Upcoming Events: (Note: Please review the dates as dates are subjected to change due to a number of factors from one newsletter to the next).
Looking Ahead:
Note from Dr. Anderson Over the past few weeks BMS has made some efforts to reformat and update our BMS Homepage at www.barringtonmiddle.org. In particular, we added a direct link to the electronic display on our TV Lobby. This display is the same display that your children see on a daily basis. In addition to our weekly newsletter and daily updates on our events tab on our website, families now will be able to see the day to day highlights on our BMS TV! BMS Spotlight on Learning This week we would like to shine our BMS Spotlight on our Science Olympiad Team. On Saturday, April 21, 2018, our BMS Science Olympiad team put forth a valiant effort in the State’s competition and placed 3rd overall, just two points short of 2nd place. In particular, the team took home 13 total medals (most in competition) with 3 first place medals, 7 second place medals, and 3 third place medals! Everyone worked really hard in their respective events and the students continue to improve as a team! In particular, I would like to thank Mrs. Whitney (parent volunteer) and her high school son, Callum Whitney, for their leadership. Great work team! BMS News you can Use BMS Building Update: The new building construction is well underway. To help with communication, each week I have been releasing the BMS Building Project Blog. You can access the blog by visiting the BMS Building Project Homepage or the direct link to the BMS Building Project Blog. In addition, each Tuesday morning we will have a student volunteer give updates to our student body during morning announcements. BMS Building Groundbreaking Ceremony: The BMS Building Groundbreaking Ceremony is scheduled for Monday, May 7, 2018 from 9:00 am to 10:00 am. In addition to inviting state/local elected officials, various members of our greater Barrington community, School Committee/Building Committee members, as well as members from the construction/architect teams, we will also be inviting our entire student body/faculty to attend as well. Please stay tuned for more details and a schedule. BMS Cluster Experience and Program Preference Forms: On Tuesday, May 1, 2018, I will be emailing our BMS Cluster Experience and Program Preference forms to our families. We ask that families complete the form by Monday, May 21, 2018 as we will be using the information you provide to begin the scheduling process for the 2018 - 2019 academic school year. Please know that we understand the excitement that can build around the cluster assignment process. For a middle school student, cluster assignments can be a big deal! Throughout the summer months we work hard to ensure each cluster is balanced by gender, needs, and abilities. We do take into consideration cluster experience preferences from families, but due to the above mentioned considerations, not all preferences will/can be fulfilled. (Note: typically only 60% of preferences are fulfilled.) Once a child is assigned to a cluster, there will be no changes made to cluster assignments. Barrington Police Department Anonymous Tip Line: The Barrington Police Department has set up an anonymous tip line at 401-437-3933. Chief Lacrosse welcomes students, parents, and community members to use the line if they would like to remain anonymous and have something to report. BMS Safety and Security Question/Concern Form: Recently, our school district held a few different types of forums regarding safety and security in our buildings. These forums included the larger safety/security meeting at Barrington High School, BMS Safety and Security PTO meeting, as well as the ALICE training for the BMS Faculty and Staff by the Barrington Police Department. Our goal is to collect questions/concerns from our learning community and address each question/concern systematically. Please complete this form if you have any questions/concerns regarding BMS's safety and security. As always, please email Dr. Anderson if you have any questions about this form. https://goo.gl/forms/Qxm3Q8WKfpyH7rDw2 RICAS (Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System) This year, we introduced the new RICAS assessments (or Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System modeled after the Massachusetts Comprehensive State Assessment) in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA)/literacy. All students in grades 6 through 8 will participate. Students will take RICAS assessments using a laptop and will complete two sessions for both Math and ELA. The RICAS ELA assessment began April 3rd. The Math RICAS assessment will begin May 4th. Released items and practice tests are available. RICAS Student Tutorial and Practice Tests can be accessed here: ricas.pearsonsupport.com RICAS Released Items can be accessed here: ricas.pearsonsupport.com/released-items New Science Assessment Our state science assessments, will also change this year. Students in grade 8 will continue to take the new assessment (Next Generations Science Assessment or NGSA) aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students will take 2 sessions of this assessment using a laptop. This assessment will be administered as a field test and will begin May 21st. Test Items can be found at AIR Science Practice Test Items for Middle School https://airscience.tds.airast.org/student. BMS Assessment Schedule: Note: Barrington Middle School will be administering the following tests and the testing period for all tests is from 8:15 am to 11:00 am. Teachable Moment
Common Sense Media: Barrington Public Schools is committed to creating a culture of learners who make safe, smart, and ethical decisions online. This year BMS continued to draw on Common Sense Media’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum to provide our students with engaging learning experiences that develop the skills needed to responsibly navigate the digital landscape.. This year, like we have done in the past, there has been a menu of lesson options by grade level to choose from. Please visit www.commonsensemedia.org for more information regarding this invaluable resource.
