Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, and Community Members:

As we wind down the school year, we have a variety of activities, awards celebrations, art shows, and concerts.  The official countdown is that there are nineteen days left of school.   We look forward to our senior prom tonight, moving up ceremonies, and BHS graduation on June 17th (rain date June 18th).  

District Baseline Data Report

Last night at the regular Board of Education Meeting, we presented some data to describe the complexity of work we have as a school system moving forward.  We continue to see increasing student enrollment and academic and social-emotional needs coming out of the pandemic.  Current research indicates that it will take 3-5 years to close gaps due to the disruption in learning.  Even though we were in school more consistently than other districts, we were not able to provide instruction in the same manner, had a good number of students on distance learning during the 2020-2021 school year, and had high rates of chronic absenteeism.  

Even though this recovery work is incredibly complex, we are starting to see academics trend back to pre-COVID levels.  We continue to be concerned about student behavior, specifically mean behavior and bullying between students. Almost all of this behavior starts on technology outside of school, on social media platforms, typically Snapchat and/or Tik Tok.  Parents can support us by:

• Do not allow your child to have social media accounts if they are not of the legal age (13 for SnapChat and Tik Tok). If they have accounts, monitor them. Explicitly teach appropriate online behavior.  

• The school administration can not address or investigate issues that they are not aware of. Posting incidents on social media often exacerbates situations, often because it perpetuates rumors that are usually not accurate.  We do not monitor social media for reports of bullying or mean behavior.  The best avenue for addressing any incident is to call or email your child’s administrator.      

• Take your child’s phone away if they are not making good choices.  

• Adults are role models. It is critical that we treat each other with respect, particularly online.  

Below is a link to the Powerpoint presented to the Board of Education.  You can also view the entire presentation on BeTV.  

District Baseline Data Report 5-19-22

WCSA/CAPSS Superintendent Award for 2022

Congratulations to the following students on receiving the WCSA/CAPSS Superintendent Award for 2022: Kaitlyn Kechejian, Bethel Middle School, Jae Godfrey, Bethel Middle School, Rachel Jay, Bethel High School, and Shamus O’Grady, Bethel High School. The WCSA/CAPSS Superintendent Awards are given to recognize middle and high school students based on: community service and service to others; academic prowess; and, leadership service to the school community.

CABE Student Leadership Award for 2022

Congratulations to the following students on receiving the CABE Student Leadership Award for 2022: Bethel High School,  Kareena Ohri and Mateo Shaboo; Bethel Middle School, Hanna Patten and Celine Pereira.

The CABE Student Leadership Awards are given to recognize student achievement and potential.  These students were picked from among their peers for exhibiting leadership qualities as defined by the criteria developed by CABE.