School supply lists 2015-2016

School supply lists have been posted!

http://bagleyes.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=5327&pageId=491886

Many teachers collect supply funds, so they can purchase what they need for the students. 

Some stores have general suggestions posted, but please go by the listings provided by teachers on the Bagley website (copied and pasted below).

Contemporary kindergarten supply list:

• The school will collect a supply fee of $30.00 during the first week of school. The Art program will receive $5.00 of this fee.
• Kleenex: 1 box
• Boys bring 1 box of Ziploc bags
• Girls bring 1 container of unscented baby wipes
• Thin Marker Pens - 1 box Crayola Brand
• Crayola Washable (not permanent) 10 Pack of wide markers
• It is helpful to have a change of clothes placed in large ziplock bag to be kept in the locker for emergencies.

Montessori kindergarten supply list:

Personal items (please bring these labeled items on the first day of school):

• A full-size back pack
• A reusable lunch box or lunch bag
• A full change of clothing in a Ziploc bag 

To share with the class please send: 

• 2 boxes of tissues 
• 1 package of Post-its (we use all sizes, so any will do) 
• 1 pack of unscented baby wipes 
• 1 package of Ticonderoga #2 pencils 

Each teacher on the K-1 Montessori team will take care of purchasing the bulk of the student / classroom supplies necessary to begin the school year. Over the years we have found this to be the most cost effective way to buy our materials. It is also nice for the students to begin the year with the exact same supplies, in order to avoid unnecessary conflicts and hurt feelings. These items will vary slightly for each teacher, but they consist of things such as: colored pencils, pencil grips, glue sticks, markers, name tags, binders, folders, printer ink, sanitizer, etc. 

The cost will be $25 for class room supplies per child. There will also be an Art Class supply charge of $5 per child for the year. So we will collect the total in a $30 payment of cash or a check: payable to Daniel Bagley Elementary, during the first 2 weeks of school. (If you can give extra for our scholarship fund, terrific! If you will need a scholarship, no problem… just ask!)

2015-2016 School Year Calendar

For those who like to plan ahead, here are some important dates for the 2015-2016 school year calendar:

Sept. 9: First day of school

Dec. 21 - Jan 1: Winter break

Feb. 15-19: Mid-winter break

April 11-15: Spring break

June 23: Last day of school

**Update: 
Nov. 23-27: No school Thanksgiving week. Parent-teacher conferences are usually held that Monday and Tuesday. Kids aren't usually invited to the conferences.

**Update: 
Sept. 8: New student orientation, 6:30-7:15
Sept. 22: Curriculum night, 6:30-8:00

So, how was their day?

A few weeks in, have you been able to find easy ways to communicate with your child about school?

I found this helpful!

Welcome Letters - please read them before school starts!

School is approaching.

Welcome letters are posted.

For anyone having trouble accessing the letter from Ms. Steele, click here

The other letters are here

Enjoy!

Final New Family Playdate

Hi everyone!

Our last playdate for the year is coming up this Sunday, 8/24 from 2-3pm on the Daniel Bagley playground.

Principal Erika Ayer will be attending, along with PTA President Laural Miller-Klein, and there will be popsicles aplenty.

There has been some conflicting information about the time of the playdates on the various school-related websites - if that has impacted you, we are so sorry!

So, to re-iterate: Sunday, 8/24 from 2-3pm on the Daniel Bagley playground.

Class supply lists - don't stress!

I have received several questions about the class supply lists on the Bagley school site.

First and foremost, please don't stress out about having all the supplies by the first day. 

Some stores have 'general suggestions' posted, but please go by the listings provided by teachers on the Bagley website.

Teachers collect supply funds in most cases, and there will be plenty of returning parents bringing supplies for the first day/week.

 

Plan Ahead! 2014-15 Academic Calendar

School Board approves 2014-15 Academic Calendar

Eliminates the week-long mid-winter break next year

The Seattle School Board Wednesday night approved the District’s 2014-15 academic calendar, which includes elimination of the week-long mid-winter break next year.

