Barrington Middle School BMS Connected learning Newsletter 5.29.2018 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).
Note from Dr. Anderson Mrs Bulk and I would like to thank our BMS PTO, Parent Volunteers, Faculty/Staff, Students, and Visitors for making this year’s One Amazing Night a success. Guests, families, faculty/staff, and students had an opportunity to celebrate all things BMS! They had an opportunity to visit the academic showcase that featured an impressive body of work by our students, visit the STEAM Studio to learn from Mrs. Henderson and her students, and Mr. Davis and his students about our STEAM Studio Program and Digital Literacy/Gaming Program. In addition, our guests were treated to the amazing sounds from our student performance groups (band, chorus, acapella, and roaming musicians), as well as enjoyed some food and fun in our large gymnasium. BMS Spotlight on Learning This week we would like to shine our BMS Spotlight 8th Grade Students Lucy Dreier (Purple Cluster) and Emmett Van Leer (Red Cluster) for representing Barrington Middle School at the Rhode Island Middle Level Scholar Leader Awards Program. Last Tuesday evening, May 22, 2018, Lucy, Emmett, and their families were recognized with the other Rhode Island Middle School recipients at the Crowne Plaza. Scholar Leaders embody the following:
Well done Lucy and Emmett! The BMS Learning Community is very proud of you and this most prestigious recognition! 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. 7th Grade Pathways Day: This past Friday, May 25, 2018, our 7th Graders participated in our annual Pathways Day. On this day, students heard from a diverse panel of volunteers about their experiences in many different pathways. This year they heard about military, college, and technical career education pathways. The focus of the day was to offer students knowledge about educational journeys towards careers and to hear about what skills they can focus on building in middle school and high school that will help them prepare for their future goals. In particular, Mrs. Bulk and I would like to thank Ms. Sleboda (7th Grade School Counselor) for your organization and leadership for this most valuable experience. Middle School Clothing Drive: Mrs. Nary would like to thank the very generous members of the Barrington Middle School community who donated clothes to the Ricci Middle School project. The amount of support she received was amazing and is very proud to bring over dozens of bags of clothes, shoes, etc to the students there. Thank you! 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. Teachable Moment 8th Grade Washington DC Trip: This Thursday, May 31, 2018, approximately 170 8th grade students and 16 volunteer faculty/parents will be heading to Washington, DC for our annual 8th grade overnight field trip at 4:00 am. This trip is available for any 8th grader who would like to participate. It is important to our learning community that all of our students have an opportunity to attend this three day field trip as it provides students with a number positive academic and social/emotional experiences. Students will be visiting a number of museums, monuments, and government buildings. This year, we will also be visiting the National Zoo! If this is a trip that your soon to be rising 8th grader would like to experience, please be on the lookout for information during the fall.
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Barrington Middle School
BMS Connected learning Newsletter 5.21.2018 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 One of my favorites events each year is our One Amazing Night celebration. This event provides our greater community an opportunity to experience all things BMS! From 5:00pm - 7:00pm on Thursday, May 24, 2018 families will be able to play badminton, race in a giant obstacle course, listen to our amazing student performance groups (band and chorus), see work samples from our talented students in our Academic Showcase, see live demonstrations in our STEAM Studio, enjoy some food from food trucks, and much, much, more. If you are in the neighborhood on Thursday, please stop by! Please note that this event is not a drop off event. All students need to be supervised by an adult. Finally, please check your email from our PTO regarding volunteers. I know we are in need of some more volunteers. BMS Spotlight on Learning This week we would like to shine our BMS Spotlight on our School Counselors, Jaimie Poirier, Krystal Sleboda, Sandy McCauley; School Counselor secretaries, Kathy Bulman and Kelly Nelson; and our BMS Technology department, Ms. Trahan for their assistance and help with the implementation of our state assessment. It truly is a team effort to ensure technology is working properly, paperwork is organized, and all students are scheduled to be assessed and/or participate in makeups. Great work team! We would also like to shine our BMS Spotlight on Mrs. Bulk. Over the past several months, Mrs. Bulk worked incredibly hard on bringing the entire spring assessment calendar together. Due to her organization, calm demeanor, and her availability, assessments went off without a hitch. Great work Mrs. Bulk! 