Bethlehem Opportunities Unlimited (BOU) is hosting its fourth Bethlehem Community Spelling Bee on Thursday, February 25, 2016 at Bethlehem Central High School at 6:30 PM (Snow date:  February 27). Come see teams of teachers from BCSD, local businesses and student teams challenge their spelling abilities!  Sponsor a lifeline for a team!  Enjoy refreshments and raffles!

The event is the biggest fundraiser for BOU, a non-profit organization that funds grants for prevention education and youth activities in our community. BOU has already sponsored two events, “Talking with Your Teen” and “Life after BC” this academic year and has awarded several grants supporting the BCMS Halloween Ball, Senior Celebration, the Color Dash, Health education classes, 5^th Grade Survivor Day, Kids Vote Too and more. 

BOU needs teams, team sponsors, donations for a raffle and audience members to make this event a success!  Teams from local businesses, community organizations, schools and adults throughout the community are welcome. The registration fee is $120 per team. The event is team-based – no one spells alone! View or download a team entry form. Minimum age is 13 to enter. Family teams and neighborhood teams are encouraged!!

Businesses and community organizations may sponsor teams for the event or can enter as a team. We will also accept donations of raffle items. Please see the sponsorship form for more information.

Deadline for entry is February 19, 2016. Please submit any questions to: bouspellingbee@gmail.com.  Help us out by liking us on Facebook and spreading the word about this fun event.

Feb. 25, 2016: 4th Annual Community Spelling Bee, 6:30 p.m., BCHS (Snow Date: Feb. 27)

• Want to be a Community Spelling Bee sponsor? Learn more here.
• Team registration information and form.
• View or download the 4th Annual Community Spelling Bee flyer.

Don’t miss out on this night of fun for the whole family! View highlights from the 2015 BOU Community Spelling Bee.

Learn more about the BOU:  http://www.bethlehemschools.org/community/bou/

On Thursday, February 4, parents and students 15 and older will have the opportunity to learn the four basic steps to recognize persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them with suicide helping resources. The free two-hour training, known as safeTALK, will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Bethlehem Central High School Library Media Center. 

Why come to safeTALK? 

Most people with thoughts of suicide invite help.  Often these opportunities are missed, dismissed or avoided – leaving people more alone and at greater risk.  safeTALK training prepares you to help by using TALK (Tell, Ask, Listen and KeepSAFE) to identify and engage people with thoughts of suicide and to connect them with further help and care. 

What will participants be able to do after a safeTALK training?

• move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss or avoid suicide;
• identify people who have thoughts of suicide;
• apply the TALK steps (Tell, Ask, Listen and KeepSafe) to connect a person with suicide thoughts to suicide first aid, intervention caregivers.

Who should attend safeTALK?

safeTALK is for everyone who wants to help prevent suicide: front line workers, physicians, nurses, clergy, volunteers, parents, youth*, teachers, law enforcement…anyone who wants to help prevent suicide.
*safeTALK is for anyone age 15 and older

• Date:  February 4, 2016
• Workshop time: 6:30-8:30pm
• Location:  Bethlehem HS LMC

RSVP: Kim Panaro, School Social Worker, Bethlehem Central Middle School, email: kpanaro@bcsd.neric.org. Advance registration is appreciated but not required.

Sponsored by: Bethlehem Central School District, Parsons Child & Family Center, and materials provided by the NYS Office of Mental Health.  

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:  1-800-273-8255

On Friday, January 29, renowned concert violinist Charles Yang visited Bethlehem Central Middle School where he performed for students and shared a lesson on orchestral music and its relationship to popular music.

Yang, who will appear at Proctors Theatre on Saturday, January 30 as a guest performer with the Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO), played a traditional repertoire on his concert violin and also introduced students to music improv on the electric violin. At Yang’s instruction, students were able to make their own music as they clapped along to a musical beat. The clapping was recorded by Yang, then looped and layered to create music with the help of his electric violin.

