BEE a HERO!

Can You Bee a Birney Hero?
Our wonderful school was the victim of a suspicious fire on Monday, Jan 16. The fire destroyed our cafeteria,
auditorium and all the supplies we use in our before
and after school programs — art supplies, balls, books, games, music and all sorts of other things.

Many of these items were supplied by a grant and cannot be replaced with existing funds. Please be a hero and help us recover by donating to our educational
foundation, Friends of Alice Birney Elementary at http://friendsofalicebirney.org/

Thank You!

From Ms. Amanda

1. The “IB” message is that bad things happen to good people, but we pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and work together to make a better world. We will find opportunities that arise from this tragedy, and we will rise to the challenge. How can we use the IB Learner Profile to help us through this tragedy?
2. I will visit every classroom tomorrow, so have students write down their thoughts, hold questions for me, and I will spend a few minutes in every room. We will not have an assembly or anything tomorrow, so I will need teachers to gather their class as quickly as possible and move straight to classes to begin instruction in a ‘normal’ atmosphere.
3. Breakfasts and lunches will be bagged for the rest of this week. The eating area was moved to smack-dab in the middle of Carol’s PE classroom, so she will have to move (sorry Carol, thank goodness we have that field!).
4. Line-up areas will be adjusted – more on that tomorrow.
5. Rainy days? They simply cannot happen until we have a plan B. Any suggestions?
6. ICES and Prime Time are being relocated to the library and classrooms – please be generous with us as we figure out how the mornings are going to look. Any suggestions?
7. Access to the 500 building is absolutely, categorically PROHIBITED, so don’t even ask.
8. Please reassure students and families, let them know they are safe, in good hands, and that a thorough investigation is being done. I will provide updates as best I can.
9. PLEASE do NOT engage in conjecture, gossip, aggrandizement (is that the right word)?!
10. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or information – please DO report any smells, soot, etc to me immediately –
11. Once again, please be professional about this – our job is to reassure and then teach the children, helping them ease their concerns, keep our adult concerns and questions to ourselves within earshot of the children!

Amanda

Amanda Hammond-Williams
Principal
Alice Birney Elementary School, IB World School
4345 Campus Avenue,
San Diego, CA 92103
O: (619) 497-3500
F: (619) 688-3017

Birney Bounces Back!

Hello Birney families, this is Ms. Amanda. Birney School will reopen tomorrow, Wednesday, January 18. Access to the ICES and prime time programs will be through the kindergarten dismissal gate on Meade Avenue beginning at 6:30. Regular access through the front gate of the school will begin at 8:45. The office will reopen at 8:00 a.m. Breakfast and lunch programs are offered at the regular time. Thank you for your concern and support, I hope to see you all again tomorrow at school.

La escuela Birney volvera a abrir mañana, miércoles, 18 de enero. Acceso a los programas ICES y prime time será a través de la puerta kindergarten en el Meade Avenue despido. Acceso regular a través de la puerta principal de la escuela comenzará a las 8:45 de la mañana . Los programas de desayuno y el almuerzo se ofrecen en el tiempo regular. Gracias por su preocupación y apoyo, espero verlos a todos de nuevo mañana a la escuela. ¡Adiós!

PRIMETIME AND ICES

Drop of and Pick up for PrimeTime and ICES will be in the library. If you could spread the word that parents will drop off and p/u through the kinder gate on Meade that would be great!

Birney has a fire day

Birney closed today on the first day after Winter Break. Hopefully the building and the beautiful mosaic will be ok.

We will be collecting donations of supplies, games, etc. for PrimeTime and ICES, once we can generate a list. I will keep you posted with details as I hear them.

View the news story about the fire. We hope that no one did this intentionally.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Alice-Birney-Elementary-School-Suspicious-Fire-San-Diego-137478513.html