West Week in Review
March 19, 2021
Connect with us!
Please check your email weekly for our West Week in Review! In order to help us connect with you and make sure you are not missing any important information, please add messenger@boyertownpa.mg.infinitecampus.org to your trusted senders in your email so that you don’t miss out on important information. Infinite Campus is now open. Also, be sure to follow us on the Boyertown Middle School West Facebook page and our Twitter/Instagram accounts @WhatsUp_West.
Community Bulletin Board
Please be sure to visit our Community Bulletin Board at https://www.boyertownasd.org/domain/1321. During the pandemic, we are restricting the number of community flyers we are sending home. Instead, we are posting this information on this bulletin board. There you will find scouting information, PTO information, community information, and more. Be sure to visit the site frequently for updates.
Upcoming Dates
March 22 - Spring sports practices / tryouts start
March 26 - International Social Emotional Learning Day (lessons in all grade levels)
March 26 and 29 - Early Dismissal
March 30-April 5 - Spring Break
April 6 - School Resumes
Honor Roll
Second Trimester report cards were posted in Infinite Campus on March 10. Honor roll certificates were distributed to homeroom teachers this week for students who qualify. Virtual students who made honor roll (3.000-3.6664 GPA) or high honors (3.6665 and above) may stop by the West office between 7am-4pm Monday through Friday to pick up their certificate or will receive it when they come in to take their PSSAs next month. Our third trimester is well underway. Let's finish strong!
PSSA and Keystone Exams
In-Person Learning
Deadline Extended for Yearbook Orders
Herff Jones has allowed us to keep our online yearbook ordering open until March 31. If you still have not purchased a yearbook, please follow the directions on the flyer below.
Middle School Sports
A virtual spring sports meeting was held recently. The presentation slides are included below.
Drug Abuse and Prevention
SCOLIOSIS SCREENING - Grade 7
Dear Parent/Guardian of 7th grade in person learners – SCOLIOSIS SCREENING
School law requires that a screening for scoliosis be performed on all children in grade 7. Boyertown Middle School West will conduct a scoliosis screening the week of March 22nd during your child’s PE class. The purpose of the screening program is to detect possible curvature of the spine in children. If the condition is detected early and appropriately treated, progressive spinal deformity may be prevented.
The screening test is very simple and can be performed in less than a minute. A trained screener will check your child’s back by observing your child in a standing and bending forward position. You will be contacted if there is any reason to have your child examined by your pediatrician, family physician or orthopedist.
Your cooperation is essential to help us make the program run smoothly. If you DO NOT want your child to participate in the school screening program and prefer to have completed by your physician, you must inform the nurse in writing, please have your child bring the note directly to the nurse’s office or email the nurse at dhopple@boyertownasd.org. Please inform the nurse by March 19. 2021. If you have any additional questions, please contact the health room at 610-473-3770, thank you.
Morning Drop-Off
Transportation
If your child utilizes district transportation, please be reminded that masks are required on school buses for the entirety of the time. Students are expected to arrive at the bus stop 10 minutes prior to their scheduled pick-up time.
Face Coverings
Scheduling for 2021-22 School Year
- In Road to Success, students in sixth and seventh grades have begun getting information about the rest of our club options for next year and will have an opportunity to sign up soon. We are so excited that clubs are coming back!
- Teachers have been working on course recommendations for grades 6 to 7 math and grades 7 to 8 math and ELA. Recommendations have been finalized and letters were mailed last week.
- We are also getting ready to welcome our next group of incoming sixth graders. Information has been shared with the elementary schools regarding upcoming visits by Mr. Schmaldienst as well as a virtual information night.
Time to Think About High School!
