BHMS Weekly Update
Thursday, January 4, 2024
February 8, 2024
2/8: BHMS Robotics Team Spirit Night @ Cremalosa
2/9: Deadline to Donate to Love My Bus (see info below)
2/12-2/16: Winter Break
2/21: Dr. Whitaker's Winter Listening Session @Oakhurst gym 5:30
2/29: Show Your Stripes Spirit Day to Support Rare Disease Day
3/1: Deadline to complete the Georgia Health Survey (see info below)
Black History Month!
Love My Bus Month!
Robotics Spirit Night!
Principal's Corner
Dear Beacon Hill Students and Families,
I would like to personally thank those of you who were able to come to our Expressions of Black Excellence program on Tuesday. The poetry, song, and dance were truly a treat for all. As we approach Winter break and turn the corner towards Spring, please check your calendar early and often for ways to engage with the Beacon Hill community.
See you soon!!!
Derrick L. Thomas, Principal
Beacon Hill Middle School
“It Only Takes One”
Did you miss the January Principal's Chat on Attendance?
đź“° BHMS News You Can Use đź“°
📚🌟Spotlight on 7th ELA Poetry Unit📚🌟
Seventh-graders at BHMS are engaged in an inquiry into the power of poetry to illuminate critical global issues. This unit equips them with the analytical skills necessary to dissect the works of others, while simultaneously developing their own creative voices through poetry writing. Notably, the unit emphasizes harnessing the potential of poetic expression to advocate for fairness and equity on a global scale.
Further enriching the learning experience, renowned multimodal artist and poet WJ Lofton graced the classrooms this week. His captivating blend of video, music, and thought-provoking poetry enthralled the students. Mr. Lofton's poem, "Would You Kill God II?", with its in-depth exploration of diverse themes, served as a potent catalyst for their understanding of the transformative power of language and the impact of the intersectionality of individual identity.
Inspired by this encounter, students embarked on a personal journey of artistic exploration. Leveraging their newfound understanding of poetry, they crafted original poems. Several students are taking their creations a step further by weaving visual elements into their verses, promising an impactful display of both words and art.
Beacon Hill Robotics Team Advances to GA State FTC Championship!
The Beacon Hill First Tech Challenge team (#14821, Team Rocket) has advanced to the state-wide competition after performing well at the regional competition. They made the playoffs, won the semifinals, ultimately succumbing in a fierce showdown in the finals. They also won the Connect award, which is the award given to the team that best connected with their local STEM and general community, and solved problems with their robot through consultation. Their highest achievement was being a runner up for the Inspire award. The Inspire award is given to the top contenders for ALL the other awards, encompassing the design of the robot, programming, outreach, innovation, and creative thinking. Even runner up for this award is more prestigious than any other award.
Secure Passphrase PSA Competition
Students are invited to submit entries for a competition to boost CSD staff and 6-12 students’ understanding of a strong passphrase. Click here for more information
Auditions for "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" Feb.26th & 27th!
The BHMS Theatre Department will present "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" for their spring show. Auditions are on February 26 & 27th. Students interested in trying out for Cast or Crew should complete this google form. They should also join the google classroom with join code: 4xxodbu for more info. Reach out to Mrs. Nichols at enichols@csdecatur.net with questions. Thank you!
A Week In the Life of a BHMS Bulldog
🎉🌟National School Counseling Week!🎉🌟
This week we celebrated our awesome counselors! Let's give a round of applause to Ms. Ragan Hudson, the magical 6th-grade Counselor, Ms. Kate Passin, the legendary 7th-grade Counselor, Ms. Qushon Taylor-Bertram, the incredible 8th-grade Counselor, Mr. Jordan Muse, the counselor extraordinaire for Support Services (6th-8th), and the fabulous Student Center counselor Ms. Fonta High! Let's celebrate these splendid counselors who are guiding us toward success and our dream careers!
Black Excellence Program Highlight!
What an inspirational evening honoring and celebrating “Black Excellence” Tuesday Night! As Harriet Tubman once said, "Every great dream begins with a dreamer." Attendees witnessed the incredible talents and achievements of our BHMS scholars, staff, and performers!
The evening featured a lineup of exceptional performances, including a soul-stirring rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by the BHMS Chorus Quartet (featuring Chloe Frazier, Shania Lee, Olivia Lewis, and Julia Robinson). the evening continued with powerful spoken word pieces by Mallorie Norman and Ms. Zakiya Wicks, followed by a captivating performance by Giwayen Mata - the all-sistah ensemble. The evening concluded with Julia Robinson singing a solo and Mallorie Norman reciting Amanda Gorman's inspiring poem "Every Day We Are Learning".
