BHMS Weekly Update
Thursday, January 4, 2024
January 11, 2024
1/15: MLK Holiday
1/17: BOE Community Meeting @ 6:30 BHMS media center
1/20: District Wide Spelling Bee 10am @Talley
1/23: Pizza with the Principals 5:00 pm at BHMS (Media Center)
Principal's Corner
Dear Beacon Hill Students and Families,
We again want to tip our hats to our staff and students for their handling of this week’s tornado warning. They moved to their designated safe spaces without hesitation and our staff responded quickly to ensure everyone was safe and secure.
I would like to personally invite all parents to the upcoming BOE Community Meeting being held right here at Beacon Hill Middle School in our Media Center on January 17, 2024 at 6:30.
Additionally, please mark your calendars for our upcoming Principals Coffee Chat on Friday, January 26, 2024 at 9:30.
See you soon!!!
Derrick L. Thomas, Principal
Beacon Hill Middle School
“It Only Takes One”
📰 BHMS News You Can Use 📰
BHMS Course Request Timeline and Information
Information about course requests is now available for current 6th and 7th graders. We need your support in facilitating requests students will be providing for the upcoming school year. Use the information provided to support your child in this process to enable and empower them in making informed requests in Infinite Campus for ELA, Math, and Connections courses for the 24-25 school year.
Here at BHMS, we are supporting scholars' decision-making. ELA and Math teachers are facilitating a reflection process where they complete student decision guides. The completed student guide will be coming home sometime over the next week. Please review your scholars' decision guide with them at home. In the coming week, counselors, APs’ and coaches will be pushing into Science classrooms to guide and support requests being made for connections courses and completing the requests in Infinite Campus.
Once selections have been made by scholars in Infinite Campus, guardians will be able to view their child's selections, and a final copy will be sent home with a time frame for corrections.
For current 8th graders course selection began Monday. Please check your email for information and the timeline of course registration for the class of 2028.
For rising 6th graders, course request information will be available from Talley and Fave next week.
If you have any questions about honors courses and enhanced math for 8th grade, please reach out to your child's ELA/Math teacher, counselor, or instructional coaches.
For course descriptions for connections, please visit the connections website and read the course descriptions. Students will be able to request two of the four connections courses for the next school year.
Please provide questions using this form.
Helpful resources:
A Week In the Life of a BHMS Bulldog
BHMS Band Members Selected for Georgia All State Band
Please congratulate two of our Beacon Hill Band members for being named to the Georgia All State Band. They are some of the finest young musicians in our state and will represent Beacon Hill Middle School Very well!
Lydia Girard - 1st Chair Trumpet for the state of Georgia!
Tristan Zgonc - 9th chair Horn
BHMS& DHS Start ELA/Math Focused Tutoring Program!
This new program provides DHS students as volunteers to work with BHMS students. Maybe your teacher’s tutoring times don’t work for you, or maybe working with a peer tutor can help you understand the content in a different way.
Take advantage of this awesome opportunity for some extra help with your homework and study skills!
How it works: just show up on one of the morning/afternoon times that work for you. You will sign in and be paired with a tutor who is available to help.
When: M-F 8:00am-8:30am / W & Th 3:50pm-4:50pm
Where: BHMS Media Center
Who: Anyone who wants support!
Mary Poppins Jr. Opens in Three Weeks!
Tickets on sale now! BHMS performers are excited to show off all their hard work! Buy your tickets now!
The media center is thrilled to welcome back our students!
Remember, if a student wants to enter the media center before first period, they can get a pass from the media center desk! There’s no reason to be in the cold if they arrive early!
As for our circulation, December was a slow month, but still moved 668 print books and 1,271 ebooks.
Board Games Available for Check Out
I also wanted to mention that there is a board game collection available for check out, so if you think you and your family would be interested, go ahead and check one out. “Once Upon A Time” can be quite the hit! They’ve been somewhat popular with the board game club, but there’s no reason they have to stay here! I’m looking to expand the collection, so if you’ve got some ideas, feel free to contact me at blynch@csdecatur.net!
