Weekly Update

We hope you join us for our upcoming Principal’s Coffee Chat tomorrow January 31, 2025, at 9:00 AM. This session will focus on school safety and will feature Mr. James Brown, CSD Director of Safety and Security, as our guest speaker. Everyone is welcome to join us for coffee and meaningful conversation!

Best regards,

Derrick L. Thomas

Principal, Beacon Hill Middle School

Dear families and students,

After 12 wonderful years at BHMS, I will be moving over to the Wilson Center this week as CSD's Human Resources Director. This school, these teachers, and our students have profoundly shaped my life. Spending 24 years in middle school may mean I’m a little crazy—or it’s proof of my deep love for this unique and transformative stage in a student’s life. While many shy away from thinking about these years, I’ve truly cherished them.

I cannot express enough how much I adore our students. My days at Beacon Hill have been a whirlwind of activity: supporting students through friendships, mediating conflicts, guiding their academics, helping with schedules, and simply listening to their needs in the moment. Watching them shine in sports, music, and academic pursuits has been awe-inspiring. My greatest hope has always been to help them build resilience and learn to advocate for themselves as they grow into the incredible individuals they are becoming. To our parents, thank you for the privilege of working alongside you and your children.

The staff at Beacon Hill Middle School is the kind of team you dream of. I see them every day going above and beyond—staying late, making calls, reworking lessons—doing whatever it takes to make learning meaningful and engaging for your students. They deserve to be celebrated, and I encourage you to let them know just how much their dedication means. It has been an honor to work with them each and every day.

Similarly, the administration and academic coaches at BHMS are truly one of a kind. They have inspired, challenged, and helped me grow as an educator and leader. Together, we’ve worked tirelessly to prioritize what’s best for our students and staff. I feel incredibly lucky to have collaborated with such thoughtful and dedicated colleagues, each of whom has taught me something about myself and about the power of people working together for a shared purpose.

As I prepare to leave the school building, I do so with mixed emotions. While this is bittersweet, I’m excited to continue my work with our City Schools of Decatur staff. My focus will be to build on my experiences and education to recruit top-tier talent and ensure that CSD remains a rewarding workplace for educators and a transformative place for students to thrive. Thank you, Beacon Hill, for the memories, the lessons, and the love.

With much gratitude.

Sarah Talton-Buck

This is a friendly reminder that the window to verify your child's 7th and 8th grade course requests for the 2025-26 school year closes tomorrow, Friday, January 31st. Please log into the Infinite Campus parent portal to review and verify their selections.

Important: You may notice that your child's schedule appears incomplete at this time. This is perfectly normal. This verification process is only for ELA, Math, and two Connection course choices. World Language, Social Studies, Science, and any remaining Connection courses will be added to their schedules at a later date. You are simply verifying the choices your student has already made.

To reiterate, you will only be verifying:

• ELA
• Math (If Infinite Campus indicates two math selections but the selection is correct, no change is needed; we will fix the duplicates.)
• Two Connection courses

All families need to complete the verification form in Infinite Campus no later than tomorrow, Friday, January 31st. Email verifications and requests for changes will not be honored if the form is not completed. Finalized schedules will be shared in late summer, at which time there will be an opportunity to request course corrections. Students will also receive a final paper copy of their schedule on the first day of school.

For instructions on how to view your child's requests and complete the verification process, click here.

CSD will host five hearings in January for the public to learn more about the district's plans to exercise the one-time option for local governments to opt out of Georgia House Bill 581, which establishes a statewide floating homestead exemption and cap on property taxes.

The schedule for the remaining public hearing is:

Thursday, January 30, 6:45 p.m. (virtual only, access the meeting here)

Passed during the 2024 Legislative Session, HB 581 impacts property taxes for cities, counties and school districts by capping the annual increase in property values for tax purposes, effective January 1, 2025. The bill aims to provide property tax relief for local residents, using the Consumer Price Index as an inflationary index. Since school districts rely heavily on property taxes for funding, this cap could impact the availability of CSD schools' resources and programs.

The Board of Education will follow the legal procedures to opt out of the exemption, including holding the three virtual public hearings. Following the hearings, the board will vote to adopt an opt-out resolution at the February Board of Education meeting and file the resolution with the Secretary of State by March 1, 2025.

As we create more opportunities for dialogue around CSD, families are invited to attend an upcoming winter listening session where Dr. Whitaker will hear directly from our community about the issues that matter to them.

• Monday, February 3, 5:30-6:30 p.m., College Heights ECLC Media Center

• Monday, February 10, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (virtual)

A huge congratulations to the cast, crew, volunteers, and director, Whitley Fowler, for an amazing show! Your dedication and talent truly shone on stage, and we are all so proud of what you accomplished. It was a paw-some performance!

Disney's Lion King JR. was presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com

Our Academic "Bowldogs" brought home 3rd place at the PAGE Academic Bowl state championship! Our team began last year when current 8th grader Asher Lewin wanted to start a club. He applied for a DEF grant for our set of buzzers we use for practice, and his dad, Micah Lewin has been our parent coach. We had a great first year, narrowly missing the chance to go to state. This year we have added depth to our team, and the students have learned strategy. The team lost only to Howard in Regionals, so we qualified for state. At state on Saturday, we went undefeated in the morning to make it to the final 8. We came close, but lost to Howard to give us our third place finish.

Thank you to our teacher sponsor Liz Williams for supporting the kids and hosting sessions to prepare them!

