The Banks Bulletin

It is hard to believe that we have completed our 5th week of school. Time flies when you are having fun! It has been such a great start to the year and a joy to see all the smiling faces that are eager to learn each day!

Students recently took their first of three iReady Diagnostics in Math and ELA. They will take their second diagnostic in December and the third in May. In the upcoming week, ELA and Math teachers will send home your student's scores and information to help identify areas of growth and highlight where they may need more support.

Wednesday, October 2nd is Count Day. Please ensure all students attend school and avoid scheduling appointments during school on this day. Thank you! As a reminder, there is no school on Thursday, October 3rd.

Thank you to the PTSA and Ms. Smith for planning our Next Level Fundraiser POP Fundraiser. The kick-off assembly will be held on October 8th. Look for more information and opportunities to help following. Thank you for your support!2

On behalf of our Banks family, we extend our warmest wishes to all those celebrating Rosh Hashanah.

We Are Banks!

September

9/27- Middle School Band Night @ WLC

9/30- Wear your Lions Gear!

9/30- Volleyball vs. White Lake-Home

October

10/1-XC Meet vs. White Lake-Home

10/1-Volleyball vs. Muir-Home

10/2- Count Day

10/3-No School for Staff or Students

10/4-XC County Meet-Away

10/4- WLW Homecoming @ 7 PM

10/7- Volleyball vs. Millennium-Away

10/8-POP Assembly

10/9-XC Meet vs. Creek-Away

10/9-Volleyball vs. Geisler-Away

10/10- 8th Grade Washington, D.C. Parent Meeting @ 5:30 PM

10/10- Board of Education Regular Meeting

10/18- Picture Retakes

WOW! We owe a massive THANK YOU to our local Wixom Meijer! Store Director Seleana Yancey and Area Leader Megan Vigna just surprised us with a jaw-dropping $10,000 check! Thanks to their generosity, we're building new Gaga pits and loading up on awesome indoor recess gear!💙

Dear Banks Middle School Families,

Thank you for your partnering with us in your child’s education. Corrected Parent Reports have arrived and have been mailed home. As a reminder, the previous reports included an error in subscore reporting. Specifically,

• The previously shipped Parent Reports had an error in subscore reporting categories.
• Overall scale scores were correct and have not changed on the corrected Parent Reports.
• Overall proficiency calculations were not affected by this error.

If you have any questions regarding this printing error, please contact Jennifer VanWagnen at (248-)956-2200 or the Michigan Department of Education by email at mde-oeaa@michigan.gov or by phone at 877-560-8378 and select Option 1.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Jennifer VanWagnen, Principal

JenniferVanWagnen@wlcsd.org

(248) 956-2200

The kick-off assembly for the POP!(Power of Purpose) Fundraiser is Tuesday, October 8. Students will be coming home on that day with a "Golden Ticket" parent letter. Please stay tuned, ask PTSA, or see Ms. Smith if you have questions!

We are proud of both of our fall sport programs as they continue working hard each day at practice, as well as how well they represent us during competitions. Keep up the good work Bulldogs!

The 8th grade Volleyball team took all three sets against Mason Middle School this week. The girls did a great job working as a team as they dominated the court. Great serves by Brie, Autumn, Lexi and Moxie and a special game -winning serve by Elise! Keely stood out with some amazing plays at the net and to Kendal who played so well as a new setter for the team. Everyone played so well and Coach Kat is so proud!

The Banks Cross Country team traveled to Muir middle school yesterday in a tri-meet that also included Clifford Smart. The team once again showed their determination and perseverance on a very challenging course. A shout out to the top finishers Brayden Partin, Declan Hinkleman, and Evelyn Hill. Top finishers in the one mile were Bradley Mohr, Brendan Walker and Raylyn Reske. Next Tuesday will be the team’s last home meet against White Lake. Good luck Bulldogs!

Our annual 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C. will be Tuesday, June 3rd to Friday, June 6th. 8th grade parents are invited to join us at our informational meeting on Thursday, October 10th at 5:30pm in the Banks Cafeteria to hear details about the trip and learn how to register. Trip registration will open the day after our meeting.

Banks Middle School Community,

The Walled Lake Consolidated Schools is again participating in a program to honor exemplary teachers/educators. We hope you will join us in an effort that will result in the selection of the Teacher/Educator of the Year for the Walled Lake Consolidated School District at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. This honor will be bestowed at our Thursday, January 9, 2025 school board meeting.