Described by the Boston Globe as one who “plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star,” Yang was a hit with the sixth- and seventh-grade music students.

Mr. Yang’s visit to the school was arranged by music teacher Jody Van Voris and ESYO Music Director Helen Cha-Pyo.

“A number of Bethlehem students, including BCMS eighth grader Jason Wu, will be performing at Proctors alongside Charles Yang,” said Cha-Pyo. “There is a wonderful history of this community’s students participating in ESYO.”

More information: http://esyo.org/…/youth-orchestra-featuring-charles-yang-v…/

On Friday, Feb. 5, 2016 at 5 p.m., the group which supports the district website (NERIC) will be conducting repair work on the portion of its data center responsible for the recent website outage on Jan. 19 that impacted Bethlehem and other area school district websites. NERIC anticipates that all NERIC services and supported websites will remain up and running throughout this repair work, which should be completed by 9 p.m. 

In the event any issues arise during that time, students, parents and staff will still be able to access ASPEN by linking directly to the ASPEN login page at:  https://aspen.bethlehemcentral.org/aspen/logon.do. We encourage adding a bookmark to the login page to preserve easy access to ASPEN in the event of any future service interruption impacting the district website.

Thank you for your patience and your continued support of BC!

Second quarter report cards for BCMS and BCHS are now posted in Aspen. Please bookmark the Aspen login page for easy access to the parent portal. Learn more about Aspen.

Every three months, as part of the school’s Character Education Program, BCMS students are honored for representing the specific character traits outlined in the BCMS Pillars of Character. They are nominated by faculty and staff and are often observed demonstrating these traits without any expectation of reward.

At the beginning of every month, students will highlight a certain Pillar of Character on the morning announcements to be the Character Trait of the Month. At the end of a three-month period, each team nominates students who have demonstrated each of the the particular character traits during those months.

As a surprise treat, the school hosts a pizza party for the nominated students and their friends (because who you hang out with builds character as well.) This year’s first celebration honored the following students who have demonstrated the traits of Open-Mindedness, Prudence & Bravery.

6-P1

• Emily Spada
• Jack Woods
• Emma Chaney
• Maddie Robbins

6-P2

• Tyler Novak
• Frank DuPont
• Shannon Chateauneuf
• Lexi Gibson

6M

• Thomas Burzezi
• Michael Xie
• Teddy Shaw
• Sarah NeJame
• Juliette VanLuven
• Sophia Soka

7-P1

• Holden Prescott
• Liv Bryant
• Lily Rutski
• Nick Watson
• Isabella Demarest
• Jaydan DesChamps

7-P2

• Simron Shenoy
• Sarah Brock
• Cristina Grigas
• Molly Biers
• Ben Goldberg
• Shay Roberts

7M

• Lauren Jack
• Fiona Lacey
• Max Oechsner
• Abby DeFranco
• Lauren Quinn
• Danielle Huli
• Annika Clarke
• Maddy Saunders
• Tyler Salisbury

8-P1

• Maureen Caroll-Barbuto
• Jack Pocorobba
• Rachel Wilson
• Avery Roach
• Eric Hildreth
• Brogan Bennett

8-P2

• Megan Fallon
• Taylor Roddy
• Tristen Melas
• Will Davis
• Will Vagianelis
• Ashley Martucci

8-M

• Luke Carlson
• Emma Black
• Lily Brusic
• Katie Bailey
• Avi Patel
• Marcus Caputo

Congratulations to all!

During the district’s February break next week, there will be two notable periods of time where web operations for the district will be offline. Please make note of these dates and times:

MONDAY, FEB. 15: Aspen will be unavailable from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. due to a system upgrade.

FRIDAY, FEB. 19: Our district website will be unavailable from 5 p.m. on Friday through 7 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20 due to system maintenance and updates by our web host, the Northeastern Regional Information Center (NERIC). All web services hosted by NERIC, including School News Notifier (SNN) will be offline during this period.

