Blakely Newsletter - December 15, 2025

Hello Bulldog Families,

As we wrap up this first third of our school year, I want to take a moment to express my appreciation for each of you and our Blakely community. Your children have brought such joy, curiosity, and energy to our classrooms every single day, and it has been incredible to watch them grow as learners and people. 

As we head into winter break, I hope your families find time to rest, find joy, and laugh. We look forward to welcoming everyone back refreshed and ready for an exciting second part of our school year.

Our school-wide attendance challenge is off to an amazing start! Our goal is to earn 10 days with 95% or more of our students present to spell out "A-T-T-E-N-D-A-N-C-E." Each day we hit this target, we add another letter to our display in the cafeteria. Currently we have "A-T-T-E" on our window. 

Last week, we added TWO letters last week and achieved our highest attendance day of the year on Thursday with over 296 out of 306 students present—that's an incredible 97%! 

Once we successfully spell "ATTENDANCE," our entire school will celebrate with an all-school event. Every day your child is here makes a difference—not just for their learning, but for our whole school community working together toward this fun goal. One piece to note, our focus on attendance this year is based purely on ensuring students feel excited to come to school and connected to Blakely so they can learn, grow and get any support needed. We are excited to partner with you in this area! 

To ensure the safety and security of all our students, please remember these important dismissal procedures:

Transportation Changes: All changes to your child's dismissal plans or afternoon transportation must be communicated through the main office by 12:30pm on Monday and 2:00 PM Tuesday - Friday. This includes changes for pickup, bus routes, or after-school activities.

Playground Supervision: Students must remain with school staff until a parent or guardian is present before playing on the playground after school. This policy helps us ensure every child is properly supervised and accounted for.

Keeping us updated with any changes to your child's dismissal plans helps us maintain an efficient, safe, and organized end to each school day. Thank you for sharing these details with your children. 

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This month, our 4th-grade Kindness Committee students spent time creating thank you cards and gratitude bags (trail mix crafted with care!) for all of our incredible Blakely staff members, including our hard-working bus drivers.

Thank you to every member of our Blakely staff for showing up with compassion, commitment, and care—our students thrive because of you!

Our Lost and Found is overflowing...All items will be donated this Friday. Anything that is labeled will be reunited with your student.

We are excited to share that our school office now has a credit card machine! Families can now conveniently pay fees, fines, and—most importantly—lunch balances right at the front desk.

Keeping lunch accounts current helps our food services staff source local ingredients, and this new payment option makes it easier than ever. We encourage families to check their child’s lunch account and take care of any outstanding balance before winter break. As always, families can pay online and we still accept cash and checks, but at school credit card payments provide another quick and secure way to take care of school-related costs.

Feel free to stop by the office anytime to make a payment or check on your child’s account balance. We’re happy to help!

Show your talent by designing the 2025-26 Blakely Yearbook Cover! All submissions must be on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper, vertical/portrait style, and include "Blakely Elementary 2025-26" on the design and your name on the back. Submissions are due Friday, December 19, Ms Hawkins will have a basket in the front office. 

The Blakely Chess Club is designed to introduce students to the game of chess. Participants will learn the basic strategies and tactics of the ancient game. As such, approximately 1/3 of each gathering set is aside for both large group lessons and small group mini-lessons. The Club meets directly after school in the Commons and is coached by Mark Cohen.

Details: Tuesdays, 2:20pm - 4:00pm (January 13 - February 10)

Cost: $100 (please contact Kyanne Hawkins to request a scholarship)

Seeking volunteers for Popcorn Fridays from January to June. Popcorn Friday is held on the first Friday of every month from 10am - 12:30pm, we need 3 volunteers to help make and pass out popcorn at recess. This is a super fun way to volunteer - the kids love popcorn Friday! Sign up HERE!

Looking for things to do around town? Visit our Community Events page for local happenings, classes, and family activities—updated regularly.