The BT3 The Beacon tree broadcast

Beacon Tree Elementary School

55885 Schoenherr Road, Shelby Twp., MI 48315-1049

(586) 797-7300 Attendance Line (586)797-7399

You can follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/BeaconTreeNow

or on the web at http://beacontree.uticak12.org/

March 2017

Inside this issue:

School Information 2-3

Honor Roll 5-6

Send Money To School 10

Community Ed Info 11

Dear Beacon Tree Families,

MARCH IS READING MONTH!

It is that time again for all of our “All Stars” to participate in March Is Reading Month! This year our Theme is “Camp Out and Read at the Tree”. A fun and exciting calendar has been created by our “Camp Counselors” and there are many creative activities planned for the month! Even though this month is des-ignated as a reading month, we believe that effective reading needs to be em-phasized and celebrated all year long. Research shows that just 15 minutes of daily reading can lead to great gains in comprehension and fluency. Please make sure that your child has brought home a calendar of events for all of the reading month fun! If you have not received your calendar, please contact your teacher so that you can get one.

March is also the time for our Kindergarten Open House! We would like to wel-come all parents who have a child who will be entering Kindergarten here at Beacon Tree Elementary on Wednesday, March 15th from 7:00pm to approxi-mately 9:00pm. You will be able to hear about our Kindergarten program, visit our classrooms, talk with our Kindergarten teachers, and register your child for next year! It is hard to believe that the incoming class of Kindergartners will actually be the graduating class of 2029! If you have any questions pertaining to the evening, please call our office at (586) 797-7300.

As we greet our new “All Stars”, it is also getting to the point where we are pre-paring our oldest “All Stars” for Junior High School. This month counselors from both Shelby and Malow Junior High will be visiting Beacon Tree Elemen-tary to meet with the students. Please make sure that you check our Beacon Tree Calendar at our website for all of the dates, times and deadlines for Junior High events!

Have a GREAT March!

Mr. Ellis Proud Principal

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If you need to contact us… Main Office 797-7300 Absence Line 797-7399 Child Care 797-7314 Fax Machine 797-7301

School Hours Grades K-6 9:00-3:50 p.m. Children will not be allowed to enter the building until 8:50 a.m. each morning. Please help your children time their arrival accordingly. Children who must arrive earlier need to be enrolled in our Child Care program. Please contact the office for more information.

Absences To report your child’s absence, please call our

answering machine at 586-797-7399. When

you place your call please clearly state your

child’s name, teacher, reason for, and length of

absence. The answering machine will take at-

tendance calls 24 hours a day.

Career Focus Luncheon The 24

th Career Focus Luncheon for all district sixth

graders will be held on Wednesday and Thursday,

May 3 and May 4, 2017 at the Palazzo Grande in

Shelby Township. The annual event is sponsored

by the Utica Community Schools Foundation.

Parents are invited to sponsor a table and share

their career and college experience. For more in-

formation, please visit the Foundation’s website at

www.ucsfoundation.org or call 586.797.6953. The

UCS Foundation for Educational Excellent is an in-

dependent 501(c)(3) organization comprised of

community volunteers.

Parents of children who will be starting kin-

dergarten in Utica Community Schools in fall

2017 can begin the registration process at a

kindergarten open house being held

Wednesday, March 15 at 7 p.m.

At the open house, parents will have the op-

portunity to learn about the district's national-

ly-recognized kindergarten program, meet

the teachers and building staff and submit

school registration forms.

Children are eligible for kindergarten if they

turn five years old on or before September 1,

2017. However, children who turn five be-

tween September 1 and December 1, 2017

are eligible to enroll in kindergarten if their

parents submit a waiver form.

To register, parents must supply:

An original birth certificate or certified copy, with raised seal, issued by the clerk of the county where your child was born or the health department of the state of birth;

Your child's health immunization record; including vision and hearing screenings. Be sure to schedule immunization updates early these appointments are often limited;

Photo I.D. (Driver's license or work photo I.D.) Proof of residency, such as property tax bill, closing papers or lease agreement. Please know that we are not able to accept utility bills. For more information or for registration materi-

als, please visit uticak12.org and click on the

“Kindergarten 2017” link.

Evening of Excellence Gala

The Evening of Excellence Gala will take place

on Thursday, March 9,

2017 at the Palazzo Grande

in Shelby Township begin-

ning at 6 p.m. The UCS

Foundation is proud to be

announce our ninth year of

hosting an event that sup-

ports the Superintendent’s

Scholarship Fund and the UCS art and music

programs. Musical talents from the district’s high

schools will perform along with a UCS student.

Works of art will be available for purchase. Info

on tickets to the Gala, which includes dinner,

entertainment and art sale are available by call-

ing the UCS Foundation at 586.797.6953 or

online at www.ucsfoundation.org. The UCS

Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) organi-

zation comprised of community volunteers.

Visitors

In accordance with school district policy, every-

one entering Beacon Tree must report to the of-

fice. Our office staff will be glad to help you out.

If you are volunteering you will need to sign in.

All visitors will be given an identification badge

to wear while inside Beacon Tree. Your cooper-

ation in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Nut Safe Rooms

Should your child be placed in a nut safe room,

there are a few simple things you

can do to help us to ensure a

safe environment for the student

(s) with a nut allergy. A letter will

be sent home the first day of

school to outline those items. Most importantly

we must require no homemade bake or com-

mercially prepared bakery treats to be

brought to school.