This maintenance has been scheduled during the winter break week in an attempt minimize the impact on regular district operations. Thank you for your patience during these updates.

Members of the Bethlehem Central United Employees Association (BCUEA) will be collecting donations for area animal shelters and rescue organizations as part of the annual BCUEA Have a Heart for Homeless Animals drive. Collection boxes will be set up at each of the district’s seven schools. The donation drive will take place from February 29 through March 11.

Items needed:

• Dog food
• Cat food
• Toys, new and used
• Treats and peanut butter
• Leashes
• Food dishes
• Paper towels
• Cloth towels
• Gift cards to pet retailers (i.e. Pet Smart)

All donated goods will be distributed to Capital Region shelters and rescues, including:

• Free to Be Me Rescue
• Kitten Angels Rescue
• Out of the Pits Rescue
• Peppertree Rescue
• Heaven Sent Rescue
• Companion Animal Placement
• Animal Protective Foundation 
• Mohawk Hudson Humane Rescue

Every three months, as part of the school’s Character Education Program, BCMS students are honored for representing the specific character traits outlined in the BCMS Pillars of Character. They are nominated by faculty and staff and are often observed demonstrating these traits without any expectation of reward.

At the beginning of every month, students will highlight a certain Pillar of Character on the morning announcements to be the Character Trait of the Month. At the end of a three-month period, each team nominates students who have demonstrated each of the the particular character traits during those months.

As a surprise treat, the school hosts a pizza party for the nominated students and their friends (because who you hang out with builds character as well.) This year’s first celebration honored the following students who have demonstrated the traits of Open-Mindedness, Prudence & Bravery.

6-P1

• Emily Spada
• Jack Woods
• Emma Chaney
• Maddie Robbins

6-P2

• Tyler Novak
• Frank DuPont
• Shannon Chateauneuf
• Lexi Gibson

6M

• Thomas Burzezi
• Michael Xie
• Teddy Shaw
• Sarah NeJame
• Juliette VanLuven
• Sophia Soka

7-P1

• Holden Prescott
• Liv Bryant
• Lily Rutski
• Nick Watson
• Isabella Demarest
• Jaydan DesChamps

7-P2

• Simron Shenoy
• Sarah Brock
• Cristina Grigas
• Molly Biers
• Ben Goldberg
• Shay Roberts

7M

• Lauren Jack
• Fiona Lacey
• Max Oechsner
• Abby DeFranco
• Lauren Quinn
• Danielle Huli
• Annika Clarke
• Maddy Saunders
• Tyler Salisbury

8-P1

• Maureen Caroll-Barbuto
• Jack Pocorobba
• Rachel Wilson
• Avery Roach
• Eric Hildreth
• Brogan Bennett

8-P2

• Megan Fallon
• Taylor Roddy
• Tristen Melas
• Will Davis
• Will Vagianelis
• Ashley Martucci

8-M

• Luke Carlson
• Emma Black
• Lily Brusic
• Katie Bailey
• Avi Patel
• Marcus Caputo

Congratulations to all!

March Madness Wacky Olympics and Bubble Soccer Game – March 4th – 5:30 – 8 p.m.  at BCHS

Bubble Soccer

Don’t miss this colorful spectacle, where seven teams of teachers representing each BC school battle it out in a series of wacky relays! Come support your school!

New this year, middle school and high school students can be selected to play Bubble Soccer. (See details below.)

All proceeds go to support the Bethlehem Central Community Foundation and its Classroom Innovation Grants at Bethlehem Central.

WHEN: FRIDAY, MARCH 4TH,  doors open at 5:30 PM
WHERE: BCHS Lower Gym, 700 DELAWARE AVENUE
COST: $3  K-5 (Preschool aged FREE);
             $5 6th-12th grade students and adults

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with food and face painting. Wacky Olympics begin at 6 p.m., followed by the Bubble Soccer game at 7 p.m.

Waiver for high school students or middle schools students to participate in Bubble Soccer can be found here. Be sure to bring waiver to the event.  This does not guarantee that you will be selected to play, but you cannot play without it.

