Banks Middle School

Dear Families,

I hope you have all had a great week and have had a chance to enjoy the sunshine we've been having! We have some important events coming up that I want to share with you, so read on.

Restaurant Fundraiser at Sunset Hwy. Bar & Grill on March 21st - See the below flyer! 20% of all purchases that day will go to the BMS PTO, thank you for supporting our amazing PTO and by extension, our school! If you are looking for an easy dinner or place to gather that evening, come on by!

Dance - we have planned our final dance for the year for April 4th, from 6-8 pm in the BMS Gym. Tickets will be sold at the door only and will be $10. Students are voting on a theme next week, so stay tuned!

Incoming 6th-8th grade Forecasting - We are in the midst of preparing for forecasting for classes next year. I will be releasing the 25-26 Curriculum Guide before spring break, then we will be hosting an incoming 6th grade parent night on April 1st to explain the forecasting process and 6th grade programming to our incoming families. Then, we will be forecasting with all incoming 6th-8th graders the week of April 7th. I will email all families directly with the information you need to engage in this process so your student can pick the electives that work best for them and their interests.

Incoming 9th grade Forecasting - BHS is hosting an incoming 9th grade parent night on March 18th in the BHS cafeteria from 6-7 pm. BHS counselors will also be coming to 8th grade classes to explain the process to students on March 14th and 17th. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.

8th Grade Promotion - we have set the date for 8th Grade Promotion for Tuesday, June 10th from 6-7 pm. This is a wonderful celebration of our 8th graders as we honor their time in middle school and make the transition to high school. Families are invited to attend, and we hope you can make it! June 10th will also be the last day of school for our 8th graders. They will be going on our annual Oaks Park field trip that day as a final celebration of their middle school experience. Many thanks to our PTO for their sponsorship and organization of our Promotion event. The PTO will be looking for 7th grade parents who can volunteer at this event so the 8th grade PTO parents can enjoy it as spectators. The PTO is also looking for parents that might be willing to sponsor the event. They provide refreshments and goody bags (including a quality tumbler cup for each student). The PTO would appreciate donations to support these purchases. Email banksmiddleschoolPTO@gmail.com if you are able to contribute!

State Testing - We will be doing state testing after spring break this year. Tests will happen in our regular class periods for language arts, math, and science (no special testing schedule). 6th-86h grade Language arts classes will test the week of March 31, 6th-8th grade Math classes will test the week of April 7th, and 8th grade science classes will test the week of April 14th. If you want to opt your student out of state testing, you can fill out this opt-out form and turn it in to the main office. Student who opt-out will work quietly or read in classes during testing.

Best wishes,

Caitlin Everett

March 14: Spirit Assembly

March 14 and 17: High School Counselors present about forecasting process to 8th graders in Social Studies classes

March 18: Incoming 9th Grade Parent Night - 6pm @ BHS

March 21: PTO Fundraiser @Sunset Bar and Grill - 20% of proceeds go to BMS PTO!

March 24-28: No School- Spring Break

April 1: Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night - 6-7 pm @ BMS Cafeteria

April 9: BMS Talent Show from 4-6 pm

April 11: No School - Grading Day

April 22nd- 25th: Outdoor School for 6th graders

Every Tuesday and Thursday after school from 3:15-4:00 - Homework Club

All BMS students who earned a 3.0 GPA or higher can get a FREE ticket to an upcoming Portland Trail Blazers game! Please click the link above for details. What a great way to celebrate the end of the semester!

We are still running low on tissues for our classrooms! We would appreciate any donations to get us through the year! Please drop off donations to the main office.

We have some field trips coming up this spring, parents wishing to chaperone must have an up to date background check on file with the school district. You can access the background check form here!

Leadership is kicking off our first fundraiser of the year! We are now 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.

Homework club is an after school activity where students can work on school work in a supervised setting. Homework club is from 3:15-4:00 on Tuesday and Thursday in the library. Permission slips are required, students can get a permission slip in the office. Please note, a student needs to have work to do during homework club. It is not a place to "hang out" or pass time after school. Also note that attendance is not taken, please be aware of your child's homework club attendance plans ahead of time and ensure they have a way home, as transportation is not provided.

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.

Please see below for our full updated student handbook.