BGMS Bulletin

We are so excited to welcome a new Bison to our herd...meet Millie, our therapy pup. Students, staff and parents loved Winston, our therapy dog at BMMS, who was such a welcome presence and brought a lot of smiles and joy last year. We were sad to lose him to the "school in Greenville," but we are glad he will continue to share joy with those students. This week, we welcomed Millie, who will be with us a couple of days each week. Mrs. Bowman, our Counseling Coordinator and her family welcomed Millie into their home in May and they have worked this summer on obedience training and learning how to be a therapy dog, which means she will provide support to the community environment. She made her debut this week and was a big hit!! She is a loving pup who is very excited to see the students. Millie visited with them in the hallways and they were able to see her in the counseling office. You can find out more about the benefits and work of therapy dogs in this article.

Reading and Math VGA's will be taken in the next couple of weeks. Please find the Superintendent's letter from Dr. Bond by clicking on the button below. The schedule for BGMS testing is as follows:

August 28th - Reading in all grades

September 4th - Math in all grades (Alg. 1 students will not take the Fall or Winter VGA in math)

Mrs. Katie Bowman and Ms. Suzanne Brubeck, the school counselors at BGMS, are excited to meet you and work with you and your students this year! Mrs. Bowman works with students who have last names starting with letters A-J. She can be reached at: bowman.kb2@augusta.k12.va.us or the school phone number, 540-414-0510. Mrs. Brubeck works with students who have last names that begin with letters K-Z. She can be reached at: brubeck.ss@augusta.k12.va.us, or the school phone number, 540-414-0510. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s school counselor with any important information or concerns!

August 20 - 1:00

Fundraiser Kick-off

School House Fundraising is sponsoring this fundraiser. Students will sell popcorn, soft baked cookies and coffee in a catalog. Also included will be an online store has hundreds of items available! Do your Christmas shopping early with our fundraiser! We hope to raise $10,000 profit and that money will be used for various projects and needs around the school such as student incentives, supplies, teaching aides, professional development, staff appreciation, and much more. If we meet our goal, there will be a special stunt or crazy plan that Mrs. Howdyshell and Mr. Lunger will have to do. More on that to come!

August 28

Fall Reading VGA

September 4

Fall Math VGA

September 10

Fall School Picture Day

Queen City Photography will be our photographer. Information will be sent home closer to that time.

Gentle Reminders of Our Procedures/Expectations

Students have been doing a great job of meeting our HERD expectations. These were discussed in class and during grade-level assemblies during the first week of school. Our practices stem from policies found in the ACPS 2024-2025 Handbook for Middle and High School Students and Parents

Please note the following:

~Attendance Policy - pp 23-24

~Medication Guidelines - pp. 27-28

~Dress Expectations - p. 13

~Students are not permitted to bring energy drinks to BGMS and encouraged to drink water while in class. Students are welcome to consume other types of drinks (soft drinks, juice, etc.) during lunch.

~Pajamas are not to be worn as typical dress, only on spirit days.

~Cellphones and Smartwatches are to be turned off and stored in students' bookbags while at school. Students are not to carry them throughout the day.

Parents are encourage to reach out to Mrs. Howdyshell or Mr. Lunger if there are questions regarding policies and practices.

Reminder about Fees

All parents are asked to pay a $35 technology fee. Mrs. Knight, our bookkeeper, will be sending reminders to those who have not paid. These fees can be paid online through the Parent Portal or we welcome payments of checks or cash at school.

We are excited to share that our attendance rate for the first couple of weeks of school is 96.82%! That is awesome and we want to continue to see those numbers. 7th grade students are leading the HERD with 98.6%, 8th grade is a close second with 97% and 6th grade is catching up with 95%! These numbers are just where we hope to stay all year. We really want our students to be engaged and encourage parents to reach out if there are challenges or students are reporting concerns about coming to school. Please check out the flyer attached below regarding the importance of keeping track of school attendance.

Volleyball:

Over 20 hardworking players came out last week to try out for the BGMS volleyball team. Unfortunately, we were not able to keep everyone. Coach Knott and Mrs. Sanger, the sports coordinator, appreciated the effort made by all those who participated!

Congratulations to the BGMS 2024 volleyball team seventh graders: Kayla, Madison, Alyssa, Adalynn, Madelyn, Adeline, Adelyn, and Kynlea. Sixth graders: Madison B, Madison L, Adrienne, Kynlea, Skylar, Genevieve, and Adelyn S.

Mark your calendars for Monday, August 26th at 5:30 for the first game of the season between BGMS at Stewart Middle Schools. Go Bison!

Cross Country:

BGMS cross-country runners will continue to have “open” runs next week. We are looking for more runners! We need at least 5 male and 5 female runners for our first-ever BGMS team to be counted in meets. If you have a runner interested a VHSL physical is needed to come join the fun! Team commitment day and mandatory meeting will be Thursday, August 22nd at 4:30 in the BGMS cafeteria. Many details and logistics for the upcoming season will be shared. Thank you!

If you have any questions you can contact Julie Sanger, BGMS athletic coordinator at jsanger@augusta.k12.va.us; Volleyball, Coach Knott at knott.jm@augusta.k12.va.us; and Cross-country, Coach Durham at durham.dm@augusta.k12.va.us.