BCMS Community Flyer

• Wednesday, October 5 - schools are closed for Yom Kippur
• Wednesday, October 12 - Friday, October 14: Elementary & Middle school parent-teacher conferences
• Thursday, October 20 - schools are closed for teacher work day
• Friday, October 21 - schools are closed for teacher professional learning day
• Wednesday, November 2 - School Picture Day!
• Thursday, November 10th - Veterans Day Concert @ 6pm

It is hard to believe that we are coming up on the end of term one! As the end of the term approaches, the teams would like to remind students and families of a few important things.

1. Please make sure students are charging their Chromebooks/ personal laptops every night.

1. Remind students to check the ELT list every day to see if they have been pulled for tutoring. Students should let their teachers know if they would like to be pulled for ELT for help. Students can either talk to their teacher or send them a message on Schoology.

1. The grade cutoff day for all term one work is Wednesday, October 12. No work for term one will be accepted after 11:59 p.m. on October 12. Teachers will begin grading term two work and putting grades into Schoology, but these grades will be entered in an unweighted category, meaning they will not affect student grades until after term one grades are stored. Students still need to make sure these assignments are turned in so that they will not count as missing work once term two begins.

Families, faculty and students: this is a great time to become a BCMS PTSA member. Yes, that’s right! Students are permitted to join the PTSA. The cost of a membership for parents is $10 but is only $5 for students. The PTSA’s Board of Directors typically meets on the 2nd Thursday of every month via Zoom at 6:30 PM. All PTSA members are welcome to attend these monthly meetings. Joining these meetings is a wonderful way to get involved with your child’s school. You may join the BCMS PTSA by going to https://bcms.memberhub.com/store

The BCMS PTSA’s annual “B à E.Z.” fuss-free fundraiser kicks off on October 3rd! We really need YOUR help to meet this year’s goal of $2,500. 100% of your donation goes straight to the PTSA budget to support the fun and important club activities, programs, school wide field trips, teacher appreciation and enrichment events our students and teachers deserve. Don’t forget, your contributions are tax deductible. It’s E.Z. to donate! Just click here: https://bcms.memberhub.com/store/items/723078

The PTSA is providing dinner to the BCMS staff on Thursday, October 13th during conference week. Please click on this link to contribute to the annual staff dinner: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4BA4AB23A6F4C70-staff

Save the date for BCMS Night at Chipotle Westview! From 4-8 PM on October 18th, you can earn money for BCMS just by ordering from Chipotle. If you order in-person, either show the cashier the digital flyer or mention the fundraiser at checkout. If ordering via the Chipotle website or app, please use the Promo Code 3FPYN7Z

TutorMe.com, is a free student online tutoring and homework help service, is now available in any subject for students in grades 6-12.

· TutorMe.com is a secure, online resource easily accessible through the FCPS Clever Portal and offers on-demand assistance.

· The TutorMe.com service provides assistance that aligns with the FCPS curriculum, including knowledge of new curriculum tools being implemented.

· The service maintains rigorous standards providing high-quality, diverse tutors, screened for excellence (including a criminal background check). The service is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

· Features include:

o An online lesson space with a virtual whiteboard - Demo Space

o Text editor and chat space

o Audio/video chat (although you do not have to use this feature or turn on your camera)

o A function to allow sharing of screenshots of work examples to assist tutors as they provide support

o More than 300 subjects from math to science, social studies and languages

o Directions for how students can access the service are here.

More information is available at the vendor website, www.tutorme.com and this Student Support Document.

Ask your students about Tutor Me. You can also

Patrick Thompson, a member of our Pyramid team:

I grew up in 7 countries and have been to 23. I’ve learned 4 languages over the course of my life, Arabic being the first I was introduced to as a baby/toddler in Morocco. I also spent 7 years in Easter Europe, including 2 years in Kyiv, UA, and 5 in Bucharest, Romania. I’m passionate about culture and experiencing it as much as possible. I got my degree in political science to follow in my parents’ footsteps and join the State Department. I soon realized that such a career wasn’t right for me or my family, I jumped into professional sales, where I was for about 15 years before pulling a 180 by switching into education and social work. I’m a first year SEIA in the Pyramid program and am enjoying how my cherished life experiences help and motivate me everyday! I live in Middletown with my wife, 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a whole pack of cats.

Meet the 8th Grade Social Studies Teachers

Hi, my name is Rebekah Ley and I teach 8th grade social studies at Ballenger Creek Middle School. This is my 6th year teaching and my 4th year at BCMS- I taught two years in South Carolina as an 8th grade history teacher. I also graduated from Michigan State University with my undergraduate degree. When I’m not teaching, I like spending my time outside, whether that’s running, disc golfing, hiking, being by the water or just playing with my dog.

My name is Karen Moss, I teach 8th grade social studies at Ballenger Creek Middle! This is my 4th year teaching- my first two years teaching, I taught 8th grade Civics in Massachusetts, and this is my 2nd year teaching 8th grade social studies at BCMS. I am an Oakdale High School alum, I attended University of Maryland for my undergraduate degree, and I am currently working on my masters degree at Hood College! Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my 2 dogs and husband, cooking, reading, and doing yoga.

