Welcome Letter

Dear Parents and Students,

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year. The home page is full of important information for a successful school year. Please take time to read it together as a family because it contains our school policies and rules.

We are looking forward to an exciting educational year, in which we have the opportunity and privilege of working with your children. We believe in fostering a fun and nurturing environment. Our goal is that all students will be able to communicate in Bangla language and as such connect with their roots and know their heritage.

Parents are such an important part of your child’s education, so we would love to have you participate in the various volunteer roles we will have to support us in running the program successfully. Volunteer time might include moderating a class, reading with students, helping with projects. We will update information on the many ways you can be involved as and when opportunities are available.

We feel honored to be part of this program and providing this platform for our next generation. Thank you in advance for your partnership. Here’s to a safe, happy and rigorous year of learning!

Sincerely,
Uttoron Executive Committee

School Registration (Open)

Seats are limited. Registration will be handled on a first-come, first-serve basis by the student registration system. Registration consists of two steps:

First	Log-in as a member. Make sure you have purchased kid membership in your account.
Second	Fill out the registration form for each student. We may keep the registration open even after we reach capacity.

Vision

Provide education on Bangla Language, Literature, Culture, and History to familiarize with the language for communication, connect with their roots and know their heritage.

Mission

Foster our youth’s love for learning Bangla by giving them a solid foundation to build on and a supportive learning environment.

Beliefs

Foster an environment that values Diversity, Respect and Collaboration.

Increasing awareness about different aspects of our Bengali heritage and inspiring the young mind to imbibe the values embedded in it.

Policies

Eligibility	Parents and kids must be member of Uttoron.
Registration	Total seats in a school year is limited and derived based on available volunteer teachers at the start of the school year. Registration will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. Waitlist will be maintained if classes become full and students will be notified if an opening occurs in the order of waitlist registration received.
Behavior	Be respectful, disruptive behavior will result in communication to parents. Repeated violations will result in suspension.
Attendance	Absence of 3 consecutive classes, without any prior notice will lead to communication to parents. Repeated violations will result in suspension.
Photo / Video	School may wish to use photographs and videos of students on Uttoron’s platforms (Website, Facebook page, Annual Magazine or educational publications) for sharing activities or for school’s promotional purposes.
Lost / Damaged Materials	Use school materials in an appropriate manner. Students who lose or damage any school materials are required to pay a replacement fee.

Etiquettes

Registration Pre-requisite	Kids should be able to read English sentences on their own.
Hybrid Learning	Class will be held one day per week for the whole year. Curriculum will be split into quarters depending upon how we make progress. Students will also be meeting in person once a month. This will include classroom activity or project-based learning. Live instruction and meetings are for the students. It is important that they should be on camera and microphone. Please limit noises in the background. Technology issues happen. Please be patient, restart the app or your computer. If you have concerns, please email the teacher after live instruction.
Attendance	It is deemed desirable that students be in attendance regularly. In case of absence, provisions should be made by the parent for some study by the student in order that they shall not be too far behind the instructional program in the classroom on his/her return to school. It is important that students be on time. It can be disruptive to the educational process to have students arrive late. Depending on class schedule, students can log in 15 mins before or stay after class if they need additional help with teacher. Vacations will be excused with prior notice, but provisions should be made by the parent for some study so that the student shall not be too far behind the instructional program in the classroom on his/her return to school.
Communication	All school materials will be available on an online portal/Learning Management System called Canvas. Please be sure to check Canvas and your email for Bangla School messages. Email is the most efficient method for communicating. For any questions or concerns, please email banglaschool@uttoron.org.
Respect	Teachers, Volunteers, Parents and Students shall be accountable for the promotion of and demonstration of civil conduct, safe and respectful environment which are essential for a productive nurturing of students.
Materials	All materials (Curriculum, Class Notes and Homework) will be available on Canvas. Link will be shared with students.
Assignments	Homework will help with learning beyond the classroom by reviewing and practicing skills to master and retain learning. Approximately 30 mins each week. Homework will be posted on LMS weekly under assignments tab. Please check regularly or set up auto-notification. Students are responsible for * Understanding the homework assignment before leaving school * Scheduling time for homework that is compatible with family and/or after-school activities * Doing their best on homework assignments with a minimum of parental help * Completing and returning homework by due date.
Student Progress Reporting	Assignment and testing guidelines and expectations are made clear to students at the beginning of the year. To develop self-discipline and to enhance student achievement, weightage for each category will be as below - Practice (Homework) - 10% Preparation (in person quiz) - 5% Purpose (Final Test) - 85% All students and parents can stay up-to-date with a student’s work completion rates by reviewing the Grades tab on Canvas.
Library	We are currently working on building a library. Till then students will be sharing/exchanging books with each other. Please consider donating or sharing a Bangla book with other students. Books will be available to be exchanged/checked out during in person classes. Students may check out 1 book per week. They must return their book before checking out another one. Students who lose or damage books are required to pay a replacement fee.
Parent Volunteers	Parents of students are welcome and encouraged to volunteer. Volunteer time might include moderating a class, reading with students, helping with projects. We will update information on the many ways you can be involved as and when opportunities are available. Parent volunteers should refrain from conversing with each other in a way that might disrupt classroom activity. Parent volunteers are urged to actively assist students or to participate in activities as a learner. Parent volunteers should not discuss student issues regarding behavior or academics in or outside of school.

