BAM Summer Bear Blast

Hi BAM-ilies!

I hope everyone had a wonderful week during our students' last full week of summer break! Our amazing Brambleton teachers and staff returned this week and are so excited to begin the year with our students! Below is important information for the beginning of the year. Feel free to reach out to our grade level teams or the main office with questions.

We are all looking forward to CLIMBing together this school year! Go Bears!

Chad O'Brien

Principal

We are excited to welcome students and families back to Brambleton Middle for our August Open House! Open House is Monday, August 21st and is organized by grade level and alphabet(last name). It is important to utilize the allotted time slot so that we can adequately support all of our students and families with parking and space in the school and locker areas. You may arrive at any point within the designated time frame and stay as little or as long as you wish within the time frame. See the flyer below for dates and time frames.

These are optional and informal times where students and families can visit Brambleton to walk their schedule, visit classrooms, meet teachers and set up lockers (if requested). There will be no printed schedules available for open house, so please make sure that you have your ParentVue and StudentVue accounts set up to view your child's schedule. Schedules became available for view through PVue and SVue on Monday, August 14th.

Here is a link to ParentVue & StudentVue information and resources: LINK

Typically, there are no cars permitted in the bus loop. However for Open House, families are welcome to park in any of the parking lot areas and the bus loop. If you utilize the bus loop, please be cognizant of spacing to avoid parking someone in with no access to leave. Thank you!

We are looking forward to seeing all our Bears on August 21st!

If families purchased a School Supply Kit through Sprout, they will be available for pick up during the Open House on Monday, August 21st. Supply kits will be organized by grade and alphabet in the Auxiliary gym.

If families are not attending the open house, supply kits may be picked up at Brambleton on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2:00-4:00pm. Any supply kits still not picked up after that date will be distributed to the student during school hours.

This will be our third and final year serving a portion of our 8th grade students both at Brambleton and at our 8th Grade Annex at Independence High School, called BAMex. If your student will be accessing BAMex, we invite you to an optional information session for parents and students. This is a time where school administration will share information on BAMex such as transportation, bell schedule and classes, nurse clinic access, lunch, etc.

This presentation will be held on Monday, August 21st from 1:40-2:20pm in the Independence HS Auditorium. This was scheduled to also allow families to attend the Brambleton open house during their allotted time frame. In addition, our BAMex classrooms will be open to visit during the August 21st open house!

How do I know if my student attends BAMex?

View your student's schedule in ParentVue or StudentVue beginning on Monday, August 14th.

There are a few ways to check if your child will access BAMex:

• If your student's "house code" is "Indy Stripes A" or "Indy Stripes B", then they attend BAMex.
• If your student has any of the following teachers: Emma Cribbs, Allie Hayes, Shreyas Khera, Collin Shipp, Alison Johnston, Jessica Mouw, Paige Och, Shannon DiFede or Michael Fragnito, then they attend BAMex.
• If you see a room assignment that starts with "Indy", then they attend BAMex.

We look forward to sharing about BAMex! If you are unable to attend, the presentation slides information will be posted on our school website following the session.

Note: There are many 8th grade students that attend Brambleton for both days and will not access BAMex. Scheduling is based on student course requests. We can not accept requests to attend BAMex, not to attend BAMex or to switch BAMex days unless there is an error in the student's schedule or extenuating circumstance. If you have questions, you may contact the 8th grade counseling team: Ms. Kelly Dunn and Ms. Bria Hicks.

On Monday, August 14th, student schedules became available in both StudentVUE and ParentVUE. Please, see the note below in the "LCPS First Day Information" for steps necessary for parents to view the schedule in ParentVUE.

Our school counselors and administrators will be actively scheduling new students and adjusting schedules to balance classes, so please be aware that individual schedules may have shifted this week. If you have questions related to your student's schedule, you may contact the grade level counselor. Note: Unless there is an error, course request changes can not be honored at this time.

