The vision of the Collegiate Academy at Blackman High School is to create a challenging learning environment with a rigorous course of study where students can become well-rounded scholars who fulfill their potential as they transition from high school to post-secondary opportunities.

Dear parents,

One of our focuses at BHS is to provide a safe haven for learning. I have been at many different high schools, and BHS is the most supportive and accepting and inclusive of any I’ve been in. Our students are really amazing kids! And I credit that to their parents.

However, recently we had some student incidents, which appeared to be related to national events. We immediately handled situations as they came to us. We do not tolerate bullying or harassment or acts of hate for any reason, and we have high expectations that students act in a caring, supportive, and inclusive manner while at school. Please let us know if your child has any concerns. We will address them immediately.

We will continue to uphold the values that we hold dear at Blackman, and we appreciate your support at home as you talk to your students about treating each other with the respect everyone deserves.

Go Blaze!

-Dr. Leisa Justus

Click here to read the The Blackman Experience: Popular Rutherford high school aims to offer well-rounded academic, athletic experience to prepare students for college and future. BHS is truly a wonderful place to go to school, both inside and outside of the classroom. Go Blaze!!

Monday, Dec. 12: 1st period exam

Tuesday, Dec. 13: 2nd & 3rd period exams

Wednesday, Dec. 14: 4th & 5th period exams

Thursday, Dec. 15: 6th & 7th period exams

These dates are for new BCA applicants:

• Thursday, December 1st - Informational Meeting for Prospective Students - 6:30 in the BHS Auditorium
  
• Thursday, December 1st - Applications will be available
  
• Friday, January 13th - Application Deadline
  
• Thursday, January 19th - February 2nd - Interviews/Writing Sample after school
  
• Wednesday, February 15th - Letters mailed home
  

Feb. 2nd: Sophomore BCA Day at MTSU

*Each field trip will be from 8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Field trips are mandatory.

JUNIORS & SENIORS: We will have a junior team building / senior celebration field trip in May. Details to come. You won't want to miss this!!

The Penn Admissions office and Steppingstone Scholars, a Philadelphia-based academic enrichment program that helps underrepresented students, partnered to create a new online course: “How to Apply to College.”

The course, which will be offered for free on Penn’s online platform Coursera, will be released in February 2017. Students who complete the 10 weeks of modules will learn how to research, apply to and make the transition to colleges. Click here for more information.

Looking for direction in selecting a college or major? Need guidance in choosing a career? LaunchMyCareerTN.org is a new website created to help students explore Tennessee colleges, universities, and jobs, while evaluating factors such as tuition costs, offered degrees, education requirements, and starting salaries. The website features tools such as a cost of living calculator and offers information on a wide variety of occupations. Visit LaunchMyCareerTN.org or see Kayla Reed, Colton Tincher, or Cierra Williams for more information.

The Walmart Community Grants Team and Facility selected Blackman High School's Community Grant application to receive a $1,500.00 grant! Thanks, Walmart!!

Please turn in your BCA Policy Form to Mrs. DeGeorge ASAP!

You can now report your extra-curricular hours online instead of using a paper form by clicking here. The link can also be found on the Collegiate Academy website. Fill out the form for each separate activity you complete and click submit. We will verify the hours each nine weeks with the club sponsor or coach. We will post the names of those that have completed their 20 hours of required extra-curricular hours on the BCA bulletin board after each nine weeks. If you have any questions please email Mr. Pedigo at pedigot@rcschools.net.

Students must complete 40 hours of real-life experience in the area of his/her major. The experience must be approved by the faculty board. This experience can be completed any year but must be completed by April of the senior year. The experience may or may not be a part of the student’s senior research project. The experience should be meaningful and provide insight into the field of study the student is interested in.

Click here to visit the BCA website and find the application located on the right-hand side. If you have any questions please email Ms. Cook at cookg@rcschools.net

• Free tutoring is available by phone
  
• Monday - Thursday from 4 - 8 p.m.
  
