The Trailblazer Times   11-17-2019

Greetings Trailblazer families,

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful, but cold, day. Thank you to all for making Saturday school a success. Remember, we have another Saturday school day on December 7 for students on tracks 1, 3, and 4. We WILL serve breakfast, but no lunch on that day. Please remember to send your child(ren) to school with a snack. The buses will begin their routes as usual and we will dismiss at 12:45. Mark your calendars now for this last hurricane make up day. 

• READVolution Update | Remember to continue reading and logging in minutes read for this year's READVolution. The last day for logging minutes is Friday, December 6, 2019. Students are able to engage in silent reading during their media special and record minutes using the READVolution app. We want to encourage students to read what they choose, have the opportunity to talk about what they are reading, and eliminate distractions so they can relax while they read. Please continue to work with your child at home to ensure they are developing good reading habits, Each students' personal goal is reading daily for 20 minutes. We hope they develop a life-long love of reading! See the school website for a link to the WakeID Portal and the READVolution app.  

• GOTR Mock 5K | Our Banks Road Girls on the Run Club will participate in a mock 5K on Monday, November 18 after school. If you can join us to cheer them on, please feel free to do so. Here is the schedule: 3:45 - Meet in the usual rooms right after school. 4:10 - Parents/Running Buddies will meet a coach on the track (where we end our session outside every week). Please bring snacks to the coach at this time. 4:15 -  Girls will join their Running Buddies for warm ups and stretching, 4:20 -Mock 5K begins. When the girls and running buddies finish their run, they will have a snack and receive their certificate. Many thanks to coaches Kim, Christine, Allison, and Jennifer!

• Student Council Meeting - November 22 at 8:15. | Ms. Rdgers will be having a Student Council meeting on Friday, November 22 at 8:15. Students will be working on a special project to recycle used markers, sponsored by Crayola. They will meet to develop a theme and some "marketing materials" for the school family to use with this program. More information to come!! 

• Transportation changes. | As we continue to monitor our practices and procedures, I want to remind parents that if a child's transportation changes (for a day or more permanently) we need you to send a note to your child's teacher. The note should include the date(s) that the change is to cover and the way a student is to go home (bus, carpool, YMCA). We do not rely on students to verbally relay messages about changes. In the absence of a note, we will have students ahere to their usual way home (or Y). Also, if you call in a change to the school, we will now log the caller's name, the phone number and will check to see that the call is from the proper source. If you need to change a child's transportation, on an emergency basis, please do so prior to 3:00 PM. The front office is a busy place and we want to ensure students are where they need to be for dismissal. Thanks for your help! 

• School Improvement Plan parent representative(s) needed. | All schools in Wake County have a School Improvement Plan that guides our work. The purpose of school improvement is to improve achievement and outcomes for every student by working to eliminate the ability to predict achievement based on socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity. We do this by collaboratively and continuously analyzing data and making decisions considering the unique needs of the learning community and the district's strategic plan. Staff members serve on this team and we need some parent volunteers to join us. If you are interested and available to meet with the School Improvement Leadership Team on a Wednesday morning once a month, please send an email to Ms. Hargrove at jhargrove@wcpss.net. Our school improvement plan is posted on the Banks Road website. Thanks for considering this area of service.

• Scholastic Book Fair Coming...Volunteers needed | The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Banks Road ES from December 2 - December 13. We will be needing parent volunteers to help students make selections and then purchase items from the Book Fair. Ms. Floyd, the Media Specialist, will be working with the PTA to advertise through SignUpGenius to fill our volunteer needs. More information to come in the next edition of The Trailblazer Times. 

• Boomers Performance | Our very own Banks Road Boomers will perform on November 26 at 7:00 PM at the food court at Crabtree Valley Mall! This is one of several winter performances! Come out and support them in this effort! 

The PTA Boad will be meeting on November 18, 2019 at 6:00. Please feel free to join this group of hardworking parent and school volunteers. Make it a great week! 

Yours,

Jan Hargrove, Interim Principal