The Bedford Buccaneer
October 12, 2020
IMPORTANT DATES
Wednesday, October 14 - Term 1 Interim Assessments will be in Aspen. Parents/Students and Guardians please check the portal
Wednesday, October 14 - SAT (seniors only - sign-up deadline passed)
Thursday, October 15 - SEPAC Meeting 7-8:00 pm
Friday, October 16 - Drop/Add Deadline
Saturday, October 17 - PSAT (11th grade only- sign-up deadline passed)
Sunday, October 18 - Deadline for nominations for School Council opening
Sunday, October 18 - Yearbook Senior Portraits due
Saturday October 31 - PL874/Impact Aid Survey form due
Tuesday, November 3 - Federal Elections, No School
Friday, November 6 - AP Exam Registration Payment Deadline
Hello Bedford Families,
If you haven't already done so, please return all completed Bedford High School PL-874 forms to Bedford High School: bhs-impactaidsurvey@bedfordps.org or students may drop off the form in the main office.
Please click below for a message about the Annual Impact Aid Survey (PL874) that brings critical funding for Bedford Public Schools. A new web site has been set up to help families complete and return their surveys.
PL874 Superintendent Letter - October 1 2020.pdf
Impact Aid Survey - Impact Aid Survey 2020-2021.pdf
List of Federal Properties - List of Federal Properties.pdf
Thank you!
MCAS
The Department of Secondary and Elementary Education has released initial information about MCAS for this year. Currently, the Classes of 2022 & 2023 will need to take both the ELA and Math MCAS tests and passing them is still a graduation requirement.
Here is the link to the recent communication from DESE regarding MCAS. We have already met as an administrative team to begin the planning process even though there are still many unanswered questions from DESE. However, we will continue to share the plans and updates as they become available.
Back to School Night Recordings
Please enjoy the Back to School Night presentation slides by clicking here. Also, the Faculty recorded short introductory videos for you to view. In the videos, the Faculty share information about their courses and themselves. Link to Back to School Night Videos
BHS announces one open parent or guardian representative position for the School Council designated for a Hanscom resident.
What is the School Council? The role of School Council is to assist principals by reviewing the school building budget and developing the school improvement plan. Councils may also take on other responsibilities, including policy making, as granted by the local school committee. Councils' school improvement plans are submitted to the local school committee for review and approval.
The law outlines four major areas of responsibility for councils. School councils are to assist principals in:
Adopting educational goals for the school that are consistent with local educational policies and statewide student performance standards
Identifying the educational needs of students attending the school
Reviewing the annual school building budget
Formulating a school improvement plan
Link to the state website with more information: http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/advisory/schoolcouncils/
At Bedford High School, the Council has four parent/guardian representatives: one METCO, one Hanscom, and two Bedford residing parents. Each representative serves two years with the School Council, unless the representative’s BHS student leaves the school (such as graduation or relocation) or other circumstances arise for the rep. These representatives act as liaisons for the designated communities during School Council meetings. The Hanscom position is now open. Their 2-year terms will run this new school year 2020-2021 and the next, 2021-2022.
The first School Council will meet one afternoon (Thursday) of each month from 2:30-3:30PM. The first meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 29th from 2:30PM-3:30PM. The calendar of meetings will be finalized at the October 29th meeting.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Now through Sunday, October 18th, BHS is soliciting nominations/names for consideration to the openings.
Voting by the parent/guardian community will occur via the Aspen parent portal from Monday, October 19th-Sunday, October 25th. More details to come.
10/29 - First School Council Meeting at 2:30 pm at BHS
Representatives must attend monthly meetings which will be held after school from 2:30-3:30pm once/month. Meetings will be held virtually until it is safe to meet in person.
In addition, please be advised that each parent representative who serves on the Council must have a child in BHS during the parent's term, so, for example, if the child graduates from BHS during a parent rep's second year in the 2-year term and the parent has no other children in BHS, then the parent may no longer serve on the Council.
