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Community
Beach Park School Newsletter
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Important Dates
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Above: Friends on the playground - Caitie, Ava, Elena
Monday, February 17 - Staff Planning Day, School Closed
Wednesday, February 19 - Moving Up Meetings (See Office
Notes below)
Tuesday, February 25 - Friday, February 28 -
Standardized Testing - New Dates
(See Office Notes below)
Beach Park School's 13 th Annual Spring Auction
Mark your calendar now for Saturday, April 5th
Attend! Sponsor! Donate!
See Auction Planning report below
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Beach Park Website
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Re-Enrollment
Re-enrollment information was sent to all families this week via e-mail.
You should have received a message on February 4th with detailed information about enrolling your child(ren) for the 2014-2015 school year.
A link to the re-enrollment form was included and is repeated here for your convenience. Please complete and return the form by
Friday, February 21 to assure a space for the next school year.
After that date, new students to the school will be accepted from the waiting list.
Feel free to contact the office with any questions.
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Primary
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Jerome concentrates intently
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Many children have had a high interest in counting this week: counting long chains, using spindle boxes and playing the memory game to name a few. They are bursting with pride when they accomplish these tasks.
They are also learning more about Australia and the flowers of the territories. The Stuart's Desert Pea is the flower of South Australia; the Common Heath is the flower of Victoria; the Royal Bluebell is the flower of Australian Capital Territory and the Kangaroo Paw is the flower of Western Australia.
This week, we read the story of the origin of Valentine's Day. The first legend, and perhaps the best known, began in Rome, when the Emperor, Claudius II, was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. "Claudius the Cruel" as he was called, was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. So, he cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome!
The good Saint Valentine, who was a priest in Rome, in the year 269 A.D., together with his friend Saint Marius, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, he was sentenced to prison. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl, who may have been his jailor's daughter, who visited him during his confinement. Before his death on the 14th day of February, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed," From your Valentine"." In 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor St. Valentine.
The children enjoyed their valentine exchange today. Thank you for helping your child decorate his/her own valentines holder!
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Lower Elementary
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 This week we put on our farmer hats!
We harvested our carrots that we planted a few months ago. They were awesome. The children pulled them out of the ground and then scrubbed them and then we ate them. Then, we gave the green tops to Miss Patricia for her chickens.
On Wednesday, we visited Old McMickey's Farm in Odessa,
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Lucas & Leyton held chickens
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Florida. It was an wonderful experience. The children all got to ride a horse, catch a chicken, milk a cow, pet a pig and take a hay ride. This farm was hands on and our guide was very knowledgeable.
As we continue our study of Ancient China, we talked about some geographical features of China. We discussed Mt. Everest, the Plateau of Tibet and the Gobi and Taklamakan Desert. Did you know that the
Taklamakan Desert is so hot that raindrops do not make it to land before they evaporate?
We are starting some practice exercises for standardized testing for the third year students. The testing will take place at the end of the month. The exercises are intended to be enjoyable, show the students how to fill in answers and understand how the test works.
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Upper Elementary
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Hot cocoa and hot tea helped make work time enjoyable for Mario and Elena.
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Upper Elementary students had a productive week full of creativity! We started off finishing our scrolls in art class with the Greek alphabet. Each student then created a placemat out of woven paper.
In the classroom we each began creating a smash book, a type of scrapbook, on ancient Greece. We have studied Early Crete, King Minos and the Minotaur, the end of the Minoan Civilization and are currently learning about the Dark Ages and the rule of the Barbarians. Students are creating pages in their smash books for each topic and they are turning out wonderful. Upper Elementary really has some talented artists!
Students were also asked to watch the Olympics for homework and choose a sport to follow. It has created some wonderful discussions in class about different cultures coming together in peace. It has also sparked an interest in the students to create goals and achieve them.
On Friday learned about the gift of love and how it is a special gift that we are able to express to each other. We celebrated Valentine's Day with some treats and notes to each other, expressing kindness and valuing each others talents.
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Middle School
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 This week has been pretty normal. This week we had a morning work test for middle school and took a math test in pre algebra. We are continuing to work on the yearbook. For language arts, we are reading the book 1984 by George Orwell every day. We enjoyed valentine's treats on Friday.
This week we also did yoga with our yoga teacher, Ms.Shana, on Tuesday. In yoga, we practiced the Thai massage with our partners. In Spanish this week we studied chocolate, tea, and coffee. In music this week we worked on our dance and brainstormed what our graduation song should be. Have a great weekend!
by Avery McGowan and Maddie Rice
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Spanish
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LOWER ELEMENTARY: We had a week filled with activities, one of our topics was about the different desserts and sweets around the world. We drew and labeled in Spanish at least 8 of our favorites desserts. We then reviewed rhymes and songs about February. We also rode "Our train in Spain" including stops in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. This is an indoor activity which students enjoy very much.
UPPER ELEMENTARY: The structure of a house and a window were the base of our listening exercises for this week. Directions were given in Spanish and English for students to draw different objects around, to the left or right of each structure as well as inside, below, or over the window or house. We posted our papers and compared them. It was a refreshing way to listen to directions. We also practiced Spanish words with the sound of the letter "M" and used the vocabulary in complete oral and written sentences.
MIDDLE SCHOOL: All about Coffee, Chocolate and Tea was the theme of our weekly lessons. Our information on this topic consisted of finding out the origin and meaning of the above mentioned products, their properties and uses in different fields; from medicine to cosmetics, culinary importance and how they influence the economy world wise and in our own culture.
We included some legends and as I write this note, a survey is being conducted by Middle School  students to find out which one is our favorite drink of the three. Results will appear in next week's newsletter!
TRIVIA FACT: Lace making, alongside with embroidering is a popular hobby in Paraguay among women and men. Their design inspirations often come from nature-especially spider webs. The technique used in the lace making is the same used hundreds of years ago that has been handed down from generation to generation as their most precious family inheritance!
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Office Notes
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Auction Planning Report - Wonders of India
The Auction Planning Committee promises great food, entertainment, an open bar, festive decor and an evening you and your friends will enjoy!
Help make the auction a success by donating, sponsoring and attending! Parents new to BPS attend for free and may bring guests at the regular ticket price of $50 per person.
Invitations will soon be mailed. Want to help? Get involved! Another Auction Planning Meeting will be scheduled soon.
Re-Enrollment
Re-enrollment is now under way. Please respond by February 21st to assure a space for your child for next year. Contact the office if you have any questions.
Information for Parents: Moving Up Meetings
For students who are in the third year of their class (Kindergarten, 3rd Year in Lower Elementary and 6th Year in Upper Elementary), the next year will bring a change in classroom and teachers.
On Wednesday, February 19th, "Moving Up" meetings will be held simultaneously in the evening to inform parents about the goals and curriculum of their child's next class. Although of greatest interest to parents of children who will be moving up in the following year, these meetings are open for interested parents of any age child.
Please mark your calendar now and plan to attend. Child care will be provided.
Car Seat Safety
A concerned parent forwarded this excellent article this week regarding car seat safety for young children. Please take a look here. You will be surprised to learn how many people still do not adequately protect their children.
Standardized Testing
The annual Standardized Testing is for students in 3rd grade and up. The school calendar originally showed February 4-7 as the testing dates. The testing is being rescheduled for February 25-28.
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4200 W. North A Street · Tampa, FL 33609 · Ph: 813-289-3747 · Fax: 813-286-7307
admin@beachparkschool.org
Beach Park School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, age, national or ethnic origin.
 
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