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💛💙
Have You Seen Our New Mural?
Next time you visit BHMS, make sure to view our amazing new mural in the cafeteria…designed by Christina Ward and sponsored by Green Orthodontics. We appreciate all in our BHMS community who helped to make this a reality.
We also offer thanks to our growing list of Pawtastic sponsors: the Juul Family, the Mann Family and the Quinn Family. See the names of all our Pawtastic families on the Pawtastic Wall in the BHMS front lobby.
Support PBIS at Beacon Hill
Volunteers are needed to help operate the PBIS Store (setting up the rewards cart and distributing pre-purchased items) during Friday lunchtimes during the second half of the school year. To help move students through the line faster, we are seeking four volunteers for a full 50-minute shift during each lunch period on Fridays. Can’t make it to school? Please consider dropping off donations of the most popular items selected by students (Gatorade, chips and assorted candy). Sign up to volunteer or donate at https://bit.ly/PBISvolunteers. Thank you!
CSD News and Announcements
🥦🍎Important Update - Nutrition Department Meal Charge Procedure🥦🍎
We hope you are experiencing a great school year. This letter is to inform you of an important change to the meal charge procedure to bring nutrition accounts current.
CSD is committed to providing every child access to healthy and palatable meals during their school day. This commitment includes ensuring parental responsibility, timely communication, and adherence to all federal regulations related to the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs.
As a reminder, any family experiencing financial hardship can apply for free or reduced-price meals anytime during the school year using the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
Your understanding and cooperation in the implementation of these changes is appreciated. If you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact our school nutrition department at meals@csdecatur.net.
Regards,
Monique Breedlove, Director of Nutrition
BOE Community Meetings
City Schools of Decatur’s Board of Education Winter Community Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. at Beacon Hill Middle School.
Attempts to “phish” Parents
We have been alerted to phishing emails sent to parents claiming to be from a principal from an email address in the form e.g. principal.name.csdecatur.net@gmail.com. This is a common technique to try to deceive recipients into believing the email is legitimate. However, these messages are scams trying to steal your money or personal information. If your principal needs to email you individually, they will do so from their CSD email address ending with @csdecatur.net.
If you receive one of these phishing emails, your email provider has a method for reporting it; here are directions to reporting phish for Outlook/Hotmail, Yahoo!, and Google.
6-12 Saturday School
Does your child need tutoring, or time to complete make-up work? Sign up for Saturday School today! CSD teachers will provide academic support to students in grades 6-12. This program is free to CSD families. The time is from 9a - 12p at Beacon Hill Middle School.
CSD Community Partners
Decatur's Young Artists Shine: DEF Sticker Design Challenge Winners Revealed!
Congratulations to the talented winners of the Decatur Education Foundation's Sticker Design Challenge! CSD students in 5th through 10th grade showcased their creativity by submitting over 60 unique designs, each capturing the essence of what makes Decatur schools exceptional.
Our team was blown away by the diverse range of submissions, and we extend our gratitude to every student who shared their vision with us. Special recognition goes to the outstanding artists — Emma, Ellison, Sydney, Elyse, and Clare — who not only captured the spirit of our schools but also earned themselves professional prints of their stickers and craft store gift cards.
Stay tuned for another opportunity to showcase your talents with DEF’s next student challenge, set to be unveiled in March. Thank you for making the DEF sticker design challenge a resounding success!
Atlanta Hawks’ City Schools of Decatur Night
BONUS! BHMS Chorus will perform the National Anthem
Start the new year off at the Atlanta Hawks' City Schools of Decatur Night at State Farm Arena on Saturday, January 13, 2024! As a bonus, you can support the BHMS Chorus, which will perform the national anthem. The City Schools of Decatur ticket offer includes a $10 food and beverage credit and through this offer, a portion of each ticket purchased will benefit City Schools of Decatur. Click here to purchase tickets.