Bessey Creek Elementary

🩺🥼🔬 Our 5th-grade scientists are putting their learning into action! Students stepped into the “operating room” to bring their learning about the human body to life! From constructing working models of muscles and lungs to testing their own heart rates and matching vital organs to their functions, our Gators explored how the human body works from the inside out. 🧠🫀💪 Hands-on learning, curious minds, and future scientists at work—another way our Gators Shine Bright Together! ✨🐊💚💙 #ShineBrightTogether #BesseyCreekElementary #GatorScientists

📢 Here's an important reminder for our Bessey Creek community: Families receiving free or reduced meal benefits must reapply each school year to continue receiving benefits.

📅 Current eligibility (from last year) ends September 23, 2026. We encourage ALL families to complete the online application as soon as possible to help reduce errors and allow for faster processing.

Apply online at https://www.myschoolapps.com/

#BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether

🐊💙 Shine Bright Together! 🐊💙 We’re grateful for our amazing community partners! A big thank you to Kenneth and Tammy Kanter of American Leak Detection, valued Bessey Creek Elementary business partners, for joining Principal Elizabeth Atkinson at MCSD’s 2nd Annual State of the District Breakfast. Superintendent Maine shared the current state of our district and an important message: the future of our community starts with how we invest in our children today. Strong schools are built through strong community partnerships. When our local businesses, families, and community members invest their time, resources, and support in our schools, they are investing in the future of Martin County. Our children are our future, and building that future takes all of us. 💚💙🐊 #MartinMeansMore #BesseyCreekElementary #GatorPride

🐊💚💙 Friday Spirit at Bessey! 💙💚🐊 Every Friday, our Gators are encouraged to show their House spirit by wearing their House colors! This Friday is extra special! As Bessey begins our journey toward becoming an AVID school, we’re excited to start learning about the opportunities AVID can bring to our students and their futures. 🎓✨ Students are encouraged to celebrate AVID Day any way they feel inspired—wear college colors, favorite college/university gear, career gear, BCE spirit wear, or House colors! Let’s fill Bessey with spirit and start dreaming BIG about the future! 🐊🎓

🇺🇸CELEBRATING CONSTITUTION WEEK🇺🇸

Constitution Week officially begins on September 17, but Martin County School District students are already getting a head start!

Further highlighting the importance of this annual observance, the Martin County School Board approved the 2026 Constitution Week Proclamation at Tuesday night's meeting, developed with Ms. Rae Scimeca and the Halpatiokee Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

As we recognize the 239th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, students across the District will spend the week learning about the document that continues to shape our nation and protect our freedoms.

#ALLINMartin👊 #PublicSchoolPROUD #MartinMeansMore #ConstitutionWeek

📚✨READ, DREAM & GO BIG✨📚

9/25 = 9-2-5! 💖🦋

The Martin County School Board has officially proclaimed September 25, 2026, as Dolly Parton Day throughout the Martin County School District! 💓📖

The day celebrates Dolly Parton’s remarkable contributions to children and literacy, along with the impact of programs like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in helping young readers build a lifelong love of books.

We’re proud to celebrate alongside the Children’s Services Council of Martin County and The Library Foundation of Martin County as we encourage our school community to read, dream and grow together.

Here’s how to join us on Dolly Parton Day, a.k.a. 9/2-5:
📚Read for at least 30 minutes on September 25.
📖Get a library card and make your next great read easier to find.
💗Have a child age 5 or under? Sign up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to receive free books at home.

And, of course, dress the part! Think pink, rhinestones, boots and big hair. Or, dress in your favorite college team to represent the coat of many colors! 👢✨💕

#ALLINMartin👊 #MartinMeansMore #PublicSchoolPROUD #DollyPartonDay

➕ Math You Can Munch On! ✖️ Our second graders had a delicious time learning math! They used cereal to build arrays and explore related addition facts in this hands-on math activity. 🍎🔢 Who knew math could be so much fun… and so tasty?! #BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore

🌟 It’s STAR Gator Monday! 🌟

Today we’re celebrating this week’s STAR Gators and what makes each of them uniquely wonderful.

STAR Gator is about recognizing students simply for being themselves and for the special ways they contribute to our Bessey Creek community.

Thank you to this week's STAR Gators for being part of our Gator family! 💚💛

#BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore

Our 3rd Grade students have been busy putting their science knowledge into action as they worked on exciting projects about vertebrate and invertebrate animals! 🐟🦅🕷️🪱 Students researched, created, and shared what they learned about how animals are classified based on their characteristics. Through these hands-on projects, our students had the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding, think creatively, and proudly share their knowledge with others! #BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore

💙 Learning About Careers in First Grade! 💙 In honor of Labor Day, we had such a special time learning about careers from some of our very own first grade families! 🌟 We were so thankful to have parents come into the classroom and share about the work they do each day. Our students loved hearing their stories, asking questions, and learning about all of the different ways people use their talents to help others and their communities. It was so sweet to watch our first graders light up as they thought about what they might want to be when they grow up. 🥹✨ A huge thank you to our amazing parents who took time out of their day to come speak with us. You made this learning experience so meaningful and memorable for our students! 💕 We have some big dreams growing in first grade! #BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore

