WILDCAT NEWS

Issue 1, November 2016 Beverley Manor Middle School Dr. Sarah Melton, Principal 58 Cedar Green Road

Mrs. Sharon Hilbert, Assistant Principal Staunton, VA 24401

Mrs. Anne Freeman, Assistant Principal 540-886-5806

Dear Parents/Guardians:

It is hard to believe that we have already finished the first nine weeks of school! I want to thank the entire BMMS community for helping to make the opening of this school year such a success! I would also like to thank the parent volunteers who have helped in a variety of ways so far this year, including our fall fundraiser, classroom activities, and

other school events and student rewards. The entire faculty and staff are so appreciative of the support you give us! If you are interested in volunteering for school activities and did not fill out the volunteer information in the beginning of the year, please feel free to contact the school and we will get you involved.

At the beginning of September, our seventh grade students began a 1:1 technology pilot program. Two middle schools in

Augusta County were chosen to pilot this experience for students this school year. The BMMS seventh grade students who agreed to participate were given a Chromebook to use both at home and at school as their main instructional resource, and as an additional tool in the classroom. It has been an exciting transition and we appreciate the parental support of our seventh graders as we continue to learn through this process.

September and October were packed with other club and school wide activities as well. We had our second annual Kindness Week during the week of October 17-21. Our PAWS (Positive Acting Wildcat Students) club organized activities that focused on kindness toward others in an effort to create positive thinking and acting Wildcats who stand up for kindness every day. We have had a guest artist come and teach students about African art and culture. We have made

several field trips to the Governor’s School, Career and Technical Center, and our 7th grade students experienced the

Worlds of Work at Augusta Expo. Our Choir/Orff department has presented recitals, and our library sponsored a

tremendously successful Book Fair. In addition to all these events, many other exciting instructional activities have taken

place daily in the classrooms!

Our biggest school wide instructional focus this year is increasing student achievement in all areas through higher literacy performance. As a staff, teachers have been focused on increasing literacy skills in all content areas. Students are

following a uniform writer’s pledge in all classes and are learning that good reading skills impact every classroom. As part of our school wide focus, we also began a new reading program called Reading Rewards. This program allows students to

log their reading minutes, write book reviews, and interact with their teachers and peers to increase the amount of reading we participate in as a school. The goal is to increase the amount of daily time spent reading and to increase the

amount of time we interact with others as readers. While reading itself is the main reward, we have created classroom

and school wide rewards that students have an opportunity to earn as an added incentive. We have included additional information later in this newsletter if you are interested in helping us with this program, or if you want to get more

involved with your child’s reading this year.

Please look at the important dates for upcoming activities. I am very proud of all the things our staff and students do on

a daily basis here at BMMS and I continue to enjoy watching them learn, grow, and experience success!

Thank you for ALL that you do!

Dr. Sarah Melton, Principal

Electronic Device Reminders: This is a reminder about the use of personal electronic devices, which includes cell phones, at school:

Use of any device, including personal devices, during school is for instructional purposes only and students know they are

not allowed to text or call from their phones unless they are directed to do so in an emergency situation. They are

instructed to go to the clinic or the main office if they need to call home for safety and supervision purposes. They also

understand they are only to access the internet sites that are assigned as part of instruction with teacher permission and

supervision. We appreciate your support with reiterating these important expectations. This will help to ensure that our students are using the available technology responsibly as a way to enhance their instruction and allow them to

collaborate with peers and teachers and increase engagement in the classroom.

Please continue to check teacher webpages for upcoming units of instruction, links to additional resources, and contact information. Additionally, some teams use forms of communication such as Remind and electronic team letters. Please

contact your child’s team if you have questions about forms of communication. Attendance: We appreciate your help in making the total school day a priority and helping your child arrive to school on time and

protecting the entire instructional day. Of course we understand there are times when students can’t be here, so just a

reminder that we MUST have a written note or email to excuse absences (even if you called in to school), either from the

appointment or from home, within 3 days of your child returning to school. The email can be sent to your child’s homeroom teacher or directly to our attendance secretary, Mrs. Denise Lyle, but again must be sent within 3 days of your child returning to school. Student Pick up and Drop off: AM Drop off: Student drop off in the mornings is any time after 7:30 at the flagpole entrance of the school. PM Pick up:

Car riders report to the front of the building by the flagpole at 2:51 (first tone). After 3:05, a parent/guardian will need to

come in to the office to pick up their child.

