NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Hello Bartlett Bulldogs and welcome back to our new school year. I am Karen Mink and your new principal. I am looking forward to a great year with your children and with you. My door is always open and you may email me at karenmink@u-46.org whenever you need me. I will be sending out a Bulldog every Monday with your oldest child in order to save paper. This is a going to be a great year. It is a GREAT WEEK to be a Bartlett Bulldog.

ALL SCHOOL FLAG RAISING BEGAN CELEBRATION OF BARTLETT ELEMENTARY’S 80^TH SCHOOL YEAR

Our 6^th grade Flag Squad raised the flag as our students gathered around for an all-school pledge of allegiance. Thank you, Mr. Anthony Troyke of the Bartlett Lions Club, for training our squad and leading us in the pledge. It was a GREAT way to start the school year.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR SCHOOLS & DISTRICT U-46!   ATTEND CITIZENS ADVISORY COUNCIL (CAC)

The first meeting of the Citizens’ Advisory Council for the 2010-2011 school year will be held on Thursday, September 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Elgin High School library.  Bartlett Elementary is allowed up to seven representatives.  Please call Mrs. Mink if you are interested in representing BES and can attend monthly meetings.  For more than 50 years, parents and citizens of the Citizens’ Advisory Council have served as an advisory group to the District U-46 Board of Education, working with administrators, board members and community leaders to improve the educational process for all children in our district.  For more information, visit the CAC website at www.u46cac.org

SNACK/BIRTHDAY TREAT POLICY

The teachers, in coordination with the PTB, would like to set a policy for snacks and treats. We have many children with allergies here and need to honor both their allergies and the time it takes out of learning to pass out treats. We ARE allowing birthday treats but ask that you consider sending a healthy snack (granola bars, crackers, etc.) or a non-food treat (pencils, stickers, classroom book that can be shared with the class by your child). We also ask that you do not send homemade treats and that the treats you do send are prepackaged. If you send extra treats, they will be put in the teacher’s lounge. Students won’t be allowed to deliver treats to former teachers. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

THIRD GRADE CURRICULUM NIGHT

I want to formally apologize for the mix-up with the third grade curriculum night. It was entirely my fault. As a brand new principal here, as I was trying to get the school opened and getting accustomed to the traditions of the school, I got the date wrong. When I tried to correct it, I “messed” it up again. I am extremely sorry and will be far more careful in the future.

BREAKFAST

We are changing the time for breakfast at Bartlett from 7:50 to 8 a.m. By doing this, we can allow your children to go outside and interact with their friends after breakfast and ensure we will have outside supervision for them. Thanks for understanding.

DRESS CODE

Even though the weather is still warm, we ask you to observe our dress code. Girls should not be wearing tops with spaghetti straps to school. If your child wants to play on the playground during recess, they can not wear sandals or flip-flops. Any play on the wood chips must be in shoes.

TARDIES

As I shared at Curriculum Night, if your child is more than 15 minutes late in arriving to school or leaves more than 15 minutes early, we do not get any state funding for your child for that day. Additionally, your child misses out on valuable instruction time. Because of this, I will be tracking tardies and will be contacting parents when tardies become excessive. I will also be making “wake up” calls and referring excessive tardies to the truancy office.

PARENT BRIGADE

Please return your Parent Brigade forms as soon as possible. I will be arranging a meeting of all Parent Brigade members so we can begin planning on their roles, responsibilities and dates.

ROOM PARENTS

Please send an email or send a note to your child’s teacher if you would like to be a room parent. Additionally, tell them if you would be interested in serving as their Head Room Parent. Thank you.

HELP US OUT!!!!

With the budget cuts, we also had our building supplies cut. It is important for us to be able to communicate with you and to be able to print things out for your students. Because of that, we are asking if you could send a REAM of copier paper to school with your child. Every child who brings a ream will be rewarded with a Bulldog Bone which they can put into a bin for our weekly drawing. Thank you SO much for your help.

ANOTHER NEED

We are beginning weekly rewards for students who earn “Bulldog Bones”. We will be doing a drawing for students to “shop” in the treasure chest every Friday. We also have a “treasure chest” for our teachers. We would LOVE donations for these treasure chests. For children we can use small toys and prizes. For teachers we can use chapstick, hand lotion, granola bars, etc. If you want to send a couple of dollars instead, I will do the shopping.

ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS

Entertainment books will be coming home on September 1^st. If you would like to keep it, please send a check or cash for $25 to school. If you do not want it, please return the book.

EARLY BIRDS

Early Birds starts on Monday!!!!!

COMING UP AT BARTLETT ELEMENTARY…

          Monday                                      Tuesday                               Wednesday                         Thursday                             Friday