Orioles Nest
Newsletter for Bessie Allen Middle School Staff
District Driving Belief:
Our district believes that all students will be college, career and life ready.
District Goals:
#1. All Students Get Better at Literacy!
#1. Engaging and Effective Instruction!
#1. Create and Maintain a Happy (Positive Emotional) Environment!
Guiding Principles for Improvement:
Our conversations and actions will center on maximizing learning for all students.
Through the use of research-based professional educational practices and collaboration, we will make decisions that ensure all students will learn to be effective and independent problem solvers, critical thinkers, lifelong learners and positive community members.
BAMS Building SLO:
By June 2017, students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade will show growth in their opinion writing rubric scores from earlier assessments given in Fall 2016 and Winter 2017. This level of growth will be assessed as follows:
6th Grade: 70%
7th Grade: 75%
8th Grade: 80%
Mr. Gonzalez's Mantra:
"I commit to serving people kindly so that they feel valued, acknowledged, supported, understood and loved."
Edition #5 - Monday, September 19, 2016
I hope your early school year is going well! This is the 5th edition of the Orioles Nest. In this newsletter, you will find updates or relevant links about the following areas:
- Orange Frog Celebrations and Shout-outs!
- Homecoming Schedule Update
- Educator Effectiveness Information and Dates
- New Math Teacher Hire and Start Date
- General Reminders and Requests
- ELL Update: Part 1
Shout Outs
Adam Micke and Jose Chavez: These two football coaches organized the MS Team as they attended the 8th Grade Girls Basketball Game vs. Kewaskum. It was a very spirited environment.
Brandon Switz: Thanks to him, we will have large grade-level Oriole Way matrices posted in spots all over BAMS. This will be very helpful in communicating and reinforcing expectations across the board.
Matt Bertram: He has been super patient with the delay in bringing the new 7th grade Math teacher into the fold. While anxious to begin the Dean of Students role at HMHS, Matt has still taken time to organize the next 7th grade Field Trip and also has offered to do several things to help the transition for the new 7th grade Math hire.
Celebrations
- Both 7th/8th grade Girls Basketball Teams won their games vs. Kewaskum and Oakfield!
- Cross Country Students continue to compete hard in their competitions.
- Oriole Leaders are spearheading new interactive student-led announcements.
- K. May took 4500 steps in one day during P.E. class.
- Six new students wered added to the 2 Reading Plus Intervention courses this week.
- Anthony Rasmussen, Theresa Galligan-Amundson, Jenny Stahl, and Ginnie Harney will be honored by volleyball players during Teacher Appreciation Night on Thursday, October 13. Kudos to them for making a difference in the lives of these students!
7th Grade Girls BBall in Action vs. Oakfield
MS FB in Action vs. Fall River
MS FB Boys Supporting Girls Basketball
Please note. . . .
Calendar Highlights: Please review the BAMS Events Calendar on Google that has been shared with every staff member for important dates throughout the year.
Mr. Gonzalez will be OUT this week:
- Tuesday, 9/20/16: Leadership Team Meeting in DMR (9am - 11am)
Key Dates:
9/23 (Friday) - School Stores Open; Grade Level Incentive Menus; Leadership Camp.
Homecoming Week Schedule Update: A change was made to the schedule for Homecoming Week. Please read below:
Monday (26th) - Normal Non-Block
Tuesday (27th) - Block
Wednesday (28th) = Block
Thursday (29th) = Pep Assembly/Early Release (Find in Links Section)
- Friday (30th) = Normal Non-Block
Shared staff: Please check both BAMS and HMHS schedules to confirm availability or conflicts. Inform Mr. Gonzalez of any issues right away.
Also, sign up for your group if planning to participate in the parade. Link is below.
Teaching and Learning Update: EduClimber, our District's new data tool, has been synced with Skyward. More information on EduClimber will be pending shortly.
Educator Effectiveness Update: I will be contacting you next week to meet with regards to individual EE deadlines and your status on the three-year cycle. Also, keep in mind these due dates for October.
- PPG and SLO Plan - October 15th
- Survey Students/Growth Plan - October 28th
Reminders:
- Make sure students are aware of their LMC Overdue Books and Fines.
- Add me to Google Chat or Hangout to get a hold of me when not in office.
- Faculty Meeting for the 21st is for work time. No large group meeting.
- Please make sure you have your Have to's Educator Forms returned to the office.
- Any supplies requests should have a submitted requisition. See me for assistance.
- Thank you for letting Brandon Switz know about HW assignments for the webpage.
- Thank you for contacting parents with positives and any concerns.
- Thank you for taking attendance at the start of the hour.
- If interested in heading up YEARBOOK, please let Brenda VP know!
- Thank you for posting your learning targets and for reflecting on your level of questioning in class. I encourage you to continue to look at utilizing higher level questioning.
Requests:
- Brandon Switz will need sub coverage for the 1st Tuesday of Each Month (11:50 am - 12:20 pm) to attend District Oriole Way meetings. Please let him know if you are willing to volunteer!
- Literacy Program with Milwaukee Wave: BAMS received a call from the MKE Wave, indoor soccer professional team. They have a month-long reading incentive program that can result in a free ticket for any students that reach their literacy goals during that time frame. The deadline to enroll is October 7th and the program begins on October 10th. Should we sign up? Please let me know ASAP. See link below for more information.
Links to Important Documents: Make sure to read these links below. These are PERTINENT links for this week to save you time from searching all over Google Drive.
Join Get Up and GO!
Bessie Allen Middle School:
Email: bams@nfdlschools.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/nfdlschools.org/nfdltest/hmhs/bams
Location: 305 McKinley Street, North Fond du Lac, WI, United States
Phone: (920) 602-6700
Facebook: facebook.com/nfdl.schools
Twitter: @nfdlschools