Bacich Bears News
Dear Bacich Families,
This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the KIK Spring Auction Event. What an amazing evening. I am incredibly grateful for the generosity of our parent community. The level of participation in the “Fund-A-Need” for replacing our aging iPads and Chromebooks to support student learning for all of our KSD students was impressive. Thank you to Amy Atherton, Allyson Peracca, and Janine Spaulding for taking the lead on organizing this fundraising event and to all of the KIK volunteers who made this event such a success.
Class Building Process
Each spring the Bacich staff works together to create class lists for the following school year. Classroom teachers collaborate as a grade-level team to develop balanced classes for next year. Our school counselor, school psychologist, special education teachers, ELD teacher, enrichment teachers, intervention specialists, school nurse, office support staff, and administration also participate in the process to ensure the development of balanced classes that work for all students.
As professional educators, we consider a number of important factors in the development of class lists. We take into account the needs of individual children. From experience working with our Bacich students, we know which children work well together and those who do not. We give careful consideration to diverse achievement levels, learning styles, social-emotional needs, behavioral factors, and the number of students. We also strive to ensure that students feel a strong sense of belonging and inclusion and consider the gender, cultural, and racial makeup of a class to avoid feelings of isolation for minority students. Overall, our class placement decisions are made very carefully by considering the best learning situation for all of our students.
In order for us to achieve these goals for all students, we are not able to consider parent requests for a particular placement. In a school with nearly 550 students, it is not possible to honor parent requests and stay true to our process of creating balanced classes. Thank you for your understanding and support of our class-building process for the 2023-2024 school year.
With gratitude,
Maria Martin
Bacich Principal
mmartin@kentfieldschools.org
Calling Bacich Volunteers!
Do you have a desire to be on the Bacich campus more? Are you available during the school day, specifically during lunchtime from 11:55 to 1:20 p.m.? If so, we have the spot for you, as we are hoping to bring more parents back onto campus.
A Sign Up Genius will be forthcoming, in the meantime please reach out to Ann-Marie Skaggs at askaggs@kentfieldschools.org to express interest.
Wait Until 8th Pledge
The KSPTA is sponsoring the Wait Until 8th Pledge. This initiative supports waiting until children are in 8th grade to provide access to a smartphone. The Wait Until 8th organization lists five top reasons to postpone access to a smartphone:
- Smartphones are changing childhood
- They are distracting and addictive
- Smartphones expose your child to inappropriate content
- They increase the risk of anxiety and depression
- Cyberbullying is an important concern
There are many devices that parents can use to be able to get in touch with their children, other than a smartphone. The Wait Until 8th website has additional information for parents. The KSPTA has identified a parent class champion at each grade level who is available to answer questions you may have. Please refer to this document for more information about the KSPTA Wait Until 8th campaign. I encourage you to consider taking this pledge!
Draft School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) - Bacich 2023-2024
The Bacich School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) for the 2023-24 school year is a comprehensive document that provides details about the school’s planned actions to support student outcomes and overall performance. The goals and actions in the SPSA connect to the Kentfield School District’s Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), which lays out goals for the entire District. The Bacich SPSA for 2023-2024 contains four goals and specific action steps to achieve the goals. We would like to solicit your feedback on this important plan. Please take a few minutes to review the DRAFT SPSA and provide feedback using this Google form.
Four Open Positions
Bacich Site Council
The School Site Council is made up of parents, teachers, and administrators who meet monthly to advise the principal on student academics, parent engagement, and school safety. We currently have four Site Council members whose two-year terms will end in June. We are eager to welcome four new members to the group.
This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about the inner workings of our school and make an impact on its improvement. This committee reviews school data and programs in order to monitor our progress on Bacich's School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA). Throughout the year, the members update and improve upon the SPSA and keep us headed in the right direction for student success. We generally meet once a month on Monday afternoons.
To apply, please fill out this Google form by May 12. The form asks for a short summary of your interest and qualifications to serve on this committee. I will then post these summaries for the school community to review and vote for the new members the week of May 15. Newly elected SSC members will begin their membership in August 2023 and will serve until June 2025.
If you have any questions about the School Site Council, please contact me or the 2022-23 SSC chairperson, Alle Schreiber (alle.schreiber@gmail.com).
Family Math Nights
The Marin County Office of Education is hosting “Family Math Nights” for parents and caregivers of children, ages birth to 6 years. The virtual sessions are facilitated by Lisa Kaplan Shaanan from Early Education Equity. Spanish translation provided. The Zoom link will be emailed to you the day before the session.
Please join us on one or more of the following sessions on Thursdays from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Registration Link
- May 11
- June 8
La Oficina de Educación del Condado de Marin está organizando "Noches Familiares de Matemáticas" para padres y cuidadores de niños, desde el nacimiento hasta los 6 años. Las sesiones virtuales son facilitadas por Lisa Kaplan Shaanan de Early Education Equity. Se ofrece traducción al español. El enlace de Zoom se le enviará por correo electrónico el día antes de la sesión.
Únase a nosotros en una o más de las siguientes sesiones los jueves de 6:30 p. m. a 7:30 p.m. Enlace de registro
- 11 de mayo
- 8 de junio
TK / Kindergarten Registration Now Open
Universal Transition Kindergarten Information Session Slides - Spanish and English
- Incoming Kindergarten students will need to turn 5 years of age by September 1, 2023.
- Incoming Universal Transitional Kindergarten students will need to turn 5 years of age between September 2, 2023 and April 2, 2024.
Bacich Library - New May Blog Post!
Welcome the month of May with Ms. Warnick's favorite books and activities to honor May Day, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, and Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month at the bacichlibrarybookbuzz.blogspot.com
Learn more about the library and search for books: sites.google.com/kentfieldschools.org/bacich-library
Susan Warnick
Bacich Librarian
swarnick@kentfieldschools.org
Upcoming Bacich Events
2022-2023 Bacich Bell Schedule
Wednesday, May 10, 2023: Bacich Parents in Action, Bacich Room 7, 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Thursday, May 11, 2023: First Grade Concert, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 12, 2023: Bacich School Site Council applications due.
Wednesday, May 17, 2023: Bacich ELAC Meeting, Bacich room 7
Monday, May 22, 2023: Bacich Principal Chat, 8:30 a.m.