Friday, August 30, 2019

8.30.19 Principal Notes

Dear McKelvie Families~

This has been an absolutely wonderful first week of school! The kids have been amazing, the staff has done an incredible job of getting to know their students and building their classroom communities, and the weather has been fabulous! I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!

Scroll to the bottom to see great pics from this week!

Important Dates:
Sept. 5th Picture Day
Sept. 6th Club/Intramural Descriptions Posted.
Sept. 11th Grade 5 Open House 6-7 for Parents.
Sept. 12th Grade 6 Open House 6-7 for Parents.
Sept. 13th Club/Intramural Registration opens at 7:00pm.

Strings Club:
The Bedford School District has partnered with the Manchester Community Music School in order to offer strings lessons K-8. Please click HERE to see a flyer about the program if your child is interested in playing a stringed instrument. The program is run by MCMS but lessons are at McKelvie and the strings club will be incorporated into our school concerts.

Clubs/Intramurals:
Club and intramural descriptions will be posted on the website on September 6th. Registration for clubs and intramurals will be on Friday, Sept. 13th. Next Friday's Principal Notes will have a link to the descriptions. Stay tuned!

Open Positions:
We are in need of two lunch monitors, one who will only work Tuesdays and another that can work Monday through Friday. We are also looking for two paraprofessionals to work with terrific kids. If you are interested in being a part of this amazing school community, please click the link HERE to get to the application site.

Box Tops:
A message from Amy Gaff, our Box Top Coordinator:  After 20 years, the Box Tops Program is changing to fit today's families. The new and improved Box Tops mobile app uses technology to scan your store receipt, find participating products and instantly add Box Tops to your school's earnings online. For the families that like to give back to the school, it will take a small change of habit. As coordinator, I have personally tried to scan the receipt from the grocery store as soon as I get the groceries unpacked and it seems to be working well.; however, others from across the country have experienced technological challenges and if this happens, please reach out to me. I am here to help McKelvie reach their fundraising goal. I will also collect receipts in the collection box if you choose to submit and I can scan them myself but will need to do so within 14 days of purchase. Remember, still clip any box tops on products and submit to the collection boxes. They are still worth $.10 each. Last year we reached our $1,000 goal and hoping to do that again in 2019-2020. Click HERE for the box top flyer.

Library News:
Hello, McKelvie families! I hope this finds you well. During the summer our school library remained a busy place as I was cataloging books to have ready for the first days of school and hosted 3 Relax & Read Events! Rising 5th -7th graders were able to check out books for the first time during the summer at the McKelvie Intermediate School Library. This was amazing! Book checkouts, frozen treats, and raffles made for many smiles! Thank you to the McKelvie staff who helped to make this possible.

During the summer we also obtained many new fiction, nonfiction, picture books, graphic novels, biographies, and professional books for students and staff. Over 80 of the new acquisitions were processed and students and staff have already been busy browsing, reading, and checking out the new books!

Just before the first day of school, 10 "Golden Tickets" were placed inside the pages of various books in the McKelvie Library. Click HERE to see one of the signs promoting the McKelvie "Golden Tickets." This is done as a fun way to get the students to browse our book selection and encourage checkout. There has been one student who has checked out a book containing one of the "Golden Tickets" during our first week of school. Click HERE to see Emma who has been awarded a $5.00 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble! Congratulations! Keep reading and looking for the "Golden Tickets" when you visit the McKelvie Library. There are 9 tickets remaining! 

I look forward to meeting the new readers and researchers here at McKelvie! As for the returning students, it has been wonderful to see some familiar faces. The library and the books have missed you. Welcome back! Click HERE to see the library waiting for readers.

Please click HERE to consider subscribing to my Library News Blog.

Have a nice long weekend. ~Mrs. Cote

PTG Principal Notes:
BACK TO SCHOOL GREETINGS FROM THE PTG! We are looking forward to another great school year full of fantastic programs and events for our students, staff and families.