To run for one of the two positions, please email BHSBucsParents@gmail.com your name, email address, your home address (must reside in Bedford), phone number, and a brief message (just a few sentences will be sufficient) as to your background and particular interest in this position. Your name and statement (not your email or phone number) will be posted in Aspen, when the window for voting opens, so that all BHS parents can read the information and cast a vote.
We hope you will run and become active in helping the direction of BHS from a parent's perspective.
Stay well,
Challenge Success Team
To all parents and guardians,
Thank you for monitoring for symptoms of Covid-19 each morning. If your child is ill with symptoms of Covid-19, please call the nurse at: 781-275-1700 ext. 4416 or email Nancy_Thorsen@bedfordps.org
Thank you,
Nancy Thorsen RN
Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) Meeting
Michelle DellaValle and I would like to invite you to a Bedford High School specific SEPAC meeting. The meeting will be Thursday evening, October 15, from 7-8pm.
We hope to see you there!
Marianne and Michelle
Topic: BHS SEPAC
Time: Oct 15, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://bedfordps-org.zoom.us/j/95046614042?pwd=dnhrVUZUSEt3b1hINmlJaHFGN08vQT09
Marianne Vines
Director of Special Education
Michelle DellaValle
Special Education Program Administrator
Information Opt Out
If you wish to have your student’s name, address, and/or telephone number withheld from the media, social media or military recruitment, please send a letter to Principal Galante stating your request by October 15, 2020.
AP Exam Registration
AP Exam Registration is now open! Students who intend to take AP exams in May 2021 must register and pay by November 6th. Please refer to the AP Student/Parent Letter and Payment Form for instructions.
Students who want to self-study for exams and are not enrolled in the corresponding AP class must email kristen_milano@bedfordps.org to get an AP Classroom code in order to register.
BHSPA
Please join the BHSPA, Bedford High's Parent Association, in our efforts to start the school year off strong! We invite all families to participate in the BHSPA! The BHSPA has quite a few programs to support our students and teachers!
We are also kicking off our annual Fall Appeal drive. Resources donated will be used to support ongoing requests for programs and events to support BHS. Please click here To make a donation to our Fall Appeal. All donors will be recognized on our website and social media.
The BHSPA communicates using Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
SENIOR UPDATES
Sunday, October 18 - Yearbook Senior photos due
For Senior Portraits not taken by Mark Lawrence Photographers - submitted picture size is: 2.5 X 3 with a DPI of 300. Please send all photos to eShare.
Enter the school code Bedford (capital B)
It’s time to order your yearbook!
Our Yearbook Features ALL students in ALL grade levels. This is how you’ll remember your high school experience! Deadline to order: January 17, 2021.
Please email karen_santos@bedfordps.org with any questions regarding yearbook.
Class of 2021 T-Shirts Order Form
Order your Senior class shirt here for $15! Pay with VENMO (@classof2021-humphrey).
If paying with cash, exact change is required, checks can be made payable to the Class of 2021. With the cash or check option, please place in an envelope with your full name on it and ARC (Advisory/Remote Counseling) room number.
Mr. Humphrey will be collecting the payments in room D107, before first class and after last class. Once payment is received Mr. Humphrey will bring your shirt to one of your ARC classes. Go Bucs!
Counseling Corner
The drop/add deadline for courses has been extended to Friday, October 16. Please contact your counselor before the deadline if you need to make a course change.
Adjustment Counseling is one of the many resources available to you and your Bedford High School Student. In addition to having a School Counselor assigned to assist your student, we also have highly trained social workers available to assist your child with any social emotional concerns they may have related to academics, peer issues, family, or anything that is negatively affecting their experience.
Our Adjustment Counselors:
Meet individually with students
Offer small group counseling
Provide confidential consultation to families who are looking for support regarding their child
Will provide referrals to community resources to families looking for qualified providers in the area
Partner with our teachers when teaching content that is of a social emotional nature; facilitating safe and structured conversations
If you have any questions regarding Adjustment Counseling or if you are interested in speaking to an Adjustment Counselor or to refer your child for an appointment please contact your child’s School Counselor.
