Ballenger Creek Middle School
Community Newsletter - February 2024
Dear Ballenger Creek Middle Families,
I hope that you and your loved ones are well. How are your students settling into their second semester schedules? While much of their schedule is identical compared to their first semester, they may have a new elective or switched from physical education to health (or vice versa). We hope that any change they might have experienced has been welcome.
As hard as it is to believe, the end of this week will be mid-term for the third quarter, and as the weather warms (or stays warm), I know that family schedules will stay busy or get busier. If you need support for your child during the upcoming months, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s counselor, assistant principal, or me--we’re all here to help!
Take care,
Jay Schill
Principal, BCMS
6th Grade Updates
Please remind your student to continue following BCMS policies on dress code, hats/hoods, and cell phones. Remind your student to bring a charged Chromebook every day and to take care of all Chromebook-related items so they are in good condition for the rest of the school year. Thank you!
7th Grade Updates
Hello 7th Grade Families! We are now well into term 3 of the school year and midterm is coming up on February 16th! Please continue to check Schoology to see your student’s grades and remind them to check in with their teachers with any questions. Teachers can pull them for help during Homebase, and in some cases assignments can be revised for additional credit.
Please remind your student to continue following BCMS policies on dress code, hats/hoods, and cell phones. Remind your student to bring a charged Chromebook every day and to take care of all Chromebook-related items so they are in good condition for the rest of the school year. Thank you!
8th Grade Updates
Hello 8th Grade Families! High school registration began on January 31st, and was due on February 7th. Class recommendations should have come in the mail from THS to help your child make class selections for high school. If you have any questions about the recent high school registration, please reach out to Mr. Webber at johnny.webber@fcps.org.
Please continue to remind your child to always bring their Chromebook fully charged to school each day, in addition to any other supplies they need. Midterm is coming up on February 16th. Be sure to continuously check your child’s grades on Schoology. If your child needs help, they can always reach out to their teacher to be pulled for tutoring. Thank you for all that you do to support your child!
ELA Department
6th Grade:
Mrs. Giacco's classes are finishing up with their informational text unit and learning how authors of informational text use situational impacts to reveal central ideas. Mrs. Zumbar's classes are ending Term 2 with a look at folktales focusing on common themes developed through characters' point of view and responses. We are working with the short story "The Wise Old Woman," examining how one character's perspective toward others develops the theme of a story.
As we move forward to Cycle 5, we will be analyzing memoirs and literary texts to answer the essential question, How can someone’s family identity influence how they view themselves and others? Students will compare and contrast how point of view reveals theme and central idea. Students will then compose a narrative to write a continuation of one of the texts from this cycle.
7th Grade:
For the remainder of term 2, seventh grade is doing a written response and a project on the civil rights leaders we have studied to answer the essential question from this unit, which is "How have human rights been challenged and defended?"
To start term 3, we will be returning to fiction with a focus on how people become who they are. We will read several short stories and also read a novel.
8th Grade:
8th Grade Students recently finished their Cycle 4 Sweater Projects, researching individuals who challenged the status quo. Term 3 will start with students analyzing character responses, reactions, and motivations as they read various poems, short stories, and other literary texts. Students will work to answer the Cycle essential question, “How are people changed by love?”. Some of the texts from this cycle include Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee,” William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18,” and Grace Chua’s “(love song, with two goldfish).”
Mrs. Nuckols and Mrs. Weller would like to remind students that they are encouraged to pass 2 i-Ready Reading Lessons each week. Students can access the i-Ready Reading Lessons through the Clever Portal.
Math Department
6th Grade:
Module 4: Integers and Comparing Rational Numbers (positive and negative numbers, comparing whole numbers, fractions, and decimals). Moving into working with the coordinate plane.
7th Grade:
Moving into Module 5: Simplifying Algebraic Expressions (factoring, distributive property, combining like terms)
8th Grade:
Module 6: Systems of Linear Equations (solving using graphs, substitution, and elimination)
Algebra:
Module 10: Polynomials (identifying/classifying; adding and subtracting; multiplying)
Each grade level will be completing the winter i-Ready Diagnostic beginning the week of February 5th.
Students should be completing weekly ALEKS topic goals in Math. Students should be checking their Math Schoology pages to see their specific weekly goal. Students can monitor their own progress by checking their topic reports in ALEKS. A step-by-step “how to” for checking their reports can be found here. For questions about ALEKS topic goals, please reach out to your student’s grade level math teacher, our school Math Specialist, Ms. Boyer (laura.boyer@fcps.org), or our school Math Department Chair, Ms. Dickson (ashley.dickson@fcps.org).
Students should be checking their grade reports on Schoology weekly to see updates regarding missing/re-do work. If there are any questions regarding student grades, please reach out to your student’s grade level math teacher
Articulation season is beginning for our 6th and 7th grade students for middle school courses for next year. The county has made some changes to how the math courses will be structured for next year. Please be on the lookout for information regarding updates and recommendations for next year’s courses.
