Quick Links

End of Year Schedule:



BFCCPS
Art Show
May 31st - June 2
at Dean College


June 1st
7 - 8 pm



5-8 Grade Band &
Chorus Concert
June 6
7 - 8:30



Full Day


Last Day of School Grade 8 - June 19th 
Full Day
 


 
 
 
 
Last Day of School Grades 1-7
Early Release at Noon
June 20th

Lunch Ordering:

Lunch orders are due by the 20th of every month. Please visit this page for instructions. 

Any questions, please contact Mrs. McGovern.


Upcoming Events:


5/4

Finance Committee
8- 9 AM

Open House for
Incoming Kindergarten
3:45 - 4:30 PM

5/5

Field Trip:
Community Harvest Project
Grade 5

Assembly
Grade One
10:20 - 11:20


5/6

Music in the Parks
Symphonic Band and Chorus






 

If you need this document translated, please contact the front office.

Ben's Buzz:

May 3, 2017

Dear BFCCPS Families,
 
It is hard to believe that this school year is winding down!  I have a few important end of year announcements:

Class Placement:

With the end of the school year approaching, we will be working to place students for their classes next year.  There are many factors we consider when placing students in their classes for next year.  The current grade level team works closely with our school counselor, school psychologist, special education staff, and school administration to place students with a classroom teacher that they feel will best fit their educational, social and emotional needs.  We very much value parental input into the learning style they feel works best for their students, however, with only two teachers at each grade level, it is not possible for us to consider parent requests for specific teachers. 

If you would like the placement teams to consider specific learning needs of your child, or specific qualities you feel best support your child in the classroom, please forward these descriptions to me at hzolnowski@bfccps.org. Specific teacher requests made directly to teachers can not be honored.  All matters surrounding class placements for next year must be sent to the Head of School no later than Thursday, May 18th.

Term Three - Midterms:

Tomorrow marks the middle of Term Three at BFCCPS. Our parent portal is now up and running, therefore we will not send home paper based progress reports to parents in grades 5-8. We encourage you to login to your Parent Portal account for an update.  Please select your child's name at the top of the home screen, then "Grades" from the drop down menu, then "Current Term Grade" for detailed information. You can also select "Gradebook Reports" and scroll down to select "Term Three."  If you need help with your login, please contact Mrs. Leonard for assistance. 

Year End Important Dates:

Please be sure to take note of the end of year information that is now included on the left hand side-bar. You'll find the last day of Kindergarten, last day of school for Grade 8, Grade 8 Graduation and the last day of school - please note that all of these dates have been adjusted based on recurring snow days. The spring Band Concerts and the annual Art Show are also listed.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Have a great rest of the week!
Heather Zolnowski
Head of School  
Bakas Family Benefit Fund:
 
It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this. 
 
We recently found out that Terri Bakas, a frequent substitute nurse and former BFCCPS Family lost her husband very unexpectedly in a fatal  car accident on April 12, 2017.  He leaves behind 4 children.  In an effort to support the Bakas' family in this time of need, a fund has been set up at Rockland Trust.  As a school community, we would like to send a donation to this fund.  Please feel free to donate to the Bakas Family Benefit Fund in any way you feel comfortable with.  Cash or check donations.  Checks should be made out to BFCCPS. We will take the donations and make one donation to the Fund in the name of the BFCCPS community.   Please send donations to the Front Office attention Ellen Fallon.  You can send donations through Friday, May 5, 2017.  
 
Thank you in advance for your support.
 
Sincerely,
Heather
 
Please Mark Your Calendars: 
 
The Girl Scout Brownies in Grade 3 will be hosting a Book Drive from 4/24 through 5/8.  Please donate new or gently used books that will go to our teachers' classrooms here at BFCCPS.  There will be a donation box in the modular. Thank you! 
 
Grades 7 & 8 will be holding their Second Annual Penny Wars to raise money for Heifer International. The event will take place May 1st through May 5th.  You can learn more on this flyer, but here are the highlights:
  • Students try to fill their grade level jar with pennies. Each penny is 1 point. Nickels are minus 5 points, dimes minus 10 points, etc.
  • Students from other grades want to put pennies in their own jar and nickels, dimes, quarters in jars from the other grades.
 
Meet the Authors:

One of the most special events of the year is coming up soon! Kindergarten parents we hope you can please join us for this years "Meet the Authors" assemblies:
  
Mrs. Jumes' class will present on May 12th at 1:45 
Mrs. Tagen's class will present on May 19th at 2:00

Board of Trustees:


We are looking for a few talented and conscientious volunteer board members to help lead the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School.

The BFCCPS Board of Trustees is expanding from 10 to 12 members for the 2017-2018 school year and at least two seats will be available for the next term.  