Please be sure to send in a note anytime a student is going to be riding home in a manner that is different from their normal transportation. Students are told to pick up bus notes at lunchtime in order to have what they need and ask any questions well before dismissal. Please call the school before 2:00 for any emergency transportation changes. Calling in

the afternoons should be for emergency changes only. Your help with this is greatly appreciated as we try to maintain a

safe and structured afternoon dismissal process. Inclement Weather Policy:

During the school day, school may be dismissed early due to inclement weather. We discourage phone calls home since our phone lines cannot handle a large volume of calls. Therefore, having a plan of action reduces the anxiety your child experiences when emergencies take place. Having a plan of action reduces the anxiety bus drivers experience as they strive to deliver students to a babysitter, grandparent, neighbor, or location other than the normal delivery stop.

Parents, please develop a plan for such emergencies. When school is dismissed early because of inclement weather, be sure to have a note on file with the driver and the school should your child need to be dropped off at a location other than his/her normal stop. Have a pre-arranged caregiver ready to provide after-school supervision for your child. Having this plan will reduce the anxiety you experience when school closing disrupts your normal schedule. When no emergency arrangements are made, students will be instructed to ride the bus to their normal drop-off location.

Library News: One of our main goals in the middle school library is to foster enthusiasm for reading. One way in which we strive to

meet that goal is through our collection. We select books that meet the needs and interests of our readers. We spend

many hours collecting professional reviews, reading books, analyzing our student population, and especially listening to

the students to find and purchase the books that will foster enthusiastic reading. In that sense, no two school libraries are

alike. School library collections are created and changed to fit each student population. We want students to come to the

school library and say, “Hey, that’s just what I was looking for!” Parents also play a big role in getting kids excited about reading. Here’s how you can help:

1) Encourage your child to read whatever he likes. Pleasure reading should be just that: pleasurable. If your child begins a book and doesn’t like it, give him or her permission to put it down and find one they do.

2) Withhold judgment about books you may not care for, but that your child is really excited about. Humorous fiction, graphic novels, and nonfiction are three genres that often get reluctant readers excited about reading. They also seem to attract the statement “That’s not real reading.” Anything your child reads enthusiastically will help them read more, and then read for life.

3) Let your child attempt something “too hard” every once in awhile. Many times carrying home that Harry Potter novel just feels good, even though it may be violating the “five finger rule.”

Experimentation in reading choices is part of the process, and it helps your child begin to figure out what they like to read, what they can read, and how to work up to that big book that all the other kids are reading.

Encourage your child to visit the school library and ask your child what they checked out this week. The school library is the link to creating enthusiastic readers!

Resource:

http://theschoollibrarylink.com/thismonth/2011/10/5/october-2011-the-school-library-link-to-creating-independent.html Exploratory Classes and Club News: Wildcat Investors

This is our second year as a club, and we have two teams competing in the year-long division of the Stock Market Game: The Stock Gamers and The Golden Stock Sisters. Both teams have been given a pretend $100,000 to invest. The Wildcat Investor teams compete in a district that includes schools in the Shenandoah Valley. At the end of the year, the team with the most money

wins! At BMMS, teams are just beginning to put their money to work, purchasing companies that they know and whose products they buy. At the last club meeting, students discussed and considered stocks like Kroger (KR), Walmart (WMT), and GameStop (GME). Club members are learning investment basics like how to research information about a company, how to compute the number of shares to purchase, what a dividend is, and the difference between stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. STEM Club

8th Grade STEM club is off to a great start. We got the club going by making some slime. Then we have jumped right in for planning for the big county-wide STEM Expo in February. Groups have formed and topics have been chosen. It's obvious we have some really great thinkers and creative minds among our students! Students will work on their projects doing research and starting to plan how they are going to build/study

their project. By November, we will have created plans and can start working. We have a Google Classroom for students to access the materials (handbook, rubrics, guidelines) at any time and can ask us for help/guidance between meetings. We can't wait to see the projects when they are done!

Family & Consumer Science/FCCLA

In Family and Consumer Science, 6th graders are working on their hand sewing projects. Seventh graders are looking at child development with making healthy snacks, incorporating fun into reading to children, and learning about babysitting facts. Eighth graders are researching countries, looking at how they communicate in greetings, how families interact, dining etiquette, and traditional dishes. FCCLA recently finished up a chocolate fundraiser and are starting a Yankee Candle fundraiser.

