BAM Bear Blast

Welcoming each and every student these last few days has made our school building feel joyful and complete once again! Happy 2023-24 School Year--it is going to be a great year of learning and growing together!

We look forward to welcoming families to our fall Back To School Night events! See the flyer below for details. The focus audience is parents and guardians. Families will begin in their child's Den Time class for the evening and are encouraged to arrive early for parking and travel to Den Time classes. Students are creating schedules for their families and may bring it home to Monday or Tuesday. Each Den Time teacher will also have a copy for each family in class as a back-up, in addition to ParentVue.

Special Note:

• If your child attends 6th grade SPECTRUM, please join Ms. Shay and Ms. Weeks in the BAM Auditorium on Tuesday, August 29th from 5:00-5:15pm and then continue to the regular BTSN.
• If your child attends 7th grade SPECTRUM, please join Ms. Shay and Ms. Weeks in the BAM Auditorium on Tuesday, September 5th from 5:00-5:15pm and then continue to the regular BTSN.
  
• PTSA representatives will be present for merchandise sales and membership registration.
• See the flyer below for Family Nights of the Fall Book Fair that is aligned to BTSN!

Please, see this LINK for the August 21st BAMex presentation slide deck containing helpful information if your 8th grader attends our annex at Indendence HS.

BAM is open for student arrival 8:00-8:25 am to allow students ample time to make it to their Den Time class by 8:30am. The cafeteria entrance is open beginning at 8:00am and then the main entrance and car line doors open at 8:10am.

Review the map below for helpful information on arrival and dismissal traffic and student patterns. Families are encouraged to plan entrance onto Learning Circle so that they make right turns only. If you need to access BAMex (Independence HS), please enter Learning Circle from the Independence HS electronic sign at the circle closest to Evergreen Mills Road.

Please, make sure to arrive at the main office no later that 3:00pm for early dismissals.

Thank you for helping us have a safe, orderly and efficient arrival and dismissal for all of our families and students!

Brambleton-Main Campus

BAMex Campus (Independence HS)

On Thursday, August 24th, 6th grade students were issued a new LCPS Chromebook for this school year. If your student did not return their elementary school Chromebook on this day, please ensure they bring it to school next week and return to our technology office in the library.

Beginning Friday, August 25th, new 7th & 8th Grade students to LCPS will be issued their Chromebook by the Digital Experience Specialist (DES) Team. All returning 7th & 8th Grade students will continue to utilize their prior issued Chromebook for this school year.

*If students were recently registered to LCPS, we may not have had their Chromebook on the day. As soon as the Chromebook arrives to Brambleton, our DES Team will contact the student during the school day to provide the Chromebook.

Families may contact the grade level dean or counselor with any questions.

LCPS’ meal payment system is called LINQ Connect (formally TITAN Family Portal). To register for a LINQ Connect account, go to LINQ Connect and click on the “Register” button in the top right corner.

At the end of last year, TITAN Family Portal, LCPS' previous meal payment system, changed to LINQ Connect. You can use the same credentials to login to LINQ Connect that you used with TITAN Family Portal. You do not need to create an account, change a password, etc.

If you used the TITAN Family Portal mobile app, you will need to download the LINQ Connect app. TITAN Family Portal mobile app will not work; however, all of your previous credentials will work in the LINQ Connect app. You can use the same credentials to log in to LINQ Connect that you used with TITAN Family Portal.

New this school year, LCPS is introducing an optional and free service for families called Lightspeed Parent Portal. Families who elect to use this service will receive weekly reports by email that list websites their student(s) are accessing when using their LCPS-issued Chromebook or laptop. For instructions, additional information and details on how to sign up, see the Lightspeed Parent Portal website.

The 2023-24 Student Locker Request Form was closed on August 16th to guarantee a locker would be assigned for the open house and first day of school. We know needs may change, so don't worry if you didn't request a locker now! It is important to note that families/students can request a locker at any point throughout the school year should they find it necessary. If you find that you want a locker after this initial August 16th due date, families/students can email their grade level dean to request a locker and we are happy to do so. The grade-level dean will fulfill the locker request as soon as possible. (6th Grade Dean - Kelley McNamee; 7th Grade Dean - Jeff Haynie; 8th Grade Dean - Matt Prince)

Join the PTSA for the 2023-2024 school year here: https://bam.ptboard.com/formvw?store=3865&form=5

Your membership helps support student events, staff appreciation activities and school improvement projects. Regular membership is $20/family. Booster Membership is $60/family and includes a fleece blanket and Bear Bucks.

See Flyer below for details. Join TODAY!

Family Assistance Program:

If you are a family needing assistance of any kind this year, please complete the BAM Family Assistance Program Form. We have a strong community at BAM and are here to support one another. While we cannot guarantee that we can meet every need, we do our best to help. Our goal is to help families meet their needs by referring them to existing resources. To request assistance, please complete the form below:

Register for Family Assistance Program

Bears Care Program:

We have been grateful to many of our parents over the past years who have offered to join our Bears Care Program (formerly Needs Network). Families who have participated in this program have helped us to ensure our students have what they need to be successful, whether it's school supplies, clothing, grocery gift cards, holiday wish list items, or other needs that arise. If you are a family who would like to help other families within our BAM community, we are looking for volunteers who would be contacted on an as-needed basis to donate items to students and families who could benefit from assistance. To register to become a Bears Care volunteer, please complete the form below:

Register to Become a Bears Care Volunteer

If you have any questions about these programs, please contact Lauren Dauphinais, BAM's Family Liaison, at lauren.dauphinais@lcps.org. All information is kept confidential.

Email: chad.obrien@lcps.org
Website: https://www.lcps.org/BAM
Location: 23070 Learning Circle, Ashburn, VA, USA
Phone: 703-957-4450
Twitter: @BAM_MS_Official