Greetings, parents! We hope that you are well and that your child is having a great experience at Baker County Middle School. This newsletter contains important information for parents about:

• Progress reports
• After-school tutoring
• BCHS Career and Technical Showcase for all eighth-grade students
• Student planners
  
• Student identification badges
• New computer lunch program
• Mandatory parent meetings for cheerleading, majorette, dance, and football tryouts
• Florida Prepaid College Savings Plans
• TDAP booster clinic for sixth-grade students
• Upcoming state testing

We have also included other additional information that may be of interest to you and your student. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at (904) 259-2226 if you have any questions or need further clarification.

In addition to grades for the midway point of the third nine weeks, did you know progress reports list the number of excused and unexcused absences? It also has the number of times a student has been marked as tardy to class. Check out your child's progress report today.

For those of you who are more tech savvy, you can get alerts and check attendance and grades at anytime through the Skyward Parent Portal. Click here for the link to be in the know! If you need help logging in, call us!

Are your student's grades where you want them to be? There is something extra that we can do about those low grades! Please consider having your student attend our after-school tutoring program starting this coming Tuesday. Tutoring will be offered every Tuesday and Thursday over the next couple of months. Students will receive lessons on important skills, homework help, STEM/robotics, and more! We will even provide the snack! Call us at 904-259-2226 and let us know your child will be attending!

This Monday, Baker County High School will be offering a career and technical program showcase starting at 6:00 PM. This is only open to eighth and ninth grade students. Please consider attending this important event. You can meet guidance counselors, teachers, and learn more about the incredible career and technical education programs offered at BCHS.

Parents are encouraged to review the parent/student information section in our student planners. This resource explains our procedures and protocols for many of the important issues students may experience during the school year. You can review things like our cell phone protocol, athletic participation requirements, dress code, and more. This section of important information begins on page 18 of the student planner. For your reference, our teachers take time in the beginning week of the school year to review the content of these pages with your student. You can view a digital copy of the student planner pages on our school website. Let's be all in, all together, as we support your child's learning!

Did you know that on a school-wide basis we focus on two words each week? We call these words Bobcat Builder words because we are attempting to build our students' vocabulary. You can support our efforts by asking your students about these words each week. Our words for next week are:

Rhetoric (noun)

The art of speaking or writing effectively

Example: The ELA teacher was impressed with the rhetoric in the student's papers.

Imply (verb)

To express indirectly

Example: Johnny says, “I would be okay if we never ate at that restaurant again.” *He did not say he did not like the food. He implied it.

The Baker County School District recently upgraded their lunchroom computer system. This upgrade came with a few surprises! You may have received a phone message about the School Bucks program. Don't worry. Lunch and breakfast are still free for all students in the school system. You may periodically receive automated messages from this new system. If you ever need clarification, please contact us directly at 904-259-2226.

In addition to the automated messages, the new computer system does not allow students to enter their lunch numbers. Students need to scan their identification badges when going through the lunch line. Students without badges must have their names manually entered in the system. Help us get your child fed in a timely manner; encourage them to keep track of and bring their student identification badge to school each and every day. They should have a specific location in their backpack where they always put their ID badge.

Students are required to use their student ID badges to get their breakfasts and lunches at BCMS. Did you know that they are required to check-out a book from the library as well? BCMS is an accelerated reading program school. We expect our students to actively read throughout the school year. Don't let your student tell you that he/she doesn't have homework. There is always reading to be done!! Encourage your student to read as much as possible. Check out the importance of reading below.

We recognize a student from each team every month who represents our school expectations of respect, organization, attitude, and responsibility (R.O.A.R.). The image below is of our students selected by their teachers for the month of January.

Did you know that several seventh-grade students were sent home on August 10th of this school year? They were not permitted to attend class. Why? Because in the State of Florida students are required by law to have the TDAP booster shot prior to starting seventh grade.

Save yourself time, money, and effort, let the Baker County Health Department administer the TDAP to your child at school. What do you need to do? Just complete the form that was sent home with your child's progress report today and return it to the school. The permission form is due by March 29th. On April 5th, BCMS will host this free TDAP clinic. For your convenience, a copy of the form has been linked below.

If you are interested in getting the shot administered at the health department instead of school, the Baker County Health Department will be hosting a free clinic on Tuesday, March 7th, at their facility.

There are a lot of activities going on at BCMS during the months of February and March. Take just a few moments to review our school calendar that is available on our website.

The following graphics highlight some of our important events coming up in the next few weeks.

The softball and baseball seasons started on February 7th. Parents, please remember that we allow cash and GoFan online ticket purchases for our home games, but Clay County only allows GoFan online ticket purchases. They do NOT accept cash at our away games. For more information, please see the items below.

It's not too late to start saving for your child to go to college! Click here to review information about the Florida Prepaid College Plans. Budgeting for your child's future could have a lifelong positive impact. Check out the one-minute video below.

Thank you for taking the time to review this newsletter. We hope it provides information that will help you to be more involved in the educational process at BCMS. If you need assistance related to any of these topics or other matters, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at (904) 259-2226.

The Baker County School District prohibits any policy or procedure which results in discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or legally-protected characteristic in its programs and activities including employment opportunities.

The District’s Equity Coordinator, Robin Mobley, can be contacted at 270 South Boulevard East, Macclenny, Florida 32063 or by phone (904) 259-0427.