The Bruin Bite — 14 February

Parents, we need your help:

• 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. We are looking for individuals who are available at a moment’s 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.

School Closure Make-Up Day

School will be held Monday, February 17th to make up for the instructional time lost due to the school closure Monday, February 3rd.  Transportation will be provided per usual. The Presidents’ Day holiday was previously set aside by the District’s Calendar Committee as the designated make-up day for emergency school closures for the 2019-2020 school year. Under Utah law, public schools must conduct school for at least 990 instructional hours over a minimum of 180 days each academic year, and recover any days lost due to inclement weather.  Districts are expected to build a recovery day into their calendars to provide families and employees advance notice of the possible need and timing for a make-up day. More information can be found at canyonsdistrict.org.

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.  

Parent Teacher Conferences

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

PTSA Partner Night

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

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 1 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:

• • Mr. Evans
  • Griffiths (A and B Day)
  • Mr. Olsen
  • Ms. Reese
  • Mr. Sanderson

Upcoming Events

• February 17                Make-Up Day for School Closure
• February 19                Art Festival; Eastmont Middle School
• February 19                SCC Meeting; 3:30 p.m.
• February 19-26          Book Fair
• February 20                Spring Pictures, Optional 

                                        3rd Quarter Mid-Term Progress Reports

• February 21                Golden Bruin National Sticky Bun Day
• February 25 & 26      Parent-Teacher Conferences, 4:00-7:30 p.m.
• February 25                PTSA Partner Night; Firehouse Subs
• February 28                No School; Teacher Comp Day

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 – February 18, 19 and 20.  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.

Contacting Teachers – There are two ways to contact teachers: 

• Email; firstname.lastname@canyonsdistrict.org
• Call the Main Office at (801) 826-6800 and leave a message

Once you have sent an email and/or left a message, please allow 24-48 hours for a  response. If you are coming to the building to meet with a teacher, we encourage you to set an appointment.  This helps everyone know when, where and why so the meeting/appointment can address the concerns productively.  There are various meetings, classes and activities that involve teachers after school. We have our school faculty meetings on Mondays after school.  Beyond that, teachers are involved in various trainings, Bruins Den, Math Help, after school activities, student meetings, etc. While these are not every day, it is frustrating for everyone when a drop-in meeting cannot be accommodated.

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 to https://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.