SUPPORT THE PTG: Help the PTG continue to bring exciting programs/speakers to our schools like Project Nature, Wildlife Encounters, Music In Technology, David Flood Motivational Speaker, and Chris Herren Drug Prevention Speaker. If you’d like to make a donation, simply click on the PayPal link at www.bedfordptg.org or send in a check payable to Bedford PTG in the support envelopes that have been sent home (K-6) or an envelope labeled with your name and email address. Click HERE for more information on the PTG and programs funded with your support. Thank You!

LOOKING TO VOLUNTEER: Bedford PTG is again offering a faster, paperless way to share your information for volunteering for Bedford Schools. Instead of sending home a paper volunteer form to fill out and return, we now offer a Volunteer Google Form for each school. To access the form click HERE , or check school websites, or the PTG website www.bedfordptg.org under PTG Forms. You need to fill this form out in order to hear about volunteer opportunities at the schools or district wide.

McKelvie Volunteer Orientation: Please join members of the Mckelvie PTG Committee to learn about the many different volunteer opportunities for the upcoming school year. We will be holding this event in the McKelvie cafeteria on Thursday, September 19th at 9:00 AM.

PTG VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: Looking for some great opportunities to volunteer this year? The PTG has several district level and committee positions available…
Ski , Skate and More Committee members: Due to the success of our annual sale, we are looking for new members to be part of the planning committee. The Ski, Skate and More sale is schedule for Saturday, November 23. The first committee meeting is Friday, September 13th at 3:40 at McKelvie.
Color Blast Fun Run Committee Members: Get in on the Colorful Fun and be part of planning this amazing community event!! Color Blast is looking for anyone that might be interested in being part of the planning committee. The committee meets monthly starting in October and more frequently closer to the event which is scheduled for Sunday, May 31st.
District Book Fair Coordinator- Oversee the Scholastic Book Fair held in the spring at the 3 elementary schools and McKelvie. Work closely with school level coordinators to ensure they have what they need for a successful book fair.

If you are interested in any of these roles or would like more information please email bedfordnhptg@gmail.com

BOX TOP PROGRAM CHANGE: Put away the scissors! No More Clipping! Box Tops is changing to fit today's families. The new and improved Box Tops mobile app uses state-of-the-art technology to scan your store receipt, find participating products and instantly add Box Tops to your school's earnings online. Visit www.btfe.com to learn more and start earning for our schools.

MEET THE PRINCIPALS EVENT SEPTEMBER 27TH: You are invited to join the PTG and the Principals from all six schools at our annual "Coffee with the Principals" event on Friday, September 27th from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. at BCTV (10 Meetinghouse Road). This is a great opportunity to hear what each school has in store for the year. There will be a Q & A following the presentation. Light refreshments will be served and your young children are welcome to attend.

School Pics:



                Ben, Madison, and Elyse



    PJ, Sam, Zach, Aaron, Noah and Mrs. Cote



                   Katie, Teagan, Sarah, Kira



               Irelyn and Lexi



      SRO Officer Nightingale



McKelvie Staff in 5th and 6th Grade





Bulletin Boards

Have a terrific weekend and call or email if you have any questions!

Jen Asdot

Friday, August 23, 2019

8.23.19 Principal Notes

Dear McKelvie Families~

It's almost here!  The first day of school is Tuesday, August 27th!  All teachers will be on the playground for the first day of school, holding signs with their names on them so students can see where to line up.  There will be plenty of staff on hand to make sure kids get to the right place!  We do not have a Meet and Greet at McKelvie School as we cannot accommodate 700 cars and families at one time.  This is why we also have two Open Houses at McKelvie.  This week's notes are a bit lengthy but have a lot of important information about the first day of school.

Important Dates:
8/27/19 First Day of School
9/5/19 School Picture Day
9/11/19 Grade 5 Open House 6-8pm
9/12/19 Grade 6 Open House 6-8pm

AM Arrival Procedures:
All students who are driven to school should be dropped off at the front doors of the building's main entrance at the front of the school.  Students can be dropped off beginning at 8:20 and recess goes until 8:40 when the bell rings to enter the building.  Cars may not enter the bus drop off line and students cannot be dropped off at the playground.  Students who are driven to school walk to the playground from the main entrance.  Students who take the bus will be dropped off next to the playground along the concrete barriers.  I highly encourage all students to take the bus, even on the first day of school.  Students need to be in their homeroom classes by 8:50 or they will be marked tardy.  We give some leeway to this on the first week of school.

