Banks Middle School

Dear Families,

What a beautiful sunny week we've had! Students enjoyed the sunshine during recess and lots of outdoor PE this week! We finished up our initial round of forecasting this week for all of our incoming students. If you have questions about your student's forecasting you can reach out to Ms. del Villar.

We've also got a lot going on in our Leadership program this month! Talent show auditions are April 22nd after school (plus 6th graders can audition on the 29th due to outdoor school). April 21-23, Leadership is running a fundraiser to earn the privilege of pieing staff in the face at our next assembly. Finally, class officer campaigns will be starting April 28-May 2nd. We also have a spirit week April 28-May 2 (themes are still TBD). Calendar dates for Leadership and more are all listed below.

As we are getting into the home stretch of the school year (8 weeks left), we always appreciate parents checking in with their students about finishing the year strong. Keeping up with homework routines and goal setting is always a good idea. We also appreciate students having consistent attendance (every day counts!) and doing their best to be kind to themselves and each other. Thank you for reinforcing positive school behavior and academic effort at home!

We also have a PTO meeting coming up on May 5th from 5-6 pm at Main Street Pizza. The PTO would like to invite current 5th grade parents (plus any new 6th and 7th grade parents) to this meeting in hopes to identify new folks to join the team for next year. Coming to the May meeting will be a great way to look ahead and get involved next year, as we have several key PTO members whose students will be moving on to the high school next year and we have some big shoes to fill. Thank you!

Finally we have field trips for all students on the horizon. 6th graders go to outdoor school next week, 7th graders are going to the Oregon Zoo on April 30th, and 8th graders are going to the Tillamook Forest Center on May 28th. Thank you to those of you who have (or will) sign up for chaperoning to the Zoo and the Forest trip (8th grade forms will be going home soon).

Best wishes,

Caitlin Everett

April 22: Bus Driver Appreciation Day (Thank your bus driver!)

April 22- 25: Outdoor School for 6th graders

April 24: Concert Band Festival Field Trip

April 28-May 2: Spirit Week (themes TBD)

April 30: 7th Grade Field Trip to the Zoo

May 2: Spirit Assembly and start of Class Officer campaigns

May 5: BMS PTO Meeting at Main Street Pizza from 5-6 pm

May 5-9: Teacher Appreciation Week

May 15: BMS Talent Show (rescheduled)

May 19: 5:00-6:30 pm Community Curriculum Night

May 26: No School (Memorial Day)

May 28: 8th Grade Field Trip to Tillamook Forest

May 29: Choir Festival Field Trip (tentative)

June 10: 8th Grade Promotion

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

Each year we take eligible 8th graders to Oaks Park to celebrate the end of middle school and the transition to high school! To qualify for this trip, 8th grade students must meet the following requirements for the last quarter of the school year:

• Passing 5 or more classes with a D or higher. This is modeled after the the OSAA participation guidelines for high school sports and activities.
• 4 or less minor behavior referrals.
• Major referrals will be addressed and assessed on a case by case basis.
• If there are concerns about a student's behavior, we will require their parent to attend the trip.

We are looking forward to a positive end of the year with our 8th graders!

One of our bigger BMS PTO fundraisers for the year is selling concessions at the two home Middle School Track meets. If you are able to volunteer for this, you can sign up here. We have one more more on May 1st! Thank you to our PTO for organizing this fundraiser in support of our school!

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.