The Boeckman Buzz
October 27th, 2024
A Note from Principal Sage
BMS Families,
It is hard to believe that next week the calendar will turn to November. We want to remind families and learners that, while some of our students may be excited about celebrating Halloween and wearing costumes, we will be business as usual at BMS and will not allow costumes during the school day. We encourage learners to enjoy Halloween outside of the school day.
Our first Parent Ambassador meeting will be on October 29th at 5:00 pm in the main office. You can enter through Door 2. We will discuss the year so far, our strategic framework, and plans to celebrate staff throughout the year.
The Parent Ambassadors are hosting a night of bowling to support teachers at BMS! It is $10 per person for one hour of bowling, including shoe rental. The Parent Ambassadors will receive a portion of the funds to support initiatives throughout the school year! Here is a link to sign up:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044BADA928A46-48493310-boeckman
Below, we have important information regarding checking learner progress in Infinite Campus. Please take a moment to review it.
We are looking forward to a great week at BMS!
As always, please reach out with any questions!
-Joe Sage, Principal
Referendum Information
As a district we have realigned $4+ million dollars to balance our budget. The board also made a decision to use assigned fund balance dollars to balance the $2.7 million deficit for the 2024-25 school year. However, the district still faces a budget deficit in 2025-26 of $4-5 million. In addition, the current operating levy that was passed in 2015 will expire after the 2025-26 school year. Expiration of this levy would result in a loss of approximately $5 million per year.
To address our financial challenges, the board voted unanimously to schedule an operating levy referendum election for November 5, 2024. The proposal on the ballot will ask voters to revoke the district’s existing operating levy of $696.15 per pupil and replace it with a new levy of $1,556.15 per pupil. The new levy will provide approximately $11 million ($5 million from the previous levy and $6 million from the new levy) per year for 10 years.
For more information on the 2024 Referendum follow this link.
Learner Progress - Infinite Campus
BMS Community,
Earlier in the year we communicated about how to check your student’s learning progress for the 2024-2025 school year. Since it is after MEA break and conferences, now would be a natural time in the year to check in on your learner’s progress within their courses. The best way to see individual assignments is to go through the Grade Book Updates tab in Infinite Campus. This will let you see a score or learning level for the specific assignment, with the most recent assignments at the top. Assignments would also be flagged as missing if the assignment has not been turned in. If you are looking for an overall snapshot, click the “Grade Book” tab underneath Grade Book Updates. The Grade Book tab will show the current learning level of competencies within a course.
Below are some Frequently Asked Questions to help:
When do I need to be concerned with what I see in Infinite Campus?
If you are seeing a ND (Not Demonstrated) or a Beginning learning level. Typically this means that something was not turned in or more evidence needed to be submitted. If you still have questions after talking it over with your learner, reach out to their teacher on how they can improve their score.
What does NY mean?
This means that the competency is not ready to be reported out yet. At this time of the year there may only be one competency per course that is not NY - this is normal.
Add other FAQs?
Please utilize the document below with checking learning levels in Campus:
Comunidad BMS,
A principios de año, comunicamos cómo verificar el progreso de aprendizaje de su estudiante para el año escolar 2024-2025. Dado que ha pasado el periodo de vacaciones y las conferencias de MEA, ahora es un momento adecuado en el año para revisar el progreso de su estudiante en sus cursos. La forma más efectiva de observar las tareas individuales es a través de la pestaña Actualizaciones del Libro de calificaciones en Infinite Campus. Esto le permitirá visualizar una puntuación o nivel de aprendizaje para cada tarea específica, con las tareas más recientes en la parte superior. Las tareas también se marcarán como faltantes si no se han entregado. Si busca una visión general, haga clic en la pestaña "Libro de calificaciones" ubicada debajo de Actualizaciones del Libro de calificaciones. La pestaña Libro de calificaciones mostrará el nivel de aprendizaje actual de las competencias dentro de un curso.
A continuación, se presentan algunas preguntas comunes que pueden resultarle útiles:
¿Cuándo debería preocuparme por lo que observo en Infinite Campus?
Si observa un nivel de aprendizaje ND (no demostrado) o principiante, esto generalmente indica que no se presentó algo o que se requería enviar más evidencia. Si aún tiene preguntas después de discutirlo con su alumno, póngase en contacto con su maestro para averiguar cómo puede mejorar su puntuación.
¿Qué representa NY?