0 Comments
Barrington Middle School BMS Connected learning Newsletter 4.23.2018 The BMS Learning Community is Respectful, Responsible, and Ready to Succeed! Upcoming Events: (Note: Please review the dates as dates are subjected to change due to a number of factors from one newsletter to the next).
Looking Ahead:
Note from Dr. Anderson On Monday, May 1, 2018, I will be emailing our BMS Cluster Experience and Program Preference forms to our families. We ask that families complete the form by Monday, May 21, 2018 as we will be using the information you provide to begin the scheduling process for the 2018 - 2019 academic school year. Please know that we understand the excitement that can build around the cluster assignment process. For a middle school student, cluster assignments can be a big deal! Throughout the summer months we work hard to ensure each cluster is balanced by gender, needs, and abilities. We do take into consideration cluster experience preferences from families, but due to the above mentioned considerations, not all preferences will/can be fulfilled. (Note: typically only 60% of preferences are fulfilled.) Once a child is assigned to a cluster, there will be no changes made to cluster assignments. BMS Spotlight on Learning This week we would like to shine our BMS Spotlight on Mrs. Thurber and our 8th Grade Chorus who earned a “Superior” at the RIMEA Choral Festival. Great work Mrs. Thurber and our 8th Grade Chorus! BMS News you can Use BMS Building Update: The new building construction is well underway. To help with communication, each week I have been releasing the BMS Building Project Blog. You can access the blog by visiting the BMS Building Project Homepage or the direct link to the BMS Building Project Blog. In addition, each Tuesday morning we will have a student volunteer give updates to our student body during morning announcements. BMS Building Groundbreaking Ceremony: The BMS Building Groundbreaking Ceremony is scheduled for Monday, May 7, 2018 from 9:00 am to 10:00 am. In addition to inviting state/local elected officials, various members of our greater Barrington community, School Committee/Building Committee members, as well as members from the construction/architect teams, we will also be inviting our entire student body/faculty to attend as well. Please stay tuned for more details and a schedule. Barrington Police Department Anonymous Tip Line: The Barrington Police Department has set up an anonymous tip line at 401-437-3933. Chief Lacrosse welcomes students, parents, and community members to use the line if they would like to remain anonymous and have something to report. BMS Safety and Security Question/Concern Form: Recently, our school district held a few different types of forums regarding safety and security in our buildings. These forums included the larger safety/security meeting at Barrington High School, BMS Safety and Security PTO meeting, as well as the ALICE training for the BMS Faculty and Staff by the Barrington Police Department. Our goal is to collect questions/concerns from our learning community and address each question/concern systematically. Please complete this form if you have any questions/concerns regarding BMS's safety and security. As always, please email Dr. Anderson if you have any questions about this form. https://goo.gl/forms/U2bFdLRaOrSedgC02 RICAS (Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System) This year, we introduced the new RICAS assessments (or Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System modeled after the Massachusetts Comprehensive State Assessment) in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA)/literacy. All students in grades 6 through 8 will participate. Students will take RICAS assessments using a laptop and will complete two sessions for both Math and ELA. The RICAS ELA assessment began April 3rd. The Math RICAS assessment will begin May 4th. Released items and practice tests are available. RICAS Student Tutorial and Practice Tests can be accessed here: ricas.pearsonsupport.com RICAS Released Items can be accessed here: ricas.pearsonsupport.com/released-items New Science Assessment Our state science assessments, will also change this year. Students in grade 8 will continue to take the new assessment (Next Generations Science Assessment or NGSA) aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students will take 2 sessions of this assessment using a laptop. This assessment will be administered as a field test and will begin May 21st. Test Items can be found at AIR Science Practice Test Items for Middle School https://airscience.tds.airast.org/student. BMS Assessment Schedule: Note: Barrington Middle School will be administering the following tests and the testing period for all tests is from 8:15 am to 11:00 am. BMS Deeper Learning Overview and Vision Screencast:
This school year we have had nearly 100 visitors come through our building to learn from our amazing team about deeper learning at Barrington Middle School. Prior to each visit I provide them with context and a vision for our work. I recently recorded a screencast of the presentation that we will house on our website. The goal for the screencast is to be able to connect the dots to all of the great work that we have been doing around Deeper Learning! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mUCoS9_kVA9VPIQkyjfT-C84ESRRbhpe/view?usp=sharing Barrington Middle School BMS Connected learning Newsletter 4.9.2018 The BMS Learning Community is Respectful, Responsible, and Ready to Succeed! Upcoming Events: (Note: Please review the dates as dates are subjected to change due to a number of factors from one newsletter to the next).
