Building BRAVES

January has been quite the month here at BMS. We have had delays, cancellations, and a relocation. What a month it has been, and I am so impressed with the way our BMS family has pulled through. The students have shown resiliency in their learning through it all. They did great during our relocation, they stayed calm and listened to staff members and did what they were asked. Our teachers and staff are looking forward to getting back in the classrooms on a regular schedule with our students! There are many upcoming events that are happening in February. A HUGE shout out to all of the students and staff at BES and BMS who helped raise over five thousand dollars to donate to St. Jude!!!! Mr. Ben Fawbush organizes this every year and we are so very thankful to all who donated. We are shooting to include the high school next year! Mr. Fawbush's SRT class was the winner of the classroom competition.

February 7th:

• North Adams Flex day # 3: Professional Development for staff, students do not have school and no eLearning
• Also on February 7th is a Future Braves Expo at Bellmont High School. High school administration, guidance, teachers, and coaches will be available to ask questions about freshman year. ALL 8th grade students are asked to attend with a parent. Guidance and administration will start with a presentation in the theater. This event starts at 6:30

February 9th:

• 8th grade will be taking a field trip to participate in Junior Achievement activities

February 19th:

• North Adams will be in session for President's Day. This is to allow for April 8th to be out of school for the solar eclipse that will be taking place.

February 21st:

• Parent Teacher conferences for BMS and BES, they will run from 3:30 -6p.m.

BMS will be holding a "Spread the Love" event where we are going to be asking students to do random acts of kindness for others. We will be rolling this out at the start of February! Please ask your students for details.

BMS will also be participating in a fundraising event similar to the elementary, please stay tuned for more info on this as well!

From the 6th grade team:

Bellmont Middle School parent-teacher conferences are being held on Wednesday, February 21, from 3:30-6:00pm. This session of conferences is open to all parents of BMS sixth-grade students. All five sixth-grade teachers will be together to meet with each parent for a ten-minute time block. This will allow all of us to be on the same page and will hopefully eliminate parents having to wait for long periods of time to meet with us.

Running conferences using this method does limit the number of slots that are available, and the slots will be filled on a first-come-first-serve basis. If you are unable to make any of these times or if it is more convenient for you to just email the teachers regarding your child’s academic performance, we welcome you to do so.

Since the conference is about your child, we ask that he/she attend along with you. It is important for he/she to be involved in the conference.

To sign up for a conference time, please click on the link below. If you have any questions regarding sign-ups, please contact Mrs. Tonni North, northt@nadams.k12.in.us .

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040E4DA5A92FA3F85-47429547-6thgrade

From the 7th grade team:

**In Mr. Keller's math classes students are completing unit 5 which has involved using integers (positive and negative numbers) to represent quantities regarding elevation, temperature, money, rates of change for filling and draining containers, interest, commissions, discounts, markups, and restaurant tips. It's been interesting to see how math is so commonly used in so many areas of everyday life.

**Our next unit will focus on Prealgebra skills including equations, inequalities, graphing, and slope.

*In Mr. Frederick’s social studies classes students have learned about Ancient China this month and are currently learning about modern day Asia. This Asia unit covers many things, including its geographical features, political divisions/borders, and valuable resources.

**Parent conferences will be Wed Feb 21st from 3:30-6:00. Any parent is welcome to come and talk with all 5 Seventh Grade Teachers.

From the 8th grade team:

The 8th graders will be going to JA on Friday, February 9th. If you are interested in attending to be a chaperone, please contact Mrs. Bowen. You will need to pass a background check and that usually takes several days to be returned to the school. We could use a few more parents going with us that day.

Another important date is Wednesday, February 7th from 6:30-8:00. On this evening, the incoming freshmen will get a chance to hear about signing up for classes and the students will meet lots of teachers that night. There will be teachers from core classes, electives, and coaches for the kids to meet. Many coaches will have their summer schedules that kids will be expected to attend if they plan to participate in sports as a high schooler.

Please mark your calendar for Parent/teacher conferences on Wednesday, February 21st from 3:30-6:00. If you plan to attend, please bring your son/daughter with you so that they are part of our conversation. All the 8th grade teachers will be together in Mrs. Bowen’s classroom. We will try our best to keep conferences between 10-15 minutes.

As you can see, this month is busy with important dates that students and parents need to participate in. Please mark all of them down and plan to attend or help out as much as you can.

From our Athletic Director:

Basketball season has wrapped up.

We are in the middle of swimming and diving season as well as wrestling right now.

Spring sports can start practicing as early as March 11th. Please look for more information to come.

Notes from the Cafeteria:

Just a reminder for all BES and BMS students, breakfast and lunch are free on a daily basis.

Exciting times at BMS with Reading! Ask your child where their SRT class lands in the “Battle of the Books”.

Encourage your child to read and turn in their pages!

Also, our Young Hoosier Program is in full swing. We have been reading these books since September to earn an ice cream party. Your child just has to read 5 of them from the Middle Grade list.

Reading just 20 min a night helps to build a strong vocabulary, can positively boost your mental and physical well being and can even build empathy for others.

READ, READ, READ to meet your goals!

Our Top 10 checkouts this last month are:

1. Diary of a wimpy kid : the ugly truth

2. Diary of a wimpy kid

3. Diary of a wimpy kid : the last straw

4. Dog Man : Lord of the fleas

5. Diary of a wimpy kid : old school

6. Dog Man : A tale of two kitties

7. Katt vs. Dogg

8. The Bad Guys

9. Wings of fire graphic novel : The lost heir

10. The Bad Guys in the baddest day ever

Email: schlemmerk@nadams.k12.in.us
Website: https://www.nadams.k12.in.us/Domain/120
Location: Decatur, IN
Phone: (260) 724-3137