Riverhawk Reminders

Belmont Ridge Middle School cultivates a safe, empathetic, and accountable learning environment where every student thrives. We educate the whole child by ensuring high expectations for each and every Riverhawk and by fostering resilient learners who act with integrity as they navigate adolescence.

Newsletter topics include:

• Upcoming Events
• Association of Middle Level Education - Student Sound Off Conte
• Food Waste Audit
• Student Council Book Drive
• Hawks for Hearts
• NJHS Update
• Yearbooks for Sale
• Garden Volunteers
• MIlitary Child Month Save the Date
• Department of EL FACE Updates
• YAS Updates

Friday March 28th, Saturday March 29th, and Sunday March 30th - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Musical Production

Monday March 31st - School Holiday (Eid al Fitr)

Thursday, April 3rd - Last Day of Quarter 3

Friday, April 4th - Teacher Workday

Monday, April 7th - Professional Learning Day for Staff

Monday, April 14th - Spring Break Begins

The Lost and Found will be cleared out at the end of the school day on Thursday, April 3. There are a LOT of water bottles, lunch bags, jackets, and hoodies, among other things! Please ask your child to check the L&F before April 3. Once items leave the building, they are sorted, cleaned, and donated. The Lost & Found has locations in the cafeteria and each House

March is Middle Level Education Month (MLEM) - a time to celebrate the unique opportunities of the middle grades and the transformative years of early adolescence. One of our favorite ways of elevating the middle school experience is the Middle School Student Sound Off Contest. Now in its third year, AMLE’s contest is a global celebration of student voice.

Here are the Details:

Who? Any student aged 10-15 can submit. They must have the support of a sponsoring teacher and a parent/guardian.

What? Students are invited to sound off by creating submissions that share their experience as a middle schooler in 2025. AMLE has provided a series of prompts to get those creative juices flowing!

How? Because we all have different talents, interests and ways of expressing ourselves, students can submit in the format that most appeals to them.

When? Submissions are due by midnight on April 4, 2025.

Why? AMLE will select submissions to feature on our website, in our publications, and at AMLE25: The 52nd Annual Conference for Middle Level Education. Plus, there are some cool prizes in store for participants!

What is a food waste audit?

A food waste audit is an activity in which the amounts and types of food waste generated by an organization or household are measured and analyzed. In this case, the audit will measure and analyze the amount and types of food waste generated in a single day in a middle school cafeteria. On the day of the audit, student food waste disposal works differently than the usual routine. Instead of tossing leftover food and other waste into large trash cans directly, students instead take their trays or other waste to designated audit stations where volunteers sort the leftovers into different categories. Students record data for each category and then dispose of the waste via trash, recycling or the school’s share table/fridge, if available. To ensure timely and efficient sorting and disposal of waste, two audit stations will be set up in the Belmont Ridge cafeteria. The proposed location of those stations is visualized on the drawings that accompany this summary. Data from both stations will be combined at the end of the audit, and then the students will analyze and interpret that data as part of their ongoing studies.

Who will lead the audit?

This initial audit will be led by Belmont Ridge 6th, 7th and 8th graders participating in the school’s Spectrum program. As part of their Spectrum curriculum, these students have been researching connections between food waste and sustainability, have drafted presentations and papers that communicate their findings and have brainstormed potential opportunities and obstacles for utilizing the Belmont Ridge cafeteria as a field for additional research.

NJHS nominees, please don't forget that your applications are due on Friday, March 28 at the end of the school day. You signed Code of Conduct is also due at that time. If you have been nominated and you have already submitted your application, keep an eye out for an email from us this week which will include information on the Induction Ceremony and upcoming New Member meetings. (Your parent/guardian will be copied on this email.) If you have any questions about the NJHS application process, please contact Ms. Chiet at Katherine.Chiet@lcps.org or Ms. Ferguson at Susan.Ferguson@lcps.org.

Current NJHS members: April is going to be a busy month! Dulles South Food Pantry would love for us to do a Cereal Drive (this will begin right after spring break). We will be gearing up for our annual group project, the Belmont Bakes! Bake sale and concession sale to be held on Saturday morning, May 3. There will be additional volunteer opportunities, too. Stay tuned to the NJHS Schoology page!

Mark your calendar for the Spring Production of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Tickets are now on sale (and selling fast). Use a computer to purchase if you would like to select your reserved seats.

Rehearsals are underway and your classmates in the cast, crew, and orchestra are hard at work bringing this magical production to life! The Blue Cast performances are March 21, 22, and 23. The Red Cast takes the stage on March 27, 28, and 29.

We have a date for the launch of our school garden! On Saturday afternoon, April 5, we will begin to put it all together. Volunteers will be needed for this! Please visit the signup if you'd like to help. If you have questions, please contact our school's Green Team Lead, Ms. Kelly Merritt at Kelly.Merritt@lcps.org. Thank you!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0848AFAF2AA1FC1-55842016-bems

Registration is open now for Belmont Ridge Chess Club! Classes will be offered on Fridays after school beginning on April 11. The session will run for 8 weeks, not including April 18 which is during LCPS spring break. Chess Club will be run by Silver Knights Chess Academy, formerly known as Magnus Chess Academy. To register, visit www.chessacademy.com.

The Welcome to LCPS EL Family Workshop is designed to provide a brief orientation to new EL families about the U.S. School System and LCPS. Sessions are held at the Historic Douglas High School in

• April 3rd

• May 1st

• June 5th

See Welcome to LCPS flyer to learn more.

This virtual informative session will include information about LCPS and the U.S School system and a toolkit to support student's transition to LCPS will be shared.

• Thursday, March 6th - 6:30pm-7:30pm

Sessions will be available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi/Dari. Please see flyers below to access the meeting link:

English

Spanish

Arabic

Farsi/Dari

Families can register by completing this Google Form.

Contact Sarah.Ocampo@lcps.org, DEL FACE Supervisor, with any questions.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to our administrative team- Katie.Johnson@lcps.org, David.McKenzie@lcps.org, or Michael.Surma@lcps.org or your grade level dean if you have further questions.

** Any messages sent from BEMS through our Blackboard account (noreply.belmontridge@lcps.org) come from an account that is not monitored. Please use our website to locate the email addresses of any staff members you need to contact. Thank you. **

Don't forget to download the LCPS App!

Website: https://www.lcps.org/o/bem

Location: 19045 Upper Belmont Place, Lansdowne, VA, USA
Phone: 571-252-2220