8th Grade ELA Presents at GCETC Conference!
8th grade ELA teachers Taylor Cross, Suzy Plishka, Lee Tuciarone, and Beck Tussey shared their insights at the Georgia Council for English Teachers Conference. They discussed using elements from fantasy sports leagues to gamify traditional classroom book clubs, enhance student involvement, and cultivate a reading-focused classroom community. By drawing on examples from their fantasy fiction unit, they demonstrated to fellow educators in Georgia how to employ this approach to boost students' critical thinking and enhance inferencing abilities.
From the Media Center!
BHMS Media Center Hosts the Black History and the African American Read In!
BHMS is celebrating the African American Read In by spotlighting works by African Americans for both students and adults! The class that reads the most books will enjoy a pizza party at the end of the month!
You can choose a book on your own from anywhere - not just the media center collection, which you can access not only in person but online!
Grade Level Newsletters
Every Thursday, each grade level will publish its newsletter. Please check them out after you read the school Eblast. Here are the links:
💛💙 From Our PTA💛💙
❤️February is Love My Bus Month!❤️
The Beacon Hill Middle School Safe Routes to School (SRTS) champions would love your support to help recognize and celebrate our wonderful bus drivers, who safely get our kids to and from school every day, regardless of the weather or how much traffic is on our streets.
As we did for our crossing guards, we are collecting contributions for our CSD bus drivers until February 9 - tomorrow. Any donations will be converted to gift cards and distributed to our bus drivers at an event on February 21.
If you would like to contribute, please reach out to Patricia Liscio (pliscio@gmail.com) or Laura Spriggs (gospriggs@gmail.com) or Venmo/PayPal us directly.
Venmo: @gospriggs
PayPal: @pliscio
You can also drop off gift cards at the BHMS front office, or deliver your own notes of kindness directly to your bus driver. Please remind your children to greet and thank their driver this month (and every day!)
Let’s show our love and appreciation! Thank you for all your support.
Robotics Spirit Night!
Join the Decatur Robotics spirit day at Cremalosa tonight! Please stop by anytime to grab some gelato and support the team. Team Rocket, coaches and our robot will be there from 5:30 to 6:30. Come then to see our robot in action. Current 6th grade students and parents interested in joining the team and coaching next year, come by when we are out there and talk to us over yummy gelato.
CSD News and Announcements
Attn: CSD Families
This email is to update you on the application of funds to student lunch accounts thanks to the generosity of a grant from The Arby’s Foundation. You may notice activity on your student’s lunch account in Infinite Campus this week as we work to eliminate all outstanding debts accrued through February 2.
As a reminder, the federal program that provided funds for every public school student to receive meals, at no cost, ended in 2022. It is the responsibility of parents/guardians to cover the costs of any meal. Families may apply for free or reduced-price meals at any time during the school year in the Infinite Campus Parent Portal by clicking “More” and then “Meal Benefits.”
Georgia Health Surveys
Georgia Health Surveys
The window for the 2023-24 Georgia Student Health Survey and Parent Survey closes Friday, March 1. Student and parent survey participation is critical because the data will be used to calculate School Climate Star Ratings for the 2024-25 school year. Parents can access the survey here, and students in grade 3-12 can access it via the Georgia Health Survey icon in LaunchPad (or directly here for 3-5, here for 6-8, and here for 9-12).
BASC-3 BESS
City Schools of Decatur prepares for Spring administration of the universal screening for social, emotional, and behavioral challenges.
City Schools of Decatur is committed to creating a culture of student support, and supporting the needs of the whole child. One way we are addressing the whole child is by identifying student strengths and areas for growth relative to social, emotional, and behavioral well-being. In our continuing efforts to support the well-being of all students, we will administer a universal screener of social, emotional & behavioral health.
CSD adopted the BASC-3 BESS as the universal screener for behavior, and administered the screener to students in grades 3, 6, and 9 during the Fall of 2023. The Spring administration of the BASC-3 BESS opens on March 4 and will remain open through March 22.
