Dear BMS Families,

The 2022-23 school year is off to a great start at BMS!

During this first month, students have reviewed behavior expectations for spaces throughout our school. Routines have been established and it's exciting to watch the development of classroom communities as staff and students build new relationships and engage in learning.

We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming parent-teacher conferences. Below is more information about this opportunity to connect with your child's teacher regarding the learning they are doing at BMS.

Rhonda Herrick

BMS Principal

At Bloomer Middle School, we report student learning progress using clearly defined learning targets aligned to high quality, balanced assessments.

The purpose of target-based grading is to identify what a student knows, or is able to do, in relation to pre-established learning targets, as opposed to simply averaging grades/scores over the course of a grading period, which can mask what a student has learned, or not learned, in a specific course.

The following Proficiency Criteria will be used to provide feedback to students and parents:

Proficient (3) - You Got It!The student has fully demonstrated content proficiency and skill application for the learning target at this point in the school year.

Approaching (2) - Almost Got It!The student has demonstrated partial content proficiency and skill application for the learning target at this point in the school year. Partial development indicates progress with gaps in understanding and/or certain misconceptions.

Beginning (1) - Not Quite Yet!The student has demonstrated minimal evidence of content proficiency and skill application for the learning target at this point in the school year. The student has large gaps in understanding and/or application and is able to show success only with significant adult assistance.

No Evidence (NE) - The student has demonstrated no evidence of progress toward the expected content/skills for the particular learning target at this point in the school year.

Students who are earning an academic grade of “NE” (no evidence)on one or more learning targets at the end of a week will be suspended from extracurricular activities for the following week, this includes: athletic events, club events and field trips.

The Target-Based Report Card seeks to provide meaningful feedback so both students and parents can track student progress toward mastery of key academic concepts, reflect upon strengths and weaknesses, and identify multiple pathways to deepen learning.

Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the proficiency scale, outlined above, will convert to a letter grade (A, B, C, D, F) in Skyward and on report cards for 6th, 7th and 8th grade students.

In order to provide a more accurate and comprehensive picture of what an individual student is capable of, student academic progress will now be reported separately from their behavior.

The Behavior Grade will indicate a student’s ability to meet pre-established behavioral guidelines in the areas of respect and responsibility. Reporting a behavior grade separately from academic grades allows teachers to identify and address specific behavior issues that may impact student learning.

The BMS behavior grade criteria are:

• Comes to class on time and prepared to learn, follows directions, and engages in learning

• Displays a positive attitude, takes ownership of learning, and utilizes constructive feedback

• Works cooperatively with others and values others’ perspectives, time and space

The students will receive one of the following grades:

• 3 (proficient)
• 2 (approaching)
• 1 (beginning / needs improvement)

Students will receive a separate behavior grade in each of their classes.

Behavior grades will be updated weekly in Skyward and will be reported on the report card at the end of each trimester.

Students who are earning a behavior grade of “1” (needs improvement) in two or more classes, at the end of a week, will be suspended from extracurricular activities for the following week, this includes: athletic events, club events and field trips.