![page background](https://cdn.smore.com/_fr/blossom-09.f57238e8.jpg)
8th Grade Newsletter April 2024
B. F. Butler Middle School
Welcome!
Report Cards
This is a reminder that starting with Q3 Report cards will no longer be sent home. All of these reports will need to be accessed through the Aspen portal.
Earlier this year, Parent/Guardian login info was sent home to families. Students also have access to their Aspen portal and check their grades on a regular basis.
Q3 Report Cards will be sent home electronically through the Aspen portal on Friday April 14th.
If you do not have your your login info or need help logging into Aspen, please reach out to your student's homeroom teacher for more info!
The link for ASPEN is below:
https://ma-lowell.myfollett.com/aspen/logon.do
Information will be shared soon on our Quarter 3 Awards Assembly.
MCAS Testing Dates
MCAS testing for Grade 8 students will begin the first week of April. Students will be taking MCAS assessments for ELA, Math, and Science this year. The Civics MCAS assessment is also being piloted for Grade 8.
Students need to make sure they have their fully charged Chromebooks in school on each of the following dates. Please help remind students to charge their Chromebook at home the night before.
Grade 8 ELA MCAS - April 2nd & April 3rd
Grades 8 Math MCAS - May 7th & May 8th
Grades 8 Science MCAS - May 15th & May 16th
Grades 8 Civics MCAS - May 22nd & May 23rd
We ask for your support in encouraging your child to give their best effort on the tests. Please also support them by making sure she/he gets a good night sleep before testing days, attends school every day, arrives on time and is not dismissed for any reason during testing periods.
Upcoming Field Trips
We are excited to announce that the 8th Grade students will be taking a Field trip to the Freedom Trail on April 26th. Please be on the look out for permission slips this week!
There will also be a 8th grade field trip to the Movie Theater on May 24th. This will be tied to MCAs expectations. In order to attend this field trip, we are asking that:
- Students are in attendance for school on each testing date.
- During testing, students are working diligently, displaying perseverance, and following testing expectations.
Feel free to reach out to the Grade 8 Team with any questions!
8th Grade End of Year Activities
Paperwork with information for End of Year Activities was sent home on Wednesday April 3rd. The paperwork included:
- A cover letter discussing End of Year Activities with dates and information about 8th Grade dues
- A contract form that needs to be signed by a parent/guardian and by the student
- Information about donations for the 8th Grade Dinner Dance
- A field trip permission slip for Canobie Lake Park trip
Please sign and return the contract and permission slip. If you plan to donate items for the 8th grade dinner dance, please use the QR code to sign up.
Upcoming Dates for your reference:
Friday June 7th: 8th Grade Dinner Dance 6:30pm - 9:30pm (at the school)
Wednesday June 12th: Canobie Lake Park Field Trip
Monday June 17th: 8th Grade Moving Up Ceremony 6:00pm (at the school)
Classroom Updates
Math News
Students are currently working in Module 5 which is all about patterns and exponents. They have been using patterns they observe to formulate rules about multiplying and dividing with powers and will relate this to working with numbers written in Scientific Notation.
Students are also looking at Data in skills classes to determine if relationships exist between two variables. We will be conducting an experiment to collect data and determine if their is a correlation between a student's height and their arm-span. We will share projects in the next Monthly newsletter!
Science News
A note that my due date is May 6, so I will be taking my maternity leave soon. We have found a substitute and we will be going over lesson plans for when she takes over.
ELA News
After MCAS, we’re looking forward to our Dystopian fiction unit.
Social Studies News
Upcoming Events
Please see the School calendar for other important dates and events!
- Fri., April 12th: Q3 Report Cards posted in Aspen
- Fri., April 12th: Spring Vacation begins at close of school
8th Grade Chromebook Policy
The school has been working diligently to make sure all student's have access to a Chromebook. Students use Chromebooks daily in some of their classrooms. It is important that students use the school Chromebooks appropriately and respectfully. The Grade 8 Team has initiated a policy to help support this.
If a student is misusing a school Chromebook during the school day, the computer will be taken away as follows:
1st offense: 24 hours
2nd offense: 48 hours
3rd offense: a week
4th offense: referral to office
If a student loses their Chromebook for a period of time, paper copies for any assignments needed will be supplied.
Student of the Month for February/March
Each month, one 8th grader will be chosen from each homeroom to be out Students of the Month. These are students who represents the Butler core values, follows the PBIS school-wide expectations, and/or is making good choices during the month.
Below are the students who were chosen for February/March. Students pictures will be posted outside the library to celebrate this accomplishment!
Homeroom 229 Rosaly Chao
Homeroom 230 Alivyana Greene
Homeroom 236 Serena Tim
Homeroom 237 Jocta Costa
Congratulations to all of our recipients!
The next Student of the Month recipients will be from April. Recipients will be listed in the May newsletter.
PBIS
At the Butler we strive to recognize students who exemplify the core values of our school. As a school community, we put value into "Taking care of ourselves", "Taking Care of others", and "Taking care of the community."
The 8th grade team recognizes students who demonstrate these core values with stamps. Students have been collecting STAMPS in their assignment notebooks daily. Stamps are collected to attend grade level activities as well as to be traded in for grade level prizes (stickers, candy, pencils, etc.)
The students were celebrated on Thursday March 28th with choices that included Minute to Win It, Video Games, Bracelet making, Board Games, and Karaoke. All students who had the required amount of stamps got to choose which activity they wanted to join.
Please enjoy some pictures below.
Bracelet Making
Minute to Win It (Pencil flipping)
Minute to Win It (penny stack)
MCAS Spirit Week
To get ready for Spirit Week, the school held Spirit Week!!! So much fun was had by all!
M Match Day
C Culture Day
A All Through The Decades
S Swap Day
High School Corner
Greater Lowell Technical High School
The student course placement test will be taking place on Saturday April 6th from 12:00 - 1:30p at Greater Lowell.
Optional: If students require a ride, they can show up at the Butler by 11:30 am to take a bus to Greater Lowell.
Lowell High School
The Lowell high school High Honors Math placement test will be taking place at the Butler on Tuesday 4/9/24 during Periods 1 and 2. Students who meet the requirements for the High honors class have been shared information about this date.
We will update this section as more information from the high schools are shared.
Grade 8 Team
Math Teachers:
Mrs. Guerriero aguerriero@lowell.k12.ma.us
Mrs. Pappalardo cpappalardo@lowell.k12.ma.us
ELA Teachers:
Ms. Dabilis ddabilis@lowell.k12.ma.us
Ms. Sayles jsayles@lowell.k12.ma.us
Science Teacher:
Mrs. Cabrera alcabrera@lowell.k12.ma.us
Social Studies Teacher:
Mr. King aking@lowell.k12.ma.us
Special Education Teachers:
Ms. Loughlin aloughlin@lowell.k12.ma.us
Mrs. St. Louis kstlouis@lowell.k12.ma.us
Mr. Gibson kgibson@lowell.k12.ma.us
Butler Middle School
Website: https://www.lowell.k12.ma.us/butler
Location: 1140 Gorham Street, Lowell, MA, USA
Phone: 978-937-8973