We are excited for the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Whether you are a returning family or a new family to our school, we want to welcome you! As we begin this journey together, we wanted to provide some information in regard to the upcoming school year.

This year ISD will be implementing the Four Day Instructional Week. If you would like more information about the Four Day Instructional Week, you can click HERE to be directed to the information center on our district Website.

The first day for our students return will be Monday, August 21st. School will also be in session on Monday, August 28th. Please click HERE to access our bell schedule for the 2023-2024 school year.

On the first day of school, if your student is a car rider, they will be dropped off at the front of the building. Students that walk to school will also enter through the front entrance. Students will be allowed in the building at 7:55 a.m. If students arrive early, they will need to wait outside until the doors open.

Bus riders will enter the building through our Large and Small gym located on the west side of the building. 8th grade students will be directed to enter through our Large Gym and 7th grade students will enter through our Small Gym. If students plan to purchase breakfast, they will do that upon entering the building and then go to their classroom.

If you have not already registered your student and proven residency, please do that in the next two weeks. Online registration can be accessed by clicking HERE. If you would like more information about registration and proof of residency please see the Admissions Center website.

If you would like more information on the Four-Day Instructional Week, please click on the link below.

Four-Day Instructional Week Information

Please review the information below to support you and your student with their Orientation experience.

• Student Orientation is designed for our students. Parents and/or guardians will not be permitted to participate in this event.
• Students should not bring school supplies with them to Orientation. Students will not have access to their lockers at this event.
• Students do not need their class schedule for Orientation.
• The ISD cell phone policy will be enforced during Orientation. Since students will not have access to their lockers, it is permissible for students to keep their cell phone on their person. Cell phones should be turned off while at school and on district transportation. It is against School Board policy for students to utilize their phone while at school or on district transportation. This includes non-phone functions, such as taking pictures and/or videos.

Each year, we have a significant portion of our student population take advantage of our Independence School District Transportation. This is a great service to each of our families and we ask each of our parent's support in ensuring that our students meet riding expectations. We ask that our families please review the following expectations with their students prior to the first day of school.

• Follow the bus driver’s directions

• Provide full and correct name when requested by the driver

• Be at the bus stop five minutes before your assigned stop time

• Line up in a single line at the side of the road with no pushing or shoving

• Sit on your seat, not on knees or backpacks

• Keep the aisle clear. Keep hands feet and other items to yourself on the bus.

• No food, drinks, gum or candy on the bus

• Students are expected to help keep the bus clean and not destroy transportation equipment

• Damage resulting from misbehavior shall be paid for by the student

• Suspension from the bus will occur and continue until all damage is paid for

• Students will show consideration for other students and the bus driver

• No profanity or other abusive language. No physical or verbal bullying

• Students are required to board and exit the bus at their assigned stop

• Students do not need to bring any supplies and/or items with them to Orientation and will not have access to lockers during this event.

Bus passes for Student Orientation are currently being mailed to residences and should arrive by early in the week of August 7th. If you have not received your student's pass by Tuesday, please contact ISD Transportation (521.5335) at that time.

We are excited to welcome our Bears to Student Orientation! Doors will open at 1:00 pm! In an effort to support our families, please review the important Car Rider information below.

· If your student is a car rider, please have your student remain in your vehicle until the doors have opened at 1:00 pm. Students should not be dropped off prior to 1:00 pm.

· Car Riders should use our car rider line for drop-off. Car riders are dropped of in the front of the building in our circle lot.

· For the safety of our students, we ask that parents do not park and drop off students from parking spots. We want to avoid potential safety concerns of students passing across moving cars.

· Car riders must be picked up by 3:05 pm.

· Students do not need to bring any supplies and/or items with them to Orientation and will not have access to lockers during this event.

Registration

Residency verification is required for all ISD students, virtual and in-person. If you uploaded documents during the online registration process and received a confirmation email from the ISD, you do not need to bring those documents to the school. If you did not prove residency during registration, please bring the documentation listed below to the Bingham office beginning Monday, August 1st or email them to: BMSBears@isdschools.org

Residency Verification continues through August 18th from 8am to 4pm each day. Please have a Photo ID with you to verify that the name on the bill matches the parent/guardian enrolling the student.