School Schedule

Day	Weekly every Sunday
Time	7:00 pm - 8:00 pm (online), 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm (in person)
Location	Online classes (weekly) In-person classes (once a month)

Staff

	Moumita Ghosh, has made Redmond her hometown for 19 years. She has been an integral part of YOU encouraging youth members of Uttoron in various activities, bringing them together as they learn and grow. She is happy to support Bangla School, wherein bringing together teachers and students, all with a common purpose - love for learning Bangla.
	Nilanjana Ganguly lives in Sammamish, Washington and is involved in teaching Bangla to our kids in this land faraway from the heart of Bengal. She is the mother and also has a day job in a tech company. She is an avid follower of Bangla books, movies and music both traditional and contemporary, and has also been involved in editing and proofing Uttoron’s sharodiya magazine in the past. She is looking forward to sharing, teaching and learning with Uttoron’s Bangla school.
	Rohit Banerjee is from Kolkata, West Bengal. Currently he is in Seattle working as a data analyst at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Rohit loves Bengali language and has a passion for writing poems, short stories in Bengali. He is also trying his hand in wildlife photography and collecting old Bengali books. He is looking forward to sharing the Bengali culture and teaching Bangla to the students through Uttoron’s Bangla school.
	Rumela Ghosh Born and brought up in Calcutta, Bengali language plays an integral role in Rumela's life. She has actively contributed to several magazines and digital platforms over the years. A Software Developer by the day, Rumela loves to spend time with the upcoming generation and has volunteered to be a teacher with the Uttoron Bangla School with the aim to inculcate our culture among the YOU talents.
	Shuvendu Lahiri is a computer science researcher based in Seattle. Raised as a probashi Bangali, he was active in Bengali club activities during his school years. He recently became passionate about Bangla education in search of a Bangla school for his kid. He helped conduct Uttoron's short-course on conversational Bangla in 2020 that in small ways paved some of the initial curriculum for the Bangla School, and is looking forward to learning and contributing further to advance Bangla education for our next generation.
	Sujata Sen Sharma is an engineer by profession. She started teaching bangla in Seattle Ankur way back in 2007 to get her two kids acquainted with the rich heritage, culture & literature. She is excited to join the bangle school again after her kids are grown and flown.
	Sritapa Dutta is a software engineer by day and currently based in Seattle for the past 9 years. Hailing from Kolkata, she has been always looking for ways to remain connected to her homeland and enjoys reading Bengali literature ,practicing Bengali elocution, Bengali voice/dance dramas whenever she gets a chance. She enjoyed conducting a Bengali elocution workshop for YOU in 2021 and looking forward to make meaningful contributions to this Bangla School initiative by Uttoron.
	Ananda Sankar Bandyopadhyay is a medical doctor and epidemiologist by training. Ananda grew up in Kolkata, and the rich heritage, culture and vibes of the city and its people shaped his career and life choices. In his formative years, Ananda got introduced to the vast spectrum of Bengali literature primarily through his grandmother, who was an avid reader and a storyteller. That bond with the language and its literary works has remained alive and grew stronger over time despite being away from Kolkata for decades. Thanks to his life partner Sohini for her constant encouragement (and enforcement, at times), and also to their children who started showing interest in learning and speaking Bangla, Ananda became motivated to get associated with the Uttoron Bangla School to help support kids of the community learn and love the sweetest language that ever existed.
	Parama Sikdar comes from Kolkata and has made Washington State her home for over 15 years. Previously a research scientist with Washington's Tree Fruit Industry she now works as a Molecular Biologist/Project manager in Life Science field. Her mom who is a Bengali Teacher and an avid Bengali Literature enthusiasts instilled the love for bengali language and literature in her from an early age. Parama now started with Uttoron bangla class to introduce her kid with the Bengali Language and our culture like he mom did back in Kolkata.
	Mousumi Bandyopadhyay is still an explorer of Bengali culture, language, literature, tradition and history. Born and brought up in Kolkata suburbs, she completed her Ms in Bengali from Jadavpur University and PhD from Visva- Bharati University. She also served as a Bengali language educator for 15 years in a Government school in India. She moved to Seattle in 2019 and achieved an MBA from University of Washington. She’s a mother of two wonderful kids who are also the students of Uttoron Bangla School. Bangla is Mousumi’s passion, and she always loves to be a part of anything related to Bengali culture and traditions, from cooking to writing poems, playwrights or articles.

Bangla School