Baker Families,

Welcome to the first week of October 2024. It is hard to believe that the first month of the 2024-2025 school year is in the books. The first month of a new school year is front loaded with many activities where our students and staff make connections, begin the process of identifying learning strengths and styles, setting goals, and the fast pace of making adjustments to support all learners.

October signals an important benchmark when we settle into our routines and have a clear picture of where our learners are. It is also a time where many school districts schedule their fall conferences to connect with families and share personalized feedback and tailored insight into their student’s learning and educational experience.

If you have not had a chance to do so, I encourage you to sign up for our parent teacher conferences. Please see the sign-up information below. Our staff is looking forward to meeting with families and establishing a supportive partnership with you to enhance student success.

Warmest regards,

Jonathan Cross

Principal

Baker Middle School

The Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences are quickly approaching, and Baker is once again using an online Conference Manager scheduling tool for Parent Teacher Conferences. This software will allow you to pick and choose your own schedule for conferences, which can make for a more efficient and personalized experience for parents. Please click on the link below to visit the Conference Manager website.

The Conference Manager will open Wednesday, October 2nd at 6 am and close Wednesday, October 9th at 3 pm.

Because teacher appointments are limited, we are asking that parents refrain from signing up to see their student's advisory teacher or club sponsors. If you have any questions regarding advisory or a club, please reach out to those staff members via Schoology. If you have already signed up to see your student's advisory teacher or club sponsor, there is nothing you need to do, our teachers will you remove you from their calendar.

A few tips:

• Keep “travel” time in mind and please do not schedule back-to-back conferences as it will take time to travel from room to room. Please allow 5 minutes between time slots.
• Please only schedule one conference per teacher/class (unless you have more than one child per teacher). 6th grade parents may schedule two back-to-back sessions with their ELA teacher since it is a 2-hour block.
• You can add comments/questions when scheduling your time for teacher reference to help guide the conference.
• Need help with directions? You can always call the office, and we will help get you scheduled.

This is a friendly reminder that there is a half day scheduled for Thursday, October 10th & Friday, October 11th. Dismissal is at 11:53 AM. Thank you for making arrangements for your student and their early dismissal.

STUDENTS ATTENDING ATHENS

The shuttle will NOT run on ½ days.

• Student are not expected to attend Athens prior to the start of Baker.
  
• They will be marked exempt (not absent) by their high school teacher.
  
• If you choose, you are able to attend high school courses, parents or an adult on your emergency contact form may provide transportation.

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988, on the approval of Public Law 100-402. (Text Excerpt from the Library of Congress)

October is Fire Prevention Month! The goal of Fire Prevention Month (and week October 6th - 12th) is to raise fire safety awareness and help protect homes and families. In 1922, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) named the second week of October Fire Prevention Week in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.

This year’s FPW campaign, “Smoke alarms: Make them work for you!™” strives to educate everyone about the importance of having working smoke alarms in the home.

The Troy school district prides itself on its world, class pillars, and commitment to deep learning. Our blue pillar, deep learning prioritizes a commitment to developing lifelong skills, such as critical thinking, collaboration, character, creativity, citizenship, and communication.

At the heart of deep learning, students have an opportunity to use the knowledge and skills that they are learning in the classroom and connect it to real world experiences and applications.

Bringing in guest speakers allows our students to gain real world insights and firsthand knowledge of various career fields, making lessons more relevant and engaging. This week at Baker, we had two guest speakers. We appreciated hearing their success stories. This inspired our students and enriched their educational experience!

On September 24th, Oakland University professor, Dr. Cornelia Sommer came to speak with our Baker band students. Dr.Sommer is a bassoonist, arranger, and professor who is dedicated to sharing music with diverse audiences and expanding the bassoon’s repertoire. She join the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as Second Bassoon in the Fall of 2023.

Dr. Sommer is the recipient of the Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award and released her first album, “New Enchantments: Fairy Tale Music for Bassoon,” in 2023. She came to Baker to discuss life as a professional bassoonist as well as the music program at Oakland University. Our 3 student bassoonists had a chance to receive individualized coaching and feedback from her. This was a great experience for our students and first hand look at life as a musician.

Brian Stott came into Mr. Quinn's Computer Science Discoveries class and did an algorithm activity involving pennies and patterns with the class and then discussed his computer science career and the future of computer science careers. Mr. Stott is an ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) architect at Little Caesar's.

