-
August 15, 2019
Dear SBES Families,
Happy August to all! We sincerely hope that you’ve had a restful vacation. These last several weeks have been quite busy. We continued to run two very successful summer programs; which consisted of 30 students from Pre-K & Kindergarten and 60 students in grades 1 - 8 from both SBES and other neighboring Catholic Schools.
We look forward to starting this school year with the excitement of new beginnings. A beginning as we welcome new families to our community, celebrate our continuing families, and strive for ways to continue to move our school forward! Our motto for this year is simple, yet powerful: “more learning, for more students, in more ways, more of the time”. A theme we are sure the entire Barnabas family will be proud to stand behind!
Thanks to our extremely successful Third Annual Spring Fling (run by our Parent Association), we have been able to purchase 25 new iPads and 30 Chromebooks! We were also very fortunate to receive a very generous donation of gently used Apple Macbooks! With all these new additions, our middle school students will have access to a 1:1 device setup!
Due to the continued growth of Kindergarten and First Grade, we will have two sections of each this year! Truly outstanding and a testament to your commitment to a Barnabas education! In addition, 5th Grade will join our departmental middle school!
Curriculum Update:We are excited to announce that, in conjunction with the many fundraising events sponsored by our Parent Association, we have been able to update several curricular materials. First, we have purchased a brand new Reading series by Pearson called My View for Grades 1 - 5 and the corresponding My Perspectives for Grades 6 - 8. This will certainly be a powerful tool to enhance learning!
Students in all grades, K - 8, now have access to Techbook, the online Science curriculum powered by Discovery Education. Techbook is continually updated and has a wealth of resources to guide students to a rich, deep understanding of scientific inquiry, exploration and experimentation.
Eureka Math will continue to be the primary source for Math instruction. Students in grades 6, 7 & 8 will only have an online textbook for Math that will be linked to their Google Classroom accounts.
Please save the date now for our Back To School Night; which will be held on Thursday, September 12th at 6:00pm in the auditorium. It is the expectation that all parents attend Back to School Night.Faculty Announcements:
We know that the only thing that is constant is change, but with change comes new possibilities! First, we wish Mrs. Mary Escudero all the best on a well deserved retirement and continue to pray for her in this new chapter.
We congratulate Mrs. MaryJo for joining our administrative team! Mrs. MaryJo will be serving as the Early Childhood Director with direct oversight of Pre-K and Kindergarten. She has been an asset to our teaching faculty and are excited to continue the growth of the program under her leadership!
Please join me in welcoming Ms. Bernice Papia to our middle school team! Ms. Papia brings an extensive career in science education to St. Barnabas where she will teach all 5th-8th grade Science courses. A very warm welcome to Mr. Volaski as our new music teacher. With a strong background in instrumental performance, we know Mr. Volaski will ignite musical talents in our students. We will have new faculty members in our Pre-K 4 team. We will update you as soon as new teachers are identified.
Early Morning and After School: Early Morning and After School Programs will be offered once again! All students in our Early Morning Program, beginning at 7:20am, should enter through the main entrance. After school is available each day until 5:45pm. Information on signing up for both programs will be sent home on the first day of school as both programs begin on Monday, September 9th. For those not enrolled in the Early Morning Program, we ask that you do not arrive at school before 8:00am. Please note that the main office will open at 8:00am and will remain open until 4:00pm.
First Day of School Procedures: Students in grades 1 - 8 will have their first day of school on Thursday, September 5th. This will be a full day of school. Friday, September 6th, will also be a full day of school. The doors to the auditorium will open for regular arrival at 8:00am, and the school day will begin with prayer at 8:15am for students in 1st to 8th Grade.
All Early Childhood students (PK & K) will also begin school on Thursday, September 5th at 9:15am with a Meet and Greet in the auditorium. There will be a 10:30am dismissal. This Meet and Greet is for parents and students. On Friday, September 6th, Early Childhood (PK & K) students will have a noon dismissal. Parents with students in our Early Childhood Programs (Pre-K 3, Pre-K 4, and Kindergarten) are asked to enter through the main entrance.
Calendar and Communication: On the first day of school, students will receive a copy of the printed September calendar & Year At A Glance. These are currently available on the Barnabas website: www.stbarnabasschool.org
In an effort to continue to “go green”, the 2019 - 2020 Parent Student Handbook has been posted to the school website, under the Student Life section.
To assure prompt communication with parents, the Weekly News will be emailed home on Sundays. Teachers will continue to post their homework assignments online under Class Pages. Students in all grades no longer have to bring planners to school!
Preferred Catering will continue as our lunch program! Parents will be receiving an email from Chef Romani with instructions on how to sign up for lunch and other important information on August 20th. Feel free to contact Chef Romani by email at chefromani@preferredcatering.me. Parents in Pre-K4 will not be signing up for lunch. A light breakfast and lunch is already included in your program.
Be sure to save the date for our Welcome Back BBQ, sponsored by our Parent Association; which will be held on Saturday, September 7th at 1:00pm in the L-Yard.
If you need anything, please feel free to reach out! Please know, our door is always open. God bless you and thank you for your commitment to Catholic Education and to Saint Barnabas Elementary School!
Most Sincerely,
Jonathan Morano Stephen MarositzPrincipal Vice Principal