News & Notes

The Spring Great Book Exchange will be held March 4-8. We will collect books on Monday and Tuesday, March 4-5, and students will visit the exchange later in the week. Please send in gently used books at your reading level to exchange for a ‘new to you’ book. Students that donate 2 or more books will get to choose 2 books, and students that donate 1 book will get to choose 1 book.  Please use this link to sign up to volunteer to help make the event a success!

Mark your calendar to join us on Monday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. for our first-ever Family Math Night, hosted by Mathnasium and the Bell's Crossing Elementary PTA! This fun-filled night for families will allow your children to explore math at their own level through games and activities led by Mathnasium staff and our own teachers and staff. There will be lots of exciting prizes and giveaways available as well as refreshments. The event is free and open to all Bell's Crossing families. 

PTA would like to treat our amazing Bell's Crossing teachers and staff to a soup, chili and salad luncheon on Friday, March 15. We’re asking parents to send in their favorite soups and salads to share with our staff using this sign up genius link. Thank you for helping us show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate them!

We are so close to achieving our goal of 100% membership for the 2018-19 school year! If we achieve our goal, then we’ll have a school-wide celebration! Membership forms can be found on our PTA Website or you may join online now using this link. Memberships are only $5 per person, and there is no limit to the number of memberships you may purchase. Each membership comes with a valuable coupon packet. In addition, any new memberships purchased during the month of February will be entered into a drawing to win a gift card to Spare Time!

Serving on the PTA Board is a great way to use your skills and talents to help support our amazing school and teachers while making a difference in the lives of our students! If you're interested in serving on the PTA Board next school year, then please email Melinda Davidson, PTA nominating committee chair, at tyautumnry@gmail.com. Thank you for your consideration and support!

Extend Day Registration for 2019-20 for our returning families will begin the week of 2/18/19 thru 3/1/19.   Week of 3/4/19 will begin for all other families.  $40.00 registration fee per family.

The School Store is seeking additional volunteers to help out in the mornings before school starts. If you are interested in helping, please email bcesptavolunteers@gmail.com. 

Parents who currently have a landline listed as their primary contact may use this change in phone number form to receive texts about school cancellations or other emergency schedule changes.  Parents who already have a cellular phone number listed as their primary number do not need to take action to receive these texts.

Below is the link to our School Report Card, released November 29, 2018 by the State Department of Education.  Based on a number of factors, each school in the state has been rated as excellent, good, average, below average, or unsatisfactory. These report cards are very different from past report cards in our state.  The new report cards factor in multiple data points, test scores and surveys. The report attempts to measure a school’s academic achievement, student progress, college and career readiness and school climate. The reports will also include data on English Learners Progress, Student Safety, and Financial information. High School reports will factor in graduation rates, though the formula for determining the graduation rate has changed slightly from past years. For the first time in South Carolina, NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) scores will be used to help determine schools’ ratings. NAEP tests students in every state in fourth grade and eighth grade in math, reading, science, and writing. The percentage of schools ranked in each category (from unsatisfactory to excellent) will align to the State’s 2015 NAEP results, so about 15 percent of schools in South Carolina will be rated “excellent,” 20 percent will be rated “good,” 35 percent will be rated “average,” 20 percent will be “below average,” and 10 percent will be “unsatisfactory.” Along with the new rating system, the report cards feature several new pieces of data, including Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS).  EVAAS measures student academic growth year-after-year. EVAAS measures student academic position in relation to his/her peers from one-year to another.  Growth among lowest performing 20% of students counts double toward each school’s report card. If you have any questions or concerns related to our school’s ratings, feel free to contact our principals via email or phone.

Report Card for Bell's Crossing Elementary