That's a wrap on the August EFMC One-Point Challenge!📚 In total, 22 BCE classes beat this challenge, with an incredible 463 books being given to Gators through this initiative!!! 🎉 AMAZING job to the following classes for beating the challenge: Hicks (pictured in this post) Remian (pictured in this post) Hyland (pictured in this post) McIntyre Dray (pictured in this post) Cohen Erdman (pictured in this post) Martin (pictured in this post) Phillips Wertheim Beasley Fernandes Morley Russo St. Pierre Cumming Hilliard Nocito Prezzemolo Jerrells Kimmel Lord-Henry A HUGE thank you to Education Foundation of Martin County for their generous donations that keep the Book Vending Machine running and their innovative reading challenges! #EFMC #BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore

🌟Our September School Counseling newsletter is here! 🌟

This month, you'll learn more about our Morning Greeting through Conscious Discipline, see a book recommendation for families, and get a preview of our upcoming Junior Achievement Career Exploration Fair!

Here's to a wonderful September and a month of helping our Gators Shine Bright Together! 🌟🐊

#BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore

🍿 Pop Open a Good Book! 🍿 Our September Reading Challenge is here! Set a class reading goal, read as many books as you can, and earn AR points all month long. 🏆 Classes that meet their goal by September 30 will earn a class reward chosen by their teacher, and the district's top reading classes will celebrate with a popcorn party sponsored by the Education Foundation of Martin County! Every book counts! 📖 #EFMC #BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore

📅LONG WEEKEND AHEAD!📅

Just a heads up—our first day off from school is coming up this weekend! Schools and District offices will be CLOSED Monday, September 7, in observance of Labor Day.

View the full 26-27 calendar here: https://www.martinschools.org/page/calendars

#ALLINMartin👊 #PublicSchoolPROUD

🎉📚 More results are in for the August AR Challenge! Congratulations to our amazing winning classes! Your hard work, dedication, and love of reading truly showed this month! 🌟📖 🏆 Mrs. St. Pierre – 3rd Grade
🏆 Mrs. Nocito – 4th Grade
🏆 Mrs. Beasley – 3rd Grade
🏆 Ms. Cohen – 2nd Grade
🏆 Mrs. Russo – 3rd Grade
🏆 Mrs. Cumming – 4th Grade
🏆 Mrs. Morley – 3rd Grade
🏆 Mrs. McIntyre – 1st Grade
🏆 Mrs. Phillips – 2nd Grade
🏆 Ms. Fernandes – 3rd Grade Way to go, readers! Keep reading, keep growing, and keep earning those AR points! 📚✨🎉 #EFMC #BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore

🎸🎶 Rockin’ & Rollin’ in Kindergarten! 🎶🎸 Our little learners have been rockin’ and rollin’ their way through learning! 🤘📚✨ 🔤 With UFLI, we’re building strong foundations in phonics and phonological awareness through engaging, hands-on practice! 🔢 We’re counting, recognizing, and writing numbers to 5 while showing off our growing math skills! 👀👂👃👅✋ In Science, we’re exploring our five senses and discovering how we use them to learn about the world around us! From learning new skills to laughing, exploring, and creating together, we’re making learning fun and memories that will last a lifetime! ❤️🌟 #BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether

🐊 Join Us for Our First SAC Meeting! 💙

Our first School Advisory Council (SAC) Meeting of the year is Thursday, September 3 at 5:30 PM in the BCE Media Center!

SAC is a great opportunity for families, staff, and community members to stay informed, share their perspectives, and help support the continued success of Bessey Creek Elementary.

🔗 Visit the link below to:
• Learn more about SAC
• Sign up to show your interest in participating
• View upcoming meeting information
• Learn how you can participate throughout the year

👉 https://tinyurl.com/5fxwkmba

We highly encourage in-person participation for the most engaging and collaborative experience, but virtual participation is also available for those unable to attend in person.

💙 Your voice matters, and we would love to have you join us! 🐊

📚Learning, Reading & Building! 📖 Our 1st graders had a blast using pattern blocks to build, create, and bring their learning to life! Students used their creativity and problem-solving skills to design their amazing creations. Hands-on learning makes reading and math even more fun! We are so proud of our little learners and their big imaginations! 💙💚 #BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore

🎉📚 More AR August Challenge Winners! 📚🎉 Congratulations to some of our amazing classes who rose to the challenge and earned 1 AR point already! 📖🌟 🏆 Mrs. Hilliard’s 4th Grade Class 🏆 Mrs. Kimmel’s 5th Grade Class 🏆 Ms. Jerrells’ 5th Grade Class 🏆 Mrs. Lord-Henry’s 5th Grade Class We are so proud of your hard work, dedication, and commitment to reading! Keep turning those pages and reaching those goals! 📚🎉 Way to go, readers! 👏 #EFMC #BCEGators #ShineBrightTogether #MartinMeansMore