Note from Dr. Cannon
November 4, 2019
Dear Breton Downs Families,
Where did this winter weather come from? It is hard to believe that it’s already time to pull out the winter coats, hats, and gloves! Despite the shockingly cold temperatures and early arrival of the first snow, we enjoyed celebrating Halloween. Thank you to the many families and community members who attended the Halloween Parade and helped to organize games, food, and fun for the classroom parties. It is always such a fun time for all. Please enjoy the many photographs below that captured last Thursday’s fun.
Code Red Drill- Friday, November 8
Consistent with our commitment to communicate and to serve the best interest of our students, I am writing to provide you with information of a very important safety drill that will be conducted Friday, November 8, 2019. Breton Downs Elementary will have a Full Sheltering/Lockdown drill in cooperation with East Grand Rapids Public Safety. This drill is conducted at least three times annually in compliance with legislation adopted in 2006 (as amended by Public Act 12 of 2014). This will be our second Code Red drill of this year.
During this drill, teachers and school staff implement procedures designed to maximize student safety in the unlikely event that a threatening situation were to unfold in or near our school. These procedures have been designed in collaboration with the East Grand Rapids Public Safety Department and a public safety officer will be present during our drill to observe and provide feedback about performance. The public safety department will not practice their response procedures during our drill. The most noticeable components to these procedures that your child will experience are hearing the term “Code Red” as a signal to take shelter, statements they might hear over the Public Address system if a real danger were present, the verification that doors are locked and closed, lights being turned off, and the re-positioning of students within each classroom to maximize safety.
In preparation for this drill, your child’s classroom teacher will have an age-appropriate class discussion about the drill and about appropriate student behavior and responses during the drill. Teachers emphasize that this drill is just practice for a highly unlikely situation with the goal of avoiding or reducing student anxiety during the drill. Since each grade level is unique regarding what depth of information or what types of student questions are age-appropriate, teachers moderate these discussions carefully and may direct students to talk with parents about those questions deemed by the teacher to be best addressed by parents. While these classroom conversations and the remarks over the Public Address system prior to the drill have been adequate at creating an anxiety-free experience for the vast majority of students in the past, please feel free to talk with your child to help them make meaning of why such a drill is necessary and to understand its importance.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this safety drill, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Veterans Day- 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, RSVP of the veterans attending the reception and program is appreciated. Click here to RSVP.
We are asking all students in kindergarten through grade four to wear red, white, and blue on Monday, November 11. Fifth grade students will be wearing white shirts and dark pants or skirts.
Veterans Day Slideshow- Each year we have a slideshow highlighting relatives of our Breton Downs students who have served in the military. If you have a new picture you would like to share, please send the following information to Lisa Rogers at lrogers@egrps.org. Our deadline to receive pictures for the slideshow is Friday, November 8 by noon.
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Name of relative
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Name of Breton Downs student
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Connection (grandparent, aunt, uncle)
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Service of the military
Breton’s Got Talent- Friday, November 15
On Friday, November 15 at 6:30 p.m. our Breton Downs PTO is sponsoring a Variety Show. Parents and students please come and enjoy a fun-filled, family night. Please bring blankets to sit on and bowl for the free popcorn. Water will be available for $1.00. Door #12 will open at 6:15 p.m.
Warmest regards,
Caroline
 https://twitter.com/principalcannon
  
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