IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Fall 2019 | Page 62

As a parent, you are your child’s first and most important
teacher. When parents and families are involved in their
children’s schools, the children do better and have healthier
feelings about going to school. In fact, many studies show
that what the family does is more important to a child’s school
success than how much money the family makes or how much
education the parents have. There are many ways that parents
can support their children’s learning at home and throughout
the school year. Here are some ideas to get you started!
2. Attend parent-teacher conferences and keep in touch
with your child’s teacher. We will have one parent-
teacher conference day on November 8th. You can also ask
to meet with your child’s teacher any time during the year.
If you have a concern and can’t meet face-to-face, send
the teacher a short note or set up a time to talk on the
phone.
3. Find out how your child is doing. Ask the teacher how
well your child is doing in class. If your child is not keeping
up, especially when it comes to reading, ask what you or
the school can do to help. It’s important to act early before
4. Make sure that your child gets homework done. Let
your child know that you think education is important and
that homework needs to be done each day. You can help
your child with homework by setting aside a special place
to study, establishing a regular time for homework, and
removing distractions such as the television and social
phone calls during homework time.
5. Volunteer at your child’s school and/or join your
school’s parent-teacher group. Teachers appreciate it
when parents help at the school! There are many ways you
can contribute. You can volunteer in your child’s class or
in the school library. You can join our PTA, which usually
meets the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.
in the school library. The meetings give you a chance to
talk with other parents and to work together to improve
our school.
6. Monitor your child’s television, video game, and
Internet use. American children on average spend far
more time watching TV, playing video games and using
the Internet than they do completing homework or other
school-related activities.
7. Encourage your child to read. Helping your child
become a reader is the single most important thing that
you can do to help the child to succeed in school-and in
life. The importance of reading simply can’t be overstated.
Reading helps children in all school subjects. More
important, it is the key to lifelong learning.
We are looking forward to the best school year ever with your child!
Technology in Physical Education
During this past year, Mr. Pavlecic, Elroy’s Physical Education teacher, was awarded a grant from Phipps Conservatory to integrate
technology into his Physical Education classes. Recent research has shown that students are doing more sedentary activities such
as watching TV, playing video games, and using the Internet instead of being active every day. At Elroy Elementary, we encourage
our students to be active for at least 60 minutes a day. The funds from this grant will help our students become more active by
enabling us to purchase monitors, Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution.
1. Meet your child’s teacher. Elroy’s Open House is
September 12th from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Let the teacher
know you want to help your child learn. Make it clear
that you want the teacher to contact you if any problems
develop with your child. There will be interpreters at Open
House this year. We will have a Nepali, Spanish, and an
Arabic interpreter. If you feel uncomfortable speaking
English, don’t let a language barrier stop you. What you
have to say is more important than the language you say it
in!
your child gets too far behind. Also be sure to review your
child’s report card each time it comes out.
Additionally, several studies have proven that physical activity helps to increase academic performance and attendance for
school and improve behavior. Incorporating the Wii activity components into P.E. class compliments our STEM activities with an
emphasis on Science, Technology and Math. Students will explore graphing their Fit Credits throughout the Fitness Unit. After
completing physical activity stations, students will calculate their heart rate, compare the results to each station and chart their
improved performance over time.
The different STEM exercise games will focus on the 3 parts of the health triangle, which include Physical, Social, and Mental.
Bringing the new devises to the gymnasium will allow students to have fun while actively burning calories and relieving their
stress or anxiety. This year, students at Elroy will experience exciting innovative activities with their peers through the integration
of technology during their gym class.
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BRENTWOOD-BALDWIN-WHITEHALL
M O O R E E L E M E N TA R Y
E L R O Y E L E M E N TA R Y
While, for our students, the summer represents the time of year when they get to relax and spend
time with their families and friends, the summer for schools is a busy time. In addition to our normal
beautification and cleaning, this summer the Moore School began the process of having French
drains installed around the building. The new drains will help to mitigate water damage to the
building.
Starting this school year both elementary schools will be on a six-day special rotation. Each day
will be lettered A through F corresponding to the day of the week in a rotation. Each homeroom
will meet with one special a day. When there are closings or delays the day of the rotation that we
leave on will pick back up on the next day when students return to school. Students will no longer
miss specials because of holidays or snow days! The day of the rotation will be announced daily to
students and it will be posted on the school’s website. Families can learn more about their child’s
specific schedules and the six-day rotation during open house on Thursday, September 12, 2019.
Several curricular changes are also scheduled for the 2019 – 2020 school year. Fundations,
the phonics program, will expand from kindergarten and first grade into second grade this year.
Kindergarten students will have an additional special, technology, this year. The library and
technology curricula are being refined and a co-teaching S-TEAM rotation is being developed so that
students are given multiple opportunities to apply technology in the core content areas.
These are just a few of the exciting changes happening a Moore. In addition, the teachers will
spend their professional development days either learning about developmentally appropriate
mathematics instruction or collaborating with BirdBrain Technologies to learn how to incorporate
computer coding into classes.
The summer has been spent planning and preparing for the new year. We can’t wait to have all of
our learners back so that we can provide them with some new and exciting learning experiences!
DISTRICT NEWS
Elementary School Counselor
This year the Brentwood Borough School
District received a School Safety and
Security grant through the PCCD. This grant
enabled the district to purchase a social
and emotional curriculum for instructional
purposes in kindergarten through fifth grade.
This curriculum’s instruction is part of the
responsibility of the school counselor. Moore and
Elroy will share the school counselor who will split
their time between the two buildings. In addition
to providing instruction to homerooms on a
weekly basis, the counselor will be available to
meet with students for issues that are short term
in nature such as death of a pet. For students
whose issues require therapy that is more long-
term in nature, the district has partnered with
Mercy Behavioral to act as a satellite location
for mental health services. The elementary
counselor will be available during Open House.
If you have questions for the school counselor or
would like to discuss Mercy Behavioral services,
please contact the Moore School office.
BRENTWOOD-BALDWIN-WHITEHALL
❘
FALL 2019
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