BHMS Principal's Update 1/10/22
In-person Instruction, Officer Hamilton, COVID-19, Clubs
Keeping Up with What is Going on at the Hill!!!
Last week was a tough week as we collectively tried to manage snowdays and remote learning. I must say, many of our students did exceptionally well responding to the sudden pivot due to our in ability to maintain the in person classes. We are so fortunate that were were able to re-open for tomorrow with minimal disruption. Thank you for working with us last week and thank you for making sure your children were prepared for online learning.
This week is a busy week as today is School Resource Officer Appreciation Day, we will celebrate that tomorrow. Please see below for more information.
In this newsletter, we will also talk about some key reminders and some things we need to observe while in the Red status throughout the state.
Thank you again, and looking forward to seeing your children on January 10, 2022
Sincerely,
Mike D'Ostilio
In this Newsletter:
- New and Important Information
- School Resource Officer Appreciation Day
- COVID-19 Updates
- Fruit Sale
- Club Info
- Monitoring Social Media
- Coat Drive
- What it Means to Be a Bulldog
- Bulldog Bash
- Picture Info and Yearbook Update (Buying personal ads)
- PTO Information
- Signing Up for Remind Text Notifications, Facebook, and Twitter
- Building Better Bulldogs Mission and Vision
New and Important Information
Some Important Dates:
January 4-31...Coat Drive
January 4-7...Remote Instruction
January 10...Return to In Person Instruction
January 10...Last Day to Order an Ad for the BHMS Yearbook
January 10...SRO (Officer Hamilton) Appreciation Day
January 14...First Day of Chess Club
January 17...Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. School Closed
January 20...Sign ups due for "Paws" and Talk Club
January 21...Early Dismissal
January 26... "Paws" and Talk Club Begins
January 26...7pm...PTO Meeting
Parents Encourage Your Children to Wear Blue on Monday 1/10/22 to Support Officer Hamilton
Bunker Hill is blessed to have Officer Hamilton as the Bulldog SRO. Officer Hamilton is more than a police officer; he is a true friend, mentor, confidante, and counselor to all. He represents all that is good and true about being a Bulldog. He is an amazing officer, but an amazing person who has taught us each something along the way. Please join BHMS in honoring him tomorrow.
Updates for the Week (1/10-1/14)
We are extremely thankful to be back with in person learning after a brief pause last week. We will conduct full, regular days and activities will resume while working to make sure students/staff remain as safe as possible. Mr. Bollendorf put out his letter officially announcing that we are in person tomorrow. Below are some reminders and updates.
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.
Rise in Positive Cases in the District. Changes at BHMS for the Week.
Again, please continue to stress the importance of properly wearing the mask. Also please continue to report to our nurse if your children are exposed to or test for COVID-19
Click on the link below for more information.
"Paws" and Talk Coming to BHMS
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.
Shoot For the Bulldog Bash
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