FCCLA members also participated in an after-school fall activity painting pumpkins and eating fun fall snacks. Recently, several FCCLA officers volunteered serving dinner at the Valley Mission in Staunton. Band News

BAND DATES 2016-2017 Please mark your calendars now:

● November 7 - Valley Honor Band Auditions at S.G. Stewart Middle School (7th and 8th grades) ● December 3 - District Honor Band Auditions at Turner Ashby High School (7th and 8th grades) ● December 8 - Winter Band Concert @ 7:00PM (All band students) ● December 15 - Winter Band Concert @ 7:00PM *SNOW MAKE-UP DATE* ● January 13 + 14 - Valley Honor Band event at Stuarts Draft High School (students selected by audition) ● February 3 + 4 - District Honor Band event at Robert E. Lee High School (students selected by audition) ● March 21 - Spring Band Concert @ 7:00PM (All band students)

Business & Information Systems

In Computer Solutions students are finishing Google Sheets with an end of unit test next week. We will begin Google Slideshows in the middle of November and end with Google Forms, iMovie and other cool Google apps. In business class we are finishing our commercial unit and students have been working on creating their own commercials for their individual and groups businesses. We will have an advertising unit test next week and begin the Employee/Employer section of their business plan before Thanksgiving

break. In Computer Keyboarding new students are beginning to learn how to type the home row keys and the correct way to type using the Proper Keyboarding Technique videos on YouTube. Students will learn how to make bookmarks and magnets in the coming weeks. Yearbook/Production

Yearbook students are hard at work formatting and editing their yearbook pages. Pictures from activity, fun day and wildcat games will soon be uploaded and added to the yearbook. The Production team is currently working on the November broadcast that includes a tribute to the history of Thanksgiving. The 6th grade Orientation DVD is the next major project that we will be working on in the coming weeks.

Paws and Claws

Don’t get run down over the holidays. Check out this site for ways to stay healthy over our holiday breaks. Here are 9 easy eating habits to have during the holiday season. http://www.realsimple.com/health/nutrition-diet/healthy-eating/eat-healthy-during-holidays

Drama Club

Drama Club is close to finishing up our auditions for the winter show "That Scoundrel Scapino!" More info

to come soon!

Choir Club

Choir Club has been busy preparing for the Winter Guitar/Choral Concert to be held on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 in the BMMS Cafeteria. Choir Club will sing three songs in the concert. We will open the concert with “The Star Spangled Banner.” At the end of the concert, we will sing “Winter Wonderland” and “One

Call Away.” This fall the FCCLA Club and Choir Club teamed up to sell World’s Finest Chocolate bars as a

fundraiser. We appreciate everyone who supported our fundraiser! 7th Grade Guitar, 8th Grade Guitar, and 6th Grade Exploring Music Classes

7th Grade Guitar and 8th Grade Guitar classes have accomplished a lot in only a few

weeks! We have just finished learning all of the notes on the fretboard and how to

play chords. Right now we are selecting a variety of music to play in the Winter Guitar/Choral concert taking place on December 6, 2016 in the BMMS Cafeteria. Some

of these selections will include “All My Loving” by The Beatles, “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash, “Frere Jacques,” and “Amazing Grace.”

6th Grade Exploring music classes held a recital on Friday, October 28. This recital showed off everything they learned

during their six week’s classes. Students performed on Orff instruments as well as the guitar. They also sang several songs such as “Lean on Me” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” FFA and Agriculture Class

Beverley Manor FFA Chapter has had a great first semester! 8th grade FFA officers Kayla Clemmer, Nathan

Donald, Trevor Mish, Hunter Ross, Makayla Talley, and Jason Teter attended the 89th National FFA

Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana in October. They got to tour the FFA Career Show and Expo, CNH

Industrial (Case and New Holland), and Victory Field. FFA members also got to see Cole Swindell and Chris Young in concert and attend the World's Toughest Rodeo. The officers had a great time seeing all of the

opportunities that FFA offers and getting to experience FFA on the national level!

All Agriscience classes are now working on projects in the shop. Sixth graders are building napkin holders and try squares. Seventh grade students just finished try squares and are now working on assembling their wooden paper trays. They will be starting their bird houses very soon! 8th grade classes built candy dispensers and are currently building tool boxes. 8th

graders' remaining projects for the semester include a wooden pen, sign, and one extra project closer to Winter Break. Art Class and Art Club

The Art Club has been busy having fun! We have made some wonderful collaborative art works, played

various art games and most recently started designing covers for this 2016-17 BMMS Yearbook. It has

been great seeing all of the creativity that these kids have inside of them!