PM Dismissal Procedures:
Afternoon announcements begin at 3:15 followed by dismissing parent pick-up students.  All students whose last name begins with the letters A-J are picked up at the main entrance on Liberty Hill Road in front of the school. A-J students exit the cafeteria doors near the flagpole and parents need to pull all the way up to pick up their kids.  This keeps the line moving and helps to prevent the blocking of intersections.  All students whose last name begins with K-Z are picked up at the canopy entrance on County Rd.  Parents need to pull all the way up to prevent blocking intersections and to keep the lines moving.

Students who are parent pick-up, walkers, or bike riders need a note stating how they are getting home.  All students go home on the bus that do not have a note indicating they are going home a different way.  If your child is alway a parent pick-up, send in a note indicating the specific days and we will put their names on the permanent parent pick up list.  If your child is a permanent walker/bike rider, send that note in as well.

At approximately 3:17 we begin dismissing busses.  After ALL busses are dismissed and have left the parking lot, we dismiss walkers and bike riders at approximately 3:25.  Walkers and bike riders are dismissed last as there are far fewer cars and busses on the road.  I highly encourage all students take the bus home, even on the first day of school.  I anticipate students will get home a little late the first day.

Before School Program:
Students who have registered for the Before School Program can be dropped off as early as 7:30 at the main entrance on Liberty Hill Rd.  Parents do not need to walk students in and can just drop them off!  Click HERE to get the registration form for the Before School Program.

Infosnap:
If you have not already done Infosnap, please do so ASAP.  Your child will not be able to use computers in the building if Infosnap is not complete.

Older Notes but Still Important:

Kindness Quotes:
We still have a lot of kids that have not submitted a Kindness Quote to hang on the walls of McKelvie. Please click HERE to submit your quote. It only takes two minutes!

Supply Lists:
Click HERE to find your child's supply list. Supplies can come in with students on the first day of school or split up over the first few days.

Bus Routes:
Bus routes are online and can be found HERE. Scroll down to MCK Afternoon and MCK Morning Bus Routes for stop locations and pick-up times. I highly encourage all students to take the bus to and from school, as drop off and pick up lines are really long.

Have a terrific weekend and I can't wait to see your kids next week!  As always, call or email if you have any questions.

Jen Asdot
McKelvie Principal


Friday, August 16, 2019

8.16.19 Principal Notes

Dear McKelvie Families~

Only 11 days until the start of school! By now everyone should have received an email with a link to Infosnap, to update your child's registration. Once updated, you can get into Powerschool to see your child's homeroom teacher and schedule.

I am thrilled to announce that we have hired Gretchen Lordan as our new Grade 6 teacher, joining the Burke/Robinson Pod. Gretchen has over twenty years experience teaching at both the middle and intermediate levels, primarily in the area of science.

Kindness Quotes:
We still have a lot of kids that have not submitted a Kindness Quote to hang on the walls of McKelvie. Please click HERE to submit your quote. It only takes two minutes!

Supply Lists:
Click HERE to find your child's supply list. Supplies can come in with students on the first day of school or split up over the first few days.

Bus Routes:
Bus routes are now online and can be found HERE. Scroll down to MCK Afternoon and MCK Morning Bus Routes for stop locations and pick-up times. I highly encourage all students to take the bus to and from school, as drop off and pick up lines are really long.

Before School Program:

We offer a Before School Program at McKelvie School, whereby kids can be dropped off at 7:30am. The cost is $100 per student for the year. Click HERE to get the Before School Program registration form. Checks should be made out to the Bedford School District. Students can go to the Before School Program on the first day of school, so long as they are registered.

Enjoy the weekend and call or email if you have any questions.

Take care!

Jen