The time has come for our 8th graders and their families to begin the process of planning for high school. Our middle school scheduling team has been meeting with the BASH team over the past several weeks to work on details of our timelines and make adjustments to our processes due to Covid-19. We would like to make sure you are aware of a few things:
- All 8th grade students have been introduced to the virtual BASH tour in Road to Success. If you would like to see this student-created virtual tour for yourself, you can access it here: BASH Virtual Tour
- Course recommendations for the 2021-22 school year will be entered in Infinite Campus over the next month. Once the recommendations are ready for your review, an email blast will be sent out by the high school with directions on how to access the list of recommended courses for your child. Expect this communication to come in late March.
- Over the past several weeks, students learned about BASH in their Road to Success classes and have been provided information on how to sign up for elective courses.
- BASH elective informational sessions were recently held to help our students make decisions about what courses may be of interest to them in the areas of NJROTC, art, music, tech ed, world languages, and FCS.
Tech Tips
- Be sure to charge your Chromebook every night so that it has a full charge for the next school day.
- Bring your charger with you to school every day in case your battery gets too low.
- Completely power down your Chromebook at night when you’re finished using it.
- This helps to keep your Chromebook safe because when a Chromebook powers on, it goes through a safety procedure that keeps the operating system up-to-date with Google. It will automatically replace the operating system with the current version if it detects any discrepancies.
- It also resets what is stored in your memory and helps to keep your Chromebook working properly.
- Keep your Chromebook’s keyboard and trackpad clean with the help of an adult.
- Always power down your Chromebook before cleaning it.
- You can use an alcohol pad or a cotton ball/paper towel lightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol to wipe away dirt and film.
- Do not saturate the keyboard or trackpad.
- You can also use a can of compressed air blow away dust, crumbs, etc. from around the keys.
- If you are having issues that are preventing you from joining your homeroom or class Zoom/Meet, call Mrs. Miller for help at 610-473-1953.
- She will likely be able to get you back online sooner, plus there will then be a record of your Chromebook/wifi issue logged.
Virtual Advice from Our Bear Ambassadors
Attendance Reminders
We are mandated to track attendance for both in-person and virtual students. According to state guidelines, students will be marked present if they are in attendance for class and complete their work for the class period.
Attendance Information Regarding Illness and Trips
As we are bringing students back to the building, we want to review recommended protocols for attendance, especially in light of the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our hope is that students are able to participate in their classes as they are scheduled whether it is in person or virtual. We recognize that there may be circumstances in which a child is unable to attend in person, but would be able to attend virtually. Please review the guidelines below as you make decisions regarding your child’s attendance in school in person and/or virtually. And, note the guidelines the building will follow for illness including Covid-19 symptoms or positive cases.
Student cannot participate virtually or in person due to illness
If your child is sick, not feeling well and unable to participate in classes whether it is in person or virtually, follow our typical attendance procedures by notifying the main office via the attendance email or completing the attendance form.
Student is ill and cannot participate in person, but can participate in virtual instruction (e.g due to Covid-19 positive OR exhibits COVID-19 Symptoms for which quarantine is necessary)
If your child is ill or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms but feels he/she is able to participate in virtual instruction, please follow the steps below:
Contact your school’s nurse so they can advise you to follow the current protocols in testing and length of quarantine.
Email your child’s teacher and the attendance secretary stating that he or she will attend virtually for the day.
It is expected your child will participate virtually the entire day and in all classes to be marked present for the day.
Student presents with Covid-19 symptoms at school:
If the school nurse sends your child home from school due to symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection, the parent/guardian will pick up the child from school. The parent/guardian will be advised to contact their medical provider to obtain a note to clear the child to return to school or follow the next steps of the medical provider which may include a Covid-19 test. If the parent/guardian chooses to not seek a medical provider’s guidance, then the child must participate virtually for 14 days. (See Options # 1 or #2 above)
Exposure to “Close Contacts”.
Members of the same household are close contacts. If a member of a student’s household tests positive for Covid-19 or is symptomatic of Covid-19, please follow the steps outlined below.