The Honor Roll and Merit Roll for the second quarter of the 2015-16 school year is now available. View the BCMS Honor Roll and Merit Roll.

Congratulations to our students!

A message from District Music Supervisor Dave Norman:

The 2016 New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Piano Festival will take place on March 11-12 (NOT March 4-5 as listed in the printed calendar) at The Massry Center of the Arts at the College of St. Rose, 1002 Madison Avenue, Albany, NY 12203. Please be aware there is no food or drink allowed in The Massry Center.

The evaluation schedule can be viewed and downloaded here.

Directions to The Massry Center

From the North

• Take I-87 south to the end.  Take the Western Avenue/Route 20 Exit.  (DO NOT GET ON NYS THRUWAY)
• SEE DIRECTIONS BELOW “FROM Western AVENUE.”

From the South

• Take the New York State Thruway (I-87) to exit 24. After the tollbooth take exit 1-S (Western Avenue/Route 20).
• SEE DIRECTIONS BELOW “FROM Western AVENUE.”

From the East

• Take the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90 going West) to exit 1.  Take Exit 1 for Western Avenue/Route 20.  DO NOT GET ON NYS THRUWAY.
• SEE DIRECTIONS BELOW “FROM Western AVENUE”.

From the West

• Take the New York State Thruway (I-90) to exit 24.  After the tollbooth take exit 1-S (Western Ave./Route 20).
• SEE DIRECTIONS BELOW “FROM Western AVENUE.”.

**FROM Western AVENUE**

• Take the exit for Western Ave./Route 20.
• Take a left at the light (Route 20 east) and follow for approximately 2.7 miles to the corner of South Allen St. 
• STAY IN THE RIGHT LANE AT THE FORK AND GET ON MADISON AVENUE. 
• The Massry Center for the Arts is on the right at 1002 Madison Avenue. 
• Take a right at the first light past the Massry Center and park behind the center.

A message about testing from Interim Superintendent Jody Monroe

Dear Parents:

As spring approaches, so does testing season. The spring 2016 testing schedule for students in grades 3-8 is as follows:

• New York State grades 3-8 English language arts (ELA) exam: April 5-7
• New York State grades 3-8 math exam: April 13-15

This will be the fourth year that New York students take assessments aligned to the state’s new learning standards. In recent weeks, the New York State Education Department announced some adjustments to the tests in response to concerns from parents and educators after last year’s state exams.

Some of the changes are to the tests themselves and will impact the testing experience for students. There will be fewer questions on both tests and students will be given as much time as they need to complete them.

Other changes have more to do with the test development and administration, as well the use of the test results. The state has informed us that more New York educators were involved in the test development process. The state has also put a hold on using the grades 3-8 ELA/math test scores for teacher/principal accountability purposes.

In addition, this will be the first year that computer-based grades 3-8 ELA/math exams will be piloted in some districts, which state leaders say will eventually lead to reduced testing time and faster results.

Please visit this webpage more information on the announced changes to the state exams. State officials have said that more changes are on the horizon for future assessments.  

As this year’s assessments approach, please keep in mind that no single test provides a complete picture of your child’s abilities. But when combined with grades, classroom activities, and unit quizzes and tests, annual assessments can provide important information about a student’s progress. State assessments also provide valuable information about the performance of your school and district.

As always, we encourage our students to do their very best on everything they do in school. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at jmonroe@bcsd.neric.org or by phone at 439-7098.

Sincerely,

Jody Monroe
Interim Superintendent of Schools

At the Jan. 6, 2016, Board of Education meeting the Bethlehem Music Association presented a $1,703.45 check to benefit the district’s music program in the form of funding the purchase of a full classroom set of 31 ukuleles for the Middle School.

In his remarks accepting the donation, Music Supervisor David Norman stressed that the ukuleles, in addition to being more accessible and inexpensive for the students than a guitar, also will serve as engaging and effective music theory teaching tools. BMA President Alan Goldberg noted how wonderful it is to see funds contributed by the BMA’s many donors used to put instruments in the hands of Bethlehem students. 

