BRMS April Newsletter

Nota: Puede acceder a este Boletín Informativo en diferentes idiomas haciendo click en el botón 'Translate' Hello Badger Ridge Families! We hope that you all have been enjoying the sunshine and the shift in weather. Here we are with another monthly newsletter! April has been a VERY busy month with Forward testing, field trips, the musical, and many more student activities. Our newsletter this month is packed with important information about 8th grade promotion, 6th grade welcome night, teacher appreciation week, an upcoming Spring Family Festival, volunteer opportunities, and more. Get comfortable and check out all the information we have to offer. We will see you in May!

May 1st - First Day of AAPI Heritage Month

May 2nd - 6th Grade Welcome Night

May 27th - No School

June 5th - 8th Grade Harriet Park Day Festival

June 5th - 8th Grade Dance

June 6th - 8th Grade Promotion

June 7th - 6th and 7th Grade Field Day

June 7th - Last Day of School

Our Spring Star assessment dates are as follows:

May 1st: 6th Grade Math

May 2nd: 7th/8th Grade Math

May 7th: 6th-8th Reading

May 8th: 6th-8th Spanish Reading

• Teacher Appreciation: The first week in May is Teacher Appreciation Week. If you would like to send a message to one of our BRMS staff members to show your appreciation, please fill out the following form. Your response to the form will be shared with the staff member as a certificate. You may fill the form out multiple times.

• Thank You Form (English)

• Thank You Form (Spanish)

• See the picture below if you'd like to contribute further to Teacher Appreciation Week! The picture is clickable if you'd like to sign up to bring an item for our staff!

Únete a otras familias para celebrar al personal de Badger Ridge durante la Semana de Agradecimiento a los Maestros. Con tu ayuda, estamos planeando ofrecer un Carrito del Sol donde el personal pueda recoger un refrigerio y una bebida, y una Estación de Bebidas donde el personal pueda mezclar un paquete de bebida con jarabes aromatizados para una bebida refrescante. Mira los horarios disponibles a continuación y haz clic en el botón para inscribirte.

Por favor, entrega las donaciones entre el 29 de abril y el 3 de mayo en la oficina principal. Si prefieres comprar en línea, puedes enviar directamente a la Oficina Principal para que llegue antes del 3 de mayo. ¡Muchas gracias por apoyar a nuestro personal!

300 Richard Street Verona WI 53593

Incoming 5th graders and their families will have an opportunity to visit Badger Ridge to meet the their potential new teachers, connect with student services staff, meet the administration, and get their first toe dip into middle school life! If you have an incoming 5th grader, please join us on May 2nd from 5:00 - 6:30.

On June 7th, VASD has the following dismissal times for the last day of school:

Elementary School: 11:30am

CKCS & Middle Schools: 12:35pm

High School: 12:55

8th Grade Promotion is right around the corner!! Here are more logistical details regarding promotion day this year. This information will be sent out again in a separate school communication for your reference:

• Who: Badger Ridge and Core Knowledge 8th Grade Students

• When: Thursday, June 6, 2024

• Time: Doors open at 9:45am. The ceremony begins at 10:15 and ends at 11:45.

• Where: Badger Ridge and Core Knowledge Gym. Please enter through Door 5.

• Other Details:

• No balloons

• No more than four guests per student (students will have tickets; more on that below)

• Cell phones for all students should remain off and away for the duration of the ceremony

• Pictures will be taken on the football field from 11:45 to 12:00. 12:00 is a hard stop.

• The promotion will be recorded live virtually. Here is the link to access the live recording: Promotion. This link will be shared out again as it gets closer to the date.
• 8th grade students may go home with families after the ceremony.
  

• Families who choose for their 8th grade student to stay at school after promotion will eat lunch with 7th grade students from 12:45 - 1:15.

• If an 8th grade student has a sibling who attends BR, the student will need their ticket to come down to the gym. Siblings must sit with their families.

• Attendance (IMPORTANT): 8th grade families must notify the BR/CK attendance line at 608-845-4403 or send an email to our attendance secretary to Brenda Covarrubias if your child will not be attending school after the promotion ceremony by Wednesday, June 5th.

This year, due to the growing student population at BRMS/CKCS and to ensure that there is enough space in our gymnasium for families to attend, we will have a ticket system for guests attending promotion. Each 8th grade student will have FOUR tickets allotted to give for family members for attendance. These tickets will be mailed home. If your family plans to use less than all four tickets, please send your child to school with any extra tickets, and they should submit them to the main office. Feel free to reach out to the Badger Ridge Main Office at 608-845-4404 if you are in need of extra tickets for your family (please specify how many), and we will let you know if there are any available. Then, we will give the requested amount to your child to take home. The deadline for requesting extra tickets is May 31st.