Looking Ahead:
Note from Dr. Anderson Last week, BMS hosted a visit for nearly 30 educators from across the country to come and learn about our school’s Deeper Learning and Project Based Learning journey. The visiting educators were so impressed with our students level of engagement, quality of instruction, and real world and authentic learning opportunities. In addition, two of our faculty members, Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Polando had an opportunity to present at a the national Blended and Personalized Learning Conference at the Convention Center. At that conference, BMS also received a great deal of positive feedback for the level of education we are providing our students. Through these most recent events, I had an opportunity to stop and reflect how amazing our learning community is. Mrs. Bulk and I are incredibly grateful to work with amazing parents, students, and educators! BMS Spotlight on Learning This week we would like to thank Ms. McCauley for her leadership in the planning for this year’s 8th Grade Career Day! On Thursday, March 29, 2018 we had nearly 30 workshop presenters, 15 parent volunteers, five high school students, two high school educators, two keynote speakers, and a student band meet with and perform for our 8th grade students. The goal of the day is to inspire students and teach students to discover and follow their passion! Great work Ms. McCauley and Mrs. Bulman for making this day such a special event for our 8th graders! BMS News you can Use BMS Building Update: The new building construction is well underway. To help with communication, each week I have been releasing the BMS Building Project Blog. You can access the blog by visiting the BMS Building Project Homepage or the direct link to the BMS Building Project Blog. In addition, each Tuesday morning we will have a student volunteer give updates to our student body during morning announcements. Barrington Police Department Anonymous Tip Line: The Barrington Police Department has set up an anonymous tip line at 401-437-3933. Chief Lacrosse welcomes students, parents, and community members to use the line if they would like to remain anonymous and have something to report. Barrington Middle School Trained in ALICE: This Wednesday afternoon, BMS faculty and staff will be trained/re-trained in the ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) universal active shooter protocol that all faculty and staff within our district have been or will be trained. BMS Administration and Faculty will be reviewing components of ALICE in the near future. Unified Basketball Assembly Highlight Video: A few weeks back, BMS hosted a Unified Basketball assembly between the Barrington Middle School Eagles and the Martin Middle School Wildcats. The event was a celebration of sportsmanship, teamwork, inclusion, and all abilities. Please see a link to a video that was put together by Mr. Dionne that captures the spirit of the event quite well. https://youtu.be/y3Lb9ktuU0Y RICAS (Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System) This year, we introduced the new RICAS assessments (or Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System modeled after the Massachusetts Comprehensive State Assessment) in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA)/literacy. All students in grades 6 through 8 will participate. Students will take RICAS assessments using a laptop and will complete two sessions for both Math and ELA. The RICAS ELA assessment began April 3rd. The Math RICAS assessment will begin May 7th. Released items and practice tests are available. RICAS Student Tutorial and Practice Tests can be accessed here: ricas.pearsonsupport.com RICAS Released Items can be accessed here: ricas.pearsonsupport.com/released-items New Science Assessment Our state science assessments, will also change this year. Students in grade 8 will continue to take the new assessment (Next Generations Science Assessment or NGSA) aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students will take 2 sessions of this assessment using a laptop. This assessment will be administered as a field test and will begin May 21st. Test Items can be found at AIR Science Practice Test Items for Middle School https://airscience.tds.airast.org/student. BMS Assessment Schedule: Note: Barrington Middle School will be administering the following tests and the testing period for all tests is from 8:15 am to 11:00 am. Teachable Moment
BMS’s Mission and Common Commitments: In our weekly communication to our faulty/staff, the start of every faculty/committee meeting, the start of our parent orientations, and the start of every student town hall meeting, Mrs. Bulk and I begin with reviewing our school’s mission and common commitments. We use this mission and these commitments to drive everything we do at Barrington Middle School. Beginning with these few items helps remind us why we are doing what we are doing, and what the collective commitments we have made to each and everyone of our students. You may have read/heard these statements in the past, but today, I ask that you review these items and think about each one, and how each statement is supporting your child. As always, please email/contact me if you would like to discuss further. BMS Mission: The Barrington Middle School empowers all students to excel! BMS Common Commitments: In order to empower all students to excel, the BMS Learning Community will provide: •A safe, caring, and supportive learning environment •A challenging curriculum supported by current technology •The best research based strategies to meet the unique educational, physical, emotional, and social needs of the 10-14 year old learner •A deliberate and specific approach to meet the individual needs/abilities for each performance subgroup of our student body Barrington Middle School BMS Connected learning Newsletter 4.2.2018 The BMS Learning Community is Respectful, Responsible, and Ready to Succeed! Upcoming Events: (Note: Please review the dates as dates are subjected to change due to a number of factors from one newsletter to the next).
