BHMS Principal's Update 2/7/22
8th-9th Grade Info, Black History, STAR Testing, Hoagies
Keeping Up with What is Going on at the Hill!!!
I hope this newsletter finds you well and staying healthy as we continue to march through this pandemic.
We have a lot of information in this newsletter as we prepare for the week. There is important information here for 8th graders who are going to the high school. Meetings to discuss scheduling are underway.
We are honored to celebrate the incredibly important and hard workt the our counselors do. This week is school counselors week. If you have the opportunity please reach out to your child's counselor, either Ms. Kerfoot, Mrs. Vernon, or Dr. Morros to let them know how much they are appreciated
This week also marks the beginning of the hoagie sale. As you know, like last year the district is partnering with Liscio's Bakery and a portion of their sales from Hoagies went to the Helping Hands Hoagie Sale to benefit those in need in our community. Hoagie Sales begin on Monday 2/7/22 There is also a gift card option. All of this will be illuminated in this Principal's Update
Also this week continue our reflection on African American History Month. The individuals who help shape African American History have set the bar for all of us. It is important to look at role models who help model for us ethics and perseverence. We began this month by learning about General Colin Powell who unfortunately passed away in October. This week we talk about Dr. Mae Jemison who was the first African American woman to travel in space and her role as an engineer and science mission specialist for the Endeavour mission in 1992. These are our contemporary pioneers who continue to pave the way.
Sincerely,
Mike D'Ostilio
In this Newsletter:
- New and Important Information
- Highlight: Dr. Mae Jemison
- STAR Assessments
- 8th -9th Grade Pre-Scheduling and Orientation Video
- Hoagie Sale
- Counselors' Notes/Social Media Awareness
- New Restroom Procedure/Scanning ID Cards
- Bulldog Bash
- 8th Grade T Shirt Art Contest
- Picture Info and Yearbook Update (Buying personal ads)
- COVID-19 Update
- Picture Info and Yearbook Update (Buying personal ads)
- What it Means to Be a Bulldog
- Building Better Bulldogs Mission and Vision
- PTO Information
- Signing Up for Remind Text Notifications, Facebook, and Twitter
New and Important Information
Some Important Dates:
February 7-11...School Counseling Week
February 7-15...Washington Township Schools and Liscio's Hoagie Sale
February 7...STAR Testing for Math begins
February 9...4pm..Girls Basketball at CRMS (student spectators must be accompanied by an adult)
Februay 9...All day...Girls Basketball Dine and Donate...Pat's Select
February 11...Hat Day Fundraiser
February 14...Dress for Success Day
February 24...6:30-7:30...High School Scheduling Advisement WebEX
March 24...3-4:15 PM...BHMS Spring Fling
March 25...8th Graders T-Shirt Design Due to Mrs. Franz
Bunker Hill Celebrates African American History Month
Week 2: Dr. Mae Jemison, Astronaut, Engineer, and Scientist
Week 1: General Colin Powell, Former Secretary of State
Helping Hands Hoagie Sale
Please Help Us Combat the Behavior over Social Media. Please Monitor Your Children's Accounts
Recently, we have had a counseling lesson on social media etiquette in the 8th grade with the support of Officer Hamilton and will continue to have these talks with the entire school in the upcoming year.
Some things you should know:
1. Snap Chat: Please check and ensure parent filters are enabled on your children's snapchat and especially set to private so only your child's friends can "snap" each other. We've had situations where random people infiltrated our students' snap chat with inappropriate images or messages. Also with snap chat, people can send pictures or message that quickly erase. Unless your child screen shots things, these messages are hard to retrieve and the hate or bullying has already been done.
2. Tik Tok or Discord: Again these platforms (like snap chat and if the parental controls and privacy settings are not enabled) students can be met with an onslaught of negative information. Most of our country's threats of violence are happening on Tik Tok. The vandalism that was going on in the fall was a result of Tik Tok challenges. Tik Tok is highly unregulated content. The challenges and threats in Tik Tok can have felony or misdemeanor charges With Discord, we had a recent threat on that platform as well.
3. Instagram: With Instagram, we have had our own students make fake pages, especially talking about students. The owners of these pages make fun of students, make lies about students, antagonize drama between people, or make up that students are in relationships with each other. Regardless of the content, the sole purpose is to tear people down. Please ensure that your children do not follow anything like this. By following these pages, it gives credence to these students who seek to emotionally harm their peers.
Students Must Carry IDs with Them Throughout the School Day.
We are continuing to iron out this procedure, but your children have adapted quickly to this. If they forget their ID, students simply give their 6 digit ID/Pin number. This new procedures promotes safety and the preservation of instructional time for the students. This allows to keep track of students, how long they are out of class, and the frequency by which they are out of class. This new program allows us to sort using an excel spreadsheet and then address only those individuals who are frequently out of the classroom. There is no additional change or procedure your child has to do except get into the habit of bringing their ID cards.
Shoot For the Bulldog Bash
Some community service opportunites at school can include: helping clean and landscape campus/courtyard, participating in school sponsored community cleanup days, participating in future acts activities, etc. If you need ideas for 2 hours of community service at the school, please reach out to the counselors, administrators, team leaders, Mr. Cabrera, Mrs. Finn, or Mrs. Lyons.
Click on the link below for more information.
Looking for Student Opinions for the Yearbook
Recent Updates
The NJDOH recently adopted guidance in line with the CDC regarding quarantine and isoloation recommendations. Those recommendation are being adopted and adhered to by the public schools. Please see the following letter from Mr. Bollendorf: Mr. Bollendorf's January 12, 2022 Letter. This letter references the new protocols. It goes into detail about when exposed to COVID-19 the procedures to follow if you are asymptomatic vs symptomatic and the timeframes that must be adhered to.
The following document references the new changes. It is the most recent update released January 19, 2022. Updated Guidance
Reminders about Protocols Updated 1/9/22
As a state, it's likely that we will spend most of January in the "Red" status. Please click on this link to see the latest NJDOH Cali Score. This means that the state's positivity percentage and transmission percentage are very high. With that comes some recommendations from schools. The best way to mitigate this spread is to encourage and stress to your children the importance of wearing masks. While we have had some in school transmissions over the last few years, that number is very small. What helps us immensely is the proper wearing of masks (coving nose and mouth). Consequently, we will be working with the students and mandating the proper use of the mask in school. We will be more vigilant on this, especially while we are in the "Red".
Please encourage your children to make use of the sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer in every classroom. Students should be washing their hands and using hand sanitizer regularly to help offset the spread of surface to surface germs.
When in the cafeteria, if they are not eating, they should have their masks on. This is important as all the students at the table become close contacts should a student test positive from that table.
The Superintendent Keeps the Community Update about Different Protocols for Quarantine. Beginning, on 12/17/21, the district will follow the quarantine and testing regulations that recently came out by the NJDOH. That guidance is listed here: NJDOH Guidance. This information was recently posted on the district website.
Building Better Bulldogs (3Bs) Mission and Vision
This pandemic has created so many questions and concerns for students that are well beyond academics. We are committed to providing a safe environment where students can express themselves as they question the ebb and flow of their world around them. Please see below our affirmations about Buidling Better Bulldogs and the people we as Bulldogs aim to be.
Bunker Hill Middle School: Home of the Bulldogs
Email: ddijohn@wtps.org
Website: https://www.wtps.org/bunkerhill
Location: 372 Pitman Downer Road, Sewell, NJ, USA
Phone: 856 881 7007
Facebook: facebook.com/OfficialBHMS
Twitter: @Official_BHMS