A “close contact” can also be a non-household member. If the child has contact with a person within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more, and the non-household person tests positive for Covid-19, please follow the steps outlined below.
Contact your school’s nurse so they can advise you to follow the current protocols in testing and length of quarantine.
Email your child’s teacher and the attendance line stating that he or she will attend virtually for whatever time period is appropriate.
If your child is well and able to participate in their classes virtually, they should login and participate virtually for the entire day and length of quarantine.
Educational Trips
Educational trips are still being approved for students who are attending BASD Virtual or returning to the school buildings. The protocols remain the same.
If your family is traveling outside of Pennsylvania, quarantining is no longer required.
To find the most current update from the state, go to: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Travelers.aspx
Items in the Office
Virtual Wednesdays
On Wednesdays, students follow a half-day live schedule in the morning, followed by asynchronous afternoons. Attendance is taken during homeroom as usual. Teachers host a live online session to check in with students, explain the work for the day (including asynchronous activities for the day and the option of a live mini-lesson) and share any small group meeting times that students will need to follow. The afternoon provides opportunities for teacher professional development and collaboration while students work on asynchronous assignments. Students are expected to be working all day on Wednesdays.
Library Books are now available!
MackinVIA- Free eBooks & Audiobooks for Students!
Thanks to the generosity of the Foundation for Boyertown Education, Middle School East and Middle School West now are members of the MackinVIA Connected Library Consortium. This allows our students to access hundreds of eBooks and audiobooks from anywhere they have internet access. Please watch the attached video for directions:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14ff5wP0cQVZLtvKA-wFT2boxHR-heg8i/view?usp=sharing
The MackinVIA app can be downloaded on phones and tablets, or you can use the website on any desktop computer/laptop/Chromebook (www.mackinvia.com) .
Curbside pickup for physical library books is still available for any virtual students as well.
Directions: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xZlYFJIKHH3pWkaHUnAvXwgc0IxOgyQy_t3Ay8GfDfU/edit?usp=sharing
Video directions: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RJr7vla2VjulxCb70uw_p2phlvBZJZFb/view
Students in hybrid group A or B may also browse for books in the library during their ELA class (with teacher permission) or during study hall. Once returned, all books are quarantined for 7 days before being placed back on the shelves for recirculation.
Email Mrs. Palopoli if you have any questions. spalopoli@boyertownasd.org
Important Health Information!
Dear Parents and Guardians,
This has been a very unprecedented year to say the least!
On behalf of the nurses in the district I am reaching out to you to give you some directions on changes that are happening in the BASD Health Rooms.
- Medication Drop off: please obtain medication authorization papers on-line to take to your physicians to be completed. Once they are completed, make an appointment with your school nurse for drop off, either call or email for mutual time to receive medication and paperwork. Have the medication authorization and the medication in a labeled container to bring to the nurse. Parents will not be permitted into the building to drop off medication.
- Amount of medication: Please consider supplying no more than a month supply of medication in the health room at any given time. Should we need to close for any reason, you will not be short any medication.
- Inhalers and Epi pens: follow above directions. It is recommended that students who can self-carry their own medications (inhalers/EpiPens only) should do so, provided we have the required paperwork on file for administration. This will enable the student to bring his/her medication back and forth to school. Should we be closed again for any reason, the student would have access to their medication. It is not an expectation that your child will administer it by themselves, it is only to keep the medication in the hands of the user, should we need to shut down school without notice. It will be the student’s responsibility to make sure that the medication comes back and forth with them daily. If this arrangement is not conducive for your child, we can keep medication in the health room, but we will not make immediate concessions to return it to you should school be closed for any reason.
- Nebulizer treatments: Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 we cannot administer any nebulizer treatments in the health rooms due to aerosolizing particles. Should your child require a nebulizer, you will need to administer it at home.
