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Hello Birney families and friends,
It was lovely to see so many smiling faces at Family Friday – what a joy to see you all dancing the ‘pata pata’ at home! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the Specials teachers for all they do to keep our community together – Sra. Goudy’s mother language videos were brilliant, Coach Lord and Mr. Evans’ dance lessons were spot-on and of course Ms. Mindy’s farm-stand at Twiggs every Saturday after Family Friday is a University Heights hit! As we approach Thanksgiving week, I want to be sure to say thank you to the entire Birney community for making this school remarkable even during this unprecedented year.
On that note, I want to remind you that Library checkout for 3rd-5th grade is happening – go online and reserve a book to pick up on Wednesday! You can reserve all the way up to 11 a.m. Wednesday morning! Here’s how you do that!
Parent-Teacher Conferences have been going very well in Zoomland. We have extended our conference window to be 3 weeks, so we will hold conferences after Thanksgiving for two weeks from 11/30-12/11. If you do not have a conference but you have questions about the report card, be sure to email your teacher and they will determine if a conference is necessary. Some common themes cropping up in conferences have included:
- Don’t be afraid to check the history on the device your student is using for school – daily – you may find that your student is doing anything and everything other than schoolwork.
- Feel free to look over their shoulder often to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. We all (yes, even me) are guilty of clicking beyond the Zoom screen and finding other things to do – but that doesn’t help us master the schoolwork.
- Don’t hesitate to email the teacher regularly just to check how your student is doing. Students who are not yet mastering the content being taught may need more adult supervision. Ask the teacher to tell you what they need your student to be doing to reach mastery.
This Friday 11/20 at 6:30 p.m., we will feature Birney’s beloved Bedtime Stories, virtually, with readers from the school and the community. This was a very popular event last spring, and we are excited to celebrate the end of the fall term and beginning of the Thanksgiving break with a focus on relaxed bedtime reading. Here is the Zoom link for Birney PTA Bedtime Stories (Time: Nov 20, 2020 06:30 PM)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86100733893?pwd=WlNnNGdkalozc2RQQjh1aEhVbzBJQT09 - Meeting ID: 861 0073 3893, Passcode (check your 11/18 Birney Buzz email for the passcode)
Holiday Shopping Ideas are looming –the Scholastic Virtual Book Fair will be 11/30-12/13 so you can select some great reading material for gifts for kids and support the school. In addition, we often suggest to parents that they can give their student(s) a special book for a great report card – what better way to reward work well done! Click Book Fair Video for more information and start browsing for holiday gifts and report card prizes!
Yearbooks from last year are still here! Please email Pat Spaulding at [email protected] to arrange for a time to pick your yearbook up. You can still purchase a yearbook too, there are extra copies. Plus, there are over 20 bags of supplies still in the office, please try to pick up before the Thanksgiving break.
Reminder: Every student should have a signed “Universal Form” on file with his/her school for the 2020-21 academic year. If you have not turned in yours, here is a fillable PDF form: English / Spanish Please print and sign the form and then either mail it back to your school or drop off the printed copy. We have received about 20% so far – please help us by doing your part!
Need a device? Check a new device out at Birney daily from 12:00-2:00 during lunch service of Grab n Go meals, just stop by the office. If your device is not working, first call the Online Learning Support hotline at (619) 732-1400 and walk through with a technician what is wrong. If they cannot fix over the phone, they will tell you where you can exchange. If you need support with your internet strength, check out the Family Technology Support website at www.bit.ly/sdusditsupport for all things you need help with in the technology realm.
Need to talk to me? I am always available by email! I will not have office hours this Friday.
Question/Concern? Simply reply to this email! Ms. Amanda