Monday, January 28 - B day 
Tuesday, January 29  - A day
Wednesday, January 30 - B day
Thursday, January 31 - A day
Friday, February 1 - B day 

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Saturday, February 2 - PTO Adult Mix and Mingle Fundraiser (buy tickets online; see article below)
Tuesday, April 9 - 8th Grade State-Mandated PSAT exam (see "For 8th Grade Families)

RESOURCES FOR BHMS FAMILIES
The following resources are available for your reference on the right side of the main BHMS webpage.
-A/B DAY & EVENTS CALENDAR
-DAILY BELL SCHEDULE (includes lunch periods for each grade)
-SCHOOL DAY HOURS
-BHMS CLUB MEETING CALENDAR

BHMS TEAM SPORTS  SCHEDULE: Click HERE to find out where and when the current season BHMS team sports competitions are scheduled.

Second semester begins on Monday, January 28. Students should report to any one of their block teachers first hour to receive their schedules. First semester report cards will be viewable in MiStar on Friday, February 1.

Only one week until the BHMS PTO Mix & Mingle Adults Night Out. The event will take place on Saturday, February 2, at 7 p.m. at The HUB Stadium in Auburn Hills. Enjoy time with other adults in the BHMS community including staff members and administration, while supporting the school.

Principal English and Assistant Principal Fitzgerald will emcee a live auction, and there will be a silent auction as well. You will have the opportunity to bid on items such as a Detroit Tigers package including four game tickets, parking and a signed baseball, or six VIP seats for the 8th Grade Recognition Ceremony and much more! Also up for auction will be plenty of fun, interactive experiences that your students will love. There will be appetizers, a cash bar and five dedicated lanes for the ever-popular Bombowling. Did we mention fun? There will be plenty of that as well.

Space is limited, so buy your tickets online by clicking here, or cut and past this link into your browswer: http://bhmspto.my-pta.org/content.asp?PageID=6. 

Count Day is Wednesday, February 13. Please make every effort to have your child in school all day that day. Avoid late arrivals, early dismissals or appointments. WHY? 90% of state funding comes from what is reported on this day! Count days are designated days when Michigan's schools take attendance to determine the number of students they serve. Count information is critical because each student translates into state funding. 

Congratulations to BHMS 7th grader Sandra Fernandez, who won the BHMS spelling bee just before the holidays. Sandra won with the word "juxtapose", after a back-and-forth competition with runner-up, 8th grader Vijay Daita. The competition went 16 rounds, and deep into a list of words that went well beyond the school study list before Sandra emerged as champion. Both should be proud of the excellent job they did. As winner and runner-up, Sandra and Vijay were awarded a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica online, and Sandra will head to the County Spelling Bee hosted by Oakland Schools.

MIX AND MINGLE ADULTS NIGHT OUT: PTO reminds you to buy tickets to the Mix & Mingle at The HUB on February 2. Principal English and Vice Principal Fitzgerald will emcee the event's live auction! Buy tickets here: http://bhmspto.my-pta.org/content.asp?PageID=6.  

NEXT PTO MEETING: The next PTO Meeting will be on Wednesday evening, February 6, at 7:00 p.m. This is the rescheduled meeting with BHHS Principal Charlie Hollerith.

MULTICULTURAL CELEBRATION APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED: The new deadline for the district-wide Multicultural Celebration registrations. Students can submit until February 8. The second annual event takes place March 18 at BHHS. Request a Participation Packet by emailing Neeli Jawad.

7th & 8th GRADE BAND/ORCHESTRA PAJAMA JAM-IN PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Parent volunteers are needed for the Pajama Jam-In on Friday, February 1. There will be 2 shifts: 3-6pm and 6-9pm. Feel free to sign up for one or both shifts at http://bhmspto.my-pta.org/content.asp?PageID=2

PAJAMA JAM-IN BAND/ORCHESTRA STUDENTS: Please bring a snack or drink to share (please, no popcorn or nuts). Students with last names A-M bring 1 snack item for 6-12. Students with last name N-Z bring 1 drink item (one 2-liter or equivalent). 

BAKERS AND SELLERS  DESPERATELY NEEDED: Music Boosters continues to need volunteers for the weekly Wednesday fundraising bake sales, which take place immediately after school in the Gateway Space. Volunteers are needed to donate baked goods and/or run sales. PLEASE REMEMBER that products must not contain or be cooked with nuts or nut products. Baked items can be dropped off in the main office anytime before 2:45 p.m. Sign up to donate baked goods and/or work at a sale by clicking HERE. Thank you for supporting the BHMS Music Boosters.

STATE-MANDATED PSAT EXAM FOR 8TH GRADERS ON APRIL 9: For the first time, the State of Michigan is requiring that all 8th graders take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, a paper/pencil assessment more commonly referred to as the PSAT. The state requires that the PSAT be administered on April 9, which is the Tuesday immediately following Spring Break.  It is very important for all 8th graders to be in school on April 9. Advance notice is being shared so families can plan their Spring Break vacations accordingly. This assessment will take the place of the math and ELA portions of MStep. Watch the Lancer Update and this web page for more information as the administration date approaches. If you have any questions, please contact BHMS 8th grade counselor, Mrs. Jaster.

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY: The deadline for IA applications was January 22. The lottery will be held on February 5 at the Doyle Center.

BH HIGH SCHOOL IB DIPLOMA PROGRAMME: BHMS hopes to set up a meeting with a representative from BH High School (BHHS) about the Diploma Programme (DP), to help 8th graders learn about this opportunity. For more information about this option, go to the BHHS website and type International Baccalaureate into the search window. The BHHS counselors would like to know in advance of 9th grade course selection which students are considering this opportunity. This will help them guide students in their course selection. There is an application/interest form on the BHHS website that should be completed and turned in to Mrs. Jaster by March 1. 

