About

 

July 2022

 

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”

~ Rachel Carson

 

Welcome to Beach Park Elementary School! 

 

I hope you and your family were able to make some special memories this summer to find joy, excitement and mystery in the world we live in. As you know, my family and I had a very traumatic and heartbreaking summer. Along with grieving, we were able to have heartwarming moments. We all went back to Michigan for my father’s memorial services. We caught lighting bugs in a jar, toured Detroit, lit off fireworks, and shared delicious meals together. We laughed and cried looking at old photo albums, my mom did an amazing job documenting all our childhood milestones, travels and trips, and every day snapshots. It gave me inspiration to take the photos off my phone and actually get them printed in albums- so my own son will be able to flip through his childhood memories. 

 

This will be our third year as Beach Park Elementary school community. This summer many of the teachers attended the district’s summer professional development. K-2nd grade teachers worked with our new literacy program PAF, 3rd grade teachers worked around math, 4th-5th grade teachers worked with the science curriculum TWIG. Also, there were two days focused around wellness topics: Creative Compassionate Classrooms, Foundations of Gender Inclusive Schools, and Uncovering and Addressing Bias and Oppressive Actions in Real Time. Mrs. Hernandez has volunteered to be our LEGO Expert Teacher and spent two days in LEGO training. We are excited to begin to implement our new learnings and our district wide Strategic Plan!

 

I anticipate another amazing year as we support the academic, social, and emotional growth of your children. We put our students first and provide them with many opportunities for success. As you know, my door is always open and I welcome your input and feedback. Please feel free to reach out via email or make an appointment to discuss any concerns, suggestions, or ideas. Please plan on attending all our family community meetings so we are able to collaborate together in partnership to make improvements at our school. Thank you all for your continuous support.

 

2022-2023 School Year Classroom Assignments

Our goal is to create heterogeneous classrooms that are diverse and inclusive. We know your child has unique needs and talents. All students bring assets and are special. We carefully and thoughtfully build classrooms so all students can be successful. Class rosters will be designed by the teachers and principal collaboratively. Thank you for trusting our professional option in creating balanced classrooms for your child. We appreciate your understanding and resisting the urge to request changes in their teacher/classroom assignment. Class lists will be posted at Opening Night on Wednesday, August 10th from 3:00-4:00 p.m.Class lists are posted inside the Multi-Purpose Room near Gate 5. 

 

Staff Members- Staff Directory 2022-2023

We have many new staff members! We are excited to introduce them to the Beach Park community! Here are the teachers and assignments of our Beach Park Leopard Sharks:

 

Teacher	Assignment	Room
Samantha Gallegos	Teacher On Special Assignment	B147
Karinna Chong	K	1
Lori Brogdon	K	2
Barbara Hernandez	K/1	3 and 5
Anna Lazar	1	4
Erin Maxwell	Preschool- Special Day Class	6
Jeremy Jarvi	K-2 Special Day Class	7
Erin Joseph	1/2	8 and 5
Kate Lim	2	9
Ourania Vlahos	3	12
Rosanne Wong	4	15
Leah Spielmaker	5	16
Jennifer Sturm	Psychologist	B144
Aubree Hoepper	OT	B145
Stephanie Bisquera,	Counselor	B145
David Martinez	PE Teacher	MPR
Nancy Willems	PE Para	MPR
Elissa Uale	Librarian	Library

 

Split Level Classrooms

We will have two split level classrooms next year. That means- one teacher, two grade levels, in one classroom. Your child will receive their grade level standards and curriculum if in a split. It does not mean they are either “held back” or “advanced” in a grade. Again, the teachers and principal determine the class roster. If your child was in a split classroom this year, they typically will not be placed in a split class the following year. 

 

We want to share some strengths about the split classrooms:

• Research has shown there’s no difference in academic achievement between children in split classes versus straight grades.

• Split-grade students are less competitive with one another and more cooperative than students in same-grade classrooms.

