Benton Weekly Update

We hope you had a restful break, we ended it with some beautiful weather. Hopefully, the students are ready to hit the ground running and finish out the school year strong!

Congratulations to our March Students of the Month who were honored right before Spring Break. We also recognized the 163 students who had Perfect Attendance in March (2/26–3/22). We will be holding a drawing for gift cards this week for 3 lucky students with Perfect Attendance. Let's try to get more of our 715 students with Perfect Attendance in April (covering dates 3/25 – 4/19)!

Our SBAC Academy continues this week after school on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. If your child received an invitation but hasn't attended due to play rehearsals or sports practice, it's not too late to attend.

Benton will begin SBAC testing on Monday, April 22. Students will complete the Language Arts portion of their tests in their ELA classes, and the following week will conclude with the Math portion in Math classes. 8th Graders only will have a 3rd test, the CAST Science test, in their Science classes May 6-10. We want all students to do their personal best; please ensure your child is well rested, has a good breakfast, and is present each day on time. To secure the test environment, students will power off their phones and smartwatches and store them securely in the classroom. If your student does not need to bring them to school, please consider keeping their phone or smartwatch at home during testing. More information on the tests is linked below under the "Events Coming Up" section of this newsletter.

The URL for the new Benton webpage is benton.nlmusd.org, be sure to add our new page to your bookmarks. As we continue to update and build our page, feel free to reach out to the school office if you're not finding the information you need.

Make it a great week!

As you know, we are expecting a solar eclipse today, Monday. Please be sure to check your email for an important message about safety; viewing an eclipse without the proper protective eyewear and even through a telescope or binoculars without a solar shield will damage your eyes.

A better alternative is to go to the NASA website here to view it live.

Payments for any of these activities can be made in the school office (cash or checks payable to Benton PTSA) or on zelle, rbentonms@gmail.com. Please be sure to reference your student's name and the activity.

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

For your reference, here is the Promotion Contract (which students already signed and returned) with criteria to participate in the Promotion Ceremony. Students received this contract in the Fall and most have returned it to the office.

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! For your convenience, the District is providing TDAP Clinics at its middle schools, see below for clinics in La Mirada.

Students will attend periods 1A-4A on Wednesday. This Wednesday, like all Wednesdays, dismissal is at 1:45pm.

The Benton School Site Council will meet Thursday, 4/18 at 3:30pm in the Benton Conference Room. The agenda is posted here: 4/11 SSC Agenda

Please join our zoom with your favorite morning beverage for conversation or Q&A with Benton Principal Ms. Ridgeway. We are seeking input from parents on Proposition 28 Arts Funding, suggestions for improving school attendance and achievement, and any issues on your mind.

On Wednesday, April 17th, Benton's Symphonic Band, Festival Band, and Orchestra will perform and be evaluated by a panel of music educators in the areas of Tone Quality, Intonation, Blend, Balance, Fundamentals, Musicianship, and Sight Reading.

On Thursday, April 18th, Benton will host nearly twenty high school and middle school ensembles from throughout Southern California as they do the same.

All students will be testing in their ELA and Math classes. 8th graders (only) will have a 3rd week of testing in their Science Classes. You can see an overview of the testing in this SBAC Slideshow presented to students in their homerooms 3/27.

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.

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.

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.

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