Originally delivered on 3/30/2025 9:42 pm

SUBJECT: Weekly Whale 3/30

SPOUT OUTS!

Spout out to the Variety Show Committee - Leif Nelson, Liz Nelson, Ashley Cohen, Lauren Murphy and Monica Sukhatme - for producing an amazing show! A big thank you goes out to Stage Manager Nam Rastogi and all the fantastic student volunteers. Congratulations to all of the wonderful student and staff performers, and thanks to the whole BHES community for coming to cheer them on!

Big thanks to Tracy Sislen and Sellers Roach for serving as picture day volunteers last week! 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mon, March 31 – End of Term (No School)

Fri, April 4 – April Birthday Bash (2:30-3:00pm, APR)

Mon, April 14-Mon, April 21 – Spring Break (No School)

Sun, April 27-Fri – Bradley Beautiful (2-4pm, BHES - details below)

Mon, April 28-Fri, May 2 – BHES Wellness Week

Fri, May 2 – BHES Fun Run (details to come!)

WHALE WATCH

APRIL BIRTHDAY BASH (APRIL 4, 2:30-3:00PM, APR)

Calling all April birthdays!! Students with April birthdays will come to the APR on Friday April 4, 2025 from 2:30 pm - 3 pm to enjoy cupcakes and Birthday Bingo! 

We will need 8-15 volunteers/parents to help us set-up and clean up the Birthday Bash from 2:15 pm to 3:25 pm in the APR. All Bash supplies are provided by the PTA. If your child has an April birthday and you have completed the volunteer requirements, please sign up here to volunteer. 

Nut-free cupcakes will be served. If your child has an allergy of concern please send them with a snack to enjoy at the bash.

Questions/Comments? Contact: Jenni Weinstein or Kit Leininger

REGISTRATION OPEN NOW FOR SPRING AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT! 

Bradley Hills PTA is excited to offer after school enrichment programming this spring in partnership with Baroody Camps. The Spring session will start right after spring break and run from April 22 – May 30, 2025 (classes available Tuesdays – Fridays). Please see the attached flyer – or click here – for the class schedule and pricing information. Registration is open now. Your favorite class will fill up quickly, so don't delay!

After school enrichment programs are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Montgomery County School Board, the Superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, or Bradley Hills Elementary School. Email Natalie Ram at natalie.ram@gmail.com or Helene Gouarne (helene.gouarne@gmail.com) with any questions.

BRADLEY BEAUTIFUL - APRIL 27, 2-4PM

Come celebrate Earth Day on Sunday, April 27, from 2-4 at Bradley Hills! This is a school-wide event hosted by the Green Team. Grab your gardening gloves and spades and help make our school beautiful. Mulching, planting and park clean-up will begin at 2:00. From 2:30-4:00 you can enjoy games/activities, food trucks and the plant sale. We will also have a TREX drop, so please bring your plastic bags (all soft plastic accepted) to recycle!

Fun Fact: Did you know that our partner company, TREX, uses plastic film and bags to make composite decking and outdoor furniture? It’s great way to reuse plastic since only 7% of the world’s plastic actually gets recycled.

CALLING ALL PARENTS! BHES PTA SEEKING 2024-25 BOARD & COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS! 

Help us continue to grow our children and our community by volunteering with the BHES PTA! Better yet, get involved YOUR way! Whether it be as a member of the Board, a committee, or as a room parent, every one of us has the power to positively impact our children, school, and community. There are a variety of PTA Board and committee positions for the coming year. Please take a moment to check out what the different committees do and complete this survey by April 9th to express your interest.

Please feel to contact any of the Nominating Committee members below should you have questions or want to talk through potential opportunities. Many thanks!

Sincerely,

The BHES Nominating Committee 

ANNUAL BOOK DRIVE (MARCH 17-APRIL 11)

The annual book drive is in progress! The book drive supports the book fair at our sister school, Weller Road Elementary, where Weller Road students will shop for books free of charge! 

Please drop off new or gently used books in the donation bins in front of BHES. Book collection will continue until April 11th.

Thank you for your generosity!

NEED A FIELD DAY T-SHIRT? LET US KNOW!

Class Shirts for Field Day Interest Form: Click Here

Please complete this form if you are interested in ordering a class shirt for field day from Custom Ink. These shirts will be the same as the ones we made available in the fall.  

