Please Join us on Tuesday

FPAC are meeting Tuesday 3rd September at 1.45pm 

Please come along and join us - agenda items include Fall Festival planning and Library Books.  As always, Mrs Dana will be there to answer any parent concerns/comments and give an update on the playground progress and security installation.  

We have a great school - come along and show your support - see you there!

Dues are due.... ;-)

Have you paid your dues yet?

Only $20 per family!

Where does your money go....?  Dues money helps fund:-

• Field Day

• Art Masterpiece

• Music Masterpiece

• Family Fun Nights (Ice Cream social on Monday was a success!)

• 100th Day Celebration

• Poetry Contest (held in November)  

• Fall Festival expenses - you have to spend money to make money!

......and various other expenses throughout the year

AND we dont ask you to sell raffle tickets or anything else throughout the year.

If you have not yet paid your $20 dues please do so - you can pay in the office using the envelopes provided.

THANK YOU

- FPAC - 

THANK YOU - Ice Cream Social

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who came to the ice cream social last night - the scoopers, the cleaners and the ice cream eaters!  

It was a fun - noisy - evening, but the turnout was good and a good time was had by all.

Over 1000 bowls and 20 huge tubs of ice cream later, we think the first Family Fun night was a success!  

- FPAC - 

BFCS Weekly Newsletter

Pick Up reminder from Mrs Dana

August 26, 2013

Re: School Updates and Information

Dear BFCS Gilbert Parents,

            We are starting to settle in to our new campus routines.  It had been an exciting adventure these past two weeks!  We will continue to make modifications as projects are completed and construction work comes to a close. As far as after-school traffic goes, we are going to stick with the current plan of north-side pick-up for groups and south-side single child pick-ups for now. This seems to be the plan that keeps the greatest percentage of traffic off of Val Vista Road and also moves through the process more quickly than the other plans we have tried.

Here are some guidelines that will make the after school pick-up process run smoothly:

1.       Talk to your students about watching and being ready to load as soon as you arrive to the pick-up zone.  The aides are there to keep your children safe and keep traffic moving, but it is the responsibility of the students to watch for their rides and be prepared to load in a timely manner. 

2.      If your students are not ready and the line is waiting, you will be asked to move on and drive around the loop again.

3.      If you are picking up a group, please try to have your vehicle ready to load from the driver’s side of the vehicle.  It really is unsafe for students to walk around to the passenger side of the car where there may be moving vehicles passing in the other lane.

4.      Once the single student pick-up line has begun to clear, we can allow single pick-up cars to cut across and avoid the round-about.

5.      Do not leave your car unattended in the pick-up lane. 

6.      Before stopping to load, drive forward as far as you can in order to make room for as many loading cars as possible.

7.      Put cell phones away in the parking lot.

8.      Be attentive, be patient, watch the aides for directions.

Remember, our dismissal time is now 3:15pm.  It does take time for the line to start moving once the students are released from class.  We will work to move cars through the process as quickly as possible!

Any remaining students still waiting after first 15-20 minutes will be moved to outside the main entrance under the portico and may begin calling home to locate rides.  Please be on time to pick up your children.  

The band and orchestra programs will begin on Monday, August 26^th.  Advanced Orchestra will take place daily in room 8 from 7:45-8:15am.  Beginning Orchestra takes place in room 8 every Monday-Thursday from 3:20-3:50pm.  Due to ongoing construction projects, Beginning and Advanced Band will temporarily practice together every Monday-Thursday from 3:20-3:50pm on the stage. All students in band and orchestra will be released for pick-up to the south side main entrance.

If you choose to leave a sibling to wait for a band or orchestra student, they will be asked to wait outside near the main entrance under the portico.  Please keep in mind that BFCS does not provide after school care for siblings and students.  Please discuss and make arrangements for your student in this situation. Unless accompanied by a parent, students are not permitted to work on homework while waiting for rides.  Picnic tables are not yet available for parents to sit with their children, but will be in the future.  We are working on it! 

Construction updates… The playground construction is generating much excitement these days! We are all anxiously awaiting its completion.  I have been told that the major portion of the grading and clean-up of the site is almost complete.  This means that the ground will soon be ready!  There are also still workers coming into the school at night who are completing finish work.  Touch-ups and final projects are included in this process.  Construction crews are not invited to enter the building each day until the students have left the building.

Part of this finishing process includes installing our campus security system.  Our buildings are designed to have a single entry point.  Very soon, you will discover that the exterior doors will remain locked during the school day.  If you would like to enter the building, you will be required to sign in at the office and be buzzed through the security doors.

Thanks for your patience and help! 

Mrs. Diana M. Dana                                                

Principal

Benjamin Franklin Charter School Gilbert Campus

13717 S. Val Vista Dr.

Gilbert, AZ 85296

Office: 480-632-0722

Fax: 480-632-8716

Web: http://www.benjaminfranklincharterschool.com

“Educating Arizona…One student at a time!”TM

Target - Please VOTE!

Your vote makes a big difference to our school.

Visit GiveWith.Target.com to vote for our school.

This year, Target will give money to schools all over the country for one simple act: a vote. Our school needs just 25 votes to earn a $25 donation from Target.  But that's only the beginning. For each additional vote, our school will get $1 more!  So please remember that, although the gesture is small, the rewards are potentially huge. Go to GiveWith.Target.com to vote for Benjamin Franklin Charter School once a week through September 21 or until Target has given away all $5 million.  And please -  forward this to your friends! Benjamin Franklin Charter School, 85296 THANK YOU!

Ice Cream Social!

Monday Night! 

6 - 8 pm

See you there!

Thank you to everyone who has signed up to scoop'n'serve - FPAC could still do with some more help so please sign up here to volunteer - Thanks!