Thank you!! We are excited for our 8th graders' futures!

Have you visited Badger Ridge lately? If so, we want your feedback about your visit! Your input helps us greatly improve and address the needs of the building, considering that we serve our students and the community. Please fill out the feedback form at your earliest convenience. We're happy to connect with you! (English form)/(Formulario español)

SAVE THE DATE! This year, Badger Ridge will be hosting a Spring Family Festival for the first time ever! For several years now, (maybe even more than a decade!), Badger Ridge has yet to host something for the families in our community beyond Back to School Night, sporting events, concerts, or talent shows. The purpose of this event is to build relationships, community, and invite families to come in and simply have fun and get to know other families at our school in fellowship and community. So with this being the very first one, let's make it a great turn out to generate excitement to have this be a yearly event!

Our staff is still in the planning phases, but we plan to have the following activities:

• Indoor Arts and Crafts activities
• Board games
• Open Gym -- basketball, volleyball
• Outdoor Activities -- flag football, soccer, basketball, bouncy house
• Food from The Chocolate Shoppe, Tom's Travelin' Truck, and food trucks from the following types of foods: Latin, BBQ, and Soul
• Live Music from a DJ

If you have other ideas, feel free to reach out to Associate Principal Shayla Glass-Thompson at glassths@verona.k12.wi.us to share. Thank you!

On April 27, 2024, the Verona Police Department, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will host a Prescription Drug Take-Back event. The focus is on safely disposing potentially dangerous pharmaceutical substances and preventing them from going into our water supply. Please read more in this link (español also included in the link).

Public Health Madison & Dane County is partnering with Madison Metropolitan School District and SSM Health in a few weeks to offer another school vaccine clinic to get students up to date on their school vaccines ahead of the 2024-25 school year. To read more on this, click this link (español also included in the link).

On April 24th we begin the Living the Power 6 Challenge. This challenge encourages all scholars to demonstrate the Power 6, our school expectations that support social, emotional, and academic well being. While we are focusing on all Power 6 expectations during this challenge, we will be paying special attention to Appropriate Use of Technology (Cell Phones/AirPods, Headphones Off & Away), Ready & Focused on Learning, and Hands, Feet, & Body to Self. All scholars that follow through in meeting all Power 6 expectations starting April 24th through May 23rd will be able to attend the BRMS/CKCS Spring Social on May 24th.

The grade level with the least number of incidents related to attendance, Appropriate Use of Technology, Ready & Focused on Learning, and Hands, Feet, and Body to Self from April 24th through May 23rd will be dismissed to the social first!

The Spring Social will happen during the school day and consist of a dance with other activities for our scholars to enjoy. In order to attend, scholars must meet the following expectations of the “Living the Power 6” challenge from April 24th - May 23rd

• No more than 20 tardies

• No more than 2 Walk Outs

• No more than 5 Support Calls

• No more than 3 RLOs

• No ISS/OSS
  
  

Students in all grade levels have been exploring career pathways and interests in Advisory. This unit is nearing completion as we wrap up the unit with a Career Fair for 7th and 8th grades on the 24th and Philosophical Chairs in Advisory on May 8th.

Philosophical Chairs: With a similar format to that of a debate, Philosophical Chairs is less about competition and more about students providing their perspective on an issue and supporting it with successful rhetoric and articulation (Custer et al., 2011). This strategy—rich in inquiry—is built on a prompt to which contradictory positions exist. Participants address these positions through deep, academic discourse in a structured, formal process, and it develops language skills and relational capacity at the same time.

iPad collection will take place on the following days. Please ensure that your child brings their iPad, charger, and charger block to school for collection:

6th Grade - May 31

7th Grade - June 3

8th Grade - June 4

We have overhauled our Badger Ridge volunteering sign up system! Now, moving forward for the rest off this year and beyond you can sign up for specific volunteer opportunities using this link (español). We have opportunities such as lunch/recess supervision, extracurricular activities, Growing Green class, and more. Embedded in this form are job descriptions of each volunteer opportunity with the necessary links and applications that you will need to complete, including the background check. Please reach out to Associate Principal Shayla Glass-Thompson or our Social Worker Sarah Hall if you have any questions about the form.

Joining Forces for Families (JFF) is a program of the Dane County Department of Human Services. JFF is staffed by community-based social workers who are assigned to neighborhoods, where they build relationships with community partners and support families. JFF Social Workers are trained to listen and help you plan, connect you with community resources, and advocate within systems and services to help you get connected.

English Contact Card - Lisa Hemmauer hemauer@countyofdane.com 608-575-1064

Spanish Contact Card - Ryan Estrella estrella@countyofdane.com 608-225-9871

1200 EAST VERONA AVE, VERONA, 53593