Family Newsletter, 8/16/26

As our community navigates the impact of the recent heavy rains and flooding, our thoughts are with the families who have had to evacuate and the local businesses working through temporary closures. We know this is a stressful time, but we are confident in the strength and resilience of our Broad Ripple community.

We want to reassure you that BRMS remains completely safe, unaffected, and fully accessible for both vehicles and pedestrians. Because our campus is secure, school will proceed on our normal schedule, though we will keep you updated if anything changes.

We have reached out to the Broad Ripple Village Association to offer our full support. They are still assessing at this time and will pass along any community needs as they arise.

What an incredible start to the school year! Our classrooms and hallways are buzzing with energy, and it has been wonderful seeing our students jump right into learning and reconnecting with friends. Thank you for your partnership in making week one a resounding success.

To keep up with daily highlights, fun classroom updates, and event photos, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

Car Line & Student Safety Reminders

To keep all of our students and families safe during arrival and dismissal, please keep the following traffic procedures in mind:

• Compton Ave: All car riders must be dropped off and picked up on Compton Ave.

• Broad Ripple Ave: Please do not drop off or pick up students along Broad Ripple Ave. Stopping here creates a major safety hazard for our students and blocks traffic.

• Front Parking Lot: The front lot is reserved strictly for families with accessibility needs during drop off.

Personal Technology Device Policy

Overall, our students are doing a phenomenal job adhering to our personal technology expectations. Thank you for reinforcing these habits at home! As a reminder, students are not permitted to have personal tech devices (such as cell phones or smartwatches) on their person during the school day.

If a student has a device out during school hours, it will be collected and held in the office for a family member to pick up.

Every Day Counts: Attendance Goals

Step one to school success is simply showing up! Building strong daily attendance habits early on makes a massive difference in your child's academic growth and connection to our school community. Our goal this year is for every student to miss no more than nine days total for the entire school year. We appreciate your support in prioritizing regular, on-time attendance.

Thank you again for a wonderful first week. We are looking forward to a fantastic year ahead!

We want to share a quick update regarding our Spanish language classes. We currently have two Spanish teacher vacancies. Qualified Spanish teachers are in high demand, making the recruitment process particularly competitive.

While we have recommended several strong candidates for hire over the past few months, various unforeseen circumstances prevented them from completing the onboarding process. However, we have some positive news and a clear plan forward:

• New Full-Time Teacher Onboarding: We have officially recommended a wonderful new candidate who is currently completing the final stages of the hiring process. They will be joining our school community full-time very soon.

• Long-Term Coverage: Our second vacant classroom will continue to be led by our long-term substitute, Ms. Green, as we actively interview candidates to fill the permanent position.

  
  

We are incredibly fortunate to have Ms. Green on our team. She is excited to work with our students and has already demonstrated outstanding classroom management and a strong capability to deliver effective instruction. Your students are in supportive, capable hands.

We remain committed to finding the right long-term fit for both classrooms and will keep you updated as our hiring progress continues. Thank you for your ongoing support and patience!

Throughout the year, there are a number of forms that require completion. In an effort to streamline this process, BRMS has moved all of our forms to PowerSchool. See the instructions below to learn how to access necessary forms. Please have all forms completed by Monday, August 17th.

Picture day is Monday, August 24th. This year, we will be using Josten Photography. Because they use green screen technology, they strongly discourage staff and students from wearing the color green. Use this QR code to order photos in advance.

Join us to meet your child's teachers! Please note that this is an adults-only event.

• 5:30 – 7:00 PM: Walk through your child's daily class schedule.

• 7:00 – 7:30 PM: 8th Grade Washington, D.C. trip informational meeting.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Join us for the first PTSA Meeting of the year in the BRMS cafeteria on August 27th at 6 P.M. PTSA membership is a great way to strengthen the partnership between families, staff, and our community while helping create meaningful opportunities and experiences for every student.