The mid-winter break will be reduced from a full Monday-Friday to four days over Presidents Day weekend – including the Monday, Feb. 16 for Presidents Day, which is already a holiday and a non-school day, and Tuesday, Feb. 17 following Presidents Day.

As a result of the shorter mid-winter break, the last day of school in 2014-15 will be earlier – Monday, June 15, 2015, assuming no snow make-up days. The yearly academic calendar is negotiated by teams from Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association.

The full calendar can be found at http://bit.ly/2014-15calendar

Key dates for 2014-15, which were announced in February and finalized Wednesday, include:

• Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014: First day of school for students
• Tuesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day
• Nov. 27-28: Thanksgiving holiday
• Dec. 22, 2014-Jan. 2, 2015: Winter break
• Jan. 19, 2015: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Feb. 16, 2015: President’s Day
• Feb. 17, 2015: One day off, as part of shortened Mid-Winter break
• April 13-17, 2015: Spring Break
• May 25, 2015: Memorial Day
• Monday, June 15, 2015: Last day of school for students, unless snow days come into play

T-Shirts for Sale Thursday night at Curriculum Night

Hi DB families,

 

School shirts in kid sizes will be for sale from 6-6:30 tomorrow before curriculum night begins.

This is also a great time to explore the PTA welcome tables and get questions answered, so come early if you can.

Shirts are 10.00. Cash or check to DBPTA are accepted.

 

Bagley Bees love wearing school shirts to the jogathon. Tomorrow is our last sale before that event. 

Don't miss out!!

First Day of School Photo Ops

Get ready to Play.....(and Pay)

A reminder, this afternoon is a Bagley Playdate!

Another not so fun reminder.... next week you will receive information about paying for full-day kindergarten!

From the SPS website:

Full Day Kindergarten for school year 2013-14 

The rate for school year is $3,110.00 per year, or ten $311.00 monthly installment.  

       

During the week of July 15-19, 2013, Accounting Services will mail a financial packet with agreements and forms to every enrolled kindergarten student’s household.  The agreements and forms should be completed and returned  to SPS Accounting Services by 8/8/2013. 

Do 'Not' send in a SY 2013-2014 full day kindergarten program participation payment without your signed agreement and forms.

           

More info here

http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=b1f5690c177c7beb066ad2197ab17a06&pageid=222322&sessionid=b1f5690c177c7beb066ad2197ab17a06

Head Start on School Supplies

Sure, Summer has just started, but it is never too early to start watching for sales for the back-to-school must-haves.

Official lists of school supplies can be found here:
http://bagleyes.seattleschools.org/

The supply letter for all K/1 classes (Contemporary and Montessori) is detailed below:

Each teacher on the K-1 team will take care of purchasing the bulk of the student / classroom supplies necessary to begin the school year. Over the years we have found this to be the most cost effective way to buy our materials. It is also nice for the students to begin the year with the exact same supplies, in order to avoid unnecessary conflicts and hurt feelings. These items will vary slightly for each teacher, but they consist of things such as: pencils, pencil grips, glue sticks, markers, name tags, binders, folders, tissue boxes, etc.

The cost will be $25 for class room supplies per child. There will also be an
Art Class supply charge of $5 per child for the year. So we will collect the total in a $30 payment of cash or a check: payable to Daniel Bagley Elementary, during the first 2 weeks of school. (If you can give extra for our scholarship fund, terrific! If you will need a scholarship, no problem…just ask!)
 
Some personal items your child will need are:
1. a full size back pack,
2. a reusable lunch box or lunch bag, and
3. a full change of clothing in a Ziploc bag
* Please bring these labeled items on the fist day of school.

