Dear Bates families, It’s been a fabulous few weeks for the Bates community. Many of you came to the Science Fair to celebrate the work of many of our young scientists. Perhaps today you saw Bates runners at the Wonder Run or watched the parade in Wellesley and saw the spectacular Bates float, built by Bates parents, and the students and parents walking to represent our school. In each of these events we have witnessed Bates spirit in abundance! Thank you to all the volunteers who have made these events special for our students and our community. Our next exciting event will be Bates in Bloom, which will take place this Thursday morning. We hope you’ll join us to visit your child’s classroom and celebrate his or her hard work. As a reminder, parents of fifth graders are invited to start visiting classrooms at 8:15 a.m. K-5 classrooms will welcome visitors from 8:30 – 9:15 a.m. I would like to share the news that the Bates School will house a PAWS classroom next year. PAWS is the acronym for Preschool at Wellesley Schools. The primary building for PAWS houses six preschool classrooms and is located near the Fiske School. This year PAWS opened a seventh classroom at The Fiske School and next year an eighth classroom is needed. Bates is fortunate to have some flexibility with space, particularly in comparison to other schools in Wellesley. We are currently working on plans to relocate our teacher workroom to another space in the building and transform the workroom into a PAWS classroom. We expect this to be a two to five year arrangement while alternate plans for the growing PAWS population are being investigated. We all look forward to welcoming the class of four year old students and their amazing PAWS faculty to our school. Last Friday I enjoyed the chance to talk with parents about several important topics at the Principal’s coffee. We reflected on the math curriculum, homework, the climate at school, and communication between home and school. It was a great conversation, and I thank all of the parents who took the time to come and share their thoughts. If you were unable to join me on Friday but would like to share your reflections on these topics or others, I welcome you to email, call or come in to meet with me. I would like to hear as many voices as possible on these important topics. I will share the highlights of our conversations with all families in my next Bates Buzz letter. During discussions regarding the math curriculum, several parents asked whether the district has recently investigated other math curriculums. I was able to report that next year will be the first of a three-year curriculum review process in math. During the 2015-2016 school year, district and teacher leaders in math will research the many options for an elementary math curriculum. The following school year teachers will pilot a few options to decide on the best choice for our students. During the 2017-2018 school year, the district will adopt the chosen math curriculum and provide any needed professional development for faculty to fully implement the curriculum. Finally, the Bates School Council seeks two parents to serve as members of the School Council for the 2015-2016 school year. If you interested in learning more about the School Council, please read the information attached to this email. This attachment includes the names of the current members of School Council. Any of our members would be happy to speak with you about School Council and answer any questions you may have. If you are interested in serving on the School Council, please email me by June 1 at jolleya@wellesleyps.org. Thank you. I look forward to seeing you in the coming week at Bates. Warm regards, Toni Jolley Upcoming dates: Wednesday, May 20 – BOKS starts Thursday, May 21 – Walk to School Day Bates in Bloom 8:30 – 9:15 a.m. Monday, May 25 – Memorial Day – No School Thursday, May 28 – Spring Concert at 8:45 a.m. Friday, May 29 – Bates Spirit Day Tuesday, June 9 – Field Day Thursday, June 18- Fifth Grade Graduation at 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 19 – Last day of school
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