Kia Jones is entering her 5th year of teaching. She is a chorus teacher at both Ballenger Creek MS and Middletown MS. While working in FCPS, she has taught Chorus, Band, Theatre Arts, World Language Exploratory, and Music Performance Fab. She is also a H.O.P.E mentor, director of the Drama Club, and event coordinator of the Middle School All-County Chorus. In addition to teaching, Ms. Jones is also a Maryland real estate agent, a proud dog mom, and a lover of scary movies. When she isn't working you can find her puzzling, reading, painting furniture, or hanging out with her family.

Kristen Lowe, Visual Arts

This is my third year teaching and my first year at BCMS. I love creating functional art and costumes so I am always preparing something for Halloween. This summer I walked about 120km very, very slowly on the camino de Santiago with my fiancé.

My name is Kelly Phelps and I am looking forward to working with students to Learn, Apply & Build 21st Century Skills (LAB21) and to Explore World Languages (WLEX) with the Sixth Grade Team. This year marks my eighteenth year of teaching, the last three of which have been at Ballenger Creek Middle School. Prior to becoming a Bulldog, I taught at the elementary level. I can proudly say that I have worked to some capacity with all grade levels, Kindergarten through Eighth Grade! When I am away from school I enjoy spending time with my family and friends - especially when it involves food, the outdoors, and/or music. Dedicated fan to the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Capitals, and Washington Commanders. Let's have a great year!

Students have started completing weekly ALEKS topic goals in Math. Students should be checking their Math schoology pages to see what their specific weekly goal is. Students can monitor their own progress by checking their topic reports in ALEKS, a step-by-step how to for this can be found here. Students can make up missed topics by completing extra in the next week. ALEKS topic goals have the same mid-term/end of term due date as other class assignments. For questions about ALEKS topic goals - please reach out to your 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 grade level Math teacher.

Media Center & Technology Updates

MEET THE MEDIA SPECIALIST

Mrs. Jenn Lungociu

• 16th year teaching

• 7th year in FCPS

• 3rd year at BCMS

• I have taught 3rd grade, 5th grade, Elementary Media, and Middle School Media.

• I am a wife, mom, animal lover, reader, video gamer, and more.

Book Checkouts - Each grade level will have the opportunity to check out books once each week (schedule permitting).

• 6th Grade - Wednesdays during ELA classes

• 7th Grade - Fridays during ELA classes

• 8th Grade - Mondays during ELA classes

Book Checkout Overview

• Books may be checked out for 3 weeks at a time.

• Books can be renewed twice.

• Books can be put on hold using our LS2Pac (students must be signed in with their FCPS account).

• Books on hold will be delivered to the student's ELA teacher when they come in.

• Books can be returned to the Media Center on checkout days or placed in the blue bins in the student's ELA classroom.

Coming Soon:

• Lunch Opportunities

• Announcements Team

• Library Assistants

• Project Lit

• Book Clubs

Guidelines for FCPS Issued Chromebooks

• The student who is assigned the device is responsible for the device, case, and charger.

• All FCPS issued Chromebooks are to remain in their cases at all times to help protect them.

• Students are not to share Chromebooks or chargers with one another.

• FCPS issued Chromebooks are intended for use on school based assignments. Personal use for video and music streaming are prohibited.

6th grade - Students will be studying Isle Royale and explaining how physical and biological components of an ecosystem affect populations of the moose and wolves.

7th grade - Students are investigating how increases in the human population impact natural resource use.

8th grade - Students will begin to examine why certain traits exist in a population and whether or not they affect the organism’s ability to reproduce.

We encourage students to continue bringing in fully charged laptops and writing utensils for class so that they are prepared for daily lessons and activities.

6th Grade - We are finishing up the unit on Mesopotamia. Students will be looking at their achievements and contributions in the following days. Afterwards, students will start their next unit which focuses on ancient Egypt.

7th Grade - We are finishing our first unit which ends by looking at the rise of the Ottoman Empire and the fall of the Byzantine Empire. Afterwards, we will begin our second unit, which examines the Arabian Peninsula during the medieval ages. The first topics will look at the geography of the region and its impact on the culture.

8th Grade - Students are finishing up Unit 1 (Revolutionary War) and a DBQ (document based question). Students will have a test at the end of the unit. After this, we will move to unit 2 which focuses on the Articles of Confederation, Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the growth of the United States.

This handy little trick often corrects issues with a Chromebook. It is especially helpful if you find that your device will not power on after being plugged in for more than an hour.

Simply hold down the refresh key and tapping the power key. Give it about 30 seconds and release the refresh key once the screen comes on.

If you give it a try and the issue persists please fill out the BCMS Chromebook & Technology Help Request Form.

In these days, do you worry about your younger child missing? I know it is a scary thought, but this could help you locate them. It is called a Child’s ID Kit, a kit that gives vital information about your child, because time is of the essence. It includes personal and medical information, physical characteristics, dental chart, photograph and finger prints. If you need a kit, please contact Kathleen Rogers at 240-236-5773, Kathleen is in possession of 25 kits.