Bates Buzz

Dear Bates Families,The new school year is off to a great start.  Despite the heat and humidity, the students and staff have had very successful first days of school.  We are thrilled to welcome back our returning families as well as the many new families to the Bates School.  I would like to extend a big thank you to our PTO new family coordinators, Susan Zimmer, Kara Gordon and Kristen Jones, for their efforts to welcome our new families.
In these first few days of school, families receive many emails from school.  Going forward you can expect communication to settle into a regular rhythm.  Families will receive emails from your child’s teacher on a regular basis as well as my “Bates Buzz” emails every two weeks.  The PTO blast is sent every Sunday night to all participating families as well.  It is our hope that these updates enable families to feel connected to the learning and special activities at school.  A very important email was sent asking each family to update their emergency information in the Parent Portal.  This process is required each year for each child.  The Portal is open for this purpose until September 18.  If you have not yet done so, please take a minute to update your family’s information.  Each family also received an email requesting confirmation of information for the Bates School Directory.  This information is due September 9.  Thank you for your attention to both of these requests.
Mark your calendars for Back to School Night on September 17.  This night includes visits to grades 3-5 classrooms from 6:00 – 6:45 p.m., a short presentation by me and the PTO presidents in the gym from 6:45-7:15 p.m. and visits to K-2 classrooms from 7:15 – 8:00 p.m.  This is a great opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and learn about the curriculum and expectations for the year ahead.  We hope to see you there.
Next Wednesday, September 9 at 9:00 a.m. is the first principal coffee in the cafeteria.  Principal coffees are held about every other month and are a time for informal talk and sharing with me and other parents.  I utilize the feedback I receive from parents to inform the work we do as a school.  Past topics of conversation have included the math curriculum, school climate, homework and home school communications.   Next week we can discuss a few options for a parent book discussion group.  If you have a question or topic for conversation, please email me at jolleya@wellesleyps.org.Finally, I would like to highlight an exciting upcoming event for students, teachers and parents at Bates.  The Bates PTO is partnering with the Sprague and Hunnewell Schools PTOs to co-sponsor a visit by the award-winning author and advocate Trudy Ludwig.  Trudy’s three day visit to Wellesley includes a visit to each school as well as a presentation for parents titled “Understanding Our Kids’ Online & Offline Social World: Friendships, Cliques & Power Plays.”  Her presentation for parents will be held on Tuesday, October 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the WMS auditorium.  I will share more information about this special event in the coming weeks. 
Enjoy the long weekend!
Warm regards,Toni Jolley
Important dates ahead:
Monday, September 7 – No School (Labor Day)Wednesday, September 9 – Principal coffee 9:00 a.m. Friday, September 11 – Picture DayMonday, September 14 – No School (Rosh Hashana)Thursday, September 17 – Back to School Night 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.Wednesday, September – No School (Yom Kippur)Tuesay, October 6 – Trudy Ludwig presentation for parents 6:30 p.m. WMS                                        Auditorium