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May 23, 2014
 
Community
Beach Park School Newsletter
Important Dates
Above: Ava shows her name spelled in ancient hieroglyphics

 

Monday, May 26 - Memorial Day, School Closed 

 

Tues- Wed, May 27 - 28 - Upper Elem. Overnight Trip

                                            to Cedarkirk Camp, Lithia

 

Wednesday, May 28 - Summer Camp 

                                      Registration Due

 

Wednesday, May 28 - Teacher Appreciation 

                                      Donations Due

 

Friday, May 30, 11 am - End of Year Program & Moving Up

                                        Ceremony, Entire School, at

                                        Westshore Baptist Church

                                        305 N. Manhattan Avenue

 

                End of Year Program Details Below in Office Notes

Giselle & Emily concentrating on big work in Primary
Quick Links

Summer Camp!

 

Are you planning to send your child

to BPS Summer Camp?

 

If so, we need to know!  To date, the registrations have not been sufficient to 

hold camp though a number of parents have indicated their interest verbally.

 

BPS Summer Camp is a half day, week by week camp for children ages 3 to 6, including children entering first grade next year. Camp is daily from 9 to noon.

 

Please help us by bringing in your registration next week. See the themes on the registration form

Primary
Garrett working with golden bead materials from the math area

We have ended this year with a blast to space! The children have greatly enjoyed our study of space.  We will continue to learn on into our last week.

 

We have been practicing our songs for the end of the year program. The children are very excited to perform for you.

 

Next week, as a fun end of the year project, we are going to be doing a food prep activity. The children will help prepare homemade fruit popsicles and enjoy them, too.

 

It has been a wonderful year. It has gone by so fast. We want to thank all of you and your families for helping us make this a smooth and peaceful school year. 

 

We hope your families have a wonderful summer vacation.  

Lower Elementary

This week we have been learning all about writing and education in Ancient Egypt.  Early Egyptians wrote using picture letters called hieroglyphs.  There were over 700 of these letters.  Many of them stood for whole words.  The word signs were simple pictures that illustrated an object or action.  The children got to write hieroglyphs in their sketch pads.  In the photo (left), Camille is working on her name in hieroglyphics. They are pretty awesome.  Be sure to stop by and take a look! 

 

We also learned that most Egyptians could not read or write.  Children were usually taught a trade or craft by their parents.  The children were shocked to learn that only boys were taught to read and write, and that was only if they were training to be a scribe.  A scribe was a man whose job it was to write down information.

 

We have some sad news to report in the Beach Park Community.  The famous and much loved parrot, Bart, dies on Tuesday.  The children were all very sad.  Many children sketched a picture of Bart as a last farewell.  Other children wrote Bart a last letter.  The children all loved him and it was a sad day, but they all came together to comfort each other.  It was quite endearing!

 

Our children are working with Ms. Teresa for their song in the End of Year Program.  It is hard to believe that we are almost through with the school year!  See you next Friday at the Program and thank you, families, for your support and involvement this year.

Upper Elementary
Bart - 25 years at BPS

This has been quite a week in Upper Elementary. On Tuesday morning, our pet bird Bart was not looking well. We discovered a tumor in March and the vet said because Bart had lived a great life for 25 years, surgery was not a good option. Since March, Bart has been happy, eating, talking and laughing. So, on Tuesday we knew he was probably not going to live through the day. Ms. Ann and his best buddy Betsy took Bart home where he passed away peacefully Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, we held a memorial in the Peace Garden. Students wrote notes to Bart and we placed them in his coffin. All the children and teachers said their good byes to our faithful feathered friend. Bart the bird will be greatly missed in the classroom.

 

On Wednesday, the third year students joined us for Science. We learned about gravity, Newton's laws of motion, and inertia. Students picked out several items from boxes and packing materials. They worked individually or in pairs to package a raw egg. After securing their packages with duct tape, we went outside to the concrete where Ms April dropped the packages from a tall ladder. When Ms. Ann opened each package students discovered whether or not the egg made it through the drop. This was great fun and an excellent learning experience.

