October 28, 2019

Dear Breton Downs Families,

Our 5th grade students participate in Day of Kindness on Thursday, October 24 to give back to their community.  On this day they volunteered and helped at either Kids Food Basket, Blandford Nature Center, Beacon Hills Retirement Community, EGR Library, Family Promise, EGR Public Safety, or Breton Downs.  A thank you to the 5th grade teachers for organizing this event and to all our parent volunteers.  

Consistent with our commitment to be proactive and to serve the best interest of students, I am writing to inform parents of a very important safety drill that is scheduled to be conducted with the entire student body.  On Tuesday, October 29, 2019, Breton Downs Elementary School will conduct an Off-Site Evacuation Drill.  During this drill, all students and staff will evacuate the building and then proceed to Lakeside Elementary.  This drill is an extension of our standard building evacuation drills we conduct at least five times annually, and it simulates the necessity to move off-site as might be required in a real emergency.  Examples of such situations might be a natural gas leak or an actual fire that has made it unsafe to return to the school building. This drill type is not mandated by law; however, all East Grand Rapids schools conduct an Off-Site Evacuation Drill every other year.

1. Our drill will begin at approximately 10:30 a.m. and no students may be signed out for appointments during the process of evacuating and walking to the Lakeside.  Since the central feature of this drill is to ensure that we are able to accurately account for the whereabouts of all students, we must have a controlled way to release students to parents in an emergency situation.  Therefore, until our arrival at Lakeside Elementary and a complete accounting for all students, no students will be able to be signed out. As part of this drill, we will establish a parent information station at our off-site evacuation location.  At this point, we would be prepared to implement our procedures for the orderly release of students to parents. Should this last component of our procedures ever be necessary, it would be important for parents to be patient as by design this process is meant to be methodical.

2. The length of our drill depends on several variables, and it is estimated that it will take about one hour in total.  Therefore, students arriving to school between 10:35 a.m. and 11:35 a.m. will wait in the Breton Downs main office until the drill has concluded.

3. Given the above, it is recommended that parents needing to take students out of school for unavoidable reasons should pick up their child before morning recess (10:10 a.m.) and return them no earlier than 11:35 a.m. on the day of the drill.

Kids Have Rights

Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, East Grand Rapids Public Schools presented the body safety program, Kids Have Rights to students in kindergarten through 4th grade. Kids Have Rights is a program offered through The Children’s Advocacy Center of Kent County.  This program meets the requirements outlined in Erin's Law (signed into law January 2013) for Michigan elementary students. The Kids Have Rights lessons incorporate information on:

• The “Rights” all kids have to keep themselves safe.

• Identifying the Safe Adults in a child’s life they can go to if they need help.

• Recognizing different kinds of touches (safe vs. unsafe).

The Kids Have Rights material is presented in a non-threatening way and is different for each grade level. This ensures the information is age and developmentally appropriate.

Additional information, including an opt out form, was sent home with students last week.  You can also learn more about the program by visiting the Kids Have Rights website.  If you have questions or would like additional information please contact Mr. Chris Kenward, our School Social Worker, or me.
 

Halloween- Thursday, October 31

Halloween is this week! Please be sure to remember no full face masks, blood, or weapons when thinking of costumes. Our all-school Halloween Parade will begin at 2:30 p.m. We will be having an early recess, so parents can help their children get ready from 1:50- 2:05 p.m.  Weather permitting our parade will be outside again this year!
 

Veterans Day Assembly- Monday, November 11

Breton Downs Elementary School invites all relatives and friends of our school community who have served or are serving in the United States military to join us on Monday, November 11 at 9:30 a.m. for our annual Veterans Day Assembly.  Our PTO is sponsoring a reception in our Learning Commons (for our veterans) starting at 8:45 a.m. In order to better plan our program, a RSVP of the veterans attending the reception and program is appreciated. Click here to RSVP.

If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at ccannon@egrps.org

Warmest regards,

Caroline

https://twitter.com/principalcannon

Children love reading nonfiction.  A healthy reading diet includes both fiction and nonfiction texts. Nonfiction texts are “true” facts about a specific topic, packed with interesting information, graphics, and pictures. There are numerous skills needed to read and comprehend nonfiction texts. Listed below are a few tips to help cultivate the love of nonfiction reading.

1. Survey the text. “What pops out?” (text features)

2. Be aware of new words. “Do I know this word? Do I know how this word is being used?”

3. After reading, find the main idea and supporting details. “What is this text mostly about?”

4. Read many texts on a similar topic and compare facts. “What are the similarities and differences?”