The Art Classes have also been creating some wonderful work. 8th graders have been working most recently in clay,

making animal sculptures. These sculptures are all unique and we are all excited to see how they will look once they are

fired and glazed. 7th graders have been finishing up a unit on OP (Optical Illusion) Art. Next week we will begin a new unit

on the Human Form. Say goodbye to stick figures and hello to realistic figures. The newest rotation of 6th graders are

starting work on the 6th grade bulletin board. Our theme will deal with Fall leaves!

Technology and TSA

At our last TSA Club meeting we built pencil rockets and launched them for distance. We had some

pretty good launches. We will not meet in December and have our next club meeting in January. We

will either have a Guest Speaker or do a hands on activity. Next month, our students will learn about Remote Control airplanes and the science behind flight. Make sure you thank a TSA officer for the

hard work that they are doing to give us quality club meetings.

Our 6th grade classes are building paper airplanes. 7th graders are finishing their marshmallow flinging catapults. Our 8th

grade classes are in the middle of building their CO2 Car Dragsters. Counseling Corner: Greetings from the Beverley Manor Middle School Counseling Office! We are grateful to have this opportunity to share some news from the BMMS school counselors with you. We have had a great start to the school year and have enjoyed getting to know our 6th grade and new students, as well as reconnecting with our 7th and 8th grade students. Below is some information to help you understand what the school counselors are doing for your students. 6th Grade

Soon the school counselors will begin meeting with all 6th grade students to get to know them better. We will conference with each student about their academic and career goals; transition to middle school; and the things they hope to accomplish throughout their middle school years. The school counselors will also be coming into 6th grade classrooms and doing lessons about career pathways. We look forward to working with the 6th grade students! 7th Grade

As part of our eighth grade curriculum, High School level foreign language courses are offered at Beverley Manor Middle School. We offer Spanish I, Latin I, and French I for high school credit. These courses are designed to meet the needs of very responsible, highly motivated, and achievement-oriented individuals. Parents, as well as students, need to be aware of the commitment and responsibility expected of each student in order to succeed in the foreign language course. Students interested in taking a foreign language should consider these factors: · These are year-long classes taken for one high school credit. · The class requires significant work ethic and good study habits. Good attendance is imperative. · Students should currently be making A’s or B’s in Language Arts as well as other core academic classes. · Students should be able to demonstrate a strong understanding of English grammar. · Not everyone is ready to take a foreign language as an 8th grader. Taking foreign language in 8th grade IS NOT a prerequisite for attending Governor’s School OR earning an Advanced Studies Diploma. It is important for 7th grade parents to know that grades from the first day of school through the end of the first semester will be one of the components used in determining your child’s eligibility for taking foreign language as an 8th grade student. Look for more information concerning foreign language eligibility in January, 2017. 8th Grade

8th Grade students will have their first meeting with their high school counselors on November 30th, 2016. This will start the high school registration process. Students will meet with their counselors in large groups to hear general information about high school courses and to start the course selection process. Please be on the lookout for forms requiring a parent signature!

The Augusta County School Board does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, or gender in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator Section 504 Coordinator Jill R. Martin Douglas W. Shifflett, Jr., Ed.D. Director for Personnel Asst. Supt. of Administration P.O. Box 960 P.O. Box 960 18 Government Center Lane 18 Government Center Lane Verona, VA 24482 Verona, VA 24482 (540) 245-5107 (540) 245-5108

Parent Portal

If you have not set up your Parent Portal through Infinite Campus, we encourage you to do so. Parent Portal is an online tool for you to view your student’s class & homework assignments, due dates, and grades. To activate Parent Portal, parents/guardians must have a working email address in Infinite Campus and must have an activation code. To obtain your code to activate your Parent Portal, please come to BMMS and present a form of ID to one of our front office secretaries or our school counseling secretary. As always, if you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to contact your student’s school counselor at any time! Ms. Christine Quilpa works with students with surnames A-K, and Ms. Katie Baird works with students with surnames L-Z. Our school counseling secretary is Mrs. Kathy Walters. We can be reached at 886-5806. Thank you, and we look forward to a great year working with you and your student at BMMS! BMMS Counseling Staff

Important Dates:

November 14 - Progress Reports

November 23 - 25 - No school for students (Thanksgiving break)

December 2 - Fun Day

(held during PE & Exploratory periods)

December 6 - Winter Choral Concert 7 PM

December 8 - Winter Band Concert

7 PM

December 20 - Early Dismissal (First Tone rings at 12:51)

End of 2nd 9 weeks End of first semester

December 21-30 - No school for students

(Winter break)

January 2 - No school for students Teacher Workday

January 3 - Second Semester Begins