Blytheville Elementary School

YOU are now a CHICKASAW with Chickasaw FRIENDS, and are part of our Chickasaw COMMUNITY. We have Chickasaw RULES, and a Chickasaw WAY of doing things. So when it comes time to make a DECISION, ask yourself, "What would a Chickasaw do?" So put on your best Chickasaw SMILE, because every day is a GREAT day at BES to be a CHICKASAW!

Positivity, Respect, Integrity, Disciplined,

Engaged

VISION: Engage Everyone Everyday

MISSION: BES will educate the whole child through an engaging curriculum preparing them for the next level in their journey.

BES 2020-21 Strategic Plan Document

BES Questions and Concerns

BES Staff 2020-21

Website: https://www.blythevilleschools.com/o/bes
Location: 216 East Moultrie Drive, Blytheville, AR, United States
Phone: (870) 763 - 5924
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlythevilleElementary/

Upcoming Events:

Aug 31: All students return to school

Sept 3: Building Leadership Team Meeting 2:00-2:55 PM

Sept 7: Labor Day

Rain is in the forecast for several days this week. In the event that we must conduct indoor recess, teachers and staff must follow the indoor recess guidelines that promote physical activity for students, to the extent practicable. Go Noodle is composed of hundreds of interactive videos making movement and mindfulness an integral part of the day. Go Noodle is the program that is mandated in our district Wellness Plan to help provide the required physical activity for our students.

In an effort to ensure that we are effectively teaching P.R.I.D.E expectations, students and teachers will be randomly asked to recite what P.R.I.D.E stands for. This inventory will be done within the next two weeks. Please make sure you are teaching this each day to your students and are familiar yourself.

P- Positivity

R- Respect

I- Integrity

D- Disciplined

E- Engaged

Students will also be asked a variety of questions concerning the last time they received P.R.I.D.E bucks and what they received them for. We are encouraging everyone to distribute them daily for good behavior as students meet P.R.I.D.E. expectations. Please do not distribute P.R.I.D.E. bucks in bulk, only for specific behavior as not to lessen the value. If you need more, please email Ms. Whitley or Mrs. Jones.

Referral Office/Office Referrals

• The referral room office door will be locked at all times for safety purposes due to COVID-19. There will be no hanging out. If you have a question or concern, please feel free to schedule an appointment by sending an email. I have a virtual office that I am working on with resources and a form for questions and concerns.

• There will be a restricted open door policy this year due to COVID-19. Please know it is not personal, just business. I will need everyone (staff, visitors, parents, and students) who enters the referral room to sign in for contact tracing purposes.

• No sharing of supplies - coffee, microwave, refrigerator, cups, etc.

• Do not send a student to the office unless a referral has been made and the student has been called to the office (note this information in your sub plans as well). Please use the Google Form to document minors.

• When writing a referral, remember it is a legal document. This also includes text messages, emails, Class Tag, or any other method of communication with parents. Always assume that a parent, district office administrator, or even a lawyer might read it. State the facts only and never add opinions of the student or the situation. Please make sure the referral is written professionally.

• Please know your students with IEPs and 504s when putting in office referrals.

• If the behavior is a result of the student’s disability or on their behavior plan, a severe consequence cannot be administered.

• More schools have been sued for 504s than IEPs (per lawyer).

• If you do not know what students have 504s or IEPs, please see Mrs. Turney.

Drills/Emergency Backpack

Please review drill procedures with your students. Red and green cards will be used for every drill except lock down drills. If you need an emergency backpack (gray backpack), please email me. The following should be included in the back pack:

• Updated class list

• Red and green cards

• First aid kit

Positive Contacts

• You will need to make positive contacts every month (at least 5 a week). It is a state requirement that positive contacts are done monthly.

• Parents want to hear something positive about their child. It will work in your favor in the long run if a problem occurs.

• Mrs. Vincent will send out a positive contact form via email each month. I will follow up on the document to make sure positive contacts are being made. Please make sure you document ALL contact with parents. Remember, if it is not documented, it did not happen.

P.B.I.S. Matrix/Lanyard/ID Badges

• Staff are required to wear ID badges to work each day. If you need a new one, please email Brandon Harper.

• Staff are required to wear the P.B.I.S. lanyard to distribute PRIDE bucks. This makes PRIDE bucks accessible at all times.

• Everyone should be teaching PRIDE expectations from the matrix this week and next week (possibly the week after next as well). We have to teach our students the expected behaviors.

Classroom Numbers/Labels

• Please do not cover or remove the labels above your door. We need each classroom labeled/numbered in the event of a real emergency and outside assistance is needed in the building.

Student Dress Code/Cell Phone (please review with all students)

• Students are not allowed to wear jeans with holes unless they have leggings underneath.

• Students are not allowed to wear slide ins.

• I am working on a letter to send home to parents with this information.

All paraprofessionals employed at Blytheville Elementary are “Interventionists”. This means that the majority of their time is to be spent instructing students. The purpose of instructional paraprofessionals is to improve student academic achievement. All paraprofessionals will share duties as equally as possible. They will primarily work as Interventionists but also perform vital duties connected with special programs at Blytheville Elementary. All paraprofessionals are subject to other duties that may be assigned as necessary. Teachers are required to have a duty-free lunch. Therefore, paraprofessionals will cover lunch duties.

Morning Duty

Teachers and staff with duty assignments are expected to arrive early enough to make it to their duty station by their designated duty time. Regular morning duty starts at 6:45 AM. When you are on duty, you must supervise the students that are in the classrooms that you are assigned to. This is not time to chat with and visit other staff members. The purpose of duty is to provide supervision to students and allow for more social distancing. We must always be alert. Supervising students is all of our responsibility!