NYT Article: Dear Teenagers Here’s How to Protect Your Emotional Well-Being
Senior Seminar
We appreciated having so many seniors in the Senior Seminar on Wednesday, September 30th. The seminar was recorded and is available in the 2021 Counseling Classroom. Attendees completed a student poll which provided valuable feedback to the counseling department - thank you! Counselors are working to implement follow-up programming responsive to the needs from this poll- we will announce these opportunities soon. Students are also invited and highly encouraged to meet one-on-one with their counselor for individualized and personalized future planning.
Freshman Seminar
In order to further support the 9th grade and their transition, counselors will be connecting with freshmen students in small groups in one of two virtual sessions, being held on Wednesday, October 14th and 28th. Counselors will be covering a wide range of topics with their students including: understanding the role of a counselor, becoming familiar with resources available within the school building including personnel and services, and further building upon strong community relationships within BHS. The Counseling Department is very excited to have the chance to connect with the class of 2024!
Free Online Practice PSAT
Summit Educational Group is pleased to provide students the opportunity to take a free, online practice PSAT.
The test will be available on-demand from Saturday, October 10 through Sunday, October 18, and will be administered through Summit’s digital testing platform. This online practice PSAT will follow the timing of the official test, providing an excellent simulation of the actual test day experience. Upon completion of the test, students will receive a comprehensive Score Report.
The registration deadline is Thursday, October 8th. Instructions for accessing the digital practice test application will be sent to students by Friday, October 9. Please note that this is a practice PSAT and scores cannot be used to qualify for National Merit Scholarships.
To register, please use the link below:
https://mytutor.com/practice-psat/
College Guidance Network is a new resource that has a great amount of information. There is a podcast every Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM. Every episode has a Takeaway Toolkit to guide planning and conversations for students and their families.
Explo is another new resource for the post-secondary planning process during these COVID times. In a typical year, families of high school juniors and seniors spend a significant part of the spring, summer, and fall seasons visiting college campuses across the nation, completing early acceptance applications, and finalizing their plans for the future. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the college admission process, including campus tours, college fairs, and early admission programs. But there is still a path forward. To help sort through these churning waters, EXPLO has convened the top experts from competitive colleges and universities across the U.S. to answer questions and demystify the admission process for families.
There are two ways to order lunches for your student:
You can view our lunch menus by using the link www.bedfordpsmanutrition.org then click on the Menu tab and select the High School Menu. On the top of the menu page, you will see a blue “Order Online” button. This will direct you to a Sign In page into your ordering account.
If you have not yet created an account on our new ordering system, click on “Sign Up Now”.
Enter your email address, name, and password. The system will ask information about your student including the student ID #. This is your student’s local ID number (LASID on Aspen).
Or, if you have already created an account on our new ordering system,
Sign into your account using the link: https://onlineordering.linq.com/
Your Sign In Name is your email address, and then enter your password.
After successfully logging in, your student’s information will appear. Click on the button “Order Meals”.
Click on the Lunch tab. This screen will display a calendar with the menu options for each day. Please note that there is a deadline to order lunches the day before at noontime.
Click on the arrow for the menu option you would like to choose for a specific day.
Click “Add to Order”.
When you have selected the lunches you would like, you can review your order and check out by clicking on the Cart located on the upper right of the web page.
Click “Check out”.
A drop-down list of Pick up Locations will be displayed. It is VERY important to choose the correct pick up location to ensure a lunch is prepared and located in the right area for your student to retrieve.
There are three pick up location/procedures:
1 - School Site Pickup Locations at dismissal time:
This should only be chosen by Cohort A, B, and C students who are picking up lunches to eat for those days they are at home. These lunches can be picked up by the student at dismissal time on the day they are at BHS. The lunches will be labeled with their names on it, and located on a table outside of the cafeteria. Please note that for Cohort B students who are picking up a lunch on Friday to eat on Monday at home, please select in the dropdown list “Cohort B Lunch”, and this lunch will be a frozen item.
2 - District Wide Pickup Location:
This should only be chosen for Cohort D students (those students who are fully remote) on Wednesdays. Parents can pick up a 5 day Remote Lunch Bag on Wednesday afternoon from 12:00-1:00 pm at the loading dock near the cafeteria.
