Fall 2021 Book Fair Is Coming!   

It is the most popular event of the year...and it is coming soon so mark your calendars for the dates below!


In order to keep crowding at a minimum and maintain appropriate spacing, each grade will only have ONE in person day to shop the fair (without parents).  Students may only come down to shop on their assigned day and may not attend on another grade's shopping day.  Parents may only shop the in person fair on October 6th (see below).  Online shopping is always open at our link below.

  • September 26th - October 9th - Online Shopping will be open for a contact-free experience with great selection and free shipping with $25 worth of books purchased.

  • Monday, October 4th
    • 8 am - 9 am 2ND GRADE IN PERSON SHOP (no parents)
    • KINDERGARTEN will shop during the day with volunteers
  • Tuesday, October 5th
    •  8 am - 9 am 3RD GRADE IN PERSON SHOP (no parents)
    • 1ST GRADE will shop during the day with volunteers
  • Wednesday, October 6th - Early Release Day Shop
    • Students are dismissed at 12:45 pm for early release.
    • In Person Shopping Event for Adults & Students: 2-7 pm
    • All students must be accompanied by an adult in order to shop the fair.  We are staying open late so parents of After-School students can shop when they come for pick-up.
    • Held in the Cafeteria for better spacing
    • Please park on the back blacktop (bus lot) and enter the school through the double doors near the inside staircase and follow the arrows to the cafeteria
    • Masks must be worn inside
    • Exit through the cafeteria door back out to the blacktop
  • Thursday, October 7th 
    • 8 am - 9 am 4th GRADE IN PERSON SHOP (no parents)
  • Friday, October 8th
    • 8 am.- 9 am 5th GRADE IN PERSON SHOP (no parents)

Interested in volunteering for one of the morning grade-level shopping slots, Monday and Tuesday during the day to help our Kindergarten & 1st Graders, or during the evening family event on Early Release Day?  Stay tuned here and in next week's Bear Blast where you can grab one of these coveted spots as book fair is the only volunteer opportunity to be inside the building with students this year!

Fall Fair Frequently Asked Questions:

  • When is the fair?  Online shopping is open from September 26th - October 9th.  For your child's in person shopping day and our parent shopping event, see the schedule above!

  • Will there be in-person shopping this year? Yes!  We are so excited to be able to partner with the school to bring in-person shopping back this year.  Please see the schedule above for your child's in-person shopping day (each grade only gets one day to shop without parents) and our parent shopping event.
 
  • Why can my student only shop on one day?  We know that limiting the shopping to one day is new but the hour that the book fair is open each morning is very popular and our media center is only so big.  Limiting shopping to one grade at a time is the easiest way that we can think of to limit the number of students milling around the books and standing in line together.  
    • KINDERGARTEN - Monday, October 4th our K classes will come to the media center during the day to shop with volunteer assistance.
    • 1ST GRADE - Tuesday, October 5th  our 1st Grade classes will come to the media center during the day to shop with volunteer assistance.
    • 2ND GRADE - Monday October 4th our 2nd Graders may shop in the morning between 8 and 9 am (students only, no parents)
    • 3rd GRADE - Tuesday, October 5th our 3rd Graders may shop in the morning between 8 and 9 am (students only, no parents)
    • 4th GRADE - Thursday, October 7th our 4th Graders may shop in the morning between 8 and 9 am (students only, no parents)
    • 5th GRADE - Friday, October 8th our 5th Graders may shop in the morning between 8 and 9 am (students only, no parents)
 
  • What if that day does not work for my student to shop?  If your student misses their grade-level shopping day, no worries!  You can shop online anytime day or night or you can shop with them on Wednesday, October 6th from 2-7 pm after the early release day.  
 
  • Can my student shop at the early release day event alone if they are at the school for After-School (ASEP) anyway?  No, the early release day shopping event is for parents and students shopping together.  We are intentionally staying open that night until 7 pm so all of our ASEP students can shop with their parents when they come for pickup!
 
  • What forms of payment will you accept?  We would love the fair to be contactless transactions only (credit card that the user inserts, Apple Pay, and e-wallet) but we realize that there is value in students being able to shop the fair on their own and most students do not have Apple Pay or a credit card!  We would encourage all families to set up and add money to an e-wallet that their students can use so they do not need to handle (and lose) money that many people have touched but we will accept cash and make change at the fair as well as the touchless payment methods.
 
  • We always gift our teacher a book, how do we do that?  No worries, we always buy our teachers books too and Scholastic has us covered!  You can now add money to your teacher's E-Wallet account (just like you were adding money to your child's e-wallet for shopping at an in-person fair) and they can turn around and shop for books for their classrooms.  What an easy way to give back!  Click here for instructions on how to add money to your teacher's e-wallet and be sure to ask your teacher to send out their e-wallet link so you and other families can donate a book or two to the classroom library!
 
  • If I choose not to have my child shop in-person (nor shop in person myself), how will I get my books?  Great news!  All orders will ship directly to your home so you can use the fair to shop for books to use now or you can even save them for  birthday or holiday gifting since you would not have to hide your purchases from your students at school!
 
  • How much is shipping?  More great news!  Shipping to your home is COMPLETELY FREE...but this comes with a few strings attached:
    • Your order MUST contain over $25 worth of books or reading materials.
    • In order for Scholastic to get reasonable shipping rates, they are utilizing a deal through the US Postal Service to get these books into the hands of young readers for no additional shipping cost to families.  The requirement for free shipping is that your order CAN ONLY CONTAIN reading material!!
 
  • What if I have $25 worth of books in my cart but I add other things like face masks or pencils to my order?  Sorry, due to the limitations of the agreement with the USPS, orders will only ship for free if they only contain reading materials.  Anything additional (regardless of total purchase price or number of books) will cause the order to incur shipping charges.
 
  • What about journals and diaries?  This one is tricky (we are sorry it is so confusing!).  It seems some journals qualify while others do not.  The product page on our  Scholastic Fair website will clearly tell you if it is eligible to ship for free or not.
 
  • This is very confusing, is there an easy way to figure out what items ship for free?  We are so sorry, the limitations of the USPS media rate are a bit convoluted (it's like the tax code!) but there is an easy way to figure it all out.  On the product page for each item there is a clear indicator of when an item will not allow free shipping on your order.  While you are clicking around our virtual fair, you will be able to easily determine what will ship for free or not.
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A Non-Book Item That DOES NOT Count for Free Shipping
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  • Can I still order items that are not eligible for free shipping and have them shipped to my house?  Of course!  If it is available online, you can have it shipped to you (and benefit the school fundraiser) but you would have to pay the shipping fee.  We would recommend making 2 separate purchases if you would like books and other items so that your books will ship for free and your other items can be charged separately for their shipping.
 
  • Does this benefit the school? Yes!  For every purchase that you (or family and friends) make during our fair dates, 25% is given back to the school as a fundraiser.   Just make sure you are logged in to your account and the yellow banner at the top of your shopping page says "Scholastic will give back 25% in rewards to BALLANTYNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL when you shop Sep 26 - Oct 9."
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  • Can only Ballantyne Elementary students shop the fair?  No!  Anyone can shop the fair and have books shipped to their home (or yours).  Sending the link out to family and friends is a great way to help the school and also give great gift ideas for holiday gifting for your students!
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  • Why is a book fair important?  Besides giving back to the school and adding a bit of consistency to your child's school year, a book fair and its new books will make children excited to read and practice their skills.  Just take a look at this chart for how important it is for them to open up a book for at least 20 minutes per day:

Ready to shop?