BHMS LANCER UPDATE - Friday, October 27, 2017

SCHOOL NEWS

NEXT WEEK'S SCHEDULE

Monday, October 30 - A day
Tuesday, October 31 - B day - 1/2 day; dismissal at 11:35 a.m. See "Costume Guidelines" below.
Wednesday, November 1 - A day
Thursday, November 2 - B day
Friday, November 3 - A day

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November 14 - Picture retakes. Details next week.
November 21 - 1/2 day; dismissal at 11:35 a.m.
November 22, 23, 24 - No school. Thanksgiving break.

The CLUB CALENDAR is now on the main page of the BHMS website. Please bookmark the link as a reference for your student's club meeting dates, start times and end times.

For more dates, check out the A/B DAY SCHEDULE AND EVENTS CALENDAR and the BHMS DAILY BELL SCHEDULE (includes lunch periods) on the BHMS Website.

BHMS is using PTCFast.com to make signups for Parent Teacher Conferences as convenient as possible this year. Parents of students in grades 6, 7 & 8 can click on or enter the following link into your browser window: https://ptcfast.com/schools/Bloomfield_Hills_Middle_School_1. Once the site opens, select your child's team, click submit then follow the directions for signing up for your conference.

Parents of 5th graders will be contacted directly by the 5th grade teachers with instructions on signing up for their conferences.

LAST CALL FOR MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY ON OCTOBER 28

Bloomfield Hills School District Make a Difference Day is on Saturday, October 28 from 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. This year the district is excited to partner with Cass Community Social Services for the Make a Difference Day project. The location is 11745 Rosa Parks Blvd, Detroit, MI 48206. Here are ways to get involved:

• Volunteer: Students will come together to provide help to the organization. Please sign up by clicking here. Bus transportation will be provided for $5 from BHMS. Space is limited so please indicate on the sign up if you would like to ride the bus or will have separate transportation. Please have your student bring the attached permission slip directly to the bus.

• Monetary Donations: You can make a monetary donation by placing a check, made payable to Cass Community Social Services, in the PTO mailbox in the BHMS office, or by clicking here for the PTO E-store.

Contact Suzanne Vaupel for more information at suzanne@svaupel.com or 316-209-5304.

COSTUME GUIDELINES FOR OCTOBER 31

BHMS students may wear costumes to school on Tuesday, October 31. As a reminder, this is a half day of school and all students will be dismissed at 11:35 a.m. Costume guidelines are as follows:

No masks, hoods, sports helmets or other concealing head wear. We need to see the faces of everyone in the building.
No gory, bloody costumes or other costumes that depict violence.
No props, including but not limited to light sabers, replica swords, guns or knives, etc.
No clothing depicting or promoting drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, profanity or double meanings.
To avoid the perception of ridicule, costumes should not impersonate adults or students in the building, or religious or cultural figures.

Regular dress code rules apply:

Tops must extend to the shoulder and cover the entire midriff.
Bottoms, as a general rule, must be at least at fingertip level or longer when arms and hands are straight down to the side, and must sit high enough on the hips or waist to cover undergarments.

If there is a question about a costume, please have your child see Mr. Fitzgerald, Associate Principal, in advance. The School Administration will be the final authority regarding the appropriateness of costumes.

WINTER SESSION I SPORTS INFORMATION

Please open this Winter Session I Sports Summary, prepared by BHS Middle School Athletic Director, Avis Najor. It contains start dates, coach contact information and practice schedules. The Winter Session I sports include boys basketball and girls swimming and diving. Your student must have a valid physical completed on the MHSAA Physical Form only (dated after 4/15/2017) on file in the BHMS office before they will be allowed to tryout/participate. Students must also have a Pay to Participate sports fee submitted on their behalf. For additional details, see the Athletics page of the BHMS website.

As always, we ask that you please contact a coach directly regarding his/her particular sport.

SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOL WITH SUBS NOVEMBER 1 THROUGH NOVEMBER 4

Bloomfield Hills Middle School is teaming up with Jersey Mike's Subs for a fundraiser! Each BHMS student and staff member will receive two donation cards. Each donation card, along with a minimum $2 donation, will get you a sub at the Jersey Mike's location at 6450 Telegraph Rd (on the west side of Telegraph, just north of Maple) in Bloomfield Township. The offer is good from November 1 through November 5, at that location only. 100% of all donations will be given back to BHMS. A few stipulations apply. You must present the donation card and your minimum $2 donation in person, and you may use only one donation card per person per visit. Enjoy a delicious sub and support BHMS.

INTERNET SAFETY PRESENTATIONS ON OCTOBER 30

The Michigan Attorney General's office will be conducting presentations on student safety featuring the Michigan Cyber Safety Initiative (CSI) and the student safety hotline, OK2SAY. The presentation will be given for Bloomfield Hills Middle School students in grades 5 through 8 on Monday, October 30. Please open this letter for more details on the content of the presentation for the grade levels. Opt-out forms were due back to Mr. Flevaris' mailbox in the main office by October 27.

CANDY DRIVE FOR OVERSEAS TROOPS THROUGH NOVEMBER 3

Looking for a place to donate extra Halloween candy, candy you don't like, or just looking to save your teeth from all that sugar? The BHMS Be the Change Club is holding a candy drive for soldiers overseas through November 3. This is the ultimate win-win situation. Have your student drop off candy donations in the "CANDY DRIVE" box in the front office.

DID YOU KNOW. . .? The M&M originated in the United States in the 1940's. The candy-coated chocolate concept was inspired by a method used to allow soldiers to carry chocolate without having it melt.

FORENSICS BOOSTERS PIE (AND MORE) FUNDRAISER ENDS SUNDAY

Sunday, October 29, is the last day to place your online order for the BHMS Forensics Boosters Achatz Pies and More Fundraiser. Not only can you purchase delicious Achatz Handmade frozen, easy to bake pies, but other food and gift items as well. Consider these items . . .

A frozen soup kit, with two kinds of soup and rolls would make a warm and wonderful meal for your family or an under-the-weather friend.
Need a hostess gift? How about some delicious Achatz Michigan 4-Berry Jam or Salsa?
Like to make your own pie filling but struggle with crust? No problem when you order a 2-pack of Achatz frozen pie crusts.
And who wouldn't love a gift certificate for a delicious Achatz Pot Pie or Dessert Pie as a gift?

When you make a purchase through the fundraiser, you are supporting the award winning Bloomfield Hills Middle School Forensics Team. Items will be ready for pickup at BHMS on Friday, November 10, at 3:30 p.m.

Click Here to place your online order. It's as easy as . . . pie!

If you have any questions, please contact Deb Zupancic at Zupancic.deb@gmail.com.

REGISTRATION STILL OPEN FOR 8TH GRADE WASHINGTON, DC TRIP

Registration for the annual 8th grade field trip to Washington, DC, is now open. The trip runs from Wednesday, April 25, through the morning of Saturday, April 28. Bloomfield Hills Middle School has partnered with Corporate Travel to provide a once in a lifetime opportunity for students to learn more about the history of our incredible nation. Participating students will walk the fields of Gettysburg, track ghosts through the streets of Alexandria, pay homage to our nations heroes in Arlington, explore the Smithsonian museums, along with visiting all of our greatest monuments, landmarks, and government institutions. If you missed out on information from the parent meeting, please review this DC TRIP PRESENTATION for details about the trip, including the cost and registration instructions. Seating is limited, so please register your child as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this amazing experience! Questions about this trip should be e-mailed to Mr. Neuwirth or Mr. Baker, the BHMS Building Coordinators for the trip.