- Daily assessment of your child: Just a reminder that you should be assessing daily your child’s health status and monitoring for signs and symptoms of Covid-19. If you feel your child has been exposed or if they have symptoms, please have them tested and do not send them to school. This would include siblings as well from the same household, as they may be contagious as well.
- Health Room: If you child is exhibiting any of the symptoms of Covid-19, you will be notified to come and pick them up. It is our expectation that you will be at school in a relatively short period of time. Please understand that the symptoms of Covid-19 are like other illnesses, such as allergies/colds/flu/asthma. Therefore, children will be sent home for suspected symptoms.
- Returning Paperwork: Please return paperwork either with your child, or via email to the nurse at the building the child attends. You can scan, photograph, and email copies of all paperwork to us. All current state mandates are still in effect and will be required to be submitted.
We wish all of you a happy and healthy school year and are looking forward to seeing you back at school or virtually. If we can help in any way, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Your school nurse can be found by going to the BASD website, choosing the school the child attends, and go to health. The staff nurse and Certified School Nurse are listed there.
Elizabeth Vamvakias, RN, MSN, CSN
Nursing Supervisor
610-473-5039
Additional Health Reminders
Immunization requirements for 7th grade entry
Attention Parent(s)/Guardian(s) of students entering 7th grade; your child is required to have 1 dose of tetanus, diphtheria, acelluar pertussis (Tdap) AND 1 dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV) by the first day of school. At this time, the Pennsylvania’s Department of Health has not eliminated the state immunization requirements. This requirement applies even to students who are continuing with virtual instruction. This information can be found in 28 Pa. CODE CH.23 (School Immunization) http://www.health.pa.gov/My%20Health/Immunizations/School/Pages/default.aspx or https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/programs/immunizations/Pages/Immunizations.aspx. Please email Mrs. Hopple, our West school nurse, at dhopple@boyertownasd.org with any questions.
PA Mandated Dental and Physical Exams for 2020 - 2021 School Year
The PA School Code requires dental exams for all students entering Kindergarten, 3rd and 7th grades, and physical exams for students entering kindergarten, 6th and 11th grades. For students entering these grades in September 2020, physical or dental exams that are completed on or after September 1, 2019 are acceptable. If you need a form for an upcoming appointment, you can download one from the BASD website @ http://www.boyertownasd.org under Resources - Nurse – BASD Health Service link. Completed physical and dental forms can be submitted to the health room at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. Because the health room is closed for the summer, if you submit a completed form over the summer please retain a copy for your records.
Updates and Reminders for the 2020-21 School Year
Google Classroom
Google Classroom is the platform that all middle school classes will be based in. If you are not familiar with how to use Google Classroom, this brief tutorial may be helpful: https://youtu.be/VOOnCwWZxX4
Office Hours
Teachers have also created an Office Hours Google Classroom. This link can be used during period 10 on any day that the teacher does not have an advisory group. The teacher will be available at this time for any student who needs help or has questions about an assignment to speak with them over video.
Back-to-School Updates
Several documents that have been shared over the past few weeks are available on the West page of the district website. These documents are available here: https://www.boyertownasd.org/Page/6000 if you have not already done so, please check here for codes for the various Google Classrooms.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15wUE0SSQC9touXvDDmthpGlosR1JjI9otHlclXtb5pc/edit?usp=sharing
Grab 'n Go Meals Continuing!
Support for Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
As a district, we have begun a 3-year implementation plan focused on Social Emotional Learning. Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. At this link, https://sel4us.org/blog/social-emotional-learning-supports-around-covid-19/, you will find a post from the Social Emotional Learning Alliance for the United States, that offers SEL supports around COVID-19. The post offers suggestions for families to reinforce each of the 5 SEL Core Competencies which include: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Thank you for partnering with us to prioritize safety and well-being.
Boyertown Middle School West
Email: sllandis@boyertownasd.org
Website: http://www.boyertownasd.org
Location: 380 South Madison Street, Boyertown, PA, USA
Phone: 610-369-7471