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 Cluster Experience and Program Preference Forms: A few weeks ago, I emailed our BMS Cluster Experience and Program Preference forms to our families. We ask that families complete the form by Friday, May 25, 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. Rising 6th Grade Cluster/Program Preference Form Rising 7th Grade Cluster/Program Preference Form Rising 8th Grade Program Preference Form 7th Grade Pathways Day: Our annual Pathways Day for our 7th graders will be taking place on Friday, May 25th. On this day, students will hear from a diverse panel of volunteers about their experiences in many different pathways. This year we will hear about military, college, and technical career education pathways. Along with the panel presentation, students will be hearing from the Rhode Island College Planning Center, a non-profit that offers assistance in planning and paying for college to many students and families across the state. The focus of this day is to offer students knowledge about educational journeys towards careers and hear about what skills they can focus on building in middle school and high school that will help them prepare for their future goals. Hopefully the day will help build conversation at home about your student’s interests and plans for the future. Middle School Clothing Drive: Recently a friend of mine who teaches in North Providence at Ricci Middle School asked for my help with a project. Seeing many of her students come in wearing the same clothes each day or missing school because they don’t have clean clothes to wear, she opened a “closet” where students can “shop” for shoes and clothes that they need. Currently, the items in the closet are only coming from some friends of hers who have middle school aged/sized children, which isn’t nearly enough supply for the demand. I know, for many, this is the time of year when we go through all of the drawers and closets and weed out the clothes that are too small or aren't being worn anymore to make room for new items. I am hoping that, if you are pruning your closets, you keep my friend’s project in mind. Please bring any clothes that you are getting rid of over the next few weeks into school and deliver them to room 210 (Mrs. Nary) or leave them in the office. The students who shop in the closet at school are so incredibly grateful for the donations. Thank you for your help and please let me know if there’s anything that you need in order to make the donation process easier. Sincerely, Stephanie Nary Red Cluster Teacher 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 Robotics Boot Camp! Our Barrington High School Robotics Team will be running a 4 week BMS Robotics Boot Camp for our BMS Students beginning Monday, May 21, 2018. This will be a unique opportunity to get our BMS students reacquainted with competitive robotics. Although we do have some BHS parent volunteers, we would love to have some BMS parent volunteers as well to help monitor the sessions. Sign up online at https://bit.ly/2KCG82j In addition, it is important to note that BMS does have a BMS Robotics Team, however, we were unable to participate over the past couple of years because we did not have a coach. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in being a BMS Robotics Boot Camp parent volunteer or be our BMS Robotics coach, please feel free to email me at [email protected]. One Amazing Night!
Teachable Moment Allied Art Classes: Occasionally I am asked about allied art experiences and how students are assigned to their allied art classes. All students experience either a 3 day allied art experience or a 6 day allied art allied art experience for each trimester. Students scheduled into 3 day experiences also have Band/Chorus, or literacy/numeracy services. Students in 6 day experiences do not have band/chorus, or literacy/numeracy services. After each trimester, students will be scheduled into another experience. Our goal is to ensure students do not repeat an experience in a year. For our 6th and 7th grade students, our computer scheduling system randomly schedules them into their allied art experience each trimester. For our 8th grade students, we have shifted towards students identifying their top 3 allied art preferences by completing a form. It is our goal to ensure each 8th grade student gets one out of their 3 allied art experience throughout their 8th grade year. Each trimester, 8th grade schedules are manually scheduled. This allows to purposefully schedule students into their self identified experience. Note: Allied art experiences include Art, Business, Digital Literacy, Family and Consumer Sciences, Music, STEAM Studio, and Woodshop. Barrington Middle School BMS Connected learning Newsletter 5.14.2018 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 had an opportunity to celebrate teacher appreciation week. After reflecting on the week, we can not begin to express how grateful we are for not only our amazing teachers, but also our amazing families who showed their gratitude throughout the week for our teachers. Over this past week we had a number of families drop off treats, notes, and meals for our teachers. On behalf of our teachers, we thank you for your generosity as it made the week that much more special. BMS Spotlight on Learning This week we would like to shine our BMS Spotlight on our BMS Student Council Representatives, 6th grade students, 6th grade teachers, teachers, BMS Pop’s Band, Mrs. Bienkiewicz, 8th Grade Chorus, and Mrs. Thurber. This past Monday they participated in the BMS Groundbreaking Ceremony. As Mr. Messore stated in his remarks at the ceremony, what makes a learning community so great is not the bricks and mortar, but rather the people who occupy the space. Our students and teacher representatives did an amazing job showcasing and demonstrating to our greater community what it means to be a great learning community! Well done students and teachers. 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. Device Free Dinner: Mark your calendars! On Thursday May 17th BMS families are invited to participate in the district “Device Free Dinner” event. Supported by the Barrington PTO and the Bay team, this initiative comes to us from Common Sense Media, a national leader in the smart, safe, and effective use of digital technology. We encourage you to enjoy dinner or any specified block of time that works for you, device free. Turn off and tune into your family! Below are links to Common Sense Media’s planning resources. Participate in the event and create a “Family Media Plan.” On the 18th, send your student/s into school with evidence of participation and he/she be entered into a raffle for a family prize. Any questions, contact Mrs. Maddocks, BMS Librarian [email protected] Common Sense Media Device Free Dinner Activity Ideas