BH HIGH SCHOOL (BHHS) COURSE SELECTIONS: The BHHS counselors will make two visits to BHMS to meet with 8th graders. The first date is March 7, when information will be shared about a typical 9th grade schedule, life at the high school, extra-curricular activities and more. Students will come home with a course handbook, a course selection sheet and directions for how to get online to enter the courses they want for 9th grade. The second visit will be on March 14, when the BHHS counselors will meet individually with 8th graders and a parent/guardian by appointment. At that time the course selection sheet will be turned in and all questions answered. Watch for more details about setting up an appointment with your student's BHHS counselor in early February. Please know that the schedule will only allow for a ten minute meeting per student and parent/guardian.

This week's MYP newsletter, about the January learner profile of "Courage",  features an article by BHMS 7th grader, Gordon Kopmeyer, about how courage and other MYP learner traits helped his team win the coveted "Divito Cup" in physical education class.

Please remember that BHMS IS A PEANUT and TREE 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, parents/guardians or visitors should not bring items containing peanuts, tree nuts or products derived from nuts of any type into the building. This includes items given to the office staff, to teachers, for classrooms, bake sales, end-of-sports or club parties or any other occasion. Thank you so much for your consideration.

SEE DISTRICT NEWS BELOW

To support PSAT testing on April 9, 2019

Eighth grade students

• There is no change.  On April 9, 2019, please report to school prior to 8:15 a.m.
• Buses will pick up 8th-grade students at the regularly-scheduled time.  
• On the morning of April 9, 8th-grade students will take a standardized test called the PSAT 8/9.  The purpose of the PSAT 8/9 is to establish a starting point in terms of college and career readiness as students transition to high school.  The PSAT will also replace the M-STEP ELA and Math tests.  Students will still take the M-STEP Science and Social Studies subject tests during the M-STEP testing window.
• We recommend that students get a good night of sleep before the test and eat a balanced breakfast the morning of April 9.  
• After the test, 8th-grade students will have a scheduled lunch break before classes begin at 11:45 a.m.  Lunch will be available for purchase in the cafeteria.
• For the afternoon, students will follow the half-day class schedule shared by their middle school.
• School will be dismissed at the normal time of 3:05 p.m. and bus transportation will also follow the normal afternoon schedule.
• Please notify your student's school counselor ASAP if you know your student will not be in school on April 9, 2019.  Make-up testing arrangements will be made.

Middle school students and upper elementary students excluding 8th-Grade: 

• April 9, 2019 is a late start for students who attend BHMS, WHMS, and EHMS who are not in the 8th-grade.  
• Please report to school between 11:35 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. on April 9 and follow the half-day class schedule shared by your school.  Class will start at 11:45 a.m.
• For students who utilize bus transportation, the bus will arrive at the bus stop 3.5 hours later than the regularly scheduled morning pick up time.  Example: if the student's morning pick up time is usually 7:32 a.m.; on April 9, the adjusted pick up time will be 11:02 a.m.
• Lunch will not be served and late-start students will not have a lunch break scheduled on April 9.  Students should eat before arriving to school.  
• School will be dismissed at the normal time of 3:05 p.m. and bus transportation will follow the normal afternoon schedule.

As of January 25, 2019, Bloomfield Hills Schools will use Community Pass only for all lunch program payments.  When logging into My Bloomfield and signing in to view a specific student, lunch balances and a transaction history will still be available.  However, payments will only be accepted through Community Pass.  

We understand that a lot of families have appreciated the ability to make payments online, view transactions, and see account balances.  All of this will still be possible - the only change is that payments will no longer be accepted in the same location as you find balance information.  This is due to a rising cost environment in credit card processing fees that the district has historically not asked families to incur, but has rather paid on families' behalf.  The switch to 100% payment processing through Community Pass will allow us to retain the functionality of online payments, yet save money from the district's general fund.

This transition should be fairly seamless, but we recognize you may have some questions.  Please allow five minutes after processing a payment to contact us with any questions so we can digitally see the transaction on our end and better support your request.  In addition, please note that you may process payments for multiple items in the same shopping cart within Community Pass.  So, if you'd like to purchase lunch credits at West Hills along with Saturday swim lessons, please feel free to complete one checkout process for the entire family.

If you haven't already, please make sure you have your login information for Community Pass. If you have forgotten your login or password, please view instructions on how to retrieve that information.  Instructions will be sent directly to the email that is listed as the primary email for your student's account. If you have issues with this process, please contact the Recreation Department at 248.341.6425.

The Bloomfield Hills Schools Transportation department is pleased to introduce SafeStop, an app for your smartphone or tablet that offers real time school bus updates.  It provides an estimated time of arrival and up to the minute alerts from the transportation department when necessary. For 30 minutes before and after the scheduled pick-up & drop-off times, the bus locator will be displayed on a map.  We are hopeful you will find this tool useful, and are excited to share it with our families.

Please follow the directions listed on the Transportation web page to get connected: https://www.bloomfield.org/transportation

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

Families are automatically signed up to receive communication from their child's school, teachers, and Bloomfield Hills Schools (Wednesday Web News & Important Notices - including school cancellations). In order to receive emails, telephone calls, and even text messages, all you have to do is maintain your contact information and manage your personal preferences. If you wish not to receive these newsletters, simply "opt-out" when you receive the first newsletter (an option at the bottom of every email we send).

Instructions for updating this information are now available at www.bloomfield.org/notifications. Here you can manage your contact preferences as they pertains to emergency and district notifications.