Acceptable residency verification must meet the following requirements:

• An electric or gas bill from the current address (no more than 30 days old)

AND one of the following:

• Copy of Mortgage Payment, Deed of Trust, or Housing Contract
• Copy of Rental Agreement,
• Copy of Lease Agreement,
• Copy of Jackson County Paid Personal Property Tax Receipt

Families needing to renew their residency affidavit should do so at the Independence Admissions Office, temporarily located at Independence Arts and Technology (315 N. Main St., Independence, MO) . You must have the residency affidavit, two required homeowner proofs of residency and the parent/guardian proof of residency at that address. They will assist you with verifying your documents and notarizing your affidavit document on a walk-in basis Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you have any questions, please call 816-521-5588 or visit the admissions website at http://sites.isdschools.org/admissions.

Student schedules will begin to be emailed to families on the week of August 7th. This process will continue through the following two weeks as additional enrollments are completed. In order to receive your student's schedule, you must meet the following requirements:

• Completed Student Registration
• Provided Residency Verification
• Paid Previously Incurred Student Obligations

It is that time of year when we all begin to prepare for the upcoming school year. Part of this process is the purchase of school supplies. We ask for parents to carefully review the ISD Middle School Supply List. Our goal is to ensure parents receive accurate information regarding the supplies students will need to be prepared for classes each day.

Please find the ISD Middle School Supply List linked below.

https://www.isdschools.org/schoolsupplies/

We also ask parents to pay close attention to the type of binders requested on the school supply list. Zippered binders will not be permissible for students to use for their classes. This decision is intentional as our staff works closely with students in the development of their organizational skills. A student’s binder is also utilized as a tool to provide consistency in communication between school and home.

We understand the purchase of supplies can become overwhelming at the start of the school year. We want to share that the state of Missouri will participate in the Back to School Sales Tax Holiday. This holiday allows for the purchase of school supplies to be made without tax. The Back to School Sales Tax Holiday will begin on Friday, August 4th and conclude on Sunday, August 6th. Additional information can be found at:

https://dor.mo.gov/taxation/business/tax-types/sales-use/holidays/back-to-school/

Additionally, we ask for our parents to utilize the support of our Family School Liaisons (FSL) if you are unable to provide supplies for your student. FSLs can be reached by calling the school directly at 816.521.5490

We look forward to a great 2023-2024 school year!

Please consider joining our PTSA this year! Our PTSA does so much to support our parents, students, and teachers! Cost to join is only $6.00 for an individual membership. Memberships can be purchased with cash/check or you scan the QR code to pay with PayPal. PTSA will have activities throughout the year that students can participate in with a PTSA membership.

Latitude is our after-school childcare program housed at Bridger. If you would like to learn more about the Latitude program, follow the link below.

http://sites.isdschools.org/before_and_after_school/index

Please take a moment to review these requirements and go over them with your child. We appreciate home-school partnerships to encourage the success of all students!

7th Grade Credit Requirements

Earn 4.5 credits out of 6 possible credits

At least 3 of the credits must come from core classes

Core classes: ELA, math, science, social studies

Elective classes: any other class

How do students earn a credit?

Receive an A, B, C or D. An F means no credit is earned.

What Happens If Students Don’t Earn Their Credits?

Students will be required to attend middle school summer school. As long as they meet the summer school requirements, students will be able to choose their elective classes for 8th grade.

If students don’t attend summer school or don’t meet the summer school requirements, they may be retained and enrolled in Essential Literacy or Essential Math instead of their chosen elective.

8th Grade Credit Requirements

Earn 4.5 credits out of 6 possible credits

At least 3 of the credits must come from core classes

Core classes: ELA, math, science, social studies

Elective classes: any other class

How do students earn a credit?

Receive an A, B, C or D. An F means no credit is earned.

What Happens If Students Don’t Earn Their Credits?

Students will be required to attend middle school summer school. As long as students meet the summer school requirements, they will be able to attend their assigned high school next fall.

If students don’t attend summer school or don’t meet the summer school requirements they may be retained or attend the Bridge program at Independence Academy the following school year.

Please take a few minutes to review the ISD Game Day Attendance Policy.

Bingham Middle School - Fall Athletic Information

All sports begin on Monday, August 14, 2023

Football

Head Coach: Josh Boswell

Josh_Boswell@isdschools.org

• Practice Time: 3:30 - 5:15

• Meet in the Small Gym

• Remind code: 37g3k9

• Athletes bring tennis shoes, cleats, athletic clothing & a large water bottle.
  

Volleyball

Head Coach: Whitney Broughton

Whitney_Broughton@isdschools.org

• Practice Time: 3:50-5:20

• Tryouts on August 14, 15, 16 and 18

• No tryouts on August 17

• Meet in the large gym

• Athletes bring tennis shoes, water bottle, athletic clothing, and knee pads if you have them.
  

