
Building BRAVES
September Newsletter
Notes from the principal
I cannot believe how quickly this nine weeks is moving. We are now passed midterm and quickly approaching the end of the nine weeks and fall break! Bellmont Schools would like to thank everyone that supported out PBiS fundraisers by purchasing Nelson's chicken! Your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you to all of those students continuing to be BRAVES each day they are here. We are truly blessed with great kids and great staff. I continue to be blown away by the students here and how hard they work. Are there things we all can work on to be better BRAVES, yep, but these kids are rocking it! We will continue to discuss the BRAVES matric with students and our expectations of them while they are here. I aske that you take some time to talk to your students about the expectations here on campus. The BRAVES matrix can be found below. Please make sure to check all of the dates coming up because we have quite a few important ones.
Also, if you have any questions on schedules, upcoming activities, sports, or curious about activities in the school, do not hesitate to reach out to our front office @ 260-724-3137.
Be Braves,
Mrs. Kristie Schlemmer
Principal, Bellmont Middle School
Views from around school
6th grade DFL players
Math students working together
Music Students working on music videos
7th grade students playing with robots :)
6th grade students rocking PJ day for Homecoming week
having fun
Mr Hunter rocked the relay
Ms Heller and Mrs. Wilson rocking the relay
BMS upcoming events:
In October:
3rd- picture retakes
12th- parent teacher conferences from 3:30- 7
13th- BRAVES day
16th - 20th- Fall Break
Alive and Well program will be visiting our 6th grade classrooms in the month of October on Wednesdays.
In sports news:
BMS Early Winter Athletic Practices Beginning!
Early Winter sports are set to begin. Below is an outline of the practice times and locations for upcoming early winter activities. If you have any questions, please contact the MS Athletic Office at 724-3137.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11:
Cheerleading (6th, 7th, 8th) (Tryouts)
3:15 PM – 5:00 P.M. BMS Activity Room
MONDAY, OCTOBER 23:
7th/8th Grade Boys Basketball (Tryouts)
3:15 PM – 5:15 P.M. @ BMS Main Gym
MONDAY, OCTOBER 23:
7th/8th Grade Girls Basketball (Tryouts)
5:15 PM – 7:15 P.M. @ BMS Main Gym
*All prospective athletes must have an approved IHSAA physical form, medical consent card, concussion acknowledgement and signature form, a signed BMS Athletic and Extracurricular Code of Conduct form, and legal reporting waiver form on file in the Athletic Office to participate. Forms may downloaded from the BMS web site or obtained from the MS Office.
Good luck to all participating athletes this season!
Go Braves!
News from 6th grade
We are off to a great start to the school year and are really enjoying getting to know this year’s sixth graders. Here are a few reminders to help your sixth graders be successful this year:
Please make sure your child has plenty of pencils. Many of the students already say they are out of pencils.
IPads need to come to school charged each day. We use the iPads every day. When they come to school not charged, this causes the student to have extra work to do at home.
Please check PowerSchool at least twice a week to know how your child is doing in each class and what he/she might need to do to catch up. The sixth-grade teachers update their grades several times a week.
If you have a question, please email the teacher first. We are the ones with your child all day long and normally know more about situations than our administrators do. If we feel your question needs to be addressed by someone in the office, we will help you get that answer.
Attendance is an important part of success in school. In the event that your child must be absent, it is critical that your child check Canvas for the directions and assignments for that day. This can be found on the Canvas Calendar. Students will need to check the directions posted by each teacher.
News from the 7th grade
7th grade news
Math: Students are learning how to use ratios to find proportional relationships. Students are seated in teams of 2 or 3, solving problems at the board and at their seat, emphasizing skills needed to work together and generate ideas about how to solve math problems. Mr. Keller is building a “thinking classroom”; a place where students put their heads together to find solutions and generate ideas about our daily lessons while learning how to be a good partner/team member.
ELA: Students are working on reading and writing strategies such as the difference between the reading voice and the thinking voice. They are also learning how to become a more focused reader and writer by muting the distracting voice. Furthermore, students are applying these techniques by highlighting important information in a variety of short texts as they continue to practice the R.A.C.E. strategy as well as apply these techniques to their writing to write well developed constructive responses answers.
News from the 8th grade team
This nine weeks in the 8th grade, we are working on manners with the students. We are asking students to use words like please, thank you, I am sorry, hello, you’re welcome, etc. We also ask students to perform 21 century skills such as being on time, being diligent, showing respect, and other school appropriate manners. As a team, we feel that these are important life skills for our students to have and we would like to partner with families to make sure students are being reinforced for these skills both at home and at school. We believe that students learn to be clean, how to properly dispose of trash, be organized, take good care of their belongings, and to keep their hands off someone else's body starting in the home setting. At school we reinforce those skills, as we teach Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Physical Education, Art, Music, etc.
Please be mindful of how your child takes care of his/her belongings and treats others at home. This usually translates to how they treat others and their belongings at school. We want all our students to be respectful, responsible, kind, and compassionate students.
We feel that if your child possesses negative qualities at home, that he/she might take those same negative characteristics into the real world. We would love to work together with families to enhance positive characteristics in students that will make this world a better, kinder, more compassionate place to live.
Thank you for your support,
BMS 8th grade teachers
Student supports
All middle school students should have brought a flyer home about Safari dental services.
For families living in the following situations, please see the flyer for additional support information; living in a shelter, in a hotel/ motel or campground, in a car, or living with a family member or friend due to lack of housing or economic hardships.
News from the lunch room
USDA Foods
Schools receive USDA Foods. States select USDA Foods for their schools from a list of foods purchased by USDA and provided through the NSLP. Schools can also receive bonus USDA Foods as they are available from surplus agricultural stocks. The variety of USDA Foods schools receive depends on available quantities and market prices
Community Eligibility Provision Notification
We are Pleased to inform you that Bellmont Middle School & Bellmont Elementary will be implementing the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for meals served on the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program for the 2023-2024 school year. Your child(ren) will be able to participate in these meal programs without having to pay a fee or submit an application.
Better Nutrition and Academics
Research has shown that children who participate in the National School Lunch Program have better nutrient intakes than students who do not.
Clean Hands-September is Food Safety Month!
We Buy Local
News from the library:
Thank you to everyone that supported the book fair! We had some awesome choices for the students to chose from:)
We are excited to be participating in the Young Hoosier Book Program again this year at BMS. If a student reads 5 or more from the 23-24 YHBA list, they will be invited to an Ice Cream Party at the end of the year and will take part in statewide voting to pick the best from the 20 books on the list. BMS has all of the YHBA books in print copy and also on Sora in eBook and/or audiobook format. Ask your child what their favorite Young Hoosier book is.