September Community Newsletter
September 2023
BCMS Principal's Message
Dear Ballenger Creek Middle Families,
I hope you and your loved ones are well. How are your children (and you) doing now that we’re in our third week and routines are being established? From my own family experiences, I know that it can be an uncomfortable transition to get back into routines. However, once we establish them and get into a rhythm, often everyone actually seems happier and more productive.
Along with all of the increased activities of the busier school weeks, concepts sometimes pop up on school assignments that your student may need help with--if it can wait until school hours, our staff is here to assist. If it’s after school hours, please remember (that if you’re unable to help) all FCPS middle and high school students have access to TutorMe, an online tutoring service. Live tutors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Please read further in this month’s newsletter for more information!
In addition, you may have seen that parent-teacher conferences will take place on October 11th, 12th, and 13th. Because virtual conferences have been so popular the previous two years (no wrestling with traffic to get to school, maneuvering for a parking space, etc), the default option for conferences at BCMS this year will again be virtual. You can, however, still meet with your students’ teachers in person. Please see later in the newsletter for how (and when) to sign up for both types of conferences. We look forward to seeing you either virtually or in person!!
Best wishes to you and your families! As always, I’m here to assist you and your students if you think I can be of help.
Sincerely,
Jay Schill
Principal, BCMS
Important Community Information Regarding Parking at Jackson Chapel United Methodist Church
Jackson Chapel United Methodist Church, our next door neighbor, has shared that they will be opening a preschool in their building in late September or early October. In order to keep our new young neighbors and their parents as safe as possible, the church leaders are asking that BCMS parents who utilize their parking lot for pick-up and drop-off stay off of the paved portion of their parking lot and only utilize the gravel area. To prepare for this transition, in the afternoon the church is beginning to use cones to mark the paved area. Our parents and guardians are to avoid both morning and afternoon when the preschool starts in several weeks.
Thank you in advance for helping us be good neighbors by honoring Jackson Chapel's request.
Welcome Back!
The 6th, 7th and 8th grade teams are excited to welcome students and families back to school for the last year of middle school! During the first couple weeks of school, students will learn about class and school procedures. They will also get to know their teachers and classmates, and will be introduced to the first units of their classes. Please review your student’s syllabus that went home during the first week of school and reach out if you have any questions. Welcome back!
REDISTRICTING INFORMATION UPDATES AND COMMUNITY MEETINGS
Frederick County Public Schools is inviting the public to community meetings this fall to hear about the new alternatives developed for the Crestwood area redistricting study.
All meetings are open to all school communities who are included in the redistricting study area.
Sign language or English language interpreting services can be provided. More information is available online.
FCPS understands the significant impact redistricting can have on school communities, families, and students. Families have requested consideration of additional options and community meetings for comment. This led the Board to revise the redistricting study schedule.
Scheduled meetings:
6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6: Community meeting at Tuscarora High School
6-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7: Community meeting at Frederick High School
6-8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11: Community meeting at Gov. Thomas Johnson High
6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1: Board of Education Public Hearing, Board Room, 191 S. East St.
More information about the Crestwood Area Redistricting Study, including updated Frequently Asked Questions, is available online.
For additional information, please contact the FCPS Facilities Planning Department at CrestwoodRedistricting@FCPS.org.
Parent-teacher conferences
Parent-teacher conferences will take place on October 11th, 12th, and 13th. Virtual conferences through Google Meet will be the default option for conferences; however, are teacher will also be offering in person conferences for anyone who wishes for that option. More information about how to sign up will come out through a Find Out First on September 20th.
Veterans Day Concert
Mark your calendars:
Veterans Day Concert on Thursday,
November 10th BCMS Cafetorium, 6pm
TutorMe
Frederick County Public School is proud to announce that we’ve teamed up with TutorMe as we head back to school this year to empower our grade 6-12 students with unlimited on-demand access to 24/7 online tutoring! From homework help to test prep, students can get live one-on-one help from 15,000+ verified tutors covering hundreds of subjects anytime, anywhere. In addition to live tutoring, students can submit essays and papers for prompt, detailed feedback from writing experts within hours. TutorMe is available to all students via their current Clever Portal login. We're excited to partner with TutorMe to further support our students’ excellence. Reference the TutorMe Support Guide to get started. TutorMe Student Support Guide (English) ESP. Guia de Apoyo- TutorMe (Spanish) and click on the TutorMe icon in Clever to get started today.
