Dear Bates Families,
This past week Bates participated in Code.org’s Hour of Code. This was a fun and engaging computer programming experience for all students. Thank you to Nicole Zajec, Patricia Thames and Ruth Keyes for volunteering to help our students learn to code. If your child would like to continue coding at home, www.code.org has several tutorials on their site. In addition, students can explore coding classes offered by jrCode on their website, www.jrcode.com.
One of our most important goals at Bates is to create a community that supports social emotional health and learning for our students. A first step towards this goal is to ensure that our school is safe and welcoming for all students. To this end, in the coming weeks our third, fourth and fifth graders will be invited to take an anonymous and optional survey created for the Wellesley Public Schools by Stan Davis. Sample questions include: “What do you like/not like about coming to school?” (Grade 3), “Do you feel that consequences at school are fair?” and “What does our school do that helps all students feel safe and belong?” (grades 4 & 5). Survey results will inform our efforts to provide the best learning experience for all of our students.
This month, there is a palpable excitement about reading at Bates. Students in grades K-2 are participating in March Madness. With spirit that rivals the NCAA basketball tournament, students are reading and voting for their favorite picture books. Once the votes are tallied each week, winners are posted on the large bracket outside the classrooms. We are all eagerly awaiting the results! In addition, all students are excitedly anticipating the Bates Book Fair, which will be held next Tuesday through Friday. Thank you to our PTO for supporting this opportunity for students to browse and purchase their own books – right in our library. We would like to support all students to participate in the Book Fair. Scholarships are available for families in need of assistance. Please contact me at jolleya@wellesleyps.org or 781-446-6260 ext. 2101 for more information.
Finally, if you’d like to register your child for the next session of BOKS, please submit this application by Friday. BOKS starts on Wednesday, March 16.
Warm regards,
Toni Jolley
Upcoming dates:
Tuesday, March 15 – Friday, March 18 Bates Book Fair
Thursday, March 17 Grade 5 Parent Night at WMS 6:30 p.m.
Friday, March 25 No School: Good Friday