• Call 615-298-6636 or 1-888-868-5777

• Freshmen: Honors English I, Honors Biology, and Honors World History or AP Human Geography (must be enrolled in at least 2)

• Sophomores: Honors English II, Honors Algebra II or Advanced Honors Geometry, and Honors Chemistry (must be enrolled in at least 2)

• Juniors: AP English III, AP U.S. History or Dual Enrollment U.S. History, and Speech or Critical Thinking (These are recommendations but not required. Speech and critical thinking are highly recommended junior year before capstone.)

• Seniors: Speech or Critical Thinking (if not already taken) and Capstone
  

Are you prepared for the ACT? ACT Prep Sessions will be available here at BHS on Saturday, Dec. 3rd. They will be held from 9 a.m. - noon. Sessions will be held in the F hallway and will offer rooms for English, Math, or Science help.

The I L.E.A.D. ACT Prep Program will be providing ACT Prep for students enrolled in Rutherford County and surrounding area schools. This program is designed to aid high school students who want to apply for early decision to colleges and qualify for scholarships early by achieving higher scores to give themselves a competitive edge in the application process.

This 5 week program will encompass a review of prior diagnostic results from students’ previous ACT test scores which provides an actual picture of skill deficiencies by subject to assist students in developing a strategic approach to focusing on their main areas of needs. If the student has not tested, benchmark testing will be conducted on the first Saturday.

• Location: Blackman High School

• Hours of Operation: Saturdays on 2/18, 2/25, 3/4, 3/11 & 3/18 from 7:30 - 11:30
• Sign in/Breakfast: 7:30 - 7:45
• Begin Class: 8:00
• Break: 9:30 - 9:45
  
• Dismissal: 11:30
  

Click here to register. For more information, please contact Erin Abernathy, Program Director at 615-653-6458.

Thanks to Rutherford County Schools, you now have access to Shmoop's premium resources. HERE'S HOW TO GET STARTED:

• Go to http://schools.shmoop.com/login/rutherford-county/
  
• Log in OR Create New Student Account
  
• Enter Magic Word: NAVIGATE (all caps)
• Choose either ACT Exam Prep (under the Test Prep section) or ACT Crash Course (under the Courses section)
  

Need help? Contact Holly Hunter hunterh@rcschools.net.

The Department of Education has developed an updated Parent Guide to Being TNReady for the 2016-17 school year (download here) and a supplemental Guide on TNReady Supports for Students with Disabilities (download here). They have also developed a one-page handout (here) that explains the high level role of assessments and a new FAQ webpage (here) that provides additional information for parents and teachers.

It is back-to-school time in Tennessee, and we want to take a moment to remind you that attendance matters for every child in every grade, from pre-Kindergarten through high school. The Young Child Wellness Council produced this video to promote the importance of school attendance. For more information and additional resources, visit the KidCentralTN website (here). To learn how chronic absenteeism impacts our state, review the recently released report Chronic Absenteeism in Early Grades.

Hannah Claire Candlish - Most School Spirit

Reece Rich - Most Likely to Succeed

Cameron Almonrode - Most Likely to Succeed

Al Thebphakone - Most Intellectual

Lanier Youngman - Most Intellectual

Taylor Freeman - Most Athletic

Rhyan Lake - Outstanding Leadership

Congratulations to the following seniors on their college acceptance!

• Nathaniel Bryan - MTSU, University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Christian Brothers University
  
• Jasmyn Bunch - University of Tennessee
  
• Dominique Diallo - MTSU, Carson-Newman, TN Wesleyan, Austin Peay
  
• Madison Flannery - Savannah College of Art and Design, Full Sail University
  
• Megan Grimes - Trevecca Nazarene, Belmont
  
• Trey Harvie - Auburn, Mississippi State, University of Mississippi
  
• Haley Kyle - Carson-Newman
  
• Jeremy Puhr - Tennessee Tech
  
• Kayla Reed - Freed-Hardeman, Harding, University of Alabama
  
• Tyler Trent - University of Tennessee
  
• Megan Uhls - Lee University
  
• Daylia Wallace - University of Tennessee Chattanooga
  
• Cierra Williams - Western Kentucky, University of Tennessee, Tulane University
  

Congratulations to Kayla Reed on receiving the Better Business Bureau Student of Integrity Scholarship!