Teacher Appreciation Breakfast

Help needed - Ice Cream Social

Monday 26th August

6-8pm in the Gym

We need some more volunteers to scoop'n'serve!

Please click on this link and sign up to help.... just 20 minutes of your time.....THANK YOU!

SIGN UP HERE!

Monday Newsletter from BFCS

Ice Cream Social - We need some help :-)

Can you help scoop ice cream at our Ice Cream Social?

Monday 26th August

Please click here to sign up - THANK YOU!

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4BA9A823ABF94-icecream

- FPAC - 

Pick Up

What else is new at BFCS?

We have a NEW campus!

We have a NEW Principal!                           

We have some NEW teachers!                   .

We have some NEW students!   

What ELSE is NEW at BFCS??

We have a NEW school uniform shirt color - LIGHT BLUE!

Orders being taken now - please fill out the order form in the office - thank you.

.................................................

Please be advised that FPAC are currently out of stock on many uniform sizes and colors, a new order has been placed and all orders will be filled in approximately 3 weeks.  

Mrs Dana is allowing collard shirts to be worn with uniform shorts until 

ll school uniform orders have been filled.  

Please remember that uniform shorts should not have cargo pockets and should be blue or tan in color.  

No other shorts are permitted as per our Dress Code.  Thank you.

Just a reminder.....

BFCS Families

When you drop your children off at school in the mornings, please remind them to head straight to the gym.  They should not be dropping backpacks at the classroom or walking the hallways - but going straight to the gym to play, the aides are there to keep an eye on them.

Thank you for your patience with after school pick up while first week kinks are ironed out.   We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and willingness to help us get kids to and from school as safely as possible.

Have a great day! 

- FPAC - 

Join us!

FPAC Meetings are open to everyone!  

Meetings are the 1st  Tuesday of the month at 1:45pm.  

All parents/guardians are welcome and encouraged to attend.  

This is a great way to  get involved in your child’s school and to meet other families.

Next Meeting: 

Tuesday, August 13th, 1:45 pm

See you there!

Please encourage your family and friends to sign up to follow this blog - all school news, updates and information as well as FPAC event info will be posted - thank you!

Items on the agenda:  Library Books (future of FPAC library books, computer and supplies from old campus) ~ Event Dates ~staff Back to School lunch/breakfast ~ school uniform shorts ~ Dues~ parent concerns~ and more....

School Uniform Ordering Information:

FPAC continue to support our school to the best of our abilities.  However, with the tight time frames we are all faced with, please be advised that on Monday at Meet the Teacher we will be taking uniform orders only - We will NOT be having the uniforms on site to sell at that time.  

Mrs Dana has approved this and will allow students to wear collared shirts with uniform shorts for the first week of school only.  Complete school uniforms must be worn from  Monday 19th August.

School uniform orders will be taken on Monday and FPAC will endeavor to deliver the shirts as early as possible. Orders will be collected daily throughout the first week and delivered Friday morning at the latest.  Any orders placed on Friday or late Thursday will be filled the following week, so please order early in the week to guarantee delivery.  Please also be aware that if your your size and/or color is not available you can expect a phone call to best resolve the issue.

FPAC will be there to welcome you on Monday to take uniform orders and to take $20 dues per family - see below for more information regarding dues.  

Good News!  

We have our first 'mark your calendars' event for you 

FPAC's Ice Cream Social 

Monday 26th August

Please join us in wishing all our teachers and staff a big 

- FPAC -

............................................................

Annual dues are $20 per family, per school year.   

Dues pay for the running and cost of field day, Art and Music masterpiece lessons (taught in each classroom for 8 weeks at a time), family fun nights (ice cream social scheduled for August 26^th) and many other events organized and paid for by FPAC.  Best of all, we will not be asking your child to go door to door selling anything to fund raise!

Brief Description of FPAC Activities/Events

Teacher Appreciation – We organize THANK YOU meals throughout the year, monthly treats, surprises – we love to show our teachers and staff how much they are appreciated.

Field Day – Help needed to plan, run the events, write ribbons, fetch water and popsicles…it’s a fantastic fun filled day and lots of help is needed to make it run smoothly.

Art/Music Masterpiece – fund equipment and materials needed to run classes.

Poetry Contest – Ran in November, judges needed to find our winners of the year.

Family Fun Nights – Past years have seen Ice Cream Socials, Movie Nights, 80’s Disco, magician.  We plan 2 Family Fun nights per year. 

Health Screening – carried out over 3 days we need volunteers to help at each station as required by our school nurse.

Box Tops -  Help count and cut all the box tops, classes given incentives to bring in as many as they can to raise money.

Yearbook – take photos of events, assist with production and selling.

FALL FESTIVAL is our one big fundraiser!  A true family fun day out with games, cotton candy, face painting, cake walk – and who knows what this year will bring in our new campus?  Lots of help needed to pull this off and it is a very rewarding day.

IMPORTANT DATE CHANGE

Moving Day!

Our hard working staff and teachers 

started moving into the new building today!  

Meet the Teacher - this Friday!

Dear BFCS Families,

Everyone is busy preparing for the start of school - FPAC included!  

School uniforms are ordered, events are being planned and we have arranged a wonderful back to school luncheon for our teachers and staff for Meet the Teacher day.

On Friday, when you come to meet the teachers, FPAC will be collecting $20 dues per family as well as selling school uniforms (shirts are $12 each)  and collecting volunteer information.   Whilst FPAC will still have sign up sheets at Meet the Teacher, you can fast track this station simply by bringing your completed volunteer form and handing it in.  

Looking forward to a great year!

- FPAC -

A Ranking!