BMS STAR - Family Bulletin

Hawk Hooray to our amazing social workers!

Dear Blackhawk Middle School Families,

As we welcome the month of March, we are excited to share several important updates and events happening at Blackhawk Middle School.​

This week, we celebrated our amazing social workers during School Social Work Week. Their dedication to supporting our students' well-being is invaluable, and we encourage everyone to join us in expressing appreciation for their hard work.​

Our focus this month is on demonstrating respect, one of our STAR expectations. Students are encouraged to exhibit respectful behavior and can earn Blackhawk Bucks as recognition. Please remind your children about the importance of respect in our school community and beyond.​

We invite all families to participate in the 5Essentials Survey, administered by all schools in Illinois. Completing this survey provides valuable feedback that helps us improve our school. Additionally, families who inform their child's classroom teacher about completing the survey will be entered into a raffle for a family pass to the Bensenville Pool!

Thank you to our amazing PTO for organizing our 8th grade bake sale and Retro Kahoot Night taking place today!

You still have time to join us. Trivia begins at 6:30 PM!

Thank you for your partnership!

#HawkHooray

#BlackhawkPride

Diana Vergara

Demonstrate respect and cash in on your Blackhawk bucks! Help remind our students that we are working on demonstrating respect - one of our STAR expectations!

The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) begins on March 12. Take a moment to review the schedule.

Families are invited to complete the 5Essentials Survey. The 5Essentials Survey is administered by all schools in Illinois. Families should inform their child's classroom teacher that they completed the survey in order to be entered into a raffle for a family pass to the Bensenville Pool.

Thank you to the Bensenville Park District for generously donating this raffle prize!

Stay connected! Use the BSD2 website for more information about the strategic plan and information about Blackhawk Middle School!

The PowerSchool Parent Portal is an online system that will provide parents access to their students’ schedules, attendance, assignments and grades.

• Powerschool/Standards Based Grading Handout English
• English - Apple & Android Device Written Directions.pdf
• Powerschool/Standards Based Grading Handout Spanish
• Spanish - Apple & Android Device Written Directions.pdf

District 2 calls eLearning Days when closing schools due to extreme weather or other emergencies.

Emergency eLearning Days are not “snow days.” Even though buildings are closed, there’s still “school,” as instruction will continue remotely. Attendance will be taken, and students will be engaged in live instruction for the entire five-hour school day.

An eLearning Day counts as a regular school day, and does not require the District to use a built-in emergency day at the end of the school year.

Parents will be notified no later than 6 a.m. if the District is closing its schools and holding an eLearning Day. (No announcement means it will be a normal school day.)

What to do on an Emergency eLearning Day

Emergency eLearning Days will begin an hour later than the normal school day to provide teachers planning time to adjust their instruction for eLearning.

• Blackhawk Middle School: instruction begins at 8:50 a.m.
• Tioga & W.A. Johnson Schools: instruction begins at 9:40 a.m.

K-8 students should log into their Chromebooks that they already bring home daily, go to their Google Classrooms through their Classlink page, and join eLearning from the Google Meets link(s) posted there.

eLearning Day Parent FAQ

Join us for our next PTO meeting on Thursday, March 13! We meet in the cafeteria and start promptly at 6:30 pm. We have a lot of fun things we are planning out. Hope to see all of you there! Blackhawk PTO

Students Participating in Clubs

All students must have a permission slip on file for both before and after-school clubs. Students may walk home, be picked up, or take a late bus after clubs and activities. Buses are available for students whose clubs end at 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM. Students taking one of our late buses are expected to be home within 30 minutes of departure. It is important for your child to know their address to ensure drop off at the correct stop.

BSD2 now has a new technology system that allows an invoice to be generated for Chromebook repairs. We started issuing invoices on December 9. Take a moment to review the Chromebook Agreement from the first week of school.

Advisory lessons were provided for students the first week of school and the week of December 2.

Thank you for your collaboration.

Yearbooks are sold online. Click here to order. Blackhawk's order number is 8818. The softcover yearbook is $17 and the hardcover yearbook is $24. Students can also bring in cash or a check made out to Blackhawk Middle School. Students should see Mrs. Berardi for help with ordering. Yearbooks will be sold until March 31. Students will receive their yearbook in May.

• 3/5: End of Trimester 2
• 3/7: 8th Grade Bake Sale 3:00 - 9:00 PM
• 3/7: Retro Kahoot Night - PTO Event 6:00 - 9:00 PM
• 3/8: Chicago Wolves Jazz Band Performance
• 3/12: IAR Testing: ELA 1
• 3/13: IAR Testing: Math 1
• 3/14: IAR Make-Ups Day 1
• 3/15: IGSMA Full Band Festival at River Grove School in River Grove, IL
• 3/17: IAR Testing: ELA 2
• 3/18: IAR Testing: Math 2
• 3/19: IAR Make-Ups Day 2
• 3/19: Musical Dress Rehearsal 3:00 - 8:00 PM
• 3/20: IAR Testing: Math 3
• 3/20: BSD2 Parent Safety Committee 5:00 - 6:30 PM
• 3/21: IAR Testing: ELA 3
• 3/21: Musical 7:00 - 9:00 PM
• 3/22: Musical 7:00 - 9:00 PM
• 3/31 - 4/4 - Spring Break

You can translate this newsletter to any language! You can also change the size of the text and use a high contrast mode!

• If you are reading this on a computer, the feature is on the top right by the heading.
• If you are reading this on a phone, the feature is the round icon in the bottom right corner.

As pertussis (whooping cough) case activity has been rising nationally and locally, please see the attached DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) Pertussis Fact Sheet (also available here). Pertussis fact sheets in Spanish and Polish are also posted here: https://www.dupagehealth.org/237/Medical-Alerts-and-Fact-Sheets

District 2 prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity that it operates. Individuals may report concerns or questions to the Title IX Coordinator. The notice of nondiscrimination is located at https://www.bsd2.org/students-families/non-discrimination-title-ix-and-anti-harassment

Diana Vergara - Principal

dvergara@bsd2.org

Jamie Hogue, Assistant Principal

jhogue@bsd2.org

Jacquelyn Le-Mon, Assistant Principal

jlemon@bsd2.org

Mary Hamilton, Students Services Coordinator

mhamilton@bsd2.org