Please use the attached fillable nomination form to nominate a deserving Sarah G. Banks Middle School educator NO later than Friday, October 18, 2024. Nominations can also be emailed directly to JenniferVanWagnen@wlcsd.org or turned into the front office. Any full time, certified, tenured teacher/educator who spends 50% of his/her time in a classroom with a minimum of five (5) full years of classroom teaching experience is eligible to receive this award. Any person in the school community may nominate any teacher/educator in the District for this honor.

It can be tricky to nominate a teacher so early in the year, as you are just getting to know them. Some nominations are based on a family’s experience thus far this school year, some are based on a teacher they had on the past, and some are based on a family’s experience with a teacher through the years with multiple children from their family.

Teacher of the Year Nomination Form

For families that have a primary language other than English, if it is easier to complete a nomination in your first language, please do and we will work to have it translated to English for consideration.

Thank you for helping to acknowledge the great staff at Sarah G. Banks Middle School!

All parents are invited to join the Banks PTSA! With 65 members, we are inching closer to achieving our goal of increasing our membership to 100 this year.

Click on the link below to become a member of the PTSA!

In other news, it is not too late to get your Banks swag! Banks spiritwear will be sold at fall home sporting events. Thank you for supporting our PTSA!

The kick-off assembly for the POP!(Power of Purpose) Fundraiser is Tuesday, October 8. Students will be coming home on that day with a "Golden Ticket" parent letter. Please stay tuned, ask PTSA, or see Ms. Smith if you have questions!

Visiting team spectators should park on the north side of the school and enter through the visiting side entrance for admissions. Visitors attempting to enter on the home side will be directed to walk around to the visiting ticket booth.

Home side spectators should park on the south side of the school and enter through the home side entrance for admissions.

WLCSD Athletic events are now cashless. All tickets for home events MUST be purchased through the GoFan website (Walled Lake Western High School Events) or by using credit/debit card at the ticket booth. Pre-Purchased tickets will be the quickest way to enter games. NO SCREENSHOTS of tickets will be accepted for any athletic events. Anyone over 62 and under 5 years old are admitted at no charge.

Ticket Takers will be enforcing the following expectations for the safety of all. Admin and/or law enforcement on site will be contacted should any spectators refuse to comply.

-No Pets/animals are permitted on WLW’s property

- No alcohol, drug, tobacco, or any illegal substances are permitted on campus or on school property.

- There is NO RE-ENTRY to the stadium for any reason.

-No outside food/drink, coolers, thermoses, cups, bottles, cans, flasks, or any other outside containers (including open bottled water) are permitted inside the stadium.

-No electronic noise makers, speakers, or Bluetooth devices are permitted in the stadium.

-No parking in the bus loop on the south side. Violators will be ticketed.

-Bags are NOT permitted into the stadium unless they are clear/see-through. Any approved bag is subject to search by ticket takers, administration, and/or Oakland County Deputies on site.

All middle school and elementary school-aged children must be accompanied by their parent/guardian for the entire athletic event in order to attend any and all Western Athletic Events. Those who are not supervised, will not be permitted to enter the gyms and/or stadium or will be asked to leave if not continually supervised upon entering.

The Michigan Department of Education requires school districts to provide information to students grade 8-12 on post graduation opportunities. Click Here for more information.

In the next few weeks and throughout the year, we will be conducting Safety Drills with our staff and students. These drills include Tornado, Fire and ALICE drills. ALICE is a federally endorsed safety protocol. WLCSD has adopted ALICE curriculum and safety protocols for all of its schools. At Banks, we do our best to prepare our students for emergency scenarios, but strive to ensure our students social and emotional well-being as well.

Please consider the safety of our entire Bulldog Community when you are dropping off or picking up your students. Following the procedures at SLOW SPEEDS is the best way to keep everyone safe. Say long good byes while you are driving to school. When dropping off, make sure your student is prepared to exit the car quickly. Families who are prepared for this will help ensure more efficient traffic flow.

• First Bell, 8:00 a.m. - This is when students are permitted to enter the hallways from the front lobby and buses.

• Warning Bell, 8:05 a.m. - This bell lets students know that they have five minutes left to make it to class.

• Tardy Bell, 8:10a.m. - This is the official start of 1st hour. Students arriving after this bell are considered tardy for their first class.

WLCSD has a 1-to-1 Chromebook Program in all of our middle and high schools. Please review the information about the 1-to-1 Chromebook Program as part of your Back-to-School Online Registration Process.

Each student will be required to bring a device to school each day as the middle schools do not have Chromebook carts in the building for students to use a Chromebook during the day. District issued Chromebooks often work much better within the building than personal devices do as they are set up to connect to the District Wi-Fi.

