Bates Buzz

Dear Bates Family,Thank you to all of you who attended Back to School Night last week.  This night was the first of many opportunities to work as partners to support your child.  As I shared at Back to School Night, some of the themes for this year include a focus on “the four Cs” (creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication), supporting students’ social emotional learning, and differentiating our instruction to maximize learning for all students.   Each of these themes is critical to our work this year and we invite you to share in conversation and planning related to these topics.  We have several important events scheduled for the coming weeks.  A few are described below:

• Tomorrow is our first community meeting of the year, which we celebrate with some of our favorite traditions.  One of these traditions is to kick off the year with a special song.  Each grade has been working in music class with Mrs. Perry to create and sing their own verse, which they are excited to showcase.  We will also recognize new members of our community and some of the new happenings at Bates.  One of these is the recent installation of our own Weather Bug weather station on the top of Bates.  You can check out my Twitter feed on the Bates website for a photo of the weather station as well as the read aloud we will share together.​​

• Saturday, October 3, is Spruce Up Day at Bates.  Please join us from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. to help tidy up the grounds and gardens around the school.

• We invite you to join us to hear author Trudy Ludwig’s special presentation for parents on Tuesday, October 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellesley Middle School auditorium.  Trudy Ludwig’s books and advice for parents, educators and students support the social emotional learning that is critical for our students.   Her presentation is titled, Understanding Our Kids’ Online & Offline Social World:  Friendships, Cliques & Power Plays.  Ms. Ludwig will also present to our students and teachers during her visit. 

• Please also join us for a discussion about the four Cs with a community viewing of the documentary film, “Most Likely to Succeed.”  More details about this exciting opportunity will follow in the coming week.   

Parent Teacher Conferences
Next Thursday evening you will receive an email with links to sign up for a fall conference with your child’s teacher.   Conferences will be offered on various dates and times between October 21 and November 4. 
Have a great weekend!
Best Regards,Toni Jolley