Flexibility

Hi folks, Jon Wennstrom here! With the year we have had with Covid and all the mitigation factors that come with it, the most important quality in the educational world has been flexibility. From remote to in-person instruction, from virtual assemblies to calendar changes, we have made changes as necessary, but still managed to provide a quality education for our students. For that flexibility from both staff and families, I am very proud of our Buchanan Team! Thank you for your continued support and flexibility this year. It is appreciated!

CALENDAR CHANGE

Please note that the teacher Professional Development day has been moved from Friday, April 30 to Tuesday, May 4 to coincide with the Bond Voting Day. Students will have school on Friday, April 30 and will NOT have school on Tuesday, May 4. 

We recently had a virtual assembly with acclaimed author Dennis Mathew. We have a very limited number of his books at the school that may be purchased by Buchanan Families. To order copies of the books please fill out the form attached to this email and return to your student’s classroom teacher with a check. Livonia Virtual families may turn in a form and check tomorrow (Friday, April 9) during your materials pick up. Payment must be in the form of a check made out to Dennis Mathew. You may purchase one book for $12 or the set for $20. This is a first come, first serve event and valid only as long as supplies last. If interested, please return form with payment to your child's teacher ASAP. Thank you!

PTA POINTS

• Read-A-Thon: Thank you to everyone who participated in the Buchanan Read-A-Thon! Students who earned prizes should have received them this week - either sent home in their backpack or along with their materials at Materials Pickup. Raffle prize winners will be drawn during next week's Celebrate Monday video. 

• LAST CALL for Yearbooks: Today, Friday, April 9 is the last day to order your yearbook. https://ybpay.lifetouch.com (Yearbook ID: 1643321).

• PTA Membership: It's not too late to become a PTA member! Membership does not require anything from you other than the $7.00 membership fee, but it gives you a voice in decisions affecting our school, staff, and students and shows your support for our school, staff, and students. Purchase your membership here: https://buchanan.new.memberhub.store/store

• Spirit Wear: To purchase Buchanan-branded items, please visit our spirit wear store here: https://buchananspiritwear.com 

• Follow the PTA on Facebook: @BuchananElementarySchoolPTA

• Contact the PTA via Email: pta.buchanan1@gmail.com

• Next PTA Meeting: Tuesday, April 20

Dear Parents of Third and Fourth Grade Students,

We will be administering the M-STEP test this year for our students. In person students will take the test in their classrooms using Chromebooks and Livonia Virtual students will be invited in at designated times to use our computer lab with their classroom teacher. The window for testing will be Monday, April 26 through May 14. Our hope is to have the majority of our students finished the first two weeks. 

We will be sending out testing schedules by the end of next week and lab times for our Livonia Virtual Students. LV students will need to be transported to and from the school and students will need to wear a mask while in the building. For those families that wish to opt out of the testing this year, there is a form on our Buchanan web page that you may fill out digitally. Again, more information will come out in a week, but we wanted to update our families of our plan to move forward with testing. Thank you for your continued support!

We will be hosting a VIRTUAL parent information night for incoming Kindergarten parents on Wednesday, April 14 at 6:00 PM. 

Also, Buchanan Elementary has been selected as one of three schools in Livonia to be featured in a new Kindergarten Video. We will have camera crews outside the school on Tuesday morning, April 13 to see the busses coming into the school and will be visiting our Kindergarten classrooms that morning. So if you see video cameras on Tuesday morning, know that they are capturing some of the great things happening at Buchanan!! 

Hello, Heart Heroes! Which character is your favorite Heart Hero this year? Can you remember

each character’s heart healthy message? Now it’s time to go online and take the challenge!

PLUS you get a free wristband just for signing up with Jump Rope For Heart! JRFH Link