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Franklin Elementary School
 
School information
* Franklin Homepage
* Message from the Principal
* Latest News
* Franklin Staff
* Curriculum
* Login to e-Books
* PTO
Health Services
Student Excuse Form
Lunch Menu
 
 

Welcome to
Benjamin Franklin
Elementary School

5400 Florida Avenue
Bethel Park, PA 15102
Phone: (412) 854-8741
Fax: (412) 833-5016
District Voice Mail: (412) 833-5005

School Hours:

9:20 AM to 3:40 PM

AM Kindergarten: 9:20 AM to 12:05 PM

PM Kindergarten: 12:55 PM to 3:40 PM

 
* School Contact

Dr. Shirley Dickinson, Principal

* About Our School
 

Benjamin Franklin Elementary School is one of five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school in the Bethel Park School District. There are currently 480 students enrolled at Ben Franklin and the school has a staff of over 50 adults led by Principal Shirley Dickinson, Ed.D.

At Ben Franklin, we are proud of the safe and enjoyable environment that we provide for our students. Staff and parents work together through the PTO to provide classroom resources, arrange educational assemblies, and plan many special events throughout the year. There is always something new and exciting happening at our school!

 
* Latest News
• Cafeteria Earns 8 Black Diamond Awards from Health Department--Congratulations to the Franklin cafeteria staff, who recently received 8 Black Diamond Awards from the Allegheny County Health Department as a result of its most recent inspection.  Black Diamonds are presented to the facilities that have demonstrated exceptional conditions of cooking, cooling, reheating, hot and cold holding, protection from cross-contamination and sanitation, as well as having a certified manager on staff.  These Diamonds are added to the six earned earlier this school year!  Congratulations!
 
• WANTED! Franklin Noontime Aides!  Noontime Aides are wanted between the hours of 11:40 AM and 1:40 PM daily.  Please call 412-854-8404 to apply!
 
• Renovation Work Completed at Franklin -- The new music, speech and language and instructional support classrooms are completed!  All that remains is outdoor landscaping projects that will be completed when the weather improves.  Please click here to see some "progress" photos of the Franklin project as well as the other schools who underwent renovation this past summer.
 
• Franklin Earns Keystone Achievement Award! For the third consecutive year, Benjamin Franklin Elementary School has been awarded the Keystone Achievement Award by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on the PSSA Exams for two consecutive years.  This year's award is for PSSA Scores in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.  Congratulations to our third and fourth graders and their teachers for their outstanding work on these tests and keep up the good work!  To see the district's PSSA scores for 2006-2007, please click here.
 
• Visitor Sign-In Procedures Revised for ALL Bethel Park Schools. The following sign-in procedures have been adopted for ALL visitors to Bethel Park schools. We appreciate your cooperation as we continue to provide a safe environment for our students and staff.
  1. ALL visitors to Bethel Park schools will report directly to the main office upon entry into the building.
  2. Visitors will log-in their name, date, time and reason for visit on a standardized log-in sheet in each school office.
  3. The building secretary will verify the information is complete and will obtain photo identification from the visitor, which will be held in the office for the duration of the visitor’s time in the building.
  4. Visitors will be issued visitor’s tag that must be worn visibly during the time of the visit.
  5. At the conclusion of the visit, the visitor will return the visitor’s tag to the office, log out and their photo identification will be returned to the visitor.
 

• NEW in 2007-2008—On days when a two hour delay is called, the district will operate a Modified Kindergarten Schedule as follows:

  • Morning Kindergarten will attend from 11:20 AM to 1 PM
  • Afternoon Kindergarten will attend from 2 to 3:40 PM

Modified Kindergarten equalizes both sessions to 1 hour, 40 minutes of instruction.  Please take note of this change to the schedule.  Please click here for more information.

 
• The Bethel Park School District has purchased subscriptions to the Online Edition of your child's textbooks for Science in Grades 1-4, and for Social Studies in Grade 4. The Harcourt Brace e-books feature the student edition pages, plus a variety of dynamic and engaging resources to enhance students' learning experiences. We are excited about the extensions of learning that can take place without taking books home from school. The e-books provide interactive graphics, animations, along with audio, vocabulary words, and printable pages to support learning.
 
• All Bethel Park elementary students have been given a log-in and password to allow access to these two textbooks from home (or any computer) via the website. We encourage parents to log-in with their children to experience the learning opportunities these e-books provide.
The directions are simple:
  1. Go to www.eharcourtschool.com
  2. Enter your log-in (you can find your log-in name on the Welcome letter that was sent home)
  3. Type your password
  4. Select your on-screen textbook by pointing and clicking on it.
Read more about the latest Benjamin Franklin Elementary School news here...
 
* Upcoming Events
  • Thursday, May 1 -- PTO Staff Appreciation Luncheon
  • Friday, May 2 -- Fourth Graders Visit Neil Armstrong
  • Monday, May 5 -- Carnegie Museum Visits Fourth Grade
  • Tuesday, May 6 -- National Teacher Day
  • Thursday, May 8 -- Third Grade Field Trip
  • Friday, May 9 -- First and Third Grade Cookouts
  • Monday, May 12 -- Kennywood Ticket Sale
  • Tuesday, May 13 -- Second Grade Music Field Trip to Heinz Hall
  • Tuesday, May 13 -- PTO Meeting
  • Wednesday, May 14 -- Kindergarten Orientation for New Students in 2008-2009 at 10 AM and 2 PM
  • Wednesday, May 14 -- Shop 'N Save Seed Assembly at 10 AM and 2 PM
  • Thursday, May 15 -- Police Pals Student IDs
  • Friday, May 16 -- Fourth Grade Strings Rehearsal at IMS
  • Tuesday, May 20 -- Second Grade Field Trip to the Pittsburgh Playhouse
  • Wednesday, May 21 -- Gifted Expo at 6:30 PM
  • Friday, May 23 -- Second and Fourth Grade Cookouts
  • Monday, May 26 -- Memorial Day--NO SCHOOL
  • Tuesday, May 27 -- Beginning Band at Neil Armstrong
  • Wednesday, May 28 -- First Grade Field Trip
  • Friday, May 30 -- Fourth Grade Celebration

*    *    *

  • Thursday, June 3 -- String Concert at IMS at 7 PM
  • Friday, June 6 -- Kennywood Day!
  • Monday, June 9 -- Olympic Day
  • Thursday, June 12 -- Last Day of School