Congratulations:

Jack Barbian

Sam Charen

Nate Clement

Ben Corcoran

Katrina Kolesnikova

Asher Lewin

Crystal Liang

Grant Mann

Avinash Rathod

Jonah Sherman-Cearly

Bella Zhang

Sebastian Katz and Odin Smith were part of our Regional team as well.

This month, thanks to a generous grant from the Decatur Education Foundation, Beacon Hill students had the chance to shine in the nationwide Great History Challenge online competition. And shine they did! Huge congratulations to our top five scorers: Parker Mayo, Brian Barnett, Lucas Pope, London Russell, and Rowan Suhr-Sytsma!

Get ready to cheer on our history heroes! The top 50 scorers school-wide will be invited to compete in the regional competition on February 27 at North Gwinnett Middle School. Let's go, Beacon Hill!

Does reading feel like a chore for your middle schooler? You’re not alone, but the good news is that small changes can turn it into an activity they love!

Reading opens doors to imagination, adventure, and learning, but when kids associate it with pressure, it’s no wonder they avoid it. By making reading fun, you can change their perspective.

Here are five quick strategies to try:

• Let your child choose books they’re excited about.

• Explore audiobooks for an engaging, hands-free experience.

• Turn reading into a game with fun challenges.

• Read aloud together to make it a shared activity.

• Celebrate reading milestones to build motivation.

Curious to learn more?

👉 Read the full article for detailed tips and pro advice.

Thanks to the Decatur Education Foundation and Beacon Hill PTA for supporting our free resources!

Please take our school’s climate survey and make your opinion count! This survey expires March 31, 2025. Survey participation is critical because the data will be used to calculate School Climate Star Ratings for the 2025-26 school year. City Schools of Decatur appreciates the contributions of parents, students, and staff! Click to complete

Plans are underway for another amazing event to raise money for Decatur Athletics – The Bulldog Bash! Save the date for this year's event on Saturday, March 22, at Independent Distilling Company. The event will feature a live online auction that includes everything from artwork and experiences to trips, restaurant gift cards, sporting event tickets, self-care, and more.

Do you have a connection, talent, vacation home or something unique that can help us raise money for our student-athletes? If so, please fill out this form! More information to come!

The Decatur Prevention Initiative (DPI) seeks the community's help in learning more about community perceptions and concerns regarding underage drinking and substance misuse among Decatur's youth. Please take this anonymous survey to help DPI plan, implement, evaluate and sustain programming.

Your Safe Routes to School (SRTS) champions would love your support to help recognize and celebrate our wonderful bus drivers, who safely get our kids to and from school every day, regardless of the weather or how much traffic is on our streets. Many of our bus drivers work double duty…getting students to games, events and field trips.

As we did for our crossing guards, we are collecting contributions for our CSD bus drivers until Friday, February 7. All donations will be distributed to our bus drivers at an event on February 11. If you would like to contribute, donations may be sent to Laura Spriggs through Venmo or PayPal (@gospriggs). You also can drop off gift cards at the BHMS front office or deliver your own notes of kindness directly to your bus driver. Please remind your children to greet and thank their driver this month…and every day!

Aspen Grove Counseling and Wellness in Decatur is offering a six-week middle school parent support group on the challenges of raising adolescents, covering social issues, mental health and academic pressure, with a focus on improving parent and child connections and prioritizing parent self-care. They have offered a few discounted spots, and some scholarships are available through the PTA. If cost is a barrier, please reach out to president@bhmspta.org. Participation is capped at eight people, but if there is enough interest, additional groups will be offered in the future.

When: Tuesdays from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm, starting February 25

Duration: Six weeks

Cost: $25 per session (with a six-session commitment)

For more information and to register, reach out to Keri Challen at keri@decaturgacounseling.com or (770) 430-0919.

Raising middle schoolers can be hard! Would you like to talk about it...or anything else...with other BHMS parents? Join us for a casual meet-up of BHMS parents and caregivers at Waller's Coffee Shop (240 DeKalb Industrial Way) on Saturday, February 8 from 8:30 am to 10:30 am. Drop in for a few minutes or the whole time...because it takes a village!

The BHMS PBIS Committee needs volunteers for 50-minute time slots during each grade’s lunch period. Can’t be on site to volunteer? Please consider donating treats to stock the store. We need full-size candy bars and candy in general. Sign up at https://bit.ly/PBIS-Store.

The annual Mead Road Mardi Gras Parade will be held Saturday, March 1. If you’re interested in being part of a BHMS parade krewe, then please email president@bhmspta.org. This could involve as little as reminding students the date and location to line up or as much as creating a float and costumes. Proceeds from this event support the Decatur Education Foundation’s music grants in all CSD schools. Laissez les bons temps rouler! Let the good times roll!

As the new year and second semester kick off, please consider getting involved with the PTA. Maybe fall was too busy for you and you have more time for spring events? We appreciate any help you can provide…whether for an individual event or as part of a recurring committee. Express your interest here: Volunteer Interest Form.

You can find more information on the following:

Read recent issues of the weekly update below. Older issues of CSD Weekly may be found on CSD's district newsletter webpage or on our BHMS website

• BHMS Weekly Update - January 23

• BHMS Weekly Update- January 16

• BHMS Weekly Update - January 9

Social Media pages:

• CSDBeaconhllmiddleschool Facebook page
• BeaconhillPTA Facebook page
• CSDbeaconhill Instagram page
• Beaconhllmiddleart Instagram page

Other:

• Whom to contact if list
• Counseling Website
• School Website