BMS Best Device Practices: The Device Free Dinner also provides our learning community with an opportunity to revisit best device practices here at Barrington Middle School. Please feel free to remind your children of these best device practices as we have recently reviewed them with our teachers:
BMS Cluster Experience and Program Preference Forms: A few weeks ago, I emailed 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 Robotics Boot Camp! Our Barrington High School Robotics Team will be running a 4 week BMS Robotics Boot Camp for our BMS Students beginning Monday, May 21, 2018. This will be a unique opportunity to get our BMS students reacquainted with competitive robotics. Although we do have some BHS parent volunteers, we would love to have some BMS parent volunteers as well to help monitor the sessions. Sign up online at https://bit.ly/2KCG82j In addition, it is important to note that BMS does have a BMS Robotics Team, however, we were unable to participate over the past couple of years because we did not have a coach. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in being a BMS Robotics Boot Camp parent volunteer or be our BMS Robotics coach, please feel free to email me at [email protected]. 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 8th. 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
Universal Design for Learning: Over this past year, our cluster teachers and special education teachers have been receiving ongoing training on a concept called Universal Design for Learning, also known as UDL. Our teachers have been learning about strategies on how to best make learning engaging and accessible to all learners. UDL can be broken down into three “networks.”
Please visit http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl for more information on Universal Design for Learning. Barrington Middle School BMS Connected learning Newsletter 5.7.2018 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, the week of May 6, 2018, BMS will be celebrating teacher appreciation week. Mrs. Bulk and I are so appreciative of each and everyone of our faculty/staff. We feel fortunate to work with such an amazing faculty/staff who are incredibly talented, professional, and caring. We (Students, Parents, Faculty/Staff, and Administrators) all equally play unique and pivotal roles in making BMS such an amazing learning community. However, it is because what our teachers do on a daily basis with your children that really brings all of the pieces together. This week, please help Mrs. Bulk and I celebrate our amazing teachers! BMS Spotlight on Learning This week we would like to shine our BMS Spotlight on entire BMS Learning Community! Last week T74 (The 74 Million), a National organization, published an article that featured Barrington Middle School! Earlier in the year T74 learned of Rhode Island’s personalized learning initiative and wanted to feature it in one of their major stories. The article focuses its attention on Deeper Learning at Barrington Middle School. Please see a copy of the article here: https://www.the74million.org/article/sketchbooks-makerspaces-student-startups-inside-americas-largest-personalized-learning-experiment-how-one-rhode-island-lighthouse-laboratory-is-reimagining-school/ Great work BMS! 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. Plans for the Groundbreaking Ceremony have been fluid and evolving. Due to logistics, safety, and security, we felt it was best to move the ceremony inside. Due to the change in venue, our 6th graders had an opportunity to participate in the speaking component of the Groundbreaking Ceremony. What we are very excited about is that all 775 BMS Students will have an opportunity in the near future to participate in the “topping off” ceremony. All students and faculty/staff will have an opportunity to sign a celebratory beam, and that beam will be forever part of our new middle school. Please stay tuned for more information regarding this unique opportunity for all of our students. BMS Cluster Experience and Program Preference Forms: Last week, I emailed 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 Robotics Boot Camp! Our Barrington High School Robotics Team will be running a 4 week BMS Robotics Boot Camp for our BMS Students. This will be a unique opportunity to get our BMS students reacquainted with competitive robotics. Although we do have some BHS parent volunteers, we would love to have some BMS parent volunteers as well to help monitor the sessions. In addition, it is important to note that BMS does have a BMS Robotics Team, however, we were unable to participate over the past couple of years because we did not have a coach. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in being a BMS Robotics Boot Camp parent volunteer or be our BMS Robotics coach, please feel free to email me at [email protected]. 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 8th. 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 Family FAQ Page: I frequently use the expression, “People don’t know what they don’t know. And, people begin to know what they don’t know.” A few years ago, based on parent feedback, BMS created a BMS Family FAQ Page. This document captures what people may not know about procedures that may be unique to BMS. I encourage you to review the document as it will give you further insight to our learning community. If you still have a question(s), please email your question(s) to Mrs. Skadberg ([email protected]) and we can add it to the document. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NuukKpjHRfyJkJ_vtuQG3vrB3Qt3NcwWNKwWCjxhZlI/edit?usp=sharing |