 

We are practicing for the End of Year Program next week and look forward to all of the parents joining us for this special celebration as we close the school year.

Middle School

This was a full week for middle school.  We wrote an abundant amount of thank you cards and created 'me' poems.  

 

We also exercised our debate skills with philosophical chairs, chairs set up on either side of the room for the audience. The students had researched their debate questions and as each spoke, the listeners could switch to a chair on the other side of the room if their opinion changed.  Subjects included legalization of marijuana and use of social media.  The debates were interesting.

 

It is getting close to the end of the year and middle school has a lot on their plates.  We are preparing for the End of Year Program next Friday.

Spanish

LOWER ELEMENTARY: We had an interesting and entertaining week. We reviewed basic vocabulary playing games, singing, and practicing our rhyming words.  We also made booklets about different topics including Clothing and Accessories, Dinosaurs, Sea Creatures, Felines, Puppies, Verbs, and Going to the Mall. This was an enjoyable way to practice Spanish in a written and oral form.

 

UPPER ELEMENTARY: "All About Our Eyes" was our unit for this week. The lessons included information about the importance of our eyes, how to take care of them, the use of sunglasses or goggles, as well as the size, color and shapes of our eyes. We also conducted a survey at Beach Park School and Brown eyes came first, followed by Hazel and Gray. To conclude our unit, we "feasted our eyes" on optical illusions. Now, we know for sure that what we see is not exactly what it is.

 

Peruvian potatoes
MIDDLE SCHOOL: We continue our final review for this academic year. We are capitalizing on the rich vocabulary we have by using it in sentences, dialogues and descriptions. I am extremely pleased with this group's progress and am sure that our Graduates will do very well regardless of the school they attend.

 

TRIVIA FACTS from Peru:

1.) This South American country is home to the highest sand dune in the world, Cerro Blanco located in the Sechura Desert.

2.) The finest cottons in the planet, Pina and Tanguis are Peruvian.

3.) Potatoes are originally from Peru, where they grow over 3000 varieties!

Office Notes
Standardized Tests

This year's standardized test scores from the Stanford 10 Online test given to third through eighth graders were discussed with parents after testing in February.  Beach Park students take these tests annually and have done so as long as the school has operated. The test helps teachers and administrators evaluate the students' performance and assures that the curriculum is meeting the needs of the children as they continue their education.

Our test scores this year resulted in a few highlights we would like to share:
  • Our average scores for mathematics in 7th and 8th grades were in the top 15% of the nation.
  • In 3rd grade, the first time we give the test, our students scored in the top 20th % for reading.
  • Average percentiles in the 4th, 5th and 6th grades were in the top 20% nationally for reading comprehension, the top 10% for reading vocabulary and the top 15th % for math.
Congratulations to our students!

Yearbooks & Class Photos
 
The yearbooks will be distributed next week on Thursday so the students may autograph them.  Class photos will also be distributed next week.
 
Library - Return All Books
 
All library books are now due to be returned.  Check at home and bring in any your child may have next week to assist in our year end inventory of the library.
 
End of Year Program
 
For the first time, the Beach Park End of Year Program will be held during the day at the Westshore Baptist Church, 305 N. Manhattan Avenue, only two and a half blocks from the school.  The program starts at 11 am.
 
Every child in the school will participate.  The program will feature the children who have completed Kindergarten, Third Grade, Sixth Grade and Eighth Grade as they move on next year to a new classroom, or in the case of Eighth Graders, to a new school.  
 
You should arrive at the church at approximately 10:45 to find your seat in the sanctuary.  Students will walk to the church from school with their teachers and parent volunteers.  
 
When the program is over, you should take your child from the church.  You will not need to return to the school.  Children who will be in after-care that day will return to school with school staff.
 4200 W. North A Street � Tampa, FL 33609 � Ph: 813-289-3747 � Fax: 813-286-7307
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Beach Park School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, age, national or ethnic origin.