BMA instrument grants typically fund the purchase of smaller numbers of more expensive instruments for the District’s band and orchestra programs — last year the BMA donated $6,780 for BCHS to purchase a french horn, a string bass and a bass clarinet for use at the high school.

This year’s grant will benefit every music class student in the Middle School.

“On behalf of the BMA and its many donors, I just want to thank the Board for its continued recognition of the invaluable role that music plays in the educational experience of all of our children,” said Goldberg.

Thank you, BMA!

For more information about the Bethlehem Music Association, visit their website.

Congratulations to all who participated in this year’s spelling bee at BCMS. The following students finished in the top four and earned the right to advance to the Annual Capital Region Spelling Bee at Proctors in Schenectady on February 2, 2016. This year’s winning word was “gorse.”

• Cece Amory – grade 8
• Claudia Grimaldi – grade 6
• Navid Mazidabadifarahani  – grade 8
• Aleks Wood – grade 8

When asked if they had studied for the school spelling bee, each of the four had the same answer: “no.” All said that while spelling comes naturally to each one of them, they would probably be reviewing spelling words prior to the regional bee. 

“I can see patterns in most words,” said returning regional competitor Navid Mazidabadifarahani, who placed seventh at last year’s competition at Proctors. “Especially those with Latin roots. Words with an Arabic or Germanic root can be more difficult.”

The spelling bee champs had some sage advice for those looking to compete in future spelling bees.

“You know more than you think,” said Aleks Wood. 

Navid Mazidabadifarahani said it helps to ask for the language of origin before attempting to spell a word. “Languages usually follow certain rules. Greek uses ‘ph’ and the letter ‘k’ is used in often German words.”

“It’s hard to prepare for the scary things you might see in Welsh,” said Aleks.

“Take your time,” was the advice provided by Cece Amory. “And don’t be frightened by long words.”

Her fellow BCMS spelling champions agreed with Cece, including Navid, who was asked if he had ever been challenged with a spelling bee word as long as his 18-letter last name.

“No. Not yet anyway,” said Mazidabadifarahani with a smile.

Good luck, Bethlehem champs!

Learn more about the Annual Capital Region Spelling Bee here.

Decreased Number of Test Questions

The 2016 Grade 3-8 English Language Arts (ELA) Tests will have one less reading passage and fewer questions to answer. The 2016 Grade 3-8 Mathematics Tests will also have fewer questions.

Untimed Testing

The 2016 Grade 3-8 ELA and Mathematics Tests will be untimed. This change gives students more opportunity to demonstrate what they know and can do by allowing them to work at their own pace. In general, this means that as long as students are productively working, they will have as much time as they need to finish their tests.

Greater Teacher Involvement

The State Education Department has increased the number of New York State teachers involved in creating and reviewing the assessments and will expand opportunities for teachers to be involved in future test development.

• Teachers from across the State gathered in Albany in October 2015 to evaluate and select questions for the 2016 tests.
• Beginning in fall 2015 and going forward, a greater number of New York State teachers have been—and will continue to be—involved in the review of all test questions and final test forms.
• For the first time ever, New York State teachers will write the test questions for the Grade 3-8 ELA and Mathematics tests. These questions will first be used on the 2018 tests.

New Test Vendor

Last summer, Questar Assessment Inc. was awarded the State’s Grade 3-8 ELA and Mathematics assessment contract. Questar Assessment Inc. has partnered with the Department on the changes described above and on other changes to the Grade 3-8 ELA and Mathematics tests.

Information provided by the New York State Education Department. This information can be viewed and downloaded in several languges.

