Bruin Bite — 21 February

Progress Reports

Mid-Term Progress Reports have been posted to Skyward.  To view and/or print a copy of your child’s progress report, follow the instructions below: 

1. Go to the Canyons District web page www.canyonsdistrict.org
2. Click Skyward 
3. Click Family Access 
4. Login to Skyward Family Access with your parent login and password 
5. Click on Student Password/Report Cards/SAGE Results from the left side of screen
6. If you have multiple students, choose the student from the top of your screen
7. Click on the 2019-20 Report Card Term that you want to view. 
8. Click View Report

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences are being held Tuesday, February 25th and Wednesday, February 26th from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m.  A flyer was sent home with instructions on how to sign up through our online scheduler.  Due to Parent Teacher Conferences, there will be no Bruins Den February 25th, 26th or 27th.

PTSA Partner Night

Stop by Firehouse Subs before or after Parent Teacher Conferences Tuesday, February 25th for February’s PTSA Partner Night.  Your participation helps our PTSA provide activities for our students and teachers. Thank you!

2020-21 Course Requests

• Registration cards were due Monday, February 10th.  If your child has not turned in their registration card, please have them turn their card into the Counseling Center ASAP.
• If you are interested in requesting 7th or 8th grade honors math or ELA, please review the honors benchmarks and then go to our school website and complete the honors request forms.  There is a separate one for math and ELA. If you have questions about the data, please contact your school counselor.
• Substitute a Class/ Opt-Out:

Students and parents wishing to substitute a course for a different elective need to do so during the course request process. Please find attached the form you would need to fill  out and return to the counseling center. Forms are due Tuesday February 25th by 7:00pm (parent teacher conference night). This includes students in the Dual Language Program or not, any student is able to substitute a class. Reasons given by the district to substitute a class: if your student participates in an extracurricular activity or experience similar to the course required, student wishes to take a different class similar to the required class, or it has been decided that there is another class that is more consistent with your child’s plan for college and career.

Registration Timeline

• February—collect course request numbers from students/review permits and boundary student numbers to determine how many permits we can facilitate. We have reviewed overall numbers and permits.  Currently incoming 6this at 289, 7thgrade at 328, and 8thgrade at 320.  We currently have all permits on hold.  There has been some unexplained variation in our 6thgrade numbers, so we are waiting to see if this changing stops.  7thand 8thgrade numbers are reflective of our current enrollment.  We will look at permits and numbers again towards the end of June and the beginning of the school year.
• March—look at funding and request numbers to determine courses for next year.
• April/May—create school schedule for next year—run numbers to see the best combination of courses each period.
• June/August—work with counselors to finalize student schedules.
• August—Parents register students online
• ~August 10—Schedules available
• August 14—6thGrade Orientation, 7:55-11:50 AM
• August 17—School Starts, 7:55 AM      

Arts Festival

On Wednesday, February 19th, 10 of our advanced art students competed in the Arts Festival at Eastmont Middle School.  The Arts Festival is a district-wide activity where teams from each middle school work to transform a simple, plain wooden chair into a unique work of art.  Students had three hours to complete this challenge, using a variety of materials. Butler’s team transformed their chair into a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge!  We were so pleased with how our students worked together to create an awesome finished product.  More importantly, they showed great sportsmanship and were considerate to all participants from the other schools.  Our students truly were GREAT Bruins!

Parent/Visitor Check-In Procedure

We would like to remind you of our Parent/Visitor Check-In Procedure.  To ensure that we know which adults are entering our building and why, we are asking every adult to provide ID and information about who they are visiting and where in the building they will be going.  This allows us to make sure students are only contacted at school by individuals with parent/guardian permission. We will work to minimize any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through implementing this procedure.  Student safety is our number one priority!

Attendance

Our goal for attendance is to have 85% of our students miss less than 2 days in a quarter.  We realize there are things that happen, and students do miss school, but research (and our own school data) shows that students who attend more, learn more and get better grades, higher GPAs and are more likely to graduate from high school.  Attendance is one of the strongest early indicators of high school success. We appreciate that you are making attendance a priority as well. Remember “Be Great Miss Less than 8”. That averages out to 1 day a month. I challenge you to work with your child to be in school and not miss more than 1 day a month.