Recess Duty

Teachers must report to recess duty on time.When on duty, you are expected to roam about the playground zone and avoid standing in one place. Be visible and circulate. Strategically place yourselves in different areas of the playground so that all areas are covered.

All staff should be in their classroom by 7:20 AM unless you have early morning duty at 7:00 AM. This includes teachers, paraprofessionals, instructional facilitators, and interventionists. The end time for ALL staff is 3:25 (this includes paraprofessionals).

Lesson plans are due by 7:45 AM every Monday morning. All teachers must email their lesson plans to Mrs. Walker, Ms. Adelowo, Mrs. Starks, and Mrs. McCustion.

Teachers are required to keep classroom doors closed and locked at all times for everyone's safety. If teachers are consistently not following this policy, a reprimand will be given. It is our responsibility to keep our students as well as ourselves safe. “It’s really clear that the best practice for all of our schools is to not only have the door shut, but shut and locked. It has been proved time and time again that it saves lives.”

Staff please make sure that you are monitoring your health, wearing your mask, washing your hands, and social distancing whenever possible. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms below, please do not come to work and begin following the COVID-19 protocol that was sent out by Mr. Ashley via email. Symptoms: fever of 100.4 or higher, cough, chills, shortness of breath, new loss of taste/smell. Also, please remember that you must enter the building through the welcome center to have your temperature checked each morning. Here is the link to the COVID screening questionnaire that must be completed prior to arrival everyday, keep in mind that responses are time stamped. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScIDCFC2on4eOtdke8KGfex-PM4L30z2VVwLNmJNrfwFQJP-w/viewform?usp=sf_link

If you have a student that you are concerned about, please do not hesitate to send them to the nurse. There may be times that I will be with a student in isolation and unavailable to see other students. I will try my best to back track and check on students I may have missed. Here is my personal cell number 870-776-7315, this is going to be the best way to reach me and a great way to let me know about a student I may have missed. If sending a text regarding a student please format it without any identifiers so that we comply with HIPAA FERPA guidelines. EXAMPLE “This is ______ I have a student who needs to see you. Are you available?”

In an effort to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus within our staff and student body we are asking all parents/guardians, of students who will be in attendance on-site, and all employees to notify our designated Point of Contact immediately when the following occurs:

• Someone in the household has tested positive for COVID-19.

• Someone in the household has been identified as a Close Contact to a positive case of COVID-19 and is requiring quarantine and/or recommended to be tested for COVID-19.

• Student attending on -site and employees who are being tested for COVID-19.

If symptomatic, students/staff should remain in quarantine pending results of their COVID-19 test.

Please call Tiffany Townsend at (870) 278-0184, or email information to ttownsend@blythevilleschools.net. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Together we can help keep our Blytheville School District family safe, healthy and ready to learn during this unique time.

With school beginning, there are many different ways I can support teachers. I hope that we can all work together to meet the needs of our students to improve their academic achievement and emotional health. Here are “The Top Ten Ways School Counselors Can Support Teachers.” If you need to make a student referral for guidance counseling or consultation, please fill out the Referral for Guidance Counseling Google Form. Also, make sure you begin your daily SEL lessons with students on Monday, refer to the calendar for the daily conversation starters. If you would like me to come to your class to model or help facilitate the lessons, please reach out to me.

-Your School Counselor, Lena Pierce

If a student has special dietary or medical needs please contact Nurse Russell. All students who wish to take medication at school (including inhalers) must receive a form from the school nurse to be filled out by their doctor.

All teachers are expected to maintain a RED FOLDER on your desk throughout the year.This will be an emergency lesson plan folder that will be used in the event that you cannot get lesson plans here by 7:30. The RED FOLDERS should be used in emergencies only. Within this folder there should be a scripted lesson, which anyone could easily follow, for each subject you teach. Also, include the following:

• class list

• daily schedule including special class times and the time you and your partner teacher switch, as well as dismissal times

• scheduled bathroom breaks

• recess

• lunch time

• duty assignments (afternoon)

• drill procedures

• transportation list that shows how your students get home

• list of students that check in with the nurse at designated times

• times students are pulled from the regular classroom for interventions, special education services or speech

We are required by law to report all suspected cases of child abuse or maltreatment. If you suspect child abuse, you should contact the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-482-5964 to report such suspicions. For non-emergencies you can fill out the Fax Form and take it to the office to fax. You do not need permission to make this call.

All staff members are required to contact an administrator in the event of an absence from school. Leaving a message does not constitute notification. You must speak with either Mrs. Walker (870-532-7866) or Ms. Adelowo (870-740-1526). If at all possible, contact should be made by 6:30 A.M. so that arrangements can be made to have your position covered for the day. In the event of a planned absence, a Request for Absence form should be completed and submitted to the office for administrative approval. After the absence is approved, the principal/designee should secure an approved substitute for the days needed. Detailed lesson plans must be provided for your substitute teacher.

*Remember, there is no substitute for a teacher!!!

If you have been absent from work and did not complete a request for absence form, you will need to sign a Return Slip. Return slips are available in the office or with the attached link. Your prompt attention is required.

Staff Instructional Day

Staff are required to be present from 7:20 - 3:25 PM each day.

On Thursday, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced that through a partnership between the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and ACHI, positive cases in school districts and institutions of higher education will be posted to the ADH website. The site will include information for districts that have more than 5 positive cases, will include cases involving virtual, onsite and blended learning students and staff. The links to this helpful data, as well as the data for cases within a school district boundary are below:

• Arkansas Department of Health school district-related data (scroll to Educational Institutions)
• Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) School District Boundary Data