Blakely Newsletter - January 5, 2026

Dear Blakely Community,

A warm welcome back to school and to the start of 2026! This month, during counselor lessons, students will learn about our school-wide character trait of PERSEVERANCE, connect to what they’ve learned in previous lessons this year, and launch into exploring new content.

Kindergarten: We will learn about what it means to have a growth mindset. We will read the social story, “Joshua’s Strong Brain”, engage in a connected activity together, and continue to learn through hands-on centers.

1st Grade: We will learn two more Feel Your Best Self strategies that can help us pause and persevere by focusing on self-awareness and shifting our thoughts! We will learn about and practice the strategies of Float Your Boat and Smell The Roses. Like our previous Feel Your Best Self strategies, students will take home a step-by-step strategy sheet to continue practicing at home. 

2nd Grade: We will be diving into “feel good” friendships and friendship “fence lines”. Students will learn about the ingredients of a healthy, “feel good” friendship and the important “fence lines”/boundaries that teach the difference between kind and unkind friendship behavior. 

3rd Grade: We will build on what we have just learned about the three parts of our brain involved in the moments when we “flip a lid” and become dysregulated, by examining the brain through the lens of growth mindset and perseverance. Students will learn more about our fantastic brain and the power of our thoughts!

4th Grade: We will start our unit on gossip and rumors! Students will learn about the hurtful effects of gossip and rumors and discover ways to prevent and address them by engaging in whole-group read-alouds and discussion activities. 

💛 Schoolwide Focus: Our school is focusing on the Character Strong trait of PERSEVERANCE— which means sticking with challenges even when they feel hard, growing from mistakes, and recognizing that progress comes one step at a time. 

Throughout the month, students will explore perseverance during classroom lessons, morning announcements, and read-alouds that show what it looks like in everyday life. Families can support this at home by praising effort, discussing challenges together, and sharing times when you persevered even when something was difficult. Together, we can help our community’s children build confidence and resilience!

Always here,

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!

Families and students are invited to join the Young People’s March for Peace and Kindness on Monday, January 19 at the Bainbridge Public Library.

The morning will begin with letter writing from 10:30–11:15 a.m., followed by a march to the post office at 11:15 a.m. Participants are encouraged to bring signs and march together in support of peace, kindness, and youth voices in our community.

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