Benton Weekly Update

We are excited for our opening of Beauty and the Beast, Jr. this week. Our Drama and Stagecraft students have been busy rehearsing for the past few months and our opening night is Thursday, 3/14. Performances will run for two weeks Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 6pm. If you wish to purchase tickets, click here.

It was a busy week at Benton last week. Our Career Day was a resounding success, and we are so appreciative of the parents and friends who volunteered their time to share about their career path with our students. Special shout-out to Mr. Easton for organizing this event.

Congratulations to our Orchestra and Festival Band! Under the direction of Mr. Summers, both groups earned Unanimous Superior ratings for their festival performances last Tuesday at the SCSBOA Festival. This is the highest rating that is possible to receive. A "Superior" rating is equivalent to a letter grade of "A" or a percentage grade of 90-100%. Benton's Advanced Orchestra students were also invited to perform last Friday at a conference for ASCIP.

Congratulations are also due to Ms. Lin and our Intermediate and Advanced Guitar students; each group earned a Superior rating Friday at Biola University's Guitar Festival.

On Thursday last week our Honor Band and Honor Orchestra students performed with their peers from across the district at Excelsior Auditorium. It was a spectacular evening of music and our musicians represented Benton well!

Congratulations to our PTA Reflections Contest Winners: Ryan Cuevas-1st Place Middle School Visual Arts, Maria Clara Manco- 1st Place Middle School Photography, and Via Thompson- Special Artist Award Visual Arts. Both Ryan and Maria Clara will be moving on to the 33rd District PTA competition. Congratulations!

ASB/Leadership students are selling Lucky Duck Grams this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at lunch. Grams will be delivered on Friday.

Join us Tuesday for a Dine Out at The Habit, both locations in La Mirada and La Habra will be participating. Bon appetit!

The last Saturday School session is this weekend on March 16. Students who attend Saturday School can recover an absence and get caught up on school work.

We have our SBAC Bootcamp starting this week after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Selected students have been invited to participate to provide the support needed to carry them to success. If your student received an invitation to attend, please return the permission slip to the school office.

We have another Attendance Challenge for the month of March. Let's do our best to be here every day on time. It's important for students to be in school all day, every day - if they're not here, they're not learning!

We have a new webpage! Our new URL is benton.nlmusd.org but our old URL will connect you through to the new page. Although some features transferred over from the previous page, we are still in the process of updating it with photos and information. This process could take several weeks, please be patient with us, and if you're ever in doubt or need of information, please don't hesitate to reach out to the school office.

Check out our 8th Grade Webpage with information and news just for 8th grade students and their families.

Make it a great week!

Current 6th & 7th Grade students need to enter their course requests in PowerSchool AND turn the course request forms into the office.

6th Grade Students will need to get a TDAP vaccination before entering 7th Grade. Start scheduling those appointments now!

You can now purchase Ads or Well Wishes in the Benton Yearbook! Prices are as follows and are payable (cash or check) in the school office.

• Full Page: 7 in. horizontal x 10 in. vertical @ $100
• Half Page: 7 in. horizontal x 5 in. vertical @ $70
• Quarter Page: 3.5 in. horizontal x 4.75 in. vertical @ $40
• Eighth Page: 3.25 in. horizontal x 2.25 in. vertical @ $30

Full design supplied by parent to above specifications as either a PDF or JPG file with a high resolution enough to ensure quality at the size desired. The deadline to purchase/submit artwork is April 19th.

GIRLS SOFTBALL PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

Monday 3/11- 3:15-4:15

Thursday 3/14- 3:15-4:15

Friday 3/15- 3:15-4:15

Next Week:

Tuesday 3/19- 3:15-4:15

Wednesday 3/20- 2:00-3:15

BOYS SOFTBALL PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

Monday 3/11- 3:15-4:15

Wednesday 3/13- 2:00-3:00

Next Week:

Monday 3/18- 3:15-4:15

Tuesday 3/19- 3:15-4:15

The Middle School Softball Tournament is scheduled for 3/21.

We are excited to be partnering with The Habit on Tuesday, March 12th, 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. BOTH the LA MIRADA and LA HABRA Habit locations are hosting the fundraiser for Benton on the same day, so stop by for lunch and dinner. Please make sure to let them know that the purchase is for the fundraiser before you place your order, and show the digital flyer for them to scan. Thank you for your continued support of Benton PTSA!

Students will attend periods 5B-8B on Wednesday. This Wednesday, like all Wednesdays, dismissal is at 1:45pm.

Saturday School for students to recover an absence, get support with school work, and get caught up on assignments. Please turn in the permission slip to the office. Both breakfast and lunch are available.

8th Grade Parents: each year in the yearbook, we feature a page with baby pictures of our 8th grade students. Now is the time to send a digital baby photo of your 8th grader to edegener@nlmusd.org. You only have a few weeks to submit those photos, do it now and be sure to include your student's name.

The Tournament will be at Behringer Park in La Mirada.

The 23-24 Benton Yearbook is on sale now for $35 in the front office only, our webstore link is temporarily unavailable. You can purchase your copy now, Yearbooks will be distributed during the last week of school.

ENGLISH LEARNERS ADVISORY COUNCIL (ELAC)

Parents of students identified as English Learners are invited to participate on the ELAC. The ELAC provides advice to the School Site Council on the development of Benton's Single Plan for Student Achievement, the plan for improving the performance of English Language Learners.If you would like to serve on this body, please contact me or Ms. Alcala lalcala@nlmusd.org.

The PTSA is a huge support to students and Benton's programs, and we hope all families choose to join, support, and get involved at Benton. Join the Benton PTSA online at this link .

As you can see below, we have A Days and B Days. Students have periods 1A-4A on A Days, every Monday and Thursday, and periods 5B-8B on B Days, every Tuesday and Friday. On Wednesdays, we alternate between A Days and B Days.

Benton Middle School is a Visual & Performing Arts Magnet school. Follow us on Instagram @Bentonwolverines.

Email: rridgeway@nlmusd.org
Website: bentonms.org
Location: 15709 E. Olive Branch Drive, La Mirada, CA 90638
Phone: (562) 210-2500
Facebook: facebook.com/bentonmiddleschool
Twitter: @BentonPrincipal