Greetings,
Happy New Year!!! What a start to the week it has been!! On the positive side, I was out at crosswalk duty this morning and have been in the hallways, our students are smiling and chatting and settling back in to the routine of school after our winter recess. I hope you all had a terrific break with some quality family time. I am so sorry to hear that several of our families were sick over the break.
There is quite a bit of COVID/sickness going around. Our school is seeing some impacts, but we are still on the lower side when we look at numbers compared with the other schools. Thank you to our school nurse, Ms. Tibbitts for her help and assistance. While masks are not required, most of our staff are wearing them in group settings. The district did send out information about new COVID guidelines. You can see this here: Updated-Guidance-on-Isolation-and-Quarantine-for-the-General-Population-12-28[1].pdf
We did have a couple calls from parents concerned about a high number of teachers being out. That is not true. We did have a couple of teachers out yesterday and we were short a substitute. And for those of you with students riding busses, there were busses that didn’t start and several bus drivers who were ill. We did let teachers know of the difficulties and to work with our kiddos at the start of the day. For the most part, we are doing well.
This month we do have to complete a mandatory evacuation drill. We are required by the state to have an evacuation drill after Winter Recess. We will be watching the weather for a warmish day and completing it at the end of a school day. It is good to remind our students about the process and expectations. The rest of this week is not looking good with the incoming storms.
This coming Friday, January 7, is a remote learning day. It is a B day, so B day classes will post the assignments. BMS Remote Learning Days.docx.pdf
The quarter will end on January 13. Please work with your student to be sure they are completing the starter work and assignments. Those activities are the preparation for assessments. This weekend it might be a productive activity to go through the backpack for any missing work. Hopefully not too many moldy swimsuits or lunches. Be careful! You can check grades on Skyward.
Also, Friday January 14, is a grading day. So it is a day off for our students. Teachers still come to the building and work on completing grades for the quarter and getting things in place for the coming quarter.
Parents—We could use your help:
- Several of our students received new cell phones or electronic devices over the Winter Recess. Cell phones should not be out during the school day. If a cell phone or electronic device is interrupting instructional time, teachers are expected to collected the item and bring it to the main office where the student can pick it up at the end of the school day. The first time this happens, we return it to the student. The second time it happens, we call a parent and return it. The third time it happens, we ask a parent to come to the school and retrieve the device. Please help us and talk with your children about not having phones or electronic devices out during the school day.
- AM Drop Off—We are also having quite a few close calls with students walking through the Drop Off Zone at the beginning of the school day. While traffic is does get backed up on cold days or stormy days, please remember that Drop Off Zone is ONLY along sidewalk along the front/east side of the building. Cars pulling in the parking lanes and dropping children off to walk through the parking lot and cross the Drop Off Zone is not safe. The Student Drop Off is in the front of the building. I realize it is not as fast as some would like, but student safety is the goal. We do have staff out front helping to group students and wait for appropriate times to cross. Priority is safety and moving the drop off lane traffic. Please help us and be patient and use the established drop off lane, not the parking lot.
If there is anything we can do to support you and your student, please let us know.
And remember . . .
It’s Always a GREAT Day to be a Bruin!!
Ms. Paula Logan
Ongoing Items: These are items we have addressed before, but you may need the information again.
- Bruins Den—January 4, 5, 6 and January 11, 12, 13
The Bruins’ Den is available on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons from 3:00- 4:00 PM in the Media Center. This is a time for students to complete homework and/or get help from teachers. Each afternoon, two teachers are available in the Media Center to assist with student 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 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.