This is NOT an order form and does not guarantee a shirt. We are gathering information to determine if there is enough interest in a second round of ordering. Custom Ink requires us to guarantee a minimum number of orders. Price will depend on how many we can guarantee to the company.  

If you have questions, please contact Stacy Levy (stacy_n_levy@mcpsmd.org) or Kathleen Foster (klubey@gmail.com).

VESTS FOR VOLUNTEERS AT RECESS

As noted in the Principal's Whale Watch parent volunteers will now wear yellow construction-style vests at recess, so they can be easily identified. The vests will be kept in boxes near the recess door. This is so students can identify caregiver volunteers, and there is no confusion for students about authorized volunteers. For additional details about volunteering at recess please see the school's presentation HERE

The school encourages recess volunteers, as there are only a few staff members available to be assigned to this duty.  If you have an hour to spare, please use this SIGN UP, or feel free to contact Recess/Lunch Volunteer Liaison, Feng Luo, at fluocn@gmail.com or email bradleyhillsvolunteer@gmail.com.

CHECK THE LOST AND FOUND

Spring Break is around the corner and so is the next Lost & Found clean out! The Lost & Found is overflowing with coats, sweatshirts, water bottles, lunch boxes, and more. Students or caregivers should stop by the All-Purpose Room as soon as possible to claim any misplaced belongings. ALL ITEMS LEFT UNCLAIMED ON FRIDAY, APRIL 11th WILL BE DONATED. Thank you!

THE PTA IS HERE FOR YOU

The BHES PTA is committed to promoting an enriching and supportive climate where all members of the BHES community feel safe, seen, and respected. The PTA -- primarily through its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee -- works to advance this goal through the following means: dissemination of educational resources for parents/guardians; organization and facilitation of Heritage Night as well as other events and small-group community conversations to help parents/guardians explore their family identities and issues of bias; financial support of assemblies and other in-school programming to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging goals; and collaboration with school administration, teachers, and staff on development of materials to supplement teacher lessons on anti-bias and commemorative months. 

The PTA's DEI Committee welcomes input from all members of our community about how we collectively work to prevent and respond to hate-bias incidents within our community. If you are interested in sharing feedback, or joining the DEI Committee, please contact DEI Committee Co-Chairs Britt Hogue and Kathleen Foster at klubey@gmail.com

PRINCIPAL'S CORNER

Principal's Weekly Newsletter
Click here to find Ms. Kemp's latest newsletter. 

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Interested in volunteering? Contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Claire Heffez at bradleyhillsvolunteer@gmail.com 

Media Center Volunteers email Tracy Sislen to get on the schedule.

Recess Volunteers sign up and review guidelines HERE.

Lunch Volunteers sign up and review guidelines HERE.

MCPS and BHES Volunteer Requirements: Click here.

CONTACT US

Questions, comments, suggestions for the PTA? Contact PTA President Jen Villani at bradleyhillsptaprez@gmail.com

Have PTA news to share or Community Event Information? Contact Communications Chair Lesley Freiman at bhescommunications@gmail.com

Visit our website at www.bhespta.com

Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/bradleywhalespta/

RESOURCES
PLEASE SUPPORT THE PTA

Join or Donate to the PTA: Fill out the PTA membership and donation form found HERE or login A to Z Directory (https://bhespta.membershiptoolkit.com), select “Membership” on the left side menu then "Join" and/or "donate" .

Scan Receipts for Box Tops and Register Your Grocery Store Cards: Download the box tops app and scan grocery store receipts to redeem box tops earnings for BHES. Register your grocery store cards at www.escrip.com (school ID: 6477724) and www.giantfood.com/aplus (school ID: 00665).

BHES staff and PTA volunteers can post informational emails via AtoZ by sending the email to: BHESAtoZConnect@gmail.com. Please include PLEASE POST in the subject line.  Ads or announcements for non-school sponsored events can be sent to the community announcements moderator at BHEScommunityannouncements@gmail.com.

If you do NOT want to receive these informational emails in the future, you may click "unsubscribe" at the bottom of any AtoZConnect email.  Warning - by unsubscribing you will no longer receive updates about any PTA events.  

To access your AtoZConnect account anytime to update your directory/contact info and/or to pay your annual BHES PTA family membership dues of $40, go to https://bhespta.membershiptoolkit.com/home If you forgot your password, go to the link and click "Forgot password."  

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