• Younger children gain self-confidence and maturity by being exposed to older students; older students learn to be positive, mature role models for the younger students. (Most children come from a home environment with siblings of different ages.)

• Students in blended classrooms tend to take greater personal responsibility for their learning.

• There is greater peer-to-peer learning in blended classrooms.

• Students develop friendships across grade levels and blended classrooms instill a greater sense of responsibility for one another, and a better sense of community. As one teacher tells her students, “we are like a family who cares for one another.”

Calendar for 2022-2023

Beach Park Beach Park Bell Schedule 2022-2023

Beach Park Beach Park Calendar 2022-2023- one pager.xlsx

 

Suggested Supply Lists

The PTA supplies the funds for teachers to purchase student supplies specifically for their classroom needs. Please consider donating to the PTA here so they are able to continue to provide support to the school. If you are watching the back to school sales, here is our suggested supply list by grade level: Suggested School Supplies. The supplies you bring in will be divided between the grade level your child is in and shared with all the students.  

Attendance

It is very important that your child be present for the first four days of school. Enrollment at Beach Park continues to increase and we currently have a waiting list in some grade levels. Our school district policy requires us to drop students from our enrollment on the third day of school if the child has not been present and we have not heard from the parents about why the child is absent. In this case, there is no guarantee that the child will be able to re-enroll at Beach Park and s/he may be assigned to another school. If you want your child to attend Beach Park, but you will be gone the first day of school, please email Miss Dani and myself at: ddejardin@smfcsd.net, asnow@smfcsd.net.    

 

Beach Park PTA 

We want to encourage all Beach Park families to join the Beach Park PTA! We would like each family member to join at $10 per member. Please click here to sign up.

 

Beach Park Beginning of the Year Events 2022-2023

 

• Opening Night- (on campus) ALL STUDENTS and Parents/Guardians -Wednesday, August 10th, 3-4pm

Class lists will be posted at Opening Night on Wednesday, August 10th from 3:00-4:00 p.m.Class lists are posted inside the Multi-Purpose Room near Gate 5. You will be able to sign up for PTA, join school committees, and meet Beach Park families. 

 

• Kindergarten Scavenger Hunt-(on campus) ONLY KINDERGARTENERS and their Parents/Guardians- Wednesday, August 10th, 3-4pm

Kindergarten classes only: You and your child will be able to meet the teachers from 3:00 – 4:00pm. Students will be able to complete a scavenger hunt in one of the classrooms. 

 

• Back to School Night- Principal Presentation- (on-line) ALL Parents/Guardians - Wednesday, August 10th, 4:30-5:30pm- ONLINE Join with Google Meet meet.google.com/gne-bcqy-wqq

School wide presentation by Mrs. Snow (Principal) from 4:30-5:30pm on Google Meet.

 

• First Day of School and Welcome to Beach Park- (on campus) ALL Parents/Guardians- hosted by the PTA- Thursday, August 11th, 8:25am

Beach Park PTA will host a welcome to all families on Thursday, August 11th, the first day of school, at 8:25 a.m. in the Community Building (Multi-Purpose Building). It is the perfect opportunity to meet other parents. There will be a special area designated for new Kindergarten parents. I hope you will consider being an active participant in the activities and committees that are sponsored by the parent organizations at the school. Beach Park is appreciative of the amazing support of our parents and PTA.

 

Student Informational Survey Beach Park Student Survey 2022-2023

We are looking forward to welcoming returning and new students to our campus. We would like to have the opportunity to get to know your goals for your student this school year. The teachers will be viewing the survey results so they are able to better understand your child’s needs and talents. Please take a few minutes to take our survey, fill one out for each student: https://forms.gle/tSSmtwWs7t8KLhPz9

(Incoming Kindergarten families only fill out if you haven’t done so already.)

 

We are looking forward to a spectacular 2022-2023 school year!

 

Warm Regards,

 

Amy Snow

Principal