BMS Family Update

This coming Monday starts the beginning of semester 2 and quarter 3. This also means we only have 88 days left in the school year. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful winter break and was able to find some time to spend with family. It's hard to believe that we are now halfway through the school year.

We have lots happening in the months to come. In February, the 8th graders will be traveling to the high school to begin hearing about options for their freshman year. In March, 6th and 7th graders who have signed up will be traveling to Camp Fitch, and 8th graders who have signed up will be traveling to Washington D.C. We are super excited for these activities and hope to create educational experiences that students will remember for a lifetime.

I wanted to ensure that you were aware of some things happening in the next few weeks, so please enjoy this BMS family newsletter.

Mrs. Burwell

Grades closed yesterday, Thursday, for the grading period. You will be able to see updated grades via the Home Access Center (HAC) on next Friday (January 17th). If you have any questions please reach out to your child's teacher or school counselor.

Grades 5 and 6: Mrs. Kara Pumper

Grades 7 and 8: Mrs. Skylynn Martz (on maternity leave); Ms. Arasin Hughes (long term substitute counselor)

The Camp Fitch trip will take place March 19th-21st. This opportunity is available to current 6th and 7th graders. We will have our final preparation meeting on March 4th at 5:00pm. At this time, we will go over the packing list, departure instructions, medication drop off and other pertinent information. The cost of the trip is $150.00 and payment is due by February 18th to secure your child's spot. Checks should be made out to Brown Middle School.

Please make sure when making payments you also include the signed Camp Fitch Agreement. The agreement and information about camp are attached below.

Also as a reminder, any student who receives an in school suspension, out of school suspension or does not serve any detentions that are given will be ineligible to attend. Any questions should be directed to Mrs. Burwell

Each year, 5th graders take the IOWA and COGAT test. This test is given to help identify students who should receive gifted services. We will begin giving the IOWA and COGAT test next week during the school day. Tests will begin at 8:15 each day. Listed below are the tests that will be given and the length. Please ensure that your child is well rested and in attendance on testing days. We understand that some families have appointments or trips that were already planned. We will accommodate for those students and ensure that they are tested when they return.

Monday 1/13 - 100 minutes

Reading part 1 (30 minutes) + Reading part 2 (30 minutes)

Written Expression (40 minutes)

Tuesday 1/14 - 60 minutes

Math part 1 (30 minutes) + Math part 2 (30 minutes)

Wednesday 1/15 - 70 minutes

Science (35 minutes)

Social Studies (35 minutes)

Thursday 1/16- 65 minutes

Vocab (15 minutes) + Spelling (10 minutes) + Capitalization (10 minutes) + Punctuation (10 minutes)

Computation (20 minutes)

Friday 1/17 - 90 minutes

Verbal: Analogies (10 min.) + Sentence Completion (10 min.) + Verbal Classification (10 min.)

Quantitative: Number analogies (10 min.) + Number Puzzles (10 min.) + Number Series (10 min.)

Nonverbal: Figure Matrices (10 min.) + Paper Folding (10 min.) + Figure Classification (10 min.)

Please help us to make the drop off and pick up on Scranton Street run smoothly. We are asking that parents pull all the way down to the stop sign. We have two entrances to the building. One in the front of the building and one down the sidewalk by the stop sign. Teachers are standing by the door that leads from the stop sign. By pulling all the way down, we can get students into the building quickly and cars off of Main Street at a more rapid pace. We really need your cooperation with this to ensure that traffic is moving along.

This week, there has been much talk about bed bugs amongst students and families. Please rest assured that we are being diligent in doing what needs to be done to keep our building sanitized. In an effort to be proactive, we are going to spray the building over the weekend. Please do your part by checking your child's belongings so we can work together to keep our building clean and safe. We are working diligently on our part to ensure that proper protocols are being followed to ensure the same.

The school day starts at 7:25. Students are expected to be in their seats and ready for the school day to begin at this time. Per the student handbook,

"Students not in their scheduled location when the late bell rings are tardy. Students arriving late to school after the start of first period will report directly, without delay, to the Main Office. A student arriving late is required to have a written parental excuse or a medical excuse. Students without written excuses for tardiness to school will be considered truant or tardy unexcused. The Main Office maintains a record of tardies to school while each teacher records the tardies to his/her class. A student will receive a detention when the student records five or more unexcused tardies. The consequences for tardiness will be determined on a full year basis. After three detentions, ISR can be assigned."

We understand that things happen and sometimes students are late. We are just asking that students consistently arrive to school on time. Please help us to teach students important good habits.

The Washington D.C. trip will take place on March 14th-16th and is open to any 8th grader who signs up and completes payment. The final payment is due this month. The next informative meeting in preparation for the trip will be in February. Look for an email regarding room assignments on Monday from Mr. Pfeil. This email will be sent to both students attending and parents.

Also as a reminder, any student who receives an in school suspension, out of school suspension or does not serve any detentions that are given will be ineligible to attend. Any questions should be directed to Mr. Pfeil.