Benton Weekly Update

This is the last week before Spring Break. We have early dismissal on Thursday at 1:15pm and there will be no school Friday 3/29 through Friday, 4/5.

On Tuesday 3/26 at 6pm our music ensembles will perform in the 2nd Annual La Mirada All City Concert at the La Mirada Performing Arts Center. This concert features music students from all NLMUSD elementary, middle, and high school students in La Mirada. The concert is free, but you must have a ticket. All performers received two tickets to this special event.

Our SBAC Academy continues this week after school on Monday and Tuesday only as we have early dismissal Thursday. If your child received an invitation but hasn't attended due to play rehearsals or sports practice, it's not too late to attend.

We have another Attendance Challenge for the month of March. Let's do our best to finish strong this week. Reminder for all: it's important for students to be in school all day, every day - if they're not here, they're not learning!

The URL for the new Benton webpage is benton.nlmusd.org, be sure to add our new page to your bookmarks. As we continue to update and build our page, feel free to reach out to the school office if you're not finding the information you need.

Make it a great week!

The District Middle School Softball Tournament was held last Thursday. Both teams played well, and Benton's Girls' Softball team came in 1st once again. It's good to have our trophy back home, congratulations to volunteer Coach Cait and the entire team.

Check out our 8th Grade Webpage with information and news just for 8th grade students and their families.

For your reference, here is the Promotion Contract (that students already signed and returned) with criteria to participate in the Promotion Ceremony. Students received this contract in the fall and most have returned it to the office.

Current 6th & 7th Grade students need to enter their course requests in PowerSchool AND turn the course request forms into the office.

6th Grade Students will need to get a TDAP vaccination before entering 7th Grade. Start scheduling those appointments now! For your convenience, the District is providing TDAP Clinics at its middle schools, see below.

Students will attend periods 5B-8B on Wednesday. This Wednesday, like all Wednesdays, dismissal is at 1:45pm.

Students are dismissed at 1:15pm on Thursday.

Students are on Break Friday, 3/29 through Friday, 4/5. Students return to school on Monday, 4/8.

Please join our zoom with your favorite morning beverage for conversation or Q&A with Benton Principal Ms. Ridgeway.

The 23-24 Benton Yearbook is on sale now for $35 in the front office only, our webstore link is temporarily unavailable. You can purchase your copy now, Yearbooks will be distributed during the last week of school.

8th Grade Parents: each year in the yearbook, we feature a page with baby pictures of our 8th grade students. Now is the time to send a digital baby photo of your 8th grader to edegener@nlmusd.org. You only have a few weeks to submit those photos, do it now and be sure to include your student's name.

You can now purchase Ads or Well Wishes in the Benton Yearbook! Prices are as follows and are payable (cash or check) in the school office.

• Full Page: 7 in. horizontal x 10 in. vertical @ $100
• Half Page: 7 in. horizontal x 5 in. vertical @ $70
• Quarter Page: 3.5 in. horizontal x 4.75 in. vertical @ $40
• Eighth Page: 3.25 in. horizontal x 2.25 in. vertical @ $30

Full design supplied by parent to above specifications as either a PDF or JPG file with a high resolution enough to ensure quality at the size desired. The deadline to purchase/submit artwork is April 19th.

ENGLISH LEARNERS ADVISORY COUNCIL (ELAC)

Parents of students identified as English Learners are invited to participate on the ELAC. The ELAC provides advice to the School Site Council on the development of Benton's Single Plan for Student Achievement, the plan for improving the performance of English Language Learners.If you would like to serve on this body, please contact me or Ms. Alcala lalcala@nlmusd.org.

The PTSA is a huge support to students and Benton's programs, and we hope all families choose to join, support, and get involved at Benton. Join the Benton PTSA online at this link .

As you can see below, we have A Days and B Days. Students have periods 1A-4A on A Days, every Monday and Thursday, and periods 5B-8B on B Days, every Tuesday and Friday. On Wednesdays, we alternate between A Days and B Days.

Benton Middle School is a Visual & Performing Arts Magnet school. Follow us on Instagram @Bentonwolverines.

Email: rridgeway@nlmusd.org
Website: bentonms.org
Location: 15709 E. Olive Branch Drive, La Mirada, CA 90638
Phone: (562) 210-2500
Facebook: facebook.com/bentonmiddleschool
Twitter: @BentonPrincipal