To share with the class please send:
1. 1 box of tissues
2. 1 package of Post-its (we use all sizes, so any will do)
3. 1 pack of black permanent Sharpie markers
4. 1 container of Baby or Clorox bleach wipes


Other items you may wish to think about stocking up on:

• Fall clothing backup items (lightweight rain gear etc.)
• Ziplocs/baggies or reusable containers such as Re-pac bags
• Juice/milk boxes, cracker packs, and other lunch box goodies for those rushed days
• Lunch boxes and water bottles and backpacks - search for discount codes such as Lands End Friends and Family, usually have up to 30% off plus free shipping!
• All the items on the classroom supplies lists (posted at http://bagleyes.seattleschools.org)
• Bulk sized snacks for when it's your week to supply snack for the whole class - you will be asked by your teacher to sign up for one or two snack weeks, at welcome night or curriculum night. 
• Water bottles - for lunch box and for classroom/in-class snack time

Questions and suggestions? Contact me!

Have a Sharpie handy?

If not, you'd better go buy some.

A lot of them. Don't wait for the fancy name label deal site ads to start showing up in your email in September...

Start writing names inside everything your new little Kindergartner is going to be bringing to Bagley. Favorite hoodie? Tag it! Camelbak? Mark it now...you know everyone else has the same one! Even those little plastic lunch box containers go missing... and even though we donate this stuff, wouldn't you rather bring it back home?

The first day of school, our Lost and Found looks like this:

Lost and Found, first day of school - Sept, 2012

And this is what it looks like a few weeks later

First day is tomorrow!

Don't forget to pack an extra change of clothes in a ziploc (stays in the locker all year), lunch, a water bottle, all those forms, and the items from your school supplies list.

The first bell is at 9:25, but get there early - it will be pandemonium on the playground with all the extra parents milling around. Find your classroom line, leave the backpack there, and play until the bell... then kids have to come back and line up to go inside.  Usually, kindergarten parents can go inside on the first day to help with locker finding and so on.  Don't forget to take photos (it's tricky with all the activity).

The annual flag raising ceremony will be around 9:45/10 at the front of the school, so stick around for that.


Pickup is at 3:30/3:35 in front of the school.  Only K-1 classes are picked up at the front of the school so it won't be hard to find them; usually they are on the lawn approximately in front of their classroom.  Children must wait for parents and teachers to make eye contact before leaving the class group, so try to enforce that right from the start.

Congratulations!  You've made it!

One more week until school!

A few reminders:

* Check older posts for anything that might be concerning you... take a look at the labels in the sidebar for help.

* The final new family playground meetup is this Wednesday at 5:30 (bring a picnic, meet PTA reps and our principal, Ms. Ayer).

* Kindergarten Welcome Night is Thursday 6pm-7:15pm.  Meet your teacher, find your desk, and get ready for the first day of school!

New to Kindergarten? 7 tips

For new kindergarten parents:

This ParentMap article is an easy read! Enjoy.

http://www.parentmap.com/blog/13218/new-to-school-7-tips-from-the-secret-society-of-kindergarten

Important dates (Greenwood parade, playdates, PTA, activities)

Several important date reminders from our PTA co-presidents, Kari Cantey & Alison Rice (also check the PTA calendar - or add to your iCal).

To stay in the loop, register for the Daniel Bagley families email list, aka the 'vlist', at http://www.danielbagley.com/happening_vlist.htm.

------------------

Greenwood parade: Wednesday, July 25 

- Bagley Bees walk in the parade every year!  Meet in the parking at 95th & Greenwood (by the Salvation Army) at 5:30 - start marching at 6:00pm.  Wear Bagley shirts, or black & yellow, and bring your bikes, scooters, wagons, strollers (for siblings), and helmets.  Meet your new schoolmates... and the Seafair pirates

Kindergarten play dates: every Sunday in August at 3:00pm and one evening August 29, 5:30-7:00 p.m.

- meet your new classmates at these casual meetups on the Bagley playground

Supplies list: aka 'what does my child need for school?'

