June Newsletter

The last day of school is Thursday, June 5th. Enjoy your summer!

2025-2026 Dates to Know

• Tuesday, August 19th: 6th Grade Orientation 10:00am-12:30pm
• Thursday, August 21st: Back to School Night 4:30pm-8pm
• Wednesday, August 27th: 🍎First Day of School

Dear Ben Franklin Families,

As we wrap up another meaningful year at Ben Franklin Middle School, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our families for your support, partnership, and trust. Together, we’ve navigated challenges, celebrated successes, and remained committed to what matters most—our students.

This year, we set ambitious goals as a school community, and I’m proud to say we’ve made strong progress. From strengthening our commitment to our School Improvement Plan to deepening relationships across classrooms and teams, our staff has worked with intention and care to support every learner. These goals were more than checkboxes—they reflected our belief in continuous growth and in creating a school environment where all students feel seen, valued, and capable.

To our 8th grade students moving on to high school: we are incredibly proud of who you are and all you’ve accomplished. We wish you nothing but the best as you begin this exciting new chapter. Remember, you will always be part of the Ben Franklin family.

To our incoming 6th graders and families—we can't wait to welcome you to BFMS! Our halls will soon fill with new energy and curiosity, and we look forward to getting to know you and helping you feel at home in our community.

And to all of our returning students: thank you for a wonderful year. We hope your summer is filled with rest, fun, and adventure—and we’ll be ready to welcome you back in the fall!

Wishing each of you a safe and joyful summer break. Thank you for being an essential part of what makes Ben Franklin such a special place.

All my best,
Kirstin
Principal, Ben Franklin Middle School

Thank you to everyone who helped donate to the Pandans for their son Mekong as he undergoes treatment for leukemia! We raised $1991.71 as a school. The grade who donated the most money was 8th grade, beating 6th grade by only $2.51! Mr. Snyder will be getting a pie in the face and Officer Horner said he will actually take 2 pies to the face since we were so close to $2000! Thank you everyone! Another $500 was raised through the BF Strong/Team Pandan shirt sales thanks to BSN. Thank you everyone who purchased a shirt to support the Pandans.

We have big hearts in our Ben Franklin family! 6th grader Jack Groener heard about Aya Pandan’s little boy Mekong current medical challenges and wanted to do more than bringing his loose change. He mentioned to his mom, Diane, about Mekong. Diane very graciously dropped off a donation from Scheels yesterday to Aya. Thank you a million times.

As we come to the end of the school year we'd like to take a moment to recognize the following staff and thank them for their years of service to Ben Franklin and Fargo Public Schools! We wish Sue and Ann all the best in retirement!

All library books were due back last Friday, May 30th, so please encourage your students to get theirs turned in now. Students will be turning in their PLDs on Tuesday, June 3rd. Please ensure they bring their PLDs, chargers and neoprene cases with them to school.

• At the end of the 2024-2025 school year 60%, or 530, BFMS students will be proficient on 100% of the Skills in All Content Areas.

• At the end of the 2024-2025 school year, the average score of secondary students who believe all students are treated with respect will increase compared to the 2023-2024 school year.

• By the end of the 2024-2025 school year 90%, or 797, BFMS students will identify a trusted adult as measured by counseling minute meetings twice per year.
• Behaviors reported to occur in the classroom will decrease from the start to the end of the 2024-2025 school year as measured by the PowerSchool reporting form and/or EduClimber Data.
• The number of periods of TRU-IS (In School Truancy) will decrease as compared to the 2023-2024 school year as measured by PowerSchool Attendance Report monthly.

Going to kindergarten is important for children. It helps them build upon all the learning that they have done so far. In kindergarten, children will learn skills they will build on throughout their formal education and throughout life. It is important to register early to allow FPS enough time to plan ahead for the school year to give students the best experience possible.

Kindergarten Registration for Fargo Public Schools opens on February 3. If your child turns 5 by July 31, 2025, they are eligible to attend school in the fall. Visit FPS kindergarten registration webpage to learn more about the registration process.

