Barton Bobcats
Parent Weekly Newsletter: March 1st to March 5th
Barton Middle School
512-268-1472 Ext. 46466
Email: Aaron.Loyd@hayscisd.net
Website: www.hayscisd.net/bms
Location: 4950 Jack C Hays Trail, Buda, TX, USA
Phone: 512-268-1472
Twitter: @HaysBMS
Hello Bobcats!
This has been an amazing short week back at Barton. It was obvious that the students and staff were anxious to get back to work. We are at the halfway point of the 3rd 9-weeks. Please make sure your student is checking their grades in Student Self-Serve and getting work that may be missing completed. Many teachers have spent this week ensuring that assignments from the weather days are turned in since families had varying access to utilities during that time.
I also wanted to inform our families about the damage that Barton incurred, due to last weeks weather. We had four broken pipes in AC units in the ceiling. As many of you have seen there is a trailer with a massive dehumidifier that has been running 24/7 in our 200 and 300 wings. The plan is for that to be removed this weekend and they will begin demo on the two rooms that need new flooring. As of now, there are only two classes that are being displaced. Barton is an older building and the concrete floors and cinder block walls are much better than dry wall when it comes to water damage. The district is using Belfor Restoration company and they are ensuring that the building is safe and all moisture is gone. There will be a dehumidifier in the Library for a longer period of time, so it will be out of order.
Clarification on upcoming Interim testing…. Many parents and students have been confused about the information shared regarding the STAAR tutorial video and the STAAR testing platform. As of now, the only thing students need to do is view the Reading and Math video tutorials that were sent out. The dates for Interim tests are below. All students will take STAAR on the computer this year and the District is utilizing the STAAR platform for Interim (Benchmark) testing so students have practice utilizing the same system.
Some important upcoming dates are listed below….(more info in newsletter)
March 2nd- STAAR/EOC/TELPAS Info Session for Parents 5:30-6:30
March 3rd- Reading Interim for all BMS students
March 8th- Math Interim for all BMS students
March 12th- Asynchronous Learning day- no students on campus- work posted in Schoology for 1st-7th periods
March 15th-19th- Spring Break
Living The Dream,
Mr. Loyd
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KATELYN MCINTYRE
DYLAN PEREZ
ISABELLA LAYNE
ETHAN HENRY
HANNAH CHAPMAN
TRISTAN COOPER
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FRIDAY, MARCH 26TH- Follow the Rainbow to the Pot of Gold!
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REMINDER: NO FOOD DELIVERIES
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This year’s Black History Month theme will be “Lift Every Voice.”
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STAAR Information & Virtual Parent Meeting
Your student will receive an email Monday evening (March 1) with key information about STAAR interim login username and password. Please let them know not to delete the email coming to them Monday evening.
We wanted to remind you of the upcoming STAAR/EOC/TELPAS Info Session for Parents on March 2nd from 5:30-6:30 hosted by our C&I Department.
Please refer to the document linked HERE for more information. At 5:15 on March 2nd, that document will be updated with a YouTube Live link that will direct you to the parent meeting. Questions can still be asked prior to the meeting by complete this FORM. The meeting will also be available to our Spanish speaking families HERE.
You can ask any questions you currently have about Spring STAAR/EOC assessments using the form below. We are hopeful school districts will have more guidance from TEA by March 2nd.
Hays CISD Spring 2021 STAAR/EOC Parent Questions
In addition, for safety purposes and to give our teachers more instructional time, we are slightly amending the original testing calendar for our middle and high school students.
HCISD UPDATED Spring State & National Testing Calendar-Spring 2021
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6-8 READING AND MATH INTERIM
**TESTING WILL OCCUR DURING 1ST PERIOD AND ADVISORY /BOBCAT TIME
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MARCH 15TH-19TH STUDENT/STAFF HOLIDAY- NO SCHOOL!
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Yearbook Photos
Project number 126567
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It's course selection time, again! Over the next few weeks, you will receive more information about course selection over the following weeks. Below is an overview of what to expect.
- All course requests will be made electronically utilizing a Google form.
- Current Barton 6th and 7th grade students will receive a link to the Google form in their district email once the form is open.