Background Check

To protect students’ health, safety and welfare,

every volunteer must have a Criminal Back-

ground form on file well in advance of volunteer-

ing their assistance at school or school-related

events. UCS conducts criminal background

checks on volunteers through the Michigan State

Police. The form, which asks for basic infor-

mation such as driver’s license number, is availa-

ble through the office.

Automated Telephone

Alert System in Place for UCS Parents The Utica Community Schools is taking ad-

vantage of technology innovations by using an

automated telephone notification system for staff

and parents. The system is used to announce

emergency school closings such as those relat-

ed to weather. Individual buildings also use it for

periodic school-specific updates and reminders.

Please make sure that your child’s emergency

contact information is up-to-date to assure you

receive these important updates. The district will continue to utilize local media,

UCS-TV cable stations 15/22 and the district

website, www.uticak12.org to keep parents ap-

prised of closings.

In addition, Mr. Ellis will use the automated sys-

tem to inform the community of Beacon Tree

events.

March is

Reading Month

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Parking Lot Safety The area along the curb in front of the

school is a bus drop-off area and is also a

fire route. For the safety of our children

and all our community, do not park or leave

your car standing in this no parking area,

even during after-school and evening activi-

ties.

When picking up your child at the end of the

day, please arrange a meeting place by the

school entrance, then provide a safe escort

to your car. With heavy pedestrian, bus, and

car traffic, it is crucial that children remain

next to adults while in the parking lot, and

that cars and vans always look twice, then a

third time before backing out of a space.

Administration of Medication

Students sometimes need to take medica-

tion. Parents should admin-

ister medication to their chil-

dren at home. In the event

that is not possible, the

school may administer either

prescription or non-

prescription medicine – but only when au-

thorized by the students parent/guardian and

the child’s physician. Requests must be

made by completing an Authorization for

Medication form, available from the school

office. The form must be signed by the

child’s physician.

Destination Imagination On February 25th our Destination Imagination teams went to the regional tournament at Henry Ford High School. We had 4 teams representing Beacon Tree.

Our 4th and 5

th grade teams competed in the Fine Arts category of “Vanished”. Teams had to pre-

sent a story about how the disappearance of a color changes the world. They created a colorful character that is involved with the color disappearance. They had to use technical theater methods to create a vanishing act. They have been working once a week every week since October. Two of our 5

th grade teams qualified to go to the State Tournament on Saturday, April 8

th.

The other 5th grade team competed in the Technical Challenge. They had to design and build a

stage on which the acts will take place and that will move a team member from on location to anoth-er. It had to include an opening act and a headlining act. They had to enhance each act with a tech-nical effect to amaze the audience. They came in 4

th place.

We also need to thank the Team Managers that helped prepare the students throughout this pro-cess. The Team Managers gave countless hours’ afterschool to guide the students through their challenge.

Congratulations to all of our students on their hard work and dedication!!! Good luck to our 5th grad-

ers as they head to State Championship.

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Destination Imagination Teams

The 5th grade team going to the state tournament are Eileen Santana, Marco Santana, Ellie Dunn,

Gwen Olson, Brianna Milovanovski. The Team Manager was Mrs. Dunn.

Our 4th grade team members are Matteo Galui, Audrey Clor, and Jonathan Carter. The Team

Manager was Mrs. Clor.

The other 5th grade team going to the state tournament are Presley Howitt, Ma-

ria Marques, and Makeah Utios. The Team Manager was Mr. and Mrs. Marques.

Our 5th grade team going to the state tournament are Dhilan Pawa, Zachary Tobey, Evan

O’Brien and Calvin Warner. The Team Manager was Mr. Pawa.

The Beacon Tree Broadcast 5

BT3 Recognition for

the month of

February

Kindergarten:

Mrs. Frazier - Mallory Wieczorek

Mrs. Froberger - Daniela Opoka

Mrs. Hamerink – Samantha Stafford

Mrs. Speshock - Gavin Barr

First Grade:

Ms. Alderman - Fiora Zuckero

Mrs. Hansen - Lucas Bensen

Mrs. Kleinschmit - Mason DeBone

Mrs. Marnon - Brielle Hosner

Second Grade:

Mrs. Cusumano - Lexi Bargowski

Mrs. Dex - Lucas Kado

Mrs. Evans - Jude Michael

Mrs. Orlando - Brianna Gilson

Third Grade:

Mrs. Allen - Raymond Abi Younes

Mrs. Greenwood - Sean Connor

Mrs. Henion - Angjelina Kalaj

Mrs. Palmer - DeMaya Noble

Fourth Grade:

Mrs. Bourgeois - Audrey Clor

Mrs. Lovell - Olivia Kaltz

Mr. Scholten - Josef Kalaj

Mrs. Vincler - Ava Lovell

Fifth Grade:

Mrs. Buczak - Dominic Silveri

Mrs. Gower - Giuseppe Sapienza

Mrs. Nebel - Nate Yestrepsky

Mrs. Pierfelice - Alexis Pokley

Sixth Grade:

Mrs. Allington - Colin Clark

Mrs. Blomme - Ella Kane

Mr. Nebel - Josh Bennett

Mrs. Ouellette - Adriana Juncaj