The supply list for all classes is now posted at the new Daniel Bagley website:  http://bagleyes.seattleschools.org/

On the first day of school, send your child with:

• completed forms - whatever you will have received in the mail by then - for the PTA, your teacher, Bagley, SPS (if you haven't already submitted them by the first day) 
• a full size back pack (big enough to fit a 9x12 folder for homework, kidmail, report cards, library books, etc.). If you're worried about it being too heavy for your 5 year old, there are neato rolling ones like little suitcases available.
• a reusable lunch box or lunch bag
• a water bottle to keep in the classroom
• a full change of clothes in a Ziploc on the first day of school to keep in their locker throughout the year, just in case (to be replaced as necessary)
• NOT crocs. Mr. Millsap has a no-crocs policy for Health & Fitness, and running shoes are safer in the playground anyways. Flip-flops or strappy sandals won't cut it either.

• LABEL ALL PERSONAL BELONGING WITH A SHARPIE!  You'll be checking the lost & found frequently this year.  See last year's post about that.

At some point during the first two weeks of school, please bring the following:

First day of school is tomorrow! How it works...

It's hard to believe, but our babies will be starting kindergarten tomorrow!

Bring your cameras and kleenex, put his/her lunch and water bottle into the brand new backpack, bring your school supplies & $20 (give to your teacher at some point this week), and arrive at the playground well before the first bell at 9:25.  There, you will locate your class line - usually the teachers are out early on the first day to orient the kids - and students can put their backpacks in the line before running off to play.  At 9:25, they run back to their line, which is always in the same place, all year, and they'll go into the school with their teacher in an orderly fashion so they can start class at 9:30.

Parents are welcome to come inside with the class on the first day for photo ops and send-off, but you should consider bringing your camera to welcome night for a photo at your child's desk.  It'll be chaotic tomorrow morning.

Parking will be CRAZY on the first day, so walk if you can, and if there are no spots in the parking lot, please find street parking that is legal and doesn't block the neighbors' driveways.

After drop-off, no need to run off to work right away - come to the lunchroom to have coffee, buy t-shirts, chat to other parents, join the PTA, etc. (bring your checkbook, just in case).  At ~10, there will be the annual all-school flag raising ceremony on the front lawn.

Pick-up will be at 3:35 on the front lawn, rain or shine.  Walk if you can, or be a friendly-to-neighbors driver/parker.  Teachers will bring the students out to the front lawn for parent or caregiver collection (same general lawn spot all year, in all weather).  During the first week, you might be allowed to come to the classroom door for pickup, but this is teacher dependent.  Expect the potential for your child's class to emerge from the doors later than 3:35 due to the complexity of coordinating an entire class of five and six year olds as they are learning a new routine.

Welcome to Daniel Bagley!

p.s. If your child is taking the school bus, staff and/or parent volunteers will make sure they are collected and escorted directly to the correct bus after school.  It's all very safe and organized.

Why you really should join the PTA, and some of those other forms you need to complete

Amidst the stack of papers you received with your teacher assignment letter last week, you will notice a goldenrod colored page that says 'Join the PTA!' on one side, with a Family Information Form on the other.

Even if you don't plan to join the PTA (and you should), please complete this form!  It will ensure that your contact information is included in this year's family directory.  Other benefits of this form:

Making the transition to Kindergarten

Granted, I don't really know much about this (my kids usually tell me to 'go away' as soon as they get to camp/soccer/gymnastics/school because they're fiercely independent), but some children have a harder time transitioning to full day kindergarten.  There might be clinging and tears for a day or two, or it might continue for weeks, depending on the child.

There are tons of web resources and books out there, but a good (and important) strategy is probably to talk to your teacher to find out how she prefers to approach the situation.  It's not like she hasn't gone through it before with hundreds of other five year olds.  She'll know how to smooth the transition with minimal disruption to other students.