IMPORTANT DATES:
MARCH 26 - Students and parents will receive an email copy of courses that have been entered for next school year. Parent emails will be sent to the first contact email provided at registration. Any parent who cannot access the provided email should either update their email prior to this date with the Barton office or access the copy from the student email.
APRIL 8 - 1st course verifications will be available for review on Parent Self-Serve. A Google link will be provided to request any needed changes.
APRIL 22 - 1st course verification form will close.
MAY 6 - 2nd and final course verification will be available for review on Parent Self-Serve. A Google link for changes will be provided. This is the last opportunity to make changes for the next school year. We will not make "choice" changes after this time or at schedule pick-up.
MAY 20 - 2nd and final course verification will close.
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Campus Nurse Contact information
512-268-1472 Ext. 46430
Update from the Nurse:
Thank you for your continued patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.
- If anyone in your home is pending COVID test do not send your children to school and notify the campus nurse.
- If your child has been exposed to COVID keep them home and notify the campus nurse.
- Please remember to screen your children daily before sending them to school. Keep them home if they are not feeling well and notify the campus nurse.
Please understand the importance of communication with us during this time. We understand privacy concerns and will only share information on a need to know basis. We want to do our best to keep our students, staff, family members and community safe and healthy. The only way we can do this is by tracking each and every case of potential COVID and confirmed COVID. We are working closely with the local health department and are following guidelines directly from their guidance. Quarantine guidelines can vary depending on each unique situation. We want to give you the correct timeframe for return so that we can keep COVID out of our Barton family as much as possible.
As always if you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me via email at christi.chabarria@hayscisd.net or phone at 512-268-7287.
As community cases of COVID-19 are on the rise we do expect to see an increase on campus as well. Please continue to do your part and screen your child every day prior to sending them to school. If your child is not feeling well please keep them home and let them work virtually. Curative is offering free COVID testing at the Hays Performing Arts Center and Main Street in Buda. You do not need an appointment, it is a mouth swab and results are back usually within 24 hours. If you are having any symptoms it is an easy, quick process that we encourage you to take an advantage of. See below for information on these testing sites.
If your child has any one of the below symptoms, is lab-confirmed with COVID-19 OR has been tested for COVID-19 and is awaiting results, do not send him/her to campus and contact me:
* Temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher when taken by mouth
* Sore throat
* Congestion or runny nose
* New, uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing or for students with a chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline.
* Diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, or abdominal pain
* New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever
* New loss of taste or smell
* New onset of fatigue or muscle/body aches
Please also do not send your child to school if a household member has tested positive or is awaiting COVID-19 test results.
Campus nurses are your point of contact for all things related to COVID so please reach out if you have questions or concerns.
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Texas Education Agency- Supporting English Learners In Texas
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HCISD to Continue Breakfast & Lunch at No Cost to All Students
Dear Hays CISD Family,
We are happy to announce that Hays CISD will be able to continue to offer breakfast and lunch to all students, districtwide, at no cost to the students. This program, funded by a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) block grant, was set to expire at the end of 2020, but has been extended to cover the remainder of the school year.
Important: Even though meals are being offered to all students at no cost, we still need your help by filling out the free and reduced meal application (https://www.hayscisd.net/Page/311). The district and individual campuses receive federal funding for critical programs and staffing based on the percentage of students who would ordinarily qualify for free and reduced meals. A reduction in the number of students who are recorded as qualifying for free or reduced-price meals could result in a reduction of federal funding. If you have not already filled out your application for this year, please do so at the link in this email.
Stay Safe!
Sincerely,
Tim Savoy
Chief Communication Officer
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Hays CISD Resources
The Hays CISD Clothes Closet has opened back up to serve families. Due to COVID-19, we are now requesting families fill out this Google form and we will do the shopping to fulfill the request. The form includes designated dates/times that families can select for contactless pick up. They will receive a call/email confirming with additional details. If they need clothes and food and are able to pickup, this is the form to fill out.
Our HaysHope2Go program has been fully operational and serving families weekly since March. We have a limited amount of personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies, formula and diapers. If a family is currently on our HaysHope2Go list, we can drop off the clothing with their food delivery. Since March, we have served 678 families, 3,563 people with 45,855 meals. If you know of a family who does not have transportation (needs food only) and can benefit from delivery, please fill out this form:
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Barton Week 4+ Bell Schedule (Virtual and In-person)
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