History Department
6th Grade:
6th Grade Ancient World History is beginning their journey to ancient china where students will examine how geography impacted the development of civilizations of china. Students will also look at the four major dynasties of China in addition to the development of the Silk Road and its impact on global trade, then and now.
7th Grade:
7th Grade Medieval World History is starting its fifth unit looking at medieval Central and South America. Students will be learning about the culture and society of three of the major groups in the region, the Maya, Aztec, and Inca. Specifically, students will learn about the variety of achievements made by these civilizations before the arrival of Europeans.
8th Grade:
8th Grade American Studies is finishing up Unit 4 which is on Westward Expansion. Students are studying the impact of Manifest Destiny on various groups of people during the time period. The students will be starting their final Benchmark during the first week of February. This Benchmark will cover Westward Expansion and will serve as the students’ summative assignment for the Unit. Then we will be moving into Unit 5 which will discuss the causes of the Civil War.
Science Department
8th Grade:
8th grade students will be taking the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) on the following dates: March 5, 6, 7, & 8.
The grade 8 MISA assesses science standards from all three middle school grades. MISA test questions will be fairly evenly split between Earth & Space Science, Life Science, and Physical Science.
Students will take one section per day during their regular science class period. Below is the modified schedule that will be used on the four testing days.
It is a good idea for students to review test questions from previous years as a way to prepare for this year’s test. Some of this review will take place in science class, however, this document contains information on how students can be as prepared as possible for the MISA.
Fine & Practical Arts Department
Congratulations to the All County students who represented BCMS at the concert on February 3, 2024. BCMS students made up 21% of the total participants, of which hold second most participants in chorus, top number of participants in band, and third most participants in orchestra. We are so proud of our students and the positive forward moving transformation of our music community.
Chorus:
Samara B, Sarah C, Ava C, Nicole D, Sempre F, Mariama J, Alyssa M, Maleah M, Delaney, Laniya P, Josie R, Gabrielle W, Chase Z, Zaiden H-S, Lana J, Jackie M-E, Lilah P, Xavier P, Cordelia C, Morgan D, Mia L, Priscilla O, Jazzy R-S, Avery R
Band:
Matthew C, Naomi M, Carson M, Janaye Y, Jacob D, Madeline R, Bruce E, Andrew K, Alice R,
Angela V-R
Ella C, Olivia N-N, Kevin C, Dmitri F, Angel F, Ornella J, Katie K
Special Education Department
Happy New Year! We welcome our families to contact us with questions or support that may be needed.
6th Grade: Rebecca Schimel and Emily Pemrick
7th Grade: Elissa Grimm
8th Grade: Athena Fream and Tyler Britt
Speech and Language Pathologist: Kellee Byun
School Psychologist: Julie Kaufhold
Program Assistant: Nancy Suray
Multilingual Learners
Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2nd every year.
Groundhog Day is a tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year starting in the 16th century.
If the groundhog DOES NOT see his shadow then Spring is in its way.
If he DOES see his shadow we will have 6 more weeks of Winter.
Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14th every year.
The ML team would like to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!
Our team supports all Multilingual Language Learners in our school. If you have questions or concerns about your child's progress in school, please email one of us. We will do our best to answer your questions and support you and your child.
WIDA ACCESS testing was conducted from Monday, January 22nd through Friday, February 2nd and has been completed. The students worked hard on their assessments and we look forward to sharing their scores with you when we receive them.
Registration help for English Language Learners and their families. If you need assistance with registration for next year please email Ms. Birmanns or Ms. Webb for help. We will gladly work with you and your child to make sure you complete the process on time. If you need to meet in person we can set up an appointment during school hours or after school between 3:00pm - 4:00pm.
Please reach out to Ms. Birmanns or Ms. Webb for any support that is needed. Both can be reached via email or phone.
Ms. Birmanns - sarah.birmanns@fcps.org
Ms. Webb - claudine.webb@fcps.org
5 Star Service Award
The 5-Star Service Award is for community use in recognizing FCPS employees who show excellence in one of the 5 FCPS goals. Community members are welcome to nominate any worthy FCPS employees. You can nominate here.
We would like to recognize the winners of the Young Authors' Contest from BCMS this year. The following are school-level winners:
6th Grade Short Story:
1st Place: James K.
Runner Up: Andy I.
6th Grade Poem:
1st place: Noah S.
Runner Up: Lemina M.
7th Grade Short Story:
1st Place: Kira T.
Runner Up: Alexis R.
7th Poem:
1st Place: Anabel W.
Runner Up: Madisen R.
8th Grade Short Story:
1st Place: Jawad S.
Runner Up: Serafina S.
8th Grade Poem:
1st Place: Mihika T.
Runner Up: Jason F.
Kira T’s story also won second place at the county level!