A message from our PTSA:

We hope your students all had a great first week of school! I know my daughter was exhausted! Please keep in mind these updates from the PTSA:

• Visit the BRMS PTSA Website for information related to the PTSA, to get involved, or purchase spiritwear: https://www.brmsptsa.org/!
• Join the BRMS Rockets Parent Group on Facebook: You must answer the membership questions to be approved! https://www.facebook.com/groups/772358271428197
• Sign up for Rocket Fuel Fridays: Looking for an easy way to support our school community? We provide snacks and beverages each Friday to show our staff how much we appreciate them. Sign up to distribute snacks between 8am-9am or donate snacks or beverages. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D44ABAC2AA0F49-64521995-brms#/
• Save the date for the 1st PTSA meeting: Mark your calendar for Aug 27 at 6pm in the BRMS Cafeteria for the first PTSA meeting of the school year!
• Chair a PTSA committee: We have a few open committee chair positions on our PTSA board, if you are interested in helping out with one of the positions outlined below, please email broadripplemiddleschoolptsa@gmail.com.
• Fundraising Chair: Open
• Spirit Wear Chair: Open
• 8th Grade Trip Chairs: Open (We would like to establish chairs for each class to start fundraising early!)

Thanks,

Ginger

There is so much valuable information to share with new and returning families, so we created this Welcome Packet for you in hopes of addressing many of your questions.

BRMS Welcome Packet

Students are welcome to bring their supplies to 6th Grade Orientation or Back-to-School Night to store in their lockers.

We've made a few adjustments to our daily bell schedule. The adjustments include:

• Beginning and ending each day in Advisory classrooms. This will allow students to engage in daily Advisory lessons and end the day by reflecting and updating planners. This also allows for a consistent start and end to each day.
• The addition of SOAR Enrichment. This is a 30-minute daily enrichment time for students to receive targeted support and enrichment.

This year, our Orange/Black Day rotation will follow a set rotation:

You can access the BRMS Calendar At-A-Glance here!

We are currently on target to match our enrollment expectations. We've currently enrolled 494 students:

172-6th graders

166-7th graders

154-8th graders

Upcoming projects:

• Completion of HVAC updates
• Elevator repair-- COMPLETE!
• Projector and screen updates throughout the building
• Repair of digital sign in front of building- IN PROGRESS!

If you are in need of before and/or after school care for your child, please visit the AYS website to register. *This is a fee based program.

Technology Support Form
Attendance Reporting Form
Parent Feedback Form
Locker Support Form

If you have not accessed your PowerSchool Parent Account, please sign in and complete the transportation form (located under FORMS on the left side of your screen). If you need instructions for logging into PowerSchool, click here. Schedules are not yet available for viewing in Power School.

In addition to PowerSchool Parent Access, families will also want to download the Toddle App, and join our school community. Toddle will allow families to track assignments and lessons/units of study. Toddle is a learner management system (LMS) similar to Schoology or Canvas. In the IB MYP Schools in IPS, we use Toddle as our LMS.

Click here to access the weekly breakfast/lunch menu.

MONDAY:

• Boys' Tennis Practice
• Cross Country Practice
• Tackle Football Callout (rescheduled from last week)

TUESDAY:

• Girls' Volleyball Tryouts
• Tackle Football Practice

WEDNESDAY:

• Boys' Tennis Practice
• Cross Country Practice

THURSDAY:

• Girls' Volleyball Practice

FRIDAY:

• Tackle Football Event (Middle School Night @ George Washington High School 5-8:30 PM)

*All practices are from 4:30-6:30 PM unless otherwise noted

Contact our Athletic Coordinator, Dawn Corbin @corbind@myips.org with additional questions.

Together We Will SOAR is more than our school theme. It is our commitment to one another. We know that the greatest success happens when students, families, staff, and our community work as one team. "Together" reminds us that every person plays an important role in helping our students thrive. "SOAR" represents our shared belief that every student can grow academically, socially, and emotionally when they are supported, challenged, and encouraged.

As Rockets, we know that reaching new heights takes teamwork, perseverance, and purpose. This year, we will celebrate growth, embrace challenges, and hold high expectations for ourselves and one another. By partnering together and supporting every child, we are confident that our entire Broad Ripple Middle School community will soar beyond expectations.