This spring the Ben Franklin Library held its 2nd annual Flicker Tale Reading Challenge. Twenty-eight students completed all four books nominated for the North Dakota Library Association’s Flicker Tale Award, and celebrated with a Donut Party on May 13th. A total of 83 readers participated in this year’s challenge. The award gives librarians and readers the opportunity to vote for their favorite book, determining this year’s winner!

Thank you to our Parent Teacher Organization and all families who donated snacks and beverages to the teachers and staff at Ben Franklin for Teacher Appreciation Week! Also thank you to Deeks Pizza who donated lunch one of the days! Besides the pizzas, staff were given snacks and beverages and Sandy's donuts. Four members of our PTO brought their soda- pop and snack carts around for all staff. Thank you so much to everyone!

As our speech and debate season comes to end, we would like to congratulate these students on receiving 2025 North High Speech Team Awards:

Gabriella Wang for Top Novice of the Year

Gabriella Wang and Beatrix Iversen for Rookie of the Year

Allison Choi for Outstanding Debater and Spartacus Award

Our morning choir group, 8th Street Singers, and our morning orchestra group, Crystal Strings, performed at Riverview Place on Friday, May 23rd.

The BFMS Builders Club celebrated their official charter with Kiwanas International. The regional MIN-DAK Kiwannas President came to honor some of the founding members. If you will have a 6th-7th-8th grader at Ben Franklin next year, encourage them to join Builders Club. Service to others can be an empowering character trait.

Mr. Skime's phy ed classes competed in the 2nd annual World Cup of Kan Jam. Day 1, students were in groups of four where the emphasis was placed on repetitions, meaning points were more important than wins/losses. On day 2, groups were divided evenly depending on their points from day 1. Wins were now counted but points were also still tracked. On the final day, students were paired up equally, and a tournament was played for the Golden Kan Jam!

This year's winners were:

6th Grade: Jack Groener, Alexander Blomquist, Lola Gadberry, Audrey Dekrey, Abram Bye, Olivia Ehli

7th Grade: Kolton Hanson, Jett Hoffman, Evan Rooks, Brady Rydell, Mattias Tackling, Vance Moench

8th Grade: Evan Johnson (2-Time), Jacob Adejide, Lucy Rydell, Lennon Grovum, Tristen Ramsey, Ethan Anderson

Congratulations to all!

Thank you for all of the ways you have supported the PTO this year! Your generous donations helped show our appreciation to Ben Franklin staff, supported supplies and activities for Ben Franklin students and strengthened our Ben Franklin community! Thank you!

As a reminder, any medications must be picked up from the nurse’s office by the last day of class - Thursday, June 5th at 3pm. If you would like to come earlier in the week, we can count out the meds needed for the rest of the school year and return the rest. We cannot send leftover medication home with your student. It must be picked up by an adult. Any medications not picked up by the last day of school will be destroyed. If you have any questions on this, feel free to reach out to Nurse Jacki at 701-446-3640.

Current 6th graders: All students will be required to have their TDap and Meningococcal vaccine prior to returning to class this fall. Summer is a great time to get caught up on immunizations. The Fargo Cass Public Health office will be hosting Back-to-School Immunization Clinics every Tuesday in August, 8am-3:30pm. You can call 701-241-1383 to set up an appointment.

Communicating with parents and families is always our goal at Ben Franklin Middle School.

You may subscribe to Ben Franklin's Newsletter and Daily Announcements on our website by going to “Content E-Alerts” on our website. Parents/guardians can sign up to receive alerts about new Daily Announcements, Newsletters, etc., for each school your students attend. E-Alerts are sent to users who have subscribed to a homepage or website section of interest. You will receive an email notification that content has been modified.

You may also want to add our school calendar to your personal calendar. This will help you stay informed about all the activities that are happening at Ben Franklin.

We would like to remind you to always keep your student’s information up-to-date. If anything changes during the course of the school year, you will need to log in to your parent/guardian PowerSchool account and make the updates. Should the school need to get in contact with you or your student has a medical related issue, we need to be able to reach you or your emergency contact.

Jennifer Liebersbach, Assistant Principal

Matt Quintus, Assistant Principal/Activities Director

Jacob Snyder, Dean of Students

Website: https://www.fargo.k12.nd.us/benfranklin
Location: 1420 8th Street North, Fargo, ND, USA
Phone: 701-446-3600