Dear Parents,

Recently, our very generous PTA presented both Bacich and Kent with funding for nineteen KSPTA Grants. Staff and parents wrote grant applications, and the Grant Committee, composed of teachers and parents, reviewed them and determined which applications would be funded.

Our school counselor, Maia Yamasaki, and transitional kindergarten teacher, Amber Stewart, wrote a grant for a Bacich Peace Path. Recognizing that many of our young students are just learning how to manage conflict and disagreement during the school day, this path will empower our students to have an additional tool to solve simple social problems and find a safe and effective resolution to the day-to-day challenges we observe on the elementary school playground.

The Peace Path will be located in the kindergarten play yard and piloted with our youngest students. The process for using the path will be shared with yard duty personnel and kindergarten teachers. It will serve as an active communication tool to help students develop a common language to use when trying to solve conflicts. It will provide a visual path, physical movement, and a step-by-step process to manage feelings such as anger, frustration, sadness, and disappointment.

The goal will be to build upon this communication tool starting with the 2018-2019 kindergarten classes. If we find it successful, we will add an additional Peace Path on the big playground for other students to use when conflict arises. Like the Buddy Bench, which sits on the big playground, we want our children to be sensitive to the emotions and feelings of others and build upon their own social skills. This supports healthy friendships and allows students to recognize the power that they have to make a positive difference in their small world.