Congratulations to Haley Kyle on signing to play softball at Carson Newman!

Kayla Berry's capstone project was on Nov. 1st at Barfield Elementary School. She asked the teachers to randomly pick three to five students from their class to get five to seven books to keep at their home.

The FAFSA opened on Oct.1st so all seniors should currently be working on their FAFSA by visiting fafsa.gov. The revised FAFSA timeline, as well as new rules allowing filers to use prior tax information, have provided an opportunity for a strong, collaborative push across Tennessee to empower as many students as possible to access funds they need to attend postsecondary institutions. The FAFSA qualifies students for the HOPE Scholarship if they have a 3.0 GPA or 21 ACT score. Visit this link to learn more about the FAFSA changes: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/fafsa-changes.

The state of Tennessee is offering two years of tuition-free community or technical college through the TN Promise. If your student applied by Nov. 1st, they must file their FAFSA by Jan. 17th, attend a second mandatory meeting on March 21st, and complete 8 hours of community service for each semester they receive TN Promise funding.

On January 1, 2017, Tennessee House Bill 10 with amendment 1 will go into effect. “House Bill 10 with amendment 1 requires a student, during the student's high school career, to take a United States civics test prepared by the Local Educational Association consisting of between 25 and 50 questions, taken from the civics test administered by the United States citizenship and immigration services. In contrast to the original bill, this amendment does not make passage of the test a requirement for graduation.

A student may take the test as many times as necessary to pass the test. A student who has an individualized education program under which the civics test is determined to be an inappropriate requirement for the student does not have to take the test. In order to pass the test, a student must answer 70 percent of the questions correctly, instead of 60 percent in the bill. If all students in a senior class required to take the test and receiving a regular diploma pass the test, the school will be recognized on the department of education's web site as a "United States Civics All-Star School" for that school year.

Rutherford County Schools have created a Civics test consisting of 30 questions, 25 multiple choice questions and 5 fill-in-the-blank questions, to meet the requirements of House Bill 10. This test was created by a group of 12 educators representing each of the high schools within the Rutherford County School district.

Each individual high school within the Rutherford County School district will determine the testing date for all graduating seniors in order to meet the new graduation requirements for Tennessee.

Information regarding the new graduation requirements along with answers to frequently asked questions has been added to both the student and parent page of the RCS website. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the graduation requirements or the test, please contact Lana Bellar at bellarl@rcschools.net or Dr. Andrea Anthony at Anthonya@rcschools.net.

Click here to visit the scholarship section on the BHS Counseling Website. Have your child check out the scholarship bulletin board located in C-Hall. Keep in mind that many universities have early application deadlines to qualify for their school scholarships!

Be sure to send any scholarships or college acceptance letters that you receive to Mrs. DeGeorge so we can celebrate your accomplishments! They can be emailed to degeorgea@rcschools.net or placed in her box.

We want to know about your accomplishments! If you want to be featured in the BCA Newsletter, send information and pictures to Mrs. Clawson at clawsons@rcschools.net.

Principal - Dr. Leisa Justus, justusl@rcschools.net, ext. 22901

Assistant Principal - Ken Reed, reedk@rcschools.net, ext. 22973

School Counselor - Christine Bryan, bryanc@rcschools.net. ext. 22906

Academics - Amber DeGeorge, degeorgea@rcschools.net, ext. 22909

Communications - Sara Lynn Clawson, clawsons@rcschools.net, ext. 22908

Grants - Andrea Holder, holdera@rcschools.net, ext. 22960

Extracurricular - Tim Pedigo, pedigot@rcschools.net, ext. 22720

Events - Hollye Dabney, dabneyh@rcschools.net, ext. 22738

Life Experience - Geneva Cook, cookg@rcschools.net, ext. 22942

Speaker Series - Brian Seadorf, seadorfb@rcschools.net, ext. 23036

Research - Rebecca Jones, jonesre@rcschools.net, ext. 22993