Mack Memo

Mack Memo ~ Parent Newsletter

10/19/2020

By Jennifer Smith, Principal

& Amanda Swann, PTF President

Dear Mack Families,

Mack Elementary, for years, has a history of being a wonderful community of parents seeking deep relationships with each other and being a wonderful support to our faculty and staff. We see this year after year with enthusiastic volunteers who coordinate school events such as Mack's annual Jog-A-Thon, book fairs and car washes, to name a few, They organize service opportunities at Maltby Food Bank and for Staff Appreciation Day. These are just a couple of examples of what the Parent Teacher Fellowship (PTF) does, but it's much more than that and it's much more than just a handful of parent volunteers. These opportunities lend themselves to no only serve our students, parents and staff, but they also promote a rich environment to develop long lasting relationships.

So, what makes up our Parent Teacher Fellowship (PTF)? In a nutshell, it's you. Parents with children enrolled at Mack Elementary are automatically members of the Parent Group. Part of what the Parent Group does is it elects an executive committee, E-Board which consists of the president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and various other support positions. For more information and volunteer opportunities click here. You can also reach your PTF anytime by sending an email to mackptf@bellevuechristian.org. We are here to help!

Do you want to get involved? Be instrumental in sharing BCS' story? Then join us for our first meeting, Friday, 10/23 at 9 am via WebEx. We will send a link with login information later this week. I will be speaking about my deep hope for the school year. We hope you will make it. Welcome to PTF!

Reminders & Announcements

Oct.

EARLY DISMISSAL

As a reminder, school dismisses at 12:55pm tomorrow. There is no PM preschool on early release days.

Temperature Checks

When driving your child to school, you can help get your child to class on time by:

Lowering the heat in your car
Removing any hats or beanies
Removing any extra layers of clothing

A child whose temperature registers higher than 100.4 may be asked to wait in the parking lot for 15 minutes before getting rechecked.

Cold & Flu Season

As we move into cold and flu season this year, symptoms for either can make it confusing and problematic when deciding whether to send your child to school.

Fortunately, you don't have to make those decisions when you are completing the daily screening on the Magnus Health app.

A stuffy or runny nose, headache or nausea, for example, are considered COVID-19 symptoms. And when your child presents these or other COVID-19 like symptoms, please follow the guidelines provided by King County Public Health to ensure your child can return safely to school.

Note: Out of an abundance of caution, the quickest way for a student to return to school after showing symptoms is to have them tested for COVID-19.

We appreciate your cooperation to keep students, staff and faculty healthy and safe and your partnership to keep school open. Please take a moment to review the two scenarios you may face in light of this upcoming season.

Scenario 1:

If your child has 1 or more COVID-19 symptom(s) and has tested NEGATIVE, s/he can return to school:

After 24 hours have passed since fever resolved (without medication) AND
Symptoms have improved

If they are a close contact of confirmed COVID-19 case and have a negative test result, they still must quarantine for 14 days.

Proof of negative test is required.

Scenario 2:

If your child has 1 or more COVID symptom(s) and has tested POSITIVE or had NO TEST: s/he can return to school:

10 days after symptoms started AND
At least 24 hours have passed since fever resolved (without medication) AND
Symptoms have improved

Box Tops for Education

This long-running program is now digital. Download the app from your app store and start uploading your receipt with eligible items. Your participation supports Mack Elementary with additional funds that benefit student activities. Visit the Box Tops for Education website to learn more. Last day to turn in Box Tops is 10/30.

Enjoy FREE SHIPPING on any order over $150!

Spirit Store Now Open!

BCS is excited to launch our brand new Spirit Store, stocked with casual clothes, outerwear, and bags. With brands like Adidas, New Era, The North Face, and more, you can wear your school colors with pride. Items come in a range of colors with customizable logo options.

SHOP NOW

Employment Opportunities

Bellevue Christian parents - you are one of the best resources for spreading the word about BCS employment opportunities. Would you please take a minute to peruse the following positions, and if you know someone who might be a great fit for BCS, forward the information to them?

Substitute Teachers (Preschool - Grade 12-All campuses)
Main Custodian (Clyde Hill Campus)
Accounts Payable and Accounting Specialist (Central Office)

These and other positions are posted on the BCS website or you may contact Ann Kats at ann.kats@bellevuechristian.org for more information.

Attendance/Front Office: (425) 485-1824

Thank you for keeping us informed of your child's absence, late arrival or early release. For planned absences two or more consecutive days, please complete a Planned Absence Form in the Parent Portal of our website or pick up a form from our school office.

ELEMENTARY NEWS

Be Excited About Reading!

B.E.A.R. Week this year is Oct. 26-Oct. 30 for grades K-6. Special activities are being planned throughout the week to help foster a love for reading. Book alerts in which announcements are made to 'Stop, Drop and Read' will occur at various times during the week. You can start preparing your child by helping him/her pick several books to bring to school.

The week culminates on Friday, Oct. 30 for Character Day. Students are invited to dress up to represent an appropriate character from their favorite book. No Halloween costumes please. It's a week sure to be filled with fun learning activities.

Let's Be. Excited. About. Reading!

The beat goes on...a little differently...

Temporary changes are coming this week for the BCS program. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, (OSPI), the State Department of Health, and the Department of Labor & Industry have recently issued regulations on Employer Health & Safety Requirements for School Scenarios. The immediate impact of those regulations is that we have to modify the choir and band substantially starting this week. We are pushing OSPI to grant us a waiver, but singing must be curtailed until one is granted, and the band is reduced to strings and percussion. We have very energetic and creative music staff who are designing activities to continue music education for our students. We look forward to returning these classes to “normal” at the earliest possible date.

You're invited! Bible Study

All parents and guardians are invited to join our Parent Bible Study starting Thursday, 10/22, 9-11:30am. We will be meeting at a parent home (3.5 miles from the Mack campus in Woodinville), with a Zoom option for those not comfortable with in-person meetings. Parents from all campuses are welcome!

Our fall study will be covered in approximately 20 weeks, and is entitled, “Better: A Study of Hebrews” by Jen Wilkin, “explor[ing] how God “provided something better for us” in the person of Jesus Christ (Heb. 11:40).”

The workbooks are $13.99 plus shipping & tax, and can be purchased directly from a few different sources. You may preview the study by clicking on the book cover to the right. Please contact Theresa Peterhans (tpeterhans@gmail.com) if interested or for more information.

Preschool Reminders & Highlights

School Pictures

Online proofs of your preschooler was made available for viewing and editing on 10/16. Be sure to place your order no later than 10/25 to ensure delivery by 11/17.

How to view and order:

Go to Vakker.com
Click on "your images" and click on your school.
Enter password (first parent phone number listed on Ren Web)
View your images, select your favorite and place your order.

Mrs. Underhill’s AM Class

We talked about day 3 and 4 where God made plants and flowers and sun, moon, and stars. Our “what did God made” walks are becoming a favorite time for the children and teachers. They love putting on their binoculars and can’t wait to go exploring to see what God made around campus. As Creation Enjoyers we are celebrating, discovering and learning about God’s beautiful creation!

Mrs. Wasson’s Classes

This week we have learned about Days 5, 6, and 7 of the Creation story, practiced our memory verse to song – Genesis 1:1 and learned how to be Community Builders as we use kind words, share, and help one another while we play.

Mrs. Kaskes’ Class

Mrs. Dorstad read to the children about "The terrible lie" from the Jesus Storybook Bible and learned that in spit of everything, God loves his children.