• English
• Spanish
• French
• Chinese – Simplified
• Chinese – Traditional
• Arabic
• Bengali
• Haitian
• Karen
• Nepali
• Urdu

A message to families from Interim Superintendent Jody Monroe

Last fall, the the district sought to clarify the plan for snow day use and contingency days during the 2015-16 school year with the following information:

In the current calendar, the district has up to four (4) available snow days that could be used, at the district’s discretion, before any contingency day from the April spring break would be needed. This means, if the district uses:

• One (1) through four (4) snow days – there will be NO CHANGE to the April calendar.
• Five or more snow days – The April break will be shortened accordingly, beginning with Friday, April 29, 2016, and working backwards from there.

Though it appears highly unlikely the district will need to use any snow days this year, please note that unused snow days DO NOT get added back into the calendar as days off in spring. The calendar is carefully designed to accommodate student instructional days, meet contractual obligations, and allow for flexibility in the event of an emergency or weather-related event. 

If you have any questions related to our use of snow days during the school year, please do not hesitate to contact me at jmonroe@bcsd.neric.org.

Are you looking for summer activities for your child?

The Slingerlands PTO is happy to announce a FREE event, open to the general public, where 30 area camps will share information about their programs. The Slingerlands Camp Fair is on Thursday, March 24 at 7 pm! Visit the event Facebook page for more information.

Join us on March 24 to learn about different summer opportunities for your child and there will be MANY free raffle items from the participating camps, including free weeks of camp, gift certificates for discounts, t-shirts, etc.

Remember: the fair is FREE and open to the public – please tell your friends!

The participating camps are as follows:

Belizzi’s Grand Slam Baseball Camp
Bethlehem Children’s School Summer Camp
Bethlehem Public Library
Bethlehem YMCA
Camp Colonie at Colonie Golf & Country Club
Camp Fowler
Camp Givah
Camp Pinnacle
Cue Theatre
Del Lanes
Everyday Art
Five Rivers Camps
Girl Scouts of NENY
Heldeberg Workshop
HVCC Kids on Campus
JMU 4 Kids
KidzArt & Club Scientific
Kind Performing Arts
Krumkill Stables
Pro Kick Soccer Camp
School’s Out
Serendipity Summer Dippin
Sidney Albert JCC Camp
SUNY Poly Children’s Museum of Science and Technology
The Albany Academies
The Barn School at Indian Ladder Farms
The Dance Experience of Delmar
The Theater Institute at Sage
The Town of Bethlehem: Camp Adventure & Camp Sunshine
Twist and Flip

In celebration of Youth Art Month, 45 Bethlehem students have artwork on display at the seventh annual K-8 Empire State Plaza Art Collection Exhibit. This exhibit is an opportunity for students to showcase how their art was inspired by artwork from the Empire State Plaza Collection.

The art work will be exhibited at the Empire State Plaza from March 5-20, 2016 on the South Concourse, closest to the Madison Avenue entrance.

Many of the student artist attended the opening reception on the afternoon of Thursday, March 10. Thank you to the parents, students and teachers that attended the reception.

Congrats to the students selected for the exhibition:

• Faith Adamczyk
• Corinne Anderson
• Dylan Austin
• Lindsey Ayres
• Haley Backlund
• Katie Bailey 
• Ella Baker
• Luke Bodnar
• Natalie Bronchetti
• Julia Buckle
• Charlotte Clarke
• Evelyn Coates
• David Decker
• Ellie Dunn Hickey
• Anna Godlewski
• Dylan Grigas
• Mae Healy 
• Catherine Jantson
• Owen Karmel
• Camryn Keppler
• Emily Kurlander
• Joshua Levin
• Kinley Logsdon
• Gemma Lucarelli
• Dominic Macarilla
• Emma McCaffrey
• Aidan McGarry
• Elaina McGrath
• Nora McNabb
• Laura Miller 
• Mengyao Nie
• Mia Oppy
• Dylan Paty
• Bella Perrotto
• Alicia Prieto
• Kevin Ramundo
• Lily Reagan
• Talia Sanders
• Maggy Seebode
• Teagan Snyder
• Lia Soares
• Grace Venter
• Eliza Whalen
• Elliot Wilcox

Recycle Fest is here again! In honor of Earth Day, the BC Green Team is co-sponsoring another Town of Bethlehem Recycle Fest! View flyers and list of acceptable items for drop-off here (information is also below).