Cross Country

Coaches: Anna Zirpolo & Lauren Hotchkiss

Anna_Zirpolo@isdschools.org

Lauren_Hotchkiss@isdschools.org

• Practice Time:4:00pm - 5:15pm

• Meet in the cafeteria

• Athletes wear comfortable athletic clothing, running/tennis shoes, and a water bottle.
  

All schedules will be available on www.wcbears.com

Student Physical

• All physicals will now be valid for 2 years from the date of the physical, unless indicated differently by physician. Pre-Participation information will still need to be updated annually on PRIVIT.

• Athletes must have a current physical uploaded on PRIVIT before any type of participation.

• Please go to this website to create and/or update your PRIVIT account: wcbears-mo.e-ppe.com

• For additional PRIVIT instructions, please click here.

• Blank physical forms are located in the office at Bingham Middle School or at www.wcbears.com. If you have any questions, please contact us at 816-521-5427.

Parent Meeting - for all parents of Fall Sport athletes

• August 24, 2023, 5:00-6:00 in the Bingham Large Gym

• A required $50 athletic fee is due before the first scheduled season contest. The athlete will be given a student athletic pass to attend any ISD high school games (no tournaments or track relays) once the fee has been paid.

Age Eligibility

• Students must meet other MSHSAA requirements to participate in activities including residency and age requirements. To participate in 7th grade activities, students must not have reached 14 years of age prior to July 1st preceding the opening of school of their 7th grade year. To participate in 8th grade activities and/or athletics, students must not have reached 15 years of age prior to July 1st preceding the opening of their 8th grade year.

Academic / Citizenship Eligibility

• In order for students to participate in Missouri State High School Athletics Association (MSHSAA) sponsored activities and athletics at the beginning of the school year, students must have passed six (6) of seven (7) subject area classes during the last grading period of the preceding school year. During the school year, students will become ineligible if they fail more than one class at the end of the grading period. Students would remain ineligible for the duration of that grading period. His/her status would be determined the next grading period based on his/her new grades.

• Athletes represent their school on their athletic team and at contests. In order to participate in school activities and after-school events, students must attend the full day of school. Participants in interscholastic sports must attend a day in order to be eligible for that day’s athletic event unless permission is gained from the administration.

Please use the link provided below to access the 2023-2024 ISD School Calendar.

https://www.isdschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-2024-Student-Calendar.pdf

Aug. 11th: 7th Grade Orientation, 1:00-3:00 pm (Students Only)

Aug. 21st: First Day of School (Monday)

August 28th: School in Session (Monday)

Aug. 24th: Open House/Meet the Teacher Night 6:00 - 7:30pm

Sept. 4th: No School - Labor Day Observance

Oct. 3rd: Fall Pictures

Nov. 10th: Fall Picture Retakes

Fall pictures have been set for October 3rd. Retakes will be held on November 10th.

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is a learning system that provides students with real-world strategies to accelerate their performance to succeed in college and life. Students learn how to ask questions that go beyond memorization and encourage higher-level thinking, providing students with an educational advantage. AVID layers on existing curriculum, allowing teachers to implement AVID strategies into any lesson or subject. Students utilize the Cornell note-taking process to organize their notes and create powerful study tools. They learn to recognize the most important parts of a lesson, create questions to guide their studying, and revisit and refine their notes to solidify learning. Students also learn soft skills, including public speaking, self-advocacy, time management and organization. The ISD is proud to offer AVID to all 6th, 7th and 8th grade students.

Yearbooks are currently being sold at the discounted rate of $20. Stating in November the price increases to $25. To purchase, please login to your www.myschoolbucks.com account and select yearbook in the school store section.

• School hours for Bingham Middle School are 8:05 AM – 3:50 PM.
  
• Students may not be dropped off before 7:55 AM (doors do not open until 7:55 AM).
  
• Office hours are from 7:30 AM – 4:25 PM
  
• Car riders MUST be picked up in front of the building by 4:00 PM

Bingham Middle School is a positive, safe environment that promotes academic and interpersonal skills for success in the global society.

At Bingham Middle School, our staff, students and community support one another by:

encouraging collaboration and perserverance,

setting high expectations,

creating and promoting a growth mindset,

embracing diversity and individuality,

and treating everyone with dignity and respect.

Our Vision:

All students at Bingham Middle School will be prepared for success in the global society.

Home of the Bingham Bears

Website: sites.isdschools.org/bingham
Location: 1716 South Speck Road, Independence, MO, USA
Phone: 816-521-5490
Facebook: facebook.com/BinghamMiddle
Twitter: @BinghamBears