Important Highlights

Students will have two choices for technology use while at school:

1. Bring your own device from home

2. Sign up for a District issued Chromebook*

*Additional carts of Chromebooks will no longer be available for students to utilize extra building devices on a daily basis. Students will be expected to bring a charged device (personal device or District issued Chromebook) daily in order to utilize online curricular resources as well as participate in daily instruction within the classroom.

We strongly encourage families to sign up for a District issued Chromebook.

There are advantages to this practice including:

• Better Wi-Fi connectivity in District

• Increased support from District IT staff including

• curriculum resources

• support apps

• Streamline repair process

MIDDLE SCHOOL students (grades 6-8) must complete PAYMENT for the Chromebook deposit ($50) and Technology Protection Plan ($20) in order to receive the District issued Chromebook. Payments made after August 11 will still receive a device, but not until the first few days of school. Please be sure to review the entire 1-to-1 Chromebook Program Information that is linked on our Back-to-School Packet Website. If you are in need of financial assistance to participate in this program, please reach out to Mrs. VanWagnen directly at JenniferVanWagnen@wlcsd.org.

Walled Lake Consolidated Schools is asking the community to replace its current operating millage with an 18 mill non-homestead millage that represents roughly $31 million and a 3.6297 mill hold harmless that represents approximately $2 million of the district’s budget. The total of $33 million accounts for 18 percent of the district’s $187 million revenue budget.

Every District in the state is expected to levy, with voter approval, 18 mills on all non-homestead properties in order to receive full state funding under Proposal A. The 3 mill "Headlee cushion" will allow the district to collect the full 18 mills over the duration of the operating millage. The proposal will not increase property taxes on any primary residence property that is within Walled Lake Consolidated Schools boundaries. Since the approval of Proposal A in 1994, the Walled Lake Consolidated Schools’ community has overwhelmingly supported the operating millage, most recently in 2014.

If the November 5, 2024 proposal is not approved, the school district will lose more than $33 million in operating revenue every year and the state will not make up the shortfall.

More information about the 2024 Operating Millage Replacement can be found at www.wlcsd.org/elections.

Operating Millage FAQ Document

During the 2024-25 school year, all Michigan public school students in grades Pre-K through 12 will have access to free breakfast and free lunch every day through the "Healthy School Meals for All" program. This includes a meat/meat alternative, grain, fruit/vegetable and milk. A la carte items will be available for purchase.

Families are still encouraged to complete the free/reduced meal form in Skyward to help secure additional funding for the District including Title I funding. By completing the form, eligible families may also receive access to other free and reduced programs within the District including SAT testing, pay to participate, and more.

Please follow the steps below when your student's District Chromebook needs to be repaired.

1. If a student needs support, he/she should fill out a Student Chromebook Support Form linked on all of the Google Classrooms and on the school website under Students. Being logged on to the school google account is required to access the form.
2. The information in the form will be sent to Mrs. Stasak, our Middle School Computer Resource Teacher. She will reply to the student at his/her school gmail account. She will offer suggestions to fix the issue or, if it needs service, she will tell the student to take the chromebook to the office and give it to building admin secretary (enter the name for your building).
3. The chromebook in the case will be sent through inner office and the student will be allowed to use a loaner chromebook AT SCHOOL. It will be the student’s responsibility to pick it up each morning from the office and return it at the end of the day.
4. When the chromebook has been repaired, it will be delivered back to the school for the student to pick up.
5. If the family purchased insurance, the first repair is free and all additional repairs carry a deductible. Deductible invoices or repair invoices, for those that did not choose insurance, must be paid before the repaired chromebook is returned.
6. If a student with a personal chromebook has a network issue, the same form can be used. We are not able to fix physical problems with personal devices and loaner chromebooks will not be provided.

In addition to receiving phone calls and email notifications from the school district in the event of a school closing or emergency, parents can also sign up to receive SMS Text messages.

Please find the helpful step-by-step instructions linked below as well as the video tutorial on signing up for SMS messages.

· Signing Up for SMS Messages via Skylert

Jennifer VanWagnen

Principal: jennifervanwagnen@wlcsd.org

Kellan Watkins

Principal's Secretary: kellanwatkins@wlcsd.org

Becky Smith

Interim Assistant Principal: rebeccasmith@wlcsd.org

Jennifer Dean

Assistant Principal's Secretary: jenniferdean@wlcsd.org

Important Phone Numbers:

Main Line: 248-956-2200

Attendance: 248-956-2290

Email: JenniferVanWagnen@wlcsd.org
Website: https://banks.wlcsd.org/
Location: 1760 Charms Road Wixom, MI 48393
Phone: (248) 956-2200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sarahbanksptsa