Esto indica que la competencia todavía no está preparada para ser reportada. En esta época del año, es probable que solo exista una competencia por curso que no sea de NY; esto es habitual. Utilice el documento a continuación para comprobar los niveles de aprendizaje en el campus:
BMS Staff Member of the Week - Christy Hoyt
BMS Staff Member of the Week: Christy Hoyt!
We’re thrilled to highlight Christy Hoyt, our FACS teacher, who brings passion and dedication to Boeckman Middle School every day. Christy is loved by students and is known for her exceptional relationship-building skills. Her genuine care and support make a lasting impact on our learners!
Thank you, Christy, for everything you do for our students and school community!
BMS New Staff Highlight: Cailin McGrath
Name: Cailin McGrath
What is your position at BMS: Special Education Teacher
What is your hometown: Minnetonka
What information would you like to share about yourself (family, interests/hobbies, college, etc.): I come from a long line of teachers and married a teacher too! I am plenty busy at home with a 4 year old spitfire - Hadley, a 6 month old charmer - Callum, and 5 year old Blue Heeler - Millie. I love all things Irish, floral, vintage and Creighton Basketball (Roll Jays!). This is my 14th year teaching. I have taught everything from K-12, but my heart lies in middle school with kiddos who are learning, growing and so authentically themselves!
What is something people are surprised to learn about you: I was a national chess champion in 8th grade.
What excites you the most to work at BMS: I have been so impressed by the incredible staff and admin. They bring a positivity to this school community unlike anything I have ever seen.
What is your favorite memory from Middle School: One of my favorite moments from middle school was when we built solar ovens in science class. We took them outside and I cooked chocolate chip cookies on mine!
What is one big goal you have for this school year: I am looking forward to building strong connections with students and their families. I want to make middle school a memorable and positive experience for all!
Friendly Presence Program
Farmington Community,
We are looking for family and community volunteers to be present at Boeckman Middle School through our BMS Friendly Presence Program. We are excited to offer this volunteer opportunity and welcome the larger Farmington community into BMS. We are hoping many of you take this opportunity to be involved in our learners’ experience. If you are interested in volunteering, please complete this google form.
We want to create opportunities for you to support our youth here at Boeckman Middle School. The time commitment is very flexible and we are only building the volunteer bank at this time. Please consider joining us on a regular basis or a couple of times a year to be part of the BMS Friendly Presence Program.
When volunteering for Friendly Presence you might do any of the following.
Be in the halls between and during classes
Eat lunch with learners
Assist teachers in providing learning opportunities
Helping learners with coursework and/or time management
Help create positive messages around the building
Learner and staff appreciation events
You will be able to pick your times and share with us the activities you would be interested in and comfortable with while being a presence in our building. We want to find volunteer opportunities that fit your schedule and talents. If you have ideas or talents to share with Friendly Presence, let us know and we’ll work on creating that opportunity for you.
All volunteers will attend a short meeting to introduce Friendly Presence and complete our district’s background check. We will offer training multiple times at the beginning of the year and throughout the year.
We can’t wait to continue to build our community partnerships and have you in the building. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at 651-460-1400.
We will begin the program and trainings for this after the MEA break.
Joe Sage, Principal
Dan Thompson, Assistant Principal
Important Dates
Monday, October 14..............................Steel Drum Concert
Tuesday, October 15.............................Student Conferences
Thursday, October 17...........................NO SCHOOL
Friday, October 18.................................NO SCHOOL
Friday, October 25.................................End of Quinmester 1
Boeckman Middle School Hours
Office Hours: 7:30am - 4:00pm
PBIS at Boeckman Middle School
Useful Phone Numbers
School: 651-460-1400
Nurse: 651-460-1406
Food Service: 651-460-3820
Bus Company: 651-463-8689
School Fax: 651-460-1510
School Athletics: 651-252-2514
School Closing Line: 651-985-1100
Community Education: 651-460-3200
About us
The mission of BMS, a learner-centered community committed to personalization that nurtures curiosity, to ensure each learner exercises ownership for continuous personal growth to have a positive impact on themselves and their communities through:
Honoring uniqueness and valuing diverse experiences
Safe and empathetic environments that foster authentic relationships
Nurturing joy and well-being
Mistakes and reflection as essential components of learning
Partnering with our communities
Email: Jsage@farmington.k12.mn.us
Website: https://bms.farmington.k12.mn.us/
Location: 800 Denmark Avenue, Farmington, MN, USA
Phone: 651-460-1400
Facebook: facebook.com/boeckmantigers
Twitter: @BoeckmanTigers