FIFTH GRADE FAMILIES - SAVE THE DATE

Save the Date! The BHMS PTO invites fifth grade students, their siblings, and parents to a Movie Night and Meet-n-Greet at BHMS on Friday, December 8. Fifth-grade students and their siblings can enjoy an age-appropriate movie (with an intermission/play-break) and nut-free snacks and healthy drinks, while parents can meet each other, nosh a bit, and have a little fun themselves. More details will follow. e-mail Renu Zaretsky (parent of a fifth- and seventh-grader) at renu.zaretsky@gmail.com for more information or to find out how to help.

YEARBOOK PHOTOS NEEDED

You can now upload pictures for consideration for use in the yearbook! Mrs. Iacobelli, our Yearbook Coordinator, is using an app/website this year to help streamline the process. Click Here to access the site. When registering, make sure to choose Bloomfield Hills Middle School as your home school. Pictures of sporting events and extracurricular activities are especially welcome.

PLEASE SEND IN YOUR BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION

There is a Box Tops collection bin in the main office. Please send in any you've been collecting. REMEMBER . . . each Box Top is worth ten cents to BHMS -- but worth nothing if you toss them in your waste basket. The math is simply amazing. If each of our 750 students brought in 10 box tops each month, for the nine months of the school year, BHMS would earn $6,750 to use toward programs or purchases not covered under the budget.

Thanks for supporting BHMS in small ways that can have big results. For more information about products that contain Box Tops, click HERE.

SHOP AT KROGER AND SUPPORT BHMS

You can support BHMS when you do your regular shopping at Kroger by designating Bloomfield Hills Middle School as your Plus Card Community Rewards program recipient. The Kroger website provides instructions for setting up a new account, or for designating Bloomfield Hills Middle School (Organization Code 28755) to your existing account.

Once you've designated BHMS as your organization, each time you shop at Kroger and use your Plus Card, BHMS earns reward points, which translate into checks paid to BHMS quarterly. That's all there is to it!

PLEASE DO NOT BRING ITEMS CONTAINING NUTS OR NUT PRODUCTS INTO ANY AREA OF THE BUILDING

Please remember that BHMS IS AN ENTIRELY NUT-RESTRICTED BUILDING, 24-HOURS A DAY, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. There are students in the building who are highly allergic to peanuts and all kinds of tree nuts, and their well-being is of concern.

Students should not bring lunch or snacks containing nuts or nut products. Additionally, while your donations and gifts are very much appreciated, we ask that you make sure anything given to the office, to teachers or classrooms, for bake sales, end-of-sports or club parties or any other occasion are free of all nuts and nut products. Thank you so much for your consideration.

END OF BHMS LANCER UPDATE

SEE DISTRICT NEWS BELOW

Opportunities for Students Entering High School in 2018-19

Do you ever wonder what opportunities and pathways are available for students entering high school? Click here to view the High School Opportunities Packet.

Water Advisory Update

400 gallons of bulk water and 25,000 twelve ounce single-use bottles were delivered to schools! District teams have been hard at work, securing the resources needed to have school for the remainder of the week, considering the boil alert may last for several days. Drinking water and hand sanitizer have been made available for all students and staff. However, if you are able to send bottled water and hand sanitizer with your child to school for their personal use, please do so. We are in constant contact with experts, but the estimated completion for the full repair is still unknown. Please continue to reference our website for regular updates. Thank you. Read more for additional information.

Full Steam Ahead: Season Two

The Bionic Black Hawks are pleased to announce the first episode of their new season of "Full Steam Ahead", available here: https://youtu.be/J6dhc6OiHjo

2017 BHS Ski Swap

Join us at the BHS Ski Swap in the Bloomfield Hills Middle School Field House on Saturday, November 11, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. A huge savings on hundreds of new and slightly used skis, boots, snowboards, apparel and accessories will be available for all ages. For additional information please email bloomfieldskiswap@gmail.com or contact Susan Richardson at 248-980-8087 or Wendy van Duijvenboode 248-308-6126.

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