When:

Saturday, April 9, 2016 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Arrive no later than 12:40 p.m.)

Where:

Elm Avenue Park, 261 Elm Avenue, Delmar

Who:

Event is open to all area residents!

What:

Clothing and Textile recycling Document Shredding/Paper Recycling Hard Cover and Paperback Book Recycling Electronics, Appliances & Scrap Metals Recycling**

Free Shredding limited to Town of Bethlehem Residents and BCSD Taxpayers Only*

Please see the below list of acceptable and unacceptable items.

NOTE: *Secure shredding limited to Town of Bethlehem residents and BCSD taxpayers with ID only. Shredding limit: 3 medium sized boxes per household.

COSTS: **Electronics, appliances and scrap metals recycling is $5/car donation to BCHS Environmental Club; $10/car if bringing TV(s) due to recycling costs. All other recycling and shredding is FREE. Books will be collected for reuse or recycling by Grassroot Givers; monetary donations will also be gratefully accepted.

Need Help?

Do you need assistance transporting your documents for shredding, or clothing/textiles to the event?

If you are over age 60 and a Town resident, Bethlehem Senior Transportation may be able to help with home pickup on this day (but not with books, electronics or appliances). For more info., and to schedule a pre-arranged pickup time, please call 439-4955, extension 1176.

ACCEPTABLE ITEMS:

• Clothing, Textiles & Footwear
  • ALL types of clothing, fabric, household textiles, stuffed animals, belts, hats, gloves, purses, bags, backpacks, footwear.
  • It is okay if worn, torn, ripped, stained or damaged!
• Books
  • Hardcover or soft cover
• Documents for shredding
  • Limit of 3 medium sized boxes of documents. Bethlehem Residents and BCSD taxpayers ONLY.
• Appliances, Electronics, Metals*
  • Appliances (large & small): Air Conditioner, Dehumidifier, Refrigerator, Stove, Washer, Dryer, Microwave, Dishwasher, Toaster, Blender, Coffee Machine, Hot Plate, Etc.
  • Audio / Visual Equipment
  • Batteries: Rechargeable & Car Batteries
  • Business Machines
  • Cable or Satellite Receivers
  • Cash Registers
  • Cell Phones
  • Circuit Boards
  • Electronics: Televisions*, Computers, Monitors, Key-boards, Mice, Printers, Copiers, Fax Machines. Scanners, Portable Digital Music Players, Servers (small scale), VCR, DVD, & DVR Players, Digital Converter Boxes, Hubs / Routers, Video Game Systems & Accessories, PDA’s (personal digital assistant), Wiring & Cabling
  • Ink Cartridges
  • Medical Electronics: EKG Machine, Heart Monitor
  • Metal Objects: Bikes, Swing Sets, Basketball Hoops, Grills, Metal Lawn Equipment, etc.
  • Personal Care Appliances: Hair Dryer, Curling Iron, Walkers, Canes, Blood Pressure Monitors
  • Propane Tanks
  • Safes & Strong Boxes
  • Scientific Equipment
  • Telecommunications Equipment
  • Typewriters

UNACCEPTABLE ITMES:

NO mattresses, carpets, loose stuffing, toys, etc. NO wet, moldy, smelly or contaminated items.

• Alkaline Batteries (Household)
• Fluorescent Lamps & Lightbulbs
• Liquid / Powdered Chemicals
• Paint / Paint Cans
• Tires (for Cars & Trucks)
• Toxic or Hazardous Material
• Radioactive, Volatile, Highly Flammable,
• Explosive, Biomedical, Infectious materials
• Asbestos

NOTE: Many of these items can be disposed of at the Town of Bethlehem’s Household Hazardous Waste Day, Saturday, May 2, 8 am—1 pm. See www.townofbethlehem.org for details.