3 - Classroom Pickup Location:
This should only be chosen for Cohort A, B and C students on the days they are physically in the BHS building.
Click “Place Order”
At this point, the order has been successfully submitted, and an email confirmation will be sent with full details of the order. If changes need to be made to your order, please contact our office at 781-275-9129.
Cookies for a cure
With the current pandemic and the risk it poses to cancer patients during this time, we, as a Relay for Life team, believe that now more than ever, is the time to help. Relay for Life is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising money for cancer research and support for cancer patients who are undergoing treatment. The money raised goes to a variety of different things such as providing a breast cancer patient with one on one support, giving a patient and their caregiver free nights of lodging when treated far from home, arranging rides to and from treatment, and offering patients access to a 24/7 information and support.
We are selling homemade frozen cookie dough and pre-baked cookies, to be made upon order to support Relay for Life. The pre-formed dough will be delivered frozen. You can stick them in the freezer for later, or bake them then! Your house will be smelling like a bakery within minutes, to be followed by the delicious taste of freshly baked cookies. The dough is made with proper safety measures.
We are offering frozen pre-formed balls of dough, a frozen roll of dough, and baked cookies in a variety of flavors, chocolate chip, chocolate brownie cookies, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, and oatmeal raisin. The cookies are 9 dollars a dozen with free delivery in towns surrounding and including Bedford.
If you want any more information about Relay for Life or the cookie fundraiser, including how to order, you can visit our website https://sites.google.com/bedfordps.org/cookies-for-a-cure/home or find us on Instagram and Facebook @anftf.relay.
Relay for Life Halloween Costume Contest open to Bedford residents
In these unprecedented times, we know that many are disappointed about the cancellation of halloween traditions and festivities. We, as the Bedford High School Relay for Life event leadership team, have created a Halloween Costume Contest open to any Bedford resident.
Here are the rules:
Submit a photo of you (or your pet!) in your costume to rflbedfordma@gmail.com by Sunday October 25th for a chance to win a Relay swag bag! Your photo will be put on our Instagram between October 26th and October 30th. Win the swag bag by getting the most likes on your post! The winner will be announced on October 31st! We can’t wait to see everyone’s Halloween spirit:)
Donations are being accepted online at https://secure.acsevents.org/site/STR/RelayForLife/RFLCY21NER?team_id=2556303&pg=team&fr_id=99489
Support for Mrs. Pietrangelo and her family
As you may have heard, Ms. Pietrangelo was in a serious accident Thursday, September 10th. Many families have asked what they can do to help. Here are some specific ways you can help:
GoFundMe: A gofundme account has been established to help the family with expenses. If you would like to make a direct financial contribution to the family, please go to https://gf.me/u/yzjqsu
Gift Cards: the following gift cards were suggested to us by the school and her friends.
- Door Dash and Grub Hub (so her husband, Matt, can order from area restaurants)
- Arlington area restaurant gift cards (Ms. Pietrangelo lives in Arlington with her husband and two young children)
- Grocery Stores in Arlington: Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Stop & Shop
- Gas gift cards
- Amazon
Meals: Since the accident, the family has received a great deal of food from friends and neighbors, so meals are not currently needed. However, in the weeks and months ahead, they will likely need meals. At that time, we will post information on how you can sign up to provide meals for the family.
Thank you all for reaching out!
Employment Permits
We know that many of you are trying to secure employment permits and there are new guidelines in place so that we can help you. Download the application with the link below. Once you have the employer sign it, you must have a parent or guardian sign as well and submit a physical if under 16. Once all of the above is done, send the completed application to our Registrar, Mrs. Powell at nancy_powell@bedfordps.org and she will prepare the work permit and email it back to you.
Link to Youth employment permit application
https://www.mass.gov/service-details/youth-employment-permit-information
Bedford High School
2020-2021 New School Hours
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 7:45am - 1:03pm
Wed: 8:05am-12:55pm
Phone: 781-275-1700
Absence Line: 781-918-4561
Fax: 781-275-6664