He is responsible for providing technical solutions for requests from the business as it relates to moving data around our enterprise. He provides technical requirements for engineers and supports existing applications. He is also responsible for making architectural decisions around their messaging platform.

While at Baker, he took questions from the students that ranged from "How many coding languages do you know?" to "What's your favorite video game?" Mr. Stott was great with the kids and let them know that they are already ahead of him at their age. He didn't take any computer classes at all until high school and didn't learn about coding until college.

Dear Families,

Get ready—the Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school! This is a great opportunity to connect

with your child over the thrill of bringing home new books to dive into again and again. Studies show

that kids read more when they choose books for themselves, and fostering a love of independent

reading leads to a wide variety of benefits, including academic success and improved mental health.

Here’s what you need to know about the big event. The Fair will be open during regular school hours

from October 7-11 in the Media Center.

The Fair will also be open during Conference open hours on Thursday afternoon 12:30 – 3:15 P.M.

and evening 4 – 6:45 P.M. Please note that the Book Fair must close early on Friday to pack up.

There’s even more info on our school’s Book Fair homepage:

https://www.scholastic.com/bf/bakermiddleschooltroysd

While you’re there, set up a Book Fair eWallet, the digital payment account that allows your child to

shop for books at the Fair without cash. Then, share your eWallet link so friends and extended family

can add funds, too.

NOTE: If you have funds on a student’s account from a previous Book Fair, even from another school,

those funds will be available in the student’s account as a Scholastic Gift Card. Simply log into your

account and choose the new Baker Book Fair as your Fair. You will be asked if you would like to apply

those funds to this new Fair.

Our school’s online Book Fair will be open from Oct. 7 – 20 for additional shopping. You have

access to the Scholastic Store of over 3000 items! All orders ship directly to your home, and

shipping is free for book-only orders over $25. Every online purchase will also benefit our school.

Many of us still remember the rush of finding the perfect book at a Scholastic Book Fair. I hope you’ll

join your child at our school’s Fair and share a reading experience they’ll remember forever.

Happy reading,

Jonathan Cross

Principal

Baker Middle School

We are excited to invite all middle school students to participate in the upcoming Troy City Cross Country Meet! This meet will be held alongside the high school teams from Troy and Athens. Please review the details below to ensure your child is prepared for the event if they choose to participate.

This is an opportunity for middle school students to participate in the upcoming Troy City Cross Country Meet, alongside the high school teams from Troy and Athens. See attachment below for more information.

There is no cost for middle school students.

Event Details:

Date: Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Location: Firefighters Park (Square Lake Rd between Crooks and Coolidge)

Middle School Races (distance is 2 miles):

• Boys' Race (Grades 6-8): Starts at approximately 5:15 p.m.
• Girls' Race (Grades 6-8): Follows immediately after the boys’ race

Important Instructions:

• Arrival Time: Please arrive by 4:30 PM so runners can stretch and warm up. Running bibs will also be handed out at this time, and it may be helpful to have a parent nearby to assist with attaching the bib to your child's shirt or shoe, depending on the type of chip.
• Attire: Students should wear their school shirts or colors. Be sure they are dressed appropriately for the weather and have proper running shoes.
• Bring: A water bottle to stay hydrated.
• Clean-up: Please remind your child to gather their belongings and ensure the area is left clean before leaving the park.

Join us for an engaging community read as we delve into Jonathan Hates thought-provoking book, the anxious generation. The event will include a community kickoff, followed by small group facilitation. Event will be held at Athens high school (4333 John R Rd., Troy MI 48085)

The Anxious Generation shows how smartphones, social media, and current parenting styles have led to a decline in young people’s mental health and offers actionable solutions to help both our kids grow, thrive and become mature, emotionally stable adults.

The 24-25 Annual iPad Insurance window is open. Please be sure to opt in at the beginning of the school year. The form and ability to opt-in for insurance will close on October 31st.

This year, insurance coverage has been upgraded to offer more to our district families, and we are excited to announce that it will be free to those families that are approved for Free and Reduced Lunch.

Each student in grades 2-12 who wishes to participate in the Troy School District 1:1 Device Insurance Program will be required to pay an annual insurance premium of $25 per student, not to exceed $100 per family. Kindergarten and 1st grade students have classroom sets of iPads that are shared in the classroom and not brought home, thus, no personal insurance is needed.

The iPad Responsibility form no longer needs to be signed/submitted, as it is covered under the Student Technology Acceptable Use Policy.

iPad Insurance Information Link