How students engage socially and emotionally with their peers, educators, and their school impacts learning and long-term success in life. Schools are teaching and creating contexts that promote social and emotional skills and wellness for all students. Across all content areas, educators use assessments to determine the strengths and areas of growth for their students so they can plan how to best teach and support them. Just as students participate in screenings for vision, physical health, reading, and other academic areas, social, emotional, behavior (SEB) screening provides an indicator of whether a student’s SEB health is on track, or if there might be a problem. Screening is a proactive approach in that it provides important information to ensure help is provided before little problems become big problems.
Parents of students in grades 3, 6, and 9 who do NOT wish for their students to participate in the screener should complete and submit the Opt-Out form by Sunday, March 3, 2024. If you submitted an opt-out form for your student(s) prior to the Fall 2023 administration, you do not need to submit another opt-out form. Parents are encouraged to access the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to learn more, and may follow-up with their school counselor or email sebscreenerquestions@csdecatur.net if they have additional questions.
Please access the Universal Social Emotional Behavior Screener FAQ linked here to learn more.
If you would like more information, have any questions regarding the screener or screening process, or would like to inspect the screener, please plan to attend one of the following Virtual Parent Information Sessions and submit questions here.
Thursday, February 22, 2024, 9:00a - 9:30 a.m.
Friday, February 23, 2024, 3:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Zoom link: https://csdecatur.zoom.us/j/8181881752
Please visit the district website: https://www.csdecatur.net/Page/5001 to learn more about the BASC-3 BESS.
Summer Programming
City Schools of Decatur is offering summer school for students who could benefit from additional instructional support. In February, families will receive an invitation if their student qualifies. Three different summer program opportunities will be offered. Students who qualify in grades 3-8 (from a defined list of qualifiers) will be able to receive support in math and/or ELA. Students who are going into 8th grade Enhanced Algebra or High School Algebra 1 may use summer school to preview Algebra 1 content. High school students will have the opportunity for credit recovery in core courses via Georgia Virtual School as long as they have missed fewer than 20 instruction days.
Summer school for students in grades 3 - 8 will be May 29 - June 18, 2024 at Beacon Hill Middle School. For credit recovery, students will engage in summer school June 3 - July 12, 2024 and will have the option to be on-site at Beacon Hill Middle School should they need technical assistance.
Winter Listening Sessions with Dr. Whitaker!
Dr. Whitaker will host her winter series of listening sessions around the City Schools of Decatur to listen and learn from students, staff, families, and community leaders. Initial sessions were held in the fall as part of the first phase of Dr. Whitaker’s three-phased entry plan into the district entitled GEM - which focused on gathering information, reviewing the findings to envision a plan forward, and maximizing the results.
The meetings will be held virtually and in person. Here is a list of the sessions:
Winter Listening Sessions:
Wednesday, February 21 - Oakhurst in Gym at 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 27 - Beacon Hill in Media Center at 5:30 p.m.
Friday, March 1 - Virtual at 11:30 a.m. https://csdecatur.zoom.us/j/91210511997
CSD Community Partners
Lace Up Your Kicks for Tour deCatur - Registration Now Open!
The Decatur Education Foundation invites you to run with us at Tour deCatur on Saturday, March 16, at Decatur High School. Mathnasium Decatur is proud to be this year's Presenting Sponsor, and activities include the 5K road race, a one-mile Fun Run, a Tot Trot, and an interactive Kids’ Zone. Secure your spot today: https://bit.ly/Tour-deCatur-2024
Your support of the Decatur Education Foundation helps us remove obstacles to learning, provide opportunities for students, support educators, and strengthen the Decatur community. To register, volunteer, and learn more about how we help youth thrive in Decatur, visit DecaturEducationFoundation.org or email Kamela@decatureducationfoundation.org. See you at the starting line!
Get Your Tickets for Bulldog Bash
On March 9, 2024, Boosters will host our annual Bulldog Bash at Legacy Park to support athletics at DHS and BHMS. The adult-only fundraising event features food trucks, bands and a silent auction – all to raise money for Decatur Athletics.
There are four easy ways to support this event:
Buy your ticket here.
Bid on silent auction items once they’re live (it's all online!)
Buy a 50/50 raffle ticket (winner gets 50% of proceeds and Boosters get 50%).
Donate to the Coaches Wish List.
Share with your friends and family and follow us on Instagram (@DecaturBulldogBash) for all the latest party details and auction updates.
Call for Donations
We are looking for donations for the Bulldog Bash silent auction. Donated items are tax-deductible and can include anything from gift cards and art to products, services, trips and experiences. This is a great way to market your business while supporting Decatur Boosters. Donations can be made here.