Banks Middle School

Happy Friday BMS Community! We have several topics to share about today! Read on for the following information:

• We are hosting a Youth Mental Health Awareness Night this coming Monday 4/20 at 6 pm in the BMS Library, see below for details. Topics covered will be youth anxiety and depression, the effects of social media, and substance use prevention.
• Please read the section below for important updates on state testing, as well as opt out links.
• Interested in helping out the PTO with volunteering at the upcoming dance, concessions sales? See the PTO corner below!
• Mark your calendars! We will celebrate our 8th graders transition to high school at our 8th grade promotion ceremony on Tuesday, June 9th from 7-8 pm (note: this is a slight time change from the original start time of 6:30 pm).
• Squishy/Nee-Doh Fidgets - we have had some recent problems with the squishy types of fidgets (e.g. Nee-Doh brand). They create an ooze that can leak and get onto surfaces and damage Chromebooks. For this reason, they are no longer an acceptable fidget to bring to school, so please keep those home!
• Banks MIddle School Dance Team rocks it at the state competition! Read below for details on their performances.

Best wishes,

Caitlin Everett

Banks Middle School Principal

April 20: Youth Mental Health Awareness Night @6 pm in the BMS Library

April 20: Campaigning begins for leadership elections

April 24: Elections assembly

Week of 5/4: Staff appreciation week

May 5: Talent Show

May 18: BMS PTO meeting from 5-6 pm in the library

May 28: BMS Choir and Band Concert 6:30-7:30 pm in the BHS Gym

May 29: Spring Dance (6:00-7:30 pm)

As we enter state testing season, we want to share why these assessments are an important experience for students and for our school community as a whole.

For students, state assessments are an opportunity to demonstrate their learning and growth. Due to changes in graduation requirements at the state level, all of our current freshman and younger students will also have to pass their essential skills in order to graduate. Essential Skills can be met by either passing the state test or passing a more extensive work sample if they do not use the testing route to meet the requirement. Middle school state testing is the last chance for students to practice on this assessment before their junior year when they will test to meet this requirement, so we hope they will engage in this important practice opportunity!

Additionally, we are in a new age of school accountability. State assessments also play an important role for our schools. The results, both participation and academic, are used by the Oregon Department of Education to evaluate schools. The evaluation results for each school and district, if not at an acceptable target, can determine future oversight in day to day operations and funding. When students participate, the picture of our school community is more complete and representative of who we are. Our goal for each school is 100% participation. Please help us reach this goal!

We appreciate families’ partnership in encouraging students to approach state testing with a positive mindset and to give their best effort. Our school district is graded on the participation in these tests. We want everyone to know we want to be the best district in the state - in every way! Together, we can ensure that students gain important skills from this experience and that our schools are represented fairly and accurately.

BMS has the following schedule for state testing this year:

Week of 4/20: 8th grade science

Week of 4/27: Grades 6-8 Language Arts

Week of 5/4: Grades 6-8 Math

If you would like to opt your student out of testing, here is the form for ELA and Math and here is the form for Science.

Our amazing BMS PTO has a few different opportunities for volunteers coming up, thank you for considering helping out!

4/30/26 - Track Concessions fundraiser help - Sign up Link here. We are looking for volunteers to work concessions at the next middle school track meet. This is one of our larger fundraisers of the year, thank you for your support!

5/29/26 - BMS Dance Chaperones and Snack Donations needed - Sign Up Link here (background check required). That sign up link will take you to a page you can either sign up to chaperone, or sign up to bring snacks for the students while they are at the dance (seeking goldfish, rice crispy treats, chips, and fruit snacks)

• The Banks Middle School Dance Team participated in the Oregon Junior Dance Team State Competition in Pendleton on April 10th and 11th. The team performed a Contemporary routine and was just two points away from a 2nd place trophy. The high energy, crowd pleasing performance of their Hip Hop routine earned them a 2nd place trophy! They scored within three points of the 1st place title, which was especially impressive considering they danced with a team of 14 against the winning team's 36 dancers! It was a fun, exciting, and successful end to their season! Go team!

With construction underway at BHS, our parking lot is busier than usual. Please plan to build in a little extra time during drop-off and pick-up, and thank you in advance for your patience. We also ask everyone to be mindful of sharing the space safely with construction crews who are working on site. We appreciate your cooperation as we work through these improvements together.

Homework Club is offered Mondays and Tuesdays after school in Ms. Reckers' room. Here students can have a dedicated quiet area to work on homework with the support of a teacher.

Additionally, Chess Club meets after school on Wednesday's in the library. This is a fun way to learn a new game and meet new people!

BMS Student Leadership is continuing their BottleDrop fundraiser this year as a BottleDrop Give organization and participating using “blue bags”.

Once you fill the bag, you can:

1) Have your student pick up a blue bag with QR code sticker from Ms. King

2) Return it to Mrs. King full of cans/bottles and she will take it to a BottleDrop

3) You can also return it to a BottleDrop location and make sure they scan the BMS Leadership QR code.

If you shop at Fred Meyer you are now able to support our PTO by enrolling in the Community Rewards program with Fred Meyer. Once enrolled, they will contribute $ to the PTO for all eligible purchases.

Signing up is easy. Visit https://www.fredmeyer.com. Once logged into your Fred Meyer account, you can search for Banks Middle School PTO either by name or "VI069" and then click "Enroll". New users will need to create an account, which requires some basic information, a valid email address and a rewards card.