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Barney Ford Elementary

Weekly Update: January 4, 2024

01/04/24, 5:31 PM

Dear Families,

Happy New Year! We hope you had a restful break and are looking forward to a fabulous 2024! The students jumped right back into learning this week. We enjoyed hearing stories about their break and watching them reconnect with their peers.

Have you noticed our new Barney Ford signs outside? We are so excited to continue rebranding our school inside and out! If you get a chance to come inside the school, you’ll see new Barney Ford signs on our gym doors, posters with our Habits of Character and Scholarship, and more.

First Friday, Tomorrow

Tomorrow is a great time to see these changes new signs. Please join us on Friday, January 5th from 7:45-8:45 for our First Friday Coffee and Conversation. We will have special guests from DPS’s Tranformational Social Emotional Learning (tSEL) team presenting.

WIDA ACCESS Testing Next Week

Next week we will begin the annual WIDA ACCESS testing for all English Language Learners in grades K-5. ACCESS is a required test that evaluates students' English skills in listening, reading, writing, and speaking. We use this information to support students' language development and to assess when students are ready to transition out of English Language Development (ELD) classes.

Please be sure your child is well rested and on time for the testing days: January 9, 10, 18, and 23.

STEM Family Night, January 18

Our January family night night will be a celebration of math and science. Join us on Thursday, January 18 for a pizza dinner, live animal demonstrations, and math games! We will send home invitations next week.

Attendance Update

December was a challenging attendance month for us. We hit a low for the year at 86.1%. Please help us reach our goal of 95% attendance each day. It is so important to prioritize being at school every day because each day of learning counts for your child.

Upcoming Events

Jan 6: First Friday Coffee and Conversation
Jan 9: ACCESS testing starts
Jan 12: Mobile Eye-Clinic & Kindergarten field trip to Children’s Museum
Jan 15: Martin Luther King Day: No School
Jan 18: Family Fun STEM Night
Jan 26: Dollar Dress Down Day

View the January calendar here.