Dear Bacich Community,

I want to acknowledge all of the amazing work that went into the Bacich Readathon Day. KSPTA Readathon Chair, Laura Harrison, and her team of volunteers went above and beyond to make this day a success. The guest author visits were engaging and inspiring for students and staff. Students happily searched the campus in the morning for Waldo, from the Where’s Waldo book series. Our campus was buzzing with the joy of reading. Students and staff were cozy in pajamas and many stuffed animals joined us for the day. Thank you for your financial support of this fundraiser. Donations are still coming in and it looks like the goal has been surpassed already. Happy reading!

Lost and Found

The Bacich Lost and Found is overflowing with sweaters, jackets, and water bottles. Unfortunately, most of the items do not have names written on tags to help us return items to students who leave them on the playground and around campus. Please remind your student to check the Lost and Found for any missing items. We encourage parents and caregivers to also check the Lost and Found when on campus at drop off and pick up. The cart is located in the front of campus near the Community Center.

Kindergarten Yard After School

We have many families who have a kindergarten student as well as an older grade student. The Kindergarten play yard is open at 2 p.m. for parents and caregivers to play with their kindergarten student(s) while waiting for the first through fourth-grade dismissal. Please remember that parents and caregivers are responsible for supervising their kindergartners during this time. We do not have staff assigned to the kindergarten yard for supervision after the kindergarten dismissal. Students are expected to follow the kindergarten playground rules during this afternoon time.

Open House - April 6, 2023

It is hard to believe that the Bacich Open House is right around the corner! We are excited to invite families to visit classrooms during Open House to see some of the recently completed student projects and celebrate our academic, social, and emotional growth. Open House is scheduled from 6-7 p.m. Please note that students are expected to remain with their parents/guardians for the duration of Open House as we do not have dedicated staff supervision.

TEAM Time Highlight

I have written about our new TEAM time initiative that we implemented this school year. TEAM stands for “Together Everyone Achieves More.” First through fourth grade students rotate through classrooms twice a week in 9-week increments for a social-emotional learning activity with their class. First and second grade students rotate through all of the first and second grade classrooms which gives them the opportunity to work with each teacher at those two grade levels. Third and fourth grade students do the same at those two grade levels. This approach allows students and teachers to get to know each other and build a stronger school community.

“Repair the Heart” was a recent lesson during TEAM time. In this activity, students learned that when someone hurts our feelings, it leaves a wrinkle in our hearts that is hard to take out. Words can be very hurtful, and we need to be careful of what we say so that we never wrinkle another person’s heart. If someone says something mean to you, it’s okay to say, “Please don’t wrinkle my heart!” or to simply say, “Ouch! That wrinkled my heart!” Students worked with construction paper hearts to reinforce this lesson and to consider how their words affect others.

Staffing Update

Please join me in welcoming Caisa Nilsson as a temporary paraprofessional in third and fourth grade. Mrs. Nilsson joins us to provide additional classroom and yard duty support for a limited time as we move into the spring season. We are thrilled to have Mrs. Nilsson join the Bacich team!

Trimester 2 Report Cards

Report Cards for the second trimester will be available for students and families this Friday, March 31 at 4 p.m. in the Aeries Family Portal. On these report cards, teachers have reflected the progress each student has made toward meeting grade-level standards. Progress is reflected as demonstrating significant, partial, or minimal understanding and application of each standard. Please expect a Parent Square notification on Friday afternoon with more information about accessing and interpreting second trimester report cards.

I hope you enjoy a wonderful week!

With gratitude,