Math Department
All grade levels will be taking the Beginning of Year ALEKS Knowledge Check and will start having weekly ALEKS Topics to complete in the coming weeks.
All grade levels will be implementing the new curriculum: Reveal!
6th grade will start with Module 1: Ratios and Rates
7th grade and 7th ACC will start with Module 1: Proportional Relationships
8th grade will start with Module 1: Exponents and Scientific Notation
Algebra will start with Module 1: Expressions
Science Department
6th graders will kick off middle school science in the “Water” unit. Students will learn about atoms, molecules, states of matter, and energy.
7th graders will begin with the “Human Impact on Earth” unit. Students will learn how resources in an ecosystem affect populations.
8th graders start with the “Biotic Diversity” unit. Students will learn how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.
Enrichment Opportunities
FCPS Earth and Space Science Lab (ESSL) Events
The ESSL is open to the public for a variety of special events. See the newest full-dome features, visit the many creatures, and enjoy the brand new exhibits!
Frederick County Public Library (FCPL)
FCPL has a robust activity calendar with programming for all ages. From the calendar page link above, you can filter by age group.
FCC Youth Programs
Current programming includes SAT prep and safe sitter training with CPR.
Catoctin Mountain Park Calendar
Catoctin Campfire Chats returns for another year of compelling stories from the Catoctin Mountains. Join a member of the park staff to hear about some of the natural or cultural wonders Catoctin Mountain Park holds.
iReady!
This year, all students will be taking an adaptive, norm-referenced, diagnostic assessment called i-Ready. The purpose of this assessment is to see how students are progressing in both reading and math, in order to help teachers gauge student progress over time and make instructional adjustments accordingly. Students will be taking the reading assessment in September.
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit student needs. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The results of the assessment are generally for educator’s use to determine how to best support student learning, not to give students a score or grade. Please note that i-Ready results are never used in isolation to make changes to programming. When combined with other assessment data, the diagnostic helps teachers design instruction to meet student needs.
If you have any questions about the reading i-Ready assessment, please reach out to your child’s ELA teacher or Katherine Shaffer (katherine.shaffer@fcps.org), the literacy specialist.
History Department
6th Grade: We are learning the basics of geography including continents, oceans, and basic map skills. Students will be moving onto their first unit of Mesopotamia next week and will examine how geography impacted the development of society in Mesopotamia.
7th Grade: We are working through our first unit which continues their 6th grade lessons on the Roman Empire. Students will be working on their first document-based question (DBQ) essay regarding the primary cause for the fall of the Roman Empire. Afterwards, students will be learning about the continuation of Roman influence through the Byzantine Empire.
8th Grade: We are completing Unit 1 which reviews the three colonial regions and materials students learned last year in history. Afterwards, students will learn about colonists resisting British rule and leading into the American Revolution. Students will be supplying a baseline of their writing abilities with a document-based question (DBQ).
International Baccalaureate application process
8th graders - are you interested in a rigorous academic program with an emphasis on research, writing, and application of knowledge in the real world? The IB Program at Urbana High School might be just for you!
Families with interested students should plan to attend Wednesday September 20th at 7:00 pm to learn more about the program. At this meeting, staff will share information about the program, courses, requirements for earning the IB Diploma, and discuss the application process.
The application packet will also be made available on the UHS website starting September 20th.
All application materials, including transcripts and teacher recommendations must be received by 2:30pm on Nov 20th, 2023.
Urbana High Auditorium, 3471, Campus Drive, Ijamsville, MD
Fine and Practical Arts
Welcome Back to a new school year. The Fine and Practical Arts contain the subjects of elective courses we hope your student enjoys over the course of either a semester or whole year.
Please take a look over the grade level syllabus for your student courses. This is so you are aware of the grading policies as they may not be the same across the grade.
We have a few new members to the FPA team this year. Mr. Moreland, Physical Education, Ms. Cuadrado, World Languages, and the Long term Sub for Mrs. Avalos, Ms. Ocasio-Gonzalez, World Language. Please help us welcome them to the great BCMS community. The FPA also wants to wish a huge congratulations to our staff members who were recently married Mrs. Qazi (Highfill) and Mrs. Tappa (Lowe).
