March 27: Fun Run (during school hours)

April 10: Colonial Days (half-day, in-school field trip experience)

April 13-17: Spring Break (No School)

Click here for the yearlong school calendar

The annual Bagby Fun Run will be held on Friday, March 27 (THIS FRIDAY). All students will receive a t-shirt and participate in this event to be held during the school day. Please consider supporting this cause by gathering pledges for your child. All pledge forms are due by April 3. All students who raise at least $10 will be entered into a raffle.  If our class has 100% participation, the class will earn a popsicle or cupcake party. We currently have 13 students who have registered and 6 students who have received a pledge. Let's get to 100%! To register your child, please go to http://pledgestar.com/bagby. Thank you for supporting our Bagby Home & School Club. All funds raised go to support programs for our school -- so right back into your child's experience!

I’m excited to introduce a new opinion writing project this year inspired by the recently published novel The Amazing Generation by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price. Written for teens and tweens, this book serves as a companion to the best-selling The Anxious Generation, which is geared toward adults.

As I shared at Back-to-School Night, this book has deepened my understanding of how technology—especially smartphones and social media—impacts the developing brains of young people. My goal is to help students view technology as a tool, rather than fall into patterns of overuse or dependency.

The book encourages students to reclaim their time for meaningful, in-person connections, physical activity, and real-world adventures. As a class, we will be reading this book together while taking notes. Students will then choose one of the following premises from the book to write an opinion essay in which they either agree or disagree with the statement:

• Kids should wait until at least high school to get smart phones.

• Kids should wait until at least age 16 before getting social media accounts.

• Kids should be allowed to play or hang out with friends outside unsupervised.

• Spending too much time on gaming and social media has made kids less focused and less productive.

• Kids need to establish boundaries and healthy habits in devices of all kinds, including computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones (if and when they have them).

I am excited to help students make a connection between their second grade learning about their ancestors to the 5th grade Social Studies standards around immigration. In second grade, students learned that unless their families are 100% Native American, our family histories include immigration stories. As fifth graders, our state standards include learning about the waves of immigration to the United States from 1789 to 1850 (5th grade California Social Studies Standard 5.8.1).

One of the best ways for students to learn about the challenges faced by immigrants is through literature. This week we will begin a new round of literature circles focusing on novels that tell different stories of immigrants during different time periods: Journey to Topaz, Esperanza Rising, The Circuit and Breaking Through (two memoirs by the same author), Save Me a Seat, and New From Here. Be sure to ask your child what novel he or she is reading, as well as who else is in his or her group!

We are continuing in our Life Sciences unit titled Living Systems. Last week students observed their wheat seed plants (both the ones left in sunlight and the ones placed in a dark space). They saw that the plants not placed in sunlight did sprout, but were not healthy. Upon placing them in sunlight, they became green and healthy.  Next week, students will move onto investigation 2 in which they will learn what animals do to get the materials they need for growth and development. At the end of the week, students will take the assessment for investigations 1 and 2. To extend learning at home, read this home/school connection.

Although we have finished our in class unit on Colonial Days, our learning will continue on Friday, April 10, with a special half-day, in-school field trip. During this experience, students will step into “a day in the life” of colonial children by participating in activities such as (virtual) cow milking, candle dipping, colonial schoolyard games, butter churning, and more. The stations will be led by parent volunteers who will receive training from the organization hosting the event. There are still a few spots open if you would to volunteer! Please click here for the SignUp Genius.

As you saw from Mr. Kretsch's email, fifth graders will participate in a 5 session Puberty Talk the week of April 6 (please note change in date).  The talks will cover personal hygiene, physical and sexual development, conception and pregnancy, and more. Please refer to this resource from the Health Connected website for more details about the curriculum, including the curriculum's table of contents pages. I have been trained in the curriculum and will be delivering the content to our students.

If you would like to view the curriculum binder in person, please contact the Bagby front office. A family information session will be held on 2/23 at 5:30 pm via Zoom. Please see Mr. Kretsch's email (dated 2/1/2026) for the link. State law allows you to remove your student from the sexual education course. If you do not want your child to participate, please email me by March 6.

In May, students will take the CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress). It's a system of tests that evaluate students' knowledge and skills in English language arts, mathematics, and science. The tests help teachers, students, and families understand how well students are doing. Results are reported as scale scores and achievement levels. Parents will receive a copy of student scores over the summer. Overall state and district results are released on the California Department of Education (CDE) website in the fall.

I have been helping students prepare for the CAASPP test by doing weekly, shorter assessments called IABs. These are short, focused online mini-assessments provided by the state that allow me to identify any learning gaps. As learning gaps are identified, I will have students complete review packets to sharpen their skills.

We have PE weekly on Tuesday mornings from 8:20 - 9:05 am with Miss Kelly (our new PE teacher).  On Tuesdays, please make sure your child is wearing shoes in which they can run. I also recommend a hat and an extra water bottle for hot days. 

We have Music on Friday afternoons from 1:10-1:55 pm. We have Art every other week on Tuesday mornings from 9:30 - 10:20 am beginning the week of August 18. 

Our weekly visit to the school library will be Thursdays from 8:40 to 9:00 am. 

This year, we will be managing some assignments and hand outs (such as study guides) on Google Classroom. Students will learn how to access Google Classroom this week. Please take some time to have your child login also from a home device and then please bookmark that page so that you will be to access it quickly when needed!

If you are looking for books for your family's library, please consider ordering from Scholastic Books. You can have books shipped directly to your home or to school. Every order earns points for our class, and points help us grow our classroom library. When using the Scholastic website, our class activation code is GKMNT. Place an order of $25 or more and you can pick a FREE $5 book (use code READS at checkout). Here is an online flyer.