Looking Ahead:
Note from Dr. Anderson This week our students will begin to participate in our annual State assessment (Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System). Over the coming days, Mrs. Bulk and I will be meeting with the students to go over testing procedures and protocols. More importantly, Mrs. Bulk and I will be discussing with our students, not necessarily scores or being the best in the state, but rather reassuring students that over the past year they have been working hard in their classes, engaging deeply with their content and curriculum, and they are ready to show and celebrate everything they have learned over the past year. What is most important to Mrs. Bulk and me is that the students try their hardest and give their best! That is honestly everything that we could ask for from our students. We wish all of our students the best of luck and we know they will do great! BMS Spotlight on Learning This week we would like to shine our BMS Spotlight on our student Assistance Counselor Ms. Katy Hamel. Last week, Ms. Hamel was instrumental in the planning, organization, and implementation of our family vaping presentation, as well as our student vaping presentation the previous week. Thank you Ms. Hamel for your leadership and for bringing this important information to our learning community. BMS News you can Use BMS Building Update: The new building construction is well underway. To help with communication, each week I have been releasing the BMS Building Project Blog. You can access the blog by visiting the BMS Building Project Homepage or the direct link to the BMS Building Project Blog. In addition, each Tuesday morning we will have a student volunteer give updates to our student body during morning announcements. Barrington Police Department Anonymous Tip Line: The Barrington Police Department has set up an anonymous tip line at 401-437-3933. Chief Lacrosse welcomes students, parents, and community members to use the line if they would like to remain anonymous and have something to report. 2017 - 2018 Family SurveyWorks Survey [Due March 30th]: We would like to thank those who completed the Family SurveyWorks Survey which had a completion date of Friday, March 30, 2017. This year we had 20% of our families complete the survey. Your perspective and feedback is greatly appreciated in helping our learning communities to continuously improve. RICAS (Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System) This year, we will introduce the new RICAS assessments (or Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System modeled after the Massachusetts Comprehensive State Assessment) in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA)/literacy. All students in grades 6 through 8 will participate. Students will take RICAS assessments using a laptop and will complete two sessions for both Math and ELA. The RICAS ELA assessment will begin April 3rd. The Math RICAS assessment will begin May 7th. Released items and practice tests are available. RICAS Student Tutorial and Practice Tests can be accessed here: ricas.pearsonsupport.com RICAS Released Items can be accessed here: ricas.pearsonsupport.com/released-items New Science Assessment Our state science assessments, will also change this year. Students in grade 8 will continue to take the new assessment (Next Generations Science Assessment or NGSA) aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students will take 2 sessions of this assessment using a laptop. This assessment will be administered as a field test and will begin May 21st. Test Items can be found at AIR Science Practice Test Items for Middle School https://airscience.tds.airast.org/student. Barrington Middle School will be administering the following tests and the testing period for all tests is from 8:30 am to 11:00 am. BMS Special PTO Meeting: Safety and Security:
Monday, April 2, 2018 from 7:00pm - 8:00pm Mr. Messore will be present to discuss safety and security at Barrington Middle School. Mr. Messore has been meeting with each school’s PTO over the past months. The BMS meeting will be held in the BMS Library. Ten Reasons Middle Schoolers Don’t Need Social Media: A few months back and article was posted in the Today: Parenting Team community blog on social media and the middle school student. This particular article provides ten reasons why social media may not be appropriate for the middle school aged child. Please feel free to review the below link for further information with teens and social media. http://community.today.com/parentingteam/post/ten-reasons-middle-schoolers-dont-need-social-media. Teachable Moment Trusted Adult: For the past several years, Barrington Middle School has been implementing their Trusted Adult program. Each year, we ask each student to identify one adult in the building that can serve as the student’s trusted adult. Everyone and anyone in the building is ready to be a trusted adult. In addition to letting their parents know, we encourage students to seek out their trusted adult during the school day to speak to if they see something that is out of place, speak to if they or someone they know are/is being unsafe, or speak to if they or someone else may have unsafe feelings. All of the adults in the building know the responsibility it is to be a trusted adult, and know what to do with the information that they receive. If a child is unsafe or has unsafe feelings, trusted adults are required to inform administration. Please speak with your child to see who their trusted adult is, and encourage them to seek out their trusted adult if they need to talk. |