Benton Weekly Update

Congratulations! We successfully finished our first full week of school and the students seem to have settled into their classes and are successfully navigating the campus.

Have you noticed that student pick ups and drop offs are going more smoothly and quickly? Thank you parents, for adhering to the parking lot traffic flow guidelines and keeping our students safe. Our neighbors at Beatitudes Church kindly request that you do not use their parking lot pick up your student or cut through it to avoid the traffic. Please also respect our neighbors on Olive Branch Drive by not using their driveways or private roads to make U turns or to wait for your student. Making U turns on Olive Branch GREATLY holds up traffic. There are easy ways out of our neighborhood by continuing west on Olive Branch to either Oxford or Ocaso streets to get out to either Imperial Highway or Foster Road by Regional Park. A little patience goes a long way! (Our parking video is posted below if you still have questions.)

Let's stay in touch! In addition to this newsletter each week, I will be hosting a once or twice monthly Coffee with the Principal over zoom. The first Coffee with the Principal will be this week on Monday morning at 9am. This is an opportunity to ask questions, chat with me, learn a little more about Benton, etc. We also have our Back to School Night this week on Wednesday. We kick off the evening at 5pm in the MPR with a meeting for 6th Grade Parents about our Science Camp coming up in October. Our PTSA will have pizza and sodas available for sale, and at 6pm I will be introducing the school staff and kicking off the classroom visitations. Parents will follow their student's schedule rotating through each of their student's eight classes. We are also opening up nominations for the Benton School Site Council (see below). I strongly encourage all parents to join and support the Benton PTSA who supports all of our students, our programs, and our school. Won't you support them?

Students will begin to dress out for P.E. this week. All students should make sure to bring their P.E. clothes, athletic socks, and combination lock to school. If your student still needs clothes or a lock, they are available for purchase in the front office.

All students should have received their iPads. We do not yet have the information on iPad insurance, but as soon as we do, we will send that information home to families. Speaking of iPads, it's a good idea to set up a space to charge up iPads and any cell phones overnight. This space should NOT be where the student sleeps as students can be distracted by their electronics during the night and not get the 9+ hours of sleep they need. Here's an article on that.

When students received their iPads, they received a half sheet of paper called a "passport" with their PowerSchool and Schoology usernames and passwords. At the bottom of this paper was a Parent Access Code for Schoology. If you have not yet set up a parent Schoology account, I recommend you do so using this access code. This will allow you to see any assignments and materials posted in your student's Schoology classes, and whether your student has submitted assignments. Parents should also set up their PowerSchool Parent Portal account. PowerSchool will show attendance and all graded work. You will need a username and access code to set up a Parent Portal account or add another student to your account, look for those Parent Portal account letters going home on Monday.

This past week students met in their homerooms and viewed a presentation on Benton Behavior Expectations for student success. Some of the topics covered included who students can go to with questions or for support, do's and don'ts, where students can play or hang out, no chewing gum, cell phone rules, the dress code, etc. The key to any discipline plan is to be firm, fair, and consistent. To this end, we are reminding students and redirecting them when they forget or do not follow the expectations. With regard to dress code, we reminded many students last week of the requirements and will be actively enforcing the dress code going forward. Help us by ensuring your student's outfit meets the dress code requirements. The dress code graphic is posted below.

You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram @BentonWolverines.

Make it a great week!

There are two vacant positions for parents/community members on the Benton School Site Council (SSC). Each position serves for two years. The SSC meets approximately once a month from 3:30pm-5pm during the school year and makes decisions regarding the School Plan for Student Achievement, the budget, and the School Safety Plan.

Nominations for SSC now accepted through Friday, August 31st, elections will be held the following week. You can nominate yourself or another at this link: https://forms.gle/JK7LJ5ovhoQWe5n97

We have a lot happening at Back to School Night on Wednesday, August 28th.

6th Grade parents will want to come early at 5pm for our informational meeting about the 6th Grade Science Camp in Arrowhead (we have another parent meeting scheduled 9/17 with the Camp Owner/Director). If you're hungry, our PTSA will be selling pizza and sodas before classroom visitations begin at 6:10pm. Parents will follow their student's class schedule and rotate through each of their 8 classes.

Ms. Robertson teaches the Environmental Science elective, spearheaded the development of our Restoration Garden and Monarch Waystation, and taught a gardening class during Summer School. She leads the students in thinking about the environment, our climate, recycling, and conservation. All students are welcome to join the Green Team after school on Tuesdays working in the Benton Restoration Garden, learning about our environment, and watching our corn grow.

Join me virtually with your favorite morning beverage for "Coffee with the Principal". This is an opportunity for parents to ask me questions and get to know more about Benton. Feel free to join in over zoom at this link https://nlmusd.zoom.us/j/9065349882 on Monday, 8/26 at 9am.

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

There will be no school on Monday, September 2 in observance of Labor Day. Students return to school on Tuesday, which will be a B day.

Our 6th Grade Science Camp in Arrowhead will be October 14th-18th. The total cost (including deposit) is $425. Students can register by completing the registration form and paying a $100 deposit. Deposits can be paid in the office (cash or check to Benton ASB only) or you may do so with your My School Bucks account at this link.

You can find out more by visiting our Science Camp website at this link.

If you click on the image to the left, you will find a helpful video on navigating school pick ups and drops offs. By following the guidelines in this video, traffic will move efficiently and the parking lot can be cleared out within 10 minutes. We encourage all parents to exercise a little patience, follow the guidelines, be respectful of traffic rules and our neighbors' driveways, and help us to keep students safe.

Parents, please help us by checking your student's outfit before they leave for school. If students are out of dress code, the students may be asked to change into P.E. clothes or a loaner shirt or shorts.

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 or by scanning the QR code below.

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: benton.nlmusd.org
Location: 15709 E. Olive Branch Drive, La Mirada, CA 90638
Phone: (562) 210-2500
Facebook: facebook.com/bentonmiddleschool

Instagram: @BentonWolverines