If you can contribute your time, thoughtfulness, leadership experience and are interested in serving the BFCCPS Community, we'd love to speak with you about this opportunity.  Interested candidates should contact Crossan Barnes at cbarnes@bfccps.org for more information.

Elections will be held at the June meeting on Thursday June 8th.

Capstone Corner: 
 
Students in Grade Seven have just started their Capstone Projects, if you're not familiar with the Capstone Project, we encourage you to read more here on the school website. Please look for a variety of service projects, fundraisers, afterschool activities and more. We hope that you might find a few projects that resonate with your family to help support the class of 2018 over the next eight months.

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Join Prem P. for a Talent Show for students in grades K-8.  The event will be held on  May 26th from 6-8 pm. You can sign up to perform for $5 at lunch, and tickets to the show will be available for $5 at the door.   

The Walpole Food Pantry serves many families  in need throughout the community.  Please help Joey G. in Grade 7 to collect nonperishable items for his Capstone Project that will better serve those in need. You can read about needed items here on the school calendar. 

Amber D. is offering " Reading is Fun Sessions" for students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 as part of her Capstone project. Information has been sent home with your students. The book group will begin on May 10th and advanced registration is required. 
 
Summer Course Catalog: 
 
The Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School is pleased to announce the 2017 Summer Course Offerings! This years classes are offered by BFCCPS faculty and staff members and Susie Pallis from Drama Kids.

The classes are divided by grade level and cover a multitude of topics across a variety of content areas. Classes will be held at BFCCPS' main building as well as the Red Brick School. A class description, date and time is listed for each class. With the exception of private music lessons and tutoring, courses are $100 per week for a half day session and full day classes are $200. 

Please note that grade levels listed are for the grade the student will be entering in the fall.

Click the links below to download the catalog and registration forms: 


 
Registration forms are due by no later than June 10th. 

The 2017-2018 PCO Board 
needs members!

There are numerous vacant positions. Without an executive board the PCO cannot organize and execute the amazing programs that make BFCCPS so special!

If you've ever thought about volunteering for the PCO please consider a board position!  Contact the current board for more info:  BFCCPS@PCO.ORG

Complete job descriptions and responsibilities for these positions can be found on the BFCCPS website under Parents on the PCO page. Click on PCO Bylaws. Or click here http://bfccps.org/parents/parent-community-organization/related-documents/


Submissions are due before the last PCO General Meeting, to be held on May 22nd at 7:30 pm. Elections will be held at the last PCO General Meeting of the current school year.

Babysitting will be available for the PCO Meeting in the Art Room for $10 per family (open to children ages five and up.) The proceeds benefit the Quebec Trip for Seventh Grade. Please RSVP for babysitting here

The BFCCPS Parent Community Organization is a registered 501c3 charitable organization. 


Banking Update: Since the library will be in use for MCAS testing, the PCO Banking program will be closed on 5/4 and 5/11 for MCAS testing.

R eminders from the Central Office:
 
Visitors:   All visitors to the school are required to sign in at the Front Office and wear a Visitor's badge. Visitors must be escorted at all times.  Thank you for your help with this!
 
Parking & Parking Lot Safety:  Parking is not allowed in marked reserved spots near the schools main entrance. These spots are reserved for the CCD program staff.

Arrival and Dismissal Procedures:  Please adhere to the posted arrival and dismissal procedures which are posted here our website. If you plan on parking on Queen Street to pick up your children, you must park and walk into the courtyard to pick them up. Students may not walk across the playground to Queen Street regardless of their grade level. This is for their own personal safety. 

Absence and Dismissal Notification:  If your child will be absent or tardy from school, Please contact Mrs. Tappin at ltappin@bfccps.org or at  leave a voice message at the absent and tardy line 508-541-3434 and press 4.  Additionally, if you have to make any dismissal changes please email both your child(ren)'s homeroom teacher AND Mrs. Laura Tappin by email at  ltappin@bfccps.org

Health Office: The Health Office would love your donations of gently used, gender-neutral, navy blue, grey, or black athletic-type pants.  We often provides clean and dry clothing to students who need it during the day (due to spills, falling into puddles, etc.), and we are running low on our pants supply.  If you have some that your child has outgrown, and are looking to donate them somewhere, we'd love to receive them!

As a reminder, BFCCPS has an extended absence policy which indicates that extended absences for non-medical reasons for more than 10 consecutive school days will not be approved and will result in dis-enrollment from BFCCPS unless caused by exceptional and unavoidable circumstances, such as a natural disaster, serious accident, or other situation deemed exceptional and unavoidable by the HOS.

To submit events for the School Calendar or to place building space requests please fill out a Blue Sheet in the front office and submit to the Assistant Head of School, Joe Perna. 

To submit content to the Buzz for publication, please email Joanne Basile with your 2-3 sentence blurb by no later than Monday at noon for publication in that Wednesday's issue.