• Build-A-Bruin – In our 1st period classes we have an ongoing competition.  Each classroom has a Bruin with 10 puzzle pieces.  Each day that 85% of the class is on time and in attendance, they get a puzzle piece.  The following first period classes earned a Bruin this week:

• • Mrs. Clyde
  • Counseling Center B Day
  • Mrs. Giles
  • Main Office B Day
  • Mrs. Sollis
  • Mrs. Woolstenhulme B Day
  • Upcoming Events

• February 24-26          Book Fair

• February 25                PTSA Partner Night; Firehouse Subs
• February 25 & 26      Parent-Teacher Conferences, 4:00-7:30 p.m.
• February 28                No School; Teacher Comp Day
• March 2-6                   School Social Worker Week
• March 3                       Book Club in GREAT Room; Lunches
• March 4                       Battle of the Books in GREAT Room; Lunches
• March 6                       Golden Bruin National Oreo Cookie Day
• March 7                       Mathcounts State Competition at SLCC; 8:30 a.m
• March 10                     Battle of the Books in GREAT Room; Lunches
• March 12                     Netsmartz Assembly

After-School Activities

• Bruins Den                  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 3:00 in the GREAT Room
• Show Choir                 Monday and Wednesday; 3:00 with Ms. Chipman
• Jazz Band                    Tuesday; 7:00 and Thursday; 3:00 with Mr. Tellez
• Math Help                   Tuesday and Thursday; 3:00 in grade-level math classrooms
• Sewing Lab                 Monday and Wednesday; 3:00 with Mrs. Roper
• Open Gym                   Tuesday and Thursday; 3:00 with Mrs. Schneggenburger

Help Wanted

Our Lunch Manager is looking for a cashier.  If you’re interested, you can apply online under ESP job openings on the district website.  Call Ms. Dawn Butcher at (801) 826-6845 between 6:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. with questions.

Have a GREAT weekend and remember…

          It’s Always a GREAT Day to be a Bruin!

BMS Administration–Ms. Paula Logan, Mr. Doug Hallenbeck, Ms. Sara Allen

Ongoing Items – These items have been addressed before, but you may need the information again.

• Bruins Den – No Bruins Den next week due to Parent Teacher Conferences.  Bruins Den will resume March 3, 4 and 5.

The Bruins Den is available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 3:00 to 4:00 in the GREAT Room.  This is a time for students to complete homework and/or get help from teachers. Each afternoon, two teachers are available in the GREAT Room to assist students with homework.  Students can work on their own or get assistance from a teacher. Computers are available for homework.

• Volunteers

If you would like to volunteer in a classroom or as a chaperone, you do have to complete the volunteer application.  Anyone volunteering at the school must complete an online form. You can call the Main Office at 801-826-6800 for more information or go tohttps://volunteer.canyonsdistrict.org/volunteer.  This is required of anyone who is volunteering in the school—even to help supervise on a field trip. We encourage anyone who even thinks they might be interested in volunteering at the school to complete the form now.  Thanks! We would love to have you as a volunteer.

• After School Time

We have asked that students be out of the school by 3:00PM if they are not staying after to meet with a teacher, attend the Bruins Den or participate in a supervised after-school activity.  We understand that it is cold outside so we do allow students to wait in the vestibule outside of the main office. There have been a few issues with yelling, wrestling, and general rough-housing.  We have a few groups of students returning to the building a bit later and roaming around without supervision. Please be aware that there is little or no supervision in general areas after 3:05/3:10.  Directly after school many teachers have meetings with staff or parents or students. The school staff generally leaves between 3:20 and 4:00. The Rec Center does not have staff who regularly supervise the outside.  Often a lack of supervision often leads to poor group choices. Make a plan with your child to be in a safe and supervised location at the end of the school day. If you need to have your child wait, please talk with them about expectations and appropriate behaviors to keep them safe.  

• Emergency Substitutes

We are creating a list of Emergency Substitutes for our school.  There are days each week when we do not have enough substitute teachers to cover the need in our building.   We are looking for individuals who are available at short notice who would be willing to help cover a class. This paid opportunity, not only helps our school but allows you to connect with the amazing students and staff in our building. If you would like to be added to the list of “Emergency Substitutes” for Butler Middle School, please click on the following link: https://www.canyonsdistrict.org/critical-policy-review#sub.  We would love to have you on our list.