

In order to ensure regular communication, we have also added systems to provide information to parents on a consistent basis. I will send out a weekly “Principal Newsletter” to communicate school news as well as upcoming events. Our website is being redesigned and will include teacher pages that will be updated every Friday by staff. These pages will be specific to each teacher’s classroom with homework due dates, upcoming field trips and projects, classroom expectations, and other pertinent information to your child’s classroom. We are moving to becoming as paperless as possible which will require parents to regularly check the website to stay informed. A computer with Internet access will be available to parents to check these pages if Internet access is not available at home. If you haven’t been to our Facebook page yet, please check it out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bromley-East-Charter-School

How can you help? You will notice when you sign the “Family Partnership Agreement” form, one of the last statements is agreeing to volunteer 40 hours per family. In order to reach the goals that we have for our students, we need your help. You will be able to input your volunteer hours online through our website and/or there will be a computer in the library available to parents to input volunteer hours. We will communicate volunteer opportunities throughout the year that are available to parents. Classroom teachers will also have many opportunities for parents to become involved, both at home and at school (We had a large group of parents who accumulated a great deal of these hours by volunteering over the summer to paint, clean, and repair items as needed. There is still more to be done – if you have time over these remaining weeks of summer, please call the front office!) During the year we will celebrate families who have reached their 40 hours.

Please mark your calendars for our first “Sea Market” taking place on August 14, from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. This is a fundraiser for our 8th grade trip to Sea Camp in San Diego, California. (If you have items you would like to donate, please contact Noah Albrecht at nalbrecht@brightoncharter.org) Come prepared to spend the day shopping for bargains, eating great food, and enjoying lively entertainment. In the spirit of a true seaside sea market, a fun day of activities is being planned. So bring your neighbors and come ready to shop along the seashore!

To say that we are excited about the upcoming year is an understatement. Thank you for entrusting your child’s education to us, you will not be disappointed. I am excited about “Soaring to New Heights” together!

For our children,

Roberta Harrell, Principal

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