A Message to our Parents

Phase 2 Update - November 2, 2020

A Message from our Principal

Greetings Charger Families,

We are excited to welcome our Face to Face students back for Phase 2! Please be aware of this very important information:

Who Attends When

On Wednesday, November 4th, only students in Cohort BB will return Face 2 Face. That will be students with the last names beginning with the letters M-Z. These students will report to school Wednesday and Thursday. Students in Cohort AA, last names A-L, and those that are choosing to remain virtual, will continue to log in via their Google Meet class link.

On Monday, November 9th, students in Cohort AA, last names A-L, will attend Face 2 Face. The week of November 9th will be the first week that both cohorts will have the opportunity to attend, on their respective days, in person. When your cohort is not attending, or if you are a student that has chosen to remain virtual, you will log in using your Google Meet class link.

On Fridays during Phase 2, all students will have an asynchronous learning day. Students should check for assignments from their teachers via Google Classroom. Students will also have the opportunity to check in with their teacher for Academic Assistance during their teachers’ scheduled assistance times. Please check with your child’s teachers for their schedule.

Tardies to School/Class

Beginning the week of November 16th, tardies will be counted for ALL students, Face 2 Face and virtual. It is important that students are reporting to school and each class on time. Students will be marked tardy to school/class at 7:50 am. Students will be marked tardy to class if they enter after the scheduled start time. During Phase 2, this will apply to ALL students, Face 2 Face and virtual.

Car Rider Procedures (Morning & Afternoon)

As a reminder, as we continue to ensure physical distancing procedures, during morning dropoff in the front of the school, we ask that parents follow the blue traffic pattern that surrounds our gym parking lot. Please do not cut off other cars and do not cut through the parking lot. Please pull all the way to the front of the school and have your student remain in the car until they are motioned to exit the vehicle by a staff member. We cannot have multiple students exiting their vehicle at once due to physical distancing.

For car rider drop off procedures in the back of the building, please be reminded of your speed as you enter our traffic loop. Please do NOT cut in front of other cars. Parents, please be sure to pull all the way to the front of the line where our faculty members will be standing and waiting to direct students to their next location. Students should not exit the vehicle until told to do so by the faculty member(s) on duty. Again, this will help us maintain our physical distancing protocols. Please note that the back gate will close promptly at 7:45 am. This will allow us to close our back doors to ensure the safety of our students and the school campus as we prepare for our school day. After 7:45 am, please use the front entrance for car rider drop off.

For afternoon pickup, we ask that you please remember to place a sign with your student(s) name in the front windshield. This will allow us to call for your students at dismissal. All students must be picked up by 2:30 pm.

Visits to Campus

Keeping everyone safe during COVID-19 is everyone’s responsibility. Non-essential visits to BMS will be limited. Only employees, students, and essential visitors (foodservice suppliers, contractors, etc..) will be permitted beyond the school’s office area. To this end, Blythewood Middle School will discourage drop-off of nonessential items for students and employees. When dropping off an essential item, the visitor will place the item in a designated bin. The owner of the item will retrieve the item from the bin. Please keep in mind that during this time, conferences are still available, however, it is preferred that the conference is conducted by phone or video conference.

Benchmark Testing

As a matter of keeping you informed, we want to make our parents and students aware that Benchmark testing will be taking place on November 10-12. Students will Benchmark test in the areas of English Language Arts, Math, and Science (6th grade only). Benchmark testing allows teachers to get an overview of how students are performing on material that has been taught thus far. It will further allow teachers the opportunity to reteach content that may need to be revisited. All students are expected to participate in Benchmark testing. Students that are in the building on their Face 2 Face cohort day, will take the test in-house. Students that are virtual will take the test at home. An alternate testing schedule will be in place November 10-12. We will share that schedule later this week.

Thank You!

We recognize that these new procedures may cause delays. We ask that you please leave home/work in ample time in the mornings and afternoons to allow for you to reach your next destination on time. Thank you for using your life skills of patience and cooperation.

~The BMS Admin Team