6th Grade Counselors: Kasey Husadzinovic and Stefanie Hamilton

7th Grade Counselors: Keenan Elder and Lisa Olek

8th Grade Counselors: Kelly Dunn and Bria Hicks

Beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, August 14, please sign into ParentVUE to complete the Online Verification process as part of Loudoun County Public Schools First Day of School Information initiative. This process is required for all families to review and update important information about their students as we begin the 2023-24 school year, and must be completed no later than Friday, September 22. Once completed, you will be able to view student schedules and bus information in ParentVUE.

If you do not have a ParentVUE account, please contact the main office contacts below to request an Activation Letter.

PJ McMahon, Registrar: Pamela.McMahon@lcps.org

Christina Eklund, Main Office Administrative Assistant: Christina.Eklund@lcps.org

For more information about this Online Verification process, along with FAQs about the First Day of School, please visit: www.lcps.org/FirstDay.

LCPS’ meal payment system is called LINQ Connect (formally TITAN Family Portal). To register for a LINQ Connect account, go to LINQ Connect and click on the “Register” button in the top right corner.

At the end of last year, TITAN Family Portal, LCPS' previous meal payment system, changed to LINQ Connect. You can use the same credentials to login to LINQ Connect that you used with TITAN Family Portal. You do not need to create an account, change a password, etc.

If you used the TITAN Family Portal mobile app, you will need to download the LINQ Connect app. TITAN Family Portal mobile app will not work; however, all of your previous credentials will work in the LINQ Connect app. You can use the same credentials to log in to LINQ Connect that you used with TITAN Family Portal.

New this school year, LCPS is introducing an optional and free service for families called Lightspeed Parent Portal. Families who elect to use this service will receive weekly reports by email that list websites their student(s) are accessing when using their LCPS-issued Chromebook or laptop. For instructions, additional information and details on how to sign up, see the Lightspeed Parent Portal website.

The 2023-24 Student Locker Request Form was closed on August 16th to guarantee a locker would be assigned for the open house and first day of school. We know needs may change, so don't worry if you didn't request a locker now! It is important to note that families/students can request a locker at any point throughout the school year should they find it necessary. If you find that you want a locker after this initial August 16th due date, families/students can email their grade level dean to request a locker and we are happy to do so. The grade-level dean will fulfill the locker request as soon as possible. (6th Grade Dean - Kelley McNamee; 7th Grade Dean - Jeff Haynie; 8th Grade Dean - Matt Prince)

Join the PTSA for the 2023-2024 school year here: https://bam.ptboard.com/formvw?store=3865&form=5

Your membership helps support student events, staff appreciation activities and school improvement projects. Regular membership is $20/family. Booster Membership is $60/family and includes a fleece blanket and Bear Bucks.

See Flyer below for details. Join TODAY!

All 6th grade students will be issued a new LCPS Chromebook for this school year. This will occur on the first day of school, Thursday August 25th, through Health & PE classes. If your student still has their LCPS issued Chromebook from 5th grade, please ensure that your student brings the Chromebook and charger to school on the first day (August 24) to be issued the new device.

Family Assistance Program:

If you are a family needing assistance of any kind this year, please complete the BAM Family Assistance Program Form. We have a strong community at BAM and are here to support one another. While we cannot guarantee that we can meet every need, we do our best to help. Our goal is to help families meet their needs by referring them to existing resources. To request assistance, please complete the form below:

Register for Family Assistance Program

Bears Care Program:

We have been grateful to many of our parents over the past years who have offered to join our Bears Care Program (formerly Needs Network). Families who have participated in this program have helped us to ensure our students have what they need to be successful, whether it's school supplies, clothing, grocery gift cards, holiday wish list items, or other needs that arise. If you are a family who would like to help other families within our BAM community, we are looking for volunteers who would be contacted on an as-needed basis to donate items to students and families who could benefit from assistance. To register to become a Bears Care volunteer, please complete the form below:

Register to Become a Bears Care Volunteer

If you have any questions about these programs, please contact Lauren Dauphinais, BAM's Family Liaison, at lauren.dauphinais@lcps.org. All information is kept confidential.

Email: chad.obrien@lcps.org
Website: https://www.lcps.org/BAM
Location: 23070 Learning Circle, Ashburn, VA, USA
Phone: 703-957-4450
Twitter: @BAM_MS_Official