Please remember to wear appropriate footwear to P.E. Crocs, sandals, and boots are not appropriate footwear and can cause injuries.
NEED COUNSELOR SUPPORT? ❤️
Use your grade level counseling page on Schoology and select "Student Support Request Form." Your grade level counselor will speak with you as soon as possible.
Grade 6 - Ms. Reese: rebecca.reese@fcps.org
Grade 7 - Mr. Ledyard: david.ledyard@fcps.org
Grade 8 - Mr. Webber: johnny.webber@fcps.org
Registrar - lotoya.gee@fcps.org
English Language Arts Department
6th Grade: Our 6th grade ELA team is excited to welcome all our 6th graders to BCMS. We have had a very successful beginning to the school year and students are settling into their daily routines, making new friends, and enjoying being back in school.
We have been working hard on strategies to help us become successful readers and writers. We have started the term with fictional short stories, “Young Ladies Don’t Slay Dragons” by Joyce Hovelsrud and will also be reading “The Ravine” by Graham Salisbury. 6th graders are reviewing literary conflict, plot structure and studying how character interactions and setting connect to the theme of a story. We will study the difference between a writing summary and a writing analysis and are working on writing our first writing analysis, learning how to include evidence, and elaborate our thinking. The second half of the first term, we will be moving into informational text.
We will begin using Chromebooks in class starting the week of September 4. Students are reminded to bring a charged Chromebook and their charger with them to class each day.
7th Grade: In 7th Grade, all classes are currently reading a story called "Seventh Grade" by Gary Soto. Students have been analyzing how the author develops the characters and their different points of view throughout the story and how this impacts the theme.
Next week, students will be completing a writing response on this topic. Later on in this unit, we will look at other examples of how authors develop themes, and students will have the opportunity to incorporate these ideas into their own writing.
8th Grade: Students have begun their first Cycle and are reading “Dirk the Protector” by Gary Paulsen. They will use this text to study how a character’s actions and reactions to the setting and plot convey the overall theme of a text. Additionally, students have been working on building capacity with standards-based vocabulary and terminology that will be frequently used throughout the year. If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Weller at lyndsey.weller@fcps.org or Mrs. Nuckols at ashley.nuckols@fcps.org.
Office of Special Education
Welcome Back!!!
We are excited to work with our families and students this year. Meet our team members:
6th grade: Rebecca Schimel and Emily Pemrick
7th grade/Department Chair : Elissa Grimm
8th grade: Athena Fream and Tyler Britt
Speech therapist Kaley Paniwozik
Program Assistant Nancy Suray
Pyramid Program
Coordinator Karen Hess
6th grade: Abigail Rogers
7th grade: Kristen Meehan
8th grade: Jessica Price
School support: Ms. Mahalchick
Therapists Ms. Griffler and Ms. Kennedy
Behavior Specialist Ms. Weems
Community Support
Hello everyone and it is good to be back! Hope you had an enjoyable summer vacation. Now is the time to “FALL” back into learning mode.
Remember we always need volunteers for we cannot do it all alone, we Need YOU. Please go to the BCMS website or register to be a volunteer here. You are essential to what we can do.
I am here to help you, do not hesitate to reach out when your child or you are in need, I cannot help, if I do not know: Kathleen.Rogers@fcps.org]
For those who need weekend food bags, please call me and let me know A.S.A.P. I need to get information to the church by the 1st of each month.
Also, remember that the yearly clothing drive is coming up. It will be held on Monday, November 13,2023. It will run from 5 to 7pm. All items are free to the public, please spread the word. Donations will be accepted from October 2, 2023 until November 3, 2023. Please be sure items are clean and folded, and in boxes if possible.
Maryland Medicaid Renewal is NOT automatic this year
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, Marylanders who were enrolled in Medicaid continued to be covered, even if they were no longer eligible.
Medicaid renewals will not be automatic this year. Starting in April 2023, Maryland began making Medicaid eligibility reviews again. Not everyone will be up for renewal at the same time. These renewals will take place over 12 months.
Learn more, watch this video: