Blog is Being Retired!

All news is now posted on the Announcements and News section of our Browns River website homepage. 

You can receive email of these announcements (and of calendar events, too) by subscribing to the new website per these directions: http://www.cesuvt.org/calendars/get-alerts

Feel free to contact Diane Border if you encounter access issues or have questions.

News From the Nurses (keeping BRMS Bug-Free!!)

Welcome back to school this year!!

It has been a very busy fall in the health office this year. We would like to remind you of few things as we already enter the season of colds, viral illnesses and flu.

The CESU district nurses want to promote healing and wellness in our schools. To that end, we ask that students who have been ill with a fever (100F or over) remain at home until they are feeling better AND have been fever free for 24 hours without the use of any ibuprofen or acetaminophen. Also students who have experienced diarrhea or vomiting  should remain at home until the illness has resolved and they have been free of  symptoms for at least 24 hours. We assess children all day for illness. Students can have a viral illness without a fever, vomiting or diarrhea. If a student comes to school ill or develops an illness that makes it impossible for the child to attend to school we will notify the parent or guardian. Our goal is to keep kids in school while trying to keep school a healthy place for everyone. If you are not sure whether to send your child to school, give us a “heads-up” call or email so that we know what has happened first thing in the morning.

Also, this is the time of year that we all become aware of the dreaded louse!!! Lice have been around for centuries and this year is no different. Lice only need a warm scalp and food supply--they are indiscriminate in where they take up housing; it is not related to hygiene in any way!

There are several things a parent can do to stay ahead of lice:

• Encourage your child not to share head items such as hats, brushes, ponytail ties, etc.
• Do not comb or brush each other’s hair.
• Encourage kids to bring their own pillows to sleepovers and not sleep head to head. 
• Inspect your child’s head on regular basis especially if he complains that his head or neck itch. 
• Look for tiny eggs close to the scalp (resemble sesame seeds but much smaller). They are usually tanish, and difficult to dislodge, unlike dandruff.
• Eggs that have hatched are whitish or appear to be light gray (empty cases).
• Live lice are wingless insects about the size of sesame seed and appear reddish brown or grayish brown. 

Lice are a nuisance (a big one for families) but they do not present a risk to others. They do not carry disease. We do not exclude kids from school for lice or nits.  Many times the lice spread at the sleepovers, or at a camp type environment where kids tend to be head to head.

Please call the nurses if you have concerns about your child and lice. Let us know if your child has lice so we can track where we have lice in the building. It is always kept confidential.  We are happy to do a head check on your student before or after treatments if requested. We also have many evidence based articles to help you make decisions on how to treat if needed. Thank-you for your cooperation on this matter.

Also, contact us if you have any concerns about your child’s health.

Tina Gallagher, RN

Ainee Commichau, RN

B.R.A.G.

BRAG meeting (BRMS PTO)

Wednesday, 10/12/16 @ 6:30pm 

In the BRMS Library

You are invited!

Progress Report Change

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I wanted to inform you of a change in our academic reporting practices.  This October we will not be issuing our traditional written “progress reports”.   The rationale for this adjustment to our reporting system follows.

The switch to  trimester reporting structure a few years ago moved our first “progress reporting” period to early October which also aligned  these reports with parent/teacher conferences.  This alignment of parent/teacher conferences and progress reports meant that teachers were creating a written document that was then discussed again at a parent conferences.  This overlap between  progress reports and parent/teacher conferences has eliminated the need for written progress reports

Also, in prior years teachers were developing progress reports based on very small work sample size.  As of today, October 10, 2016 students have been in school for twenty-nine school days.  Within these first 4 weeks teachers have been focusing on developing and building a community of learners, establishing team norms and forming personal and academic relationships with students.  While our current 6th and 8th grade teams are returning to their looping teams, 5th and 7th grade students are transitioning into new learning communities.  

During the weeks of October 10, 2016 and October 17, 2016 BRMS will be holding parent/teacher conferences.  These conferences provide us with an opportunity to discuss with you our initial impressions of your child and to also allow you the opportunity to discuss with us what your child is saying about their school year start.  We value these conference opportunities and look forward to discussing with you your child’s learner characteristic and academic  performance over these first twenty-two school days.  It is important for parents and guardians to sign up for these conferences.  Teachers will be contacting some parents/guardians directly if there is need to communicate about specific academic concerns that may need to be addressed with your child.  

Thank you for your understanding as we move forward.  Please contact me directly if you have concerns regarding the quality of the information shared during the upcoming parent teacher conferences.  

Sincerely,

Kevin Hamilton

Principal

October Delayed Start Reminder

Wednesday October 12th will be a delayed start day.  We will be offering student supervision from 7:30-10:00.  Currently we have few families signed up for this service.  We would like to get a final count as to the amount students who will be arriving at 7:30.  Please let us know if you need transportation as well for the early morning

All regular pickups will be approximately two hours later than the usual time.  

Please contact Diane Alexander if you would like to reserve a space for your child. 

Below are the delayed starts for the remainder of the year.

11/9,  12/14, 1/11, 2/8, 4/12,  5/10

Picture Day Tomorrow!

REMINDER!

Photographer Diane Parenteau will be at Browns River Middle School on the following dates to take pictures of students. An order form was sent home with your student last week.

Wednesday, October 5th: 5th and 6th Grade

Thursday, October 6th: 7th and 8th Grade

Friday, October 7: Reserved for a rain date should we have yucky weather either day.

See BRMS Website for more details.

Gratitude Graphic Novel Project Sign Up

Your child is invited to take part in an exciting project. We want a group of young illustrators in grades 5-8 to create a gratitude graphic novel with the support of illustrator, Marc Hughes and the Cabot Creamery Cooperative who will sponsor our efforts to creating a visual story of what gratitude means to us. We are looking for BRMS illustrators who want to take the challenge of developing a graphic novel. We start October 10 for three one-hour workshops with our students and then continue during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November. Our students will come on Mondays, October 10, 17, and 24 between 2:45-4:00 to learn from illustrator, Marc Hughes. Our BRMS group will also work on our illustrated stories every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in November from 2:40 until 4:00 pm in the BRMS library.

Student Picture Day

An order form was sent home with your student last week. Following are the dates:

• Wednesday, October 5th: 5th and 6th Grade
• Thursday, October 6th: 7th and 8th Grade
• Friday, October 7: Reserved for a rain date should we have yucky weather either day.

Frequently Asked Questions:

All students are photographed for the school regardless of an order being placed and will get a complimentary class picture!

What to wear? Avoid: White, strong prints logs, neon, stripes...less is more.

Can I combine payments for children in the same school? Yes, but please put all forms and the check in ONE envelope and turn it into the photographer on the day pictures are taken.

Three or more children in the same school? 50% off the 3rd order (and beyond) of the same package.

Late orders? Yes, they can be placed with a late fee--contact photographer Diane Parenteau (dianephotovt@gmail.com). Orders placed after retake day will be delivered in January 2017.

Picture Day Reminder

Photographer Diane Parenteau will be at Browns River Middle School on the following dates to take pictures of students. An order form was sent home with your student last week.

Wednesday, October 5th: 5th and 6th Grade

Thursday, October 6th: 7th and 8th Grade

Friday, October 7: Reserved for a rain date should we have yucky weather either day.

BRMS Open House Schedule

BRMS Open House Tuesday September 27 6:30 p.m. 6:30-7:00 Parents of our 7/8 students visit our EXP teachers’ rooms 7:00-7:30 Parents of our 7/8 students visit the team area/teachers 7:00-7:30 Parents of our 5/6 students visit our EXP teachers’ rooms 7:30-8:00 Parents of our 5/6 students visit the team area/teachers

BRMS Design Technology will be on local television station WCAX Live Morning Show this Wednesday, September 21, four times between 5-6:30AM. 

ATTENTION ALL PARENTS and GUARDIANS!!!

Tomorrow night (September 14) is our first Browns River Action Group (BRAG) meeting of the year!

If you'd like to know what's happening at the school, and would like to be involved in helping with all kinds of events and activities, please come to our meeting in the BRMS library at 7PM.

There are many ways that you can help!  We welcome your ideas and your assistance!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Delayed Start Reminder Sept 14th

Wednesday September 14th will be our first delayed start of the school year.  We will be offering student supervision from 7:30-10:00.  Currently we have few families signed up for this service.  We would like to get a final count as to the amount students who will be arriving at 7:30.  Please let us know if you need transportation as well for the early morning

All regular pickups will be approximately two hours later than the usual time.  

Please contact Diane Alexander if you would like to reserve a space for your child. 

Below are the delayed starts for the remainder of the year.

9/14, 10/12, 11/9,  12/14, 1/11, 2/8, 4/12,  5/10  

Delayed Starts

Good Morning,

Wednesday September 14th will be our first delayed start of the school year.  We will be offering student supervision from 7:30-10:00.  Currently we have few families signed up for this service.  We would like to get a final count as to the amount students who will be arriving at 7:30.  Please let us know if you need transportation as well for the early morning

All regular pickups will be approximately two hours later than the usual time.  

Please contact Diane Alexander if you would like to reserve a space for your child. 

Below are the delayed starts for the remainder of the year.

9/14, 10/12, 11/9,  12/14, 1/11, 2/8, 4/12,  5/10  

Welcome Back BRMS Students and Parents

WELCOME BACK!!!   We hope that you had an enjoyable and restful summer vacation with your families and friends.   We are excited about welcoming back all of our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students and we looking forward to meeting all of our new 5th grade students.  After several weeks of work the school has been cleaned and prepped and is ready to welcome our students back to a safe and clean environment.   Feel free to wander around the building to check out some of our changes. Be sure to check out the Design and Tech Lab that has received a major upgrade including new ventilation, equipment and a complete paint job!

Communication:  We will continue to use our River Raider Press Blog as the main source of information. This blog will be updated weekly.  Please sign up for email updates at the bottom of this page.  Additionally we will use our Twitter and Facebook pages as places to find additional information including pictures displaying different events that are happening at BRMS.  The new web page is still under construction and will continue to develop throughout the school year.   There are many links that are currently active but some are still under development.  Please contact us if you have any questions or suggestions.  You will find many announcements on this page along with a calendar that lists all of our school events and activities.   You can also sign up to receive these announcements via email.  Follow the directions in this link to sign up for this service.  You can get more specific information regarding your child's academic team by going to the Classrooms tab at the top of our web page.

SBAC Results: The Spring 2016 SBAC results will be mailed out early next week.  Please review the data from these results and let us know if  you have any questions about your child's scores.   Remember this is only one of the measurements that we use to evaluate our students progress as a learner.

Student Pictures: Diane Parenteau will again being taking our student pictures this fall.  Please put the following dates in your calendar.  We will be providing more information as the date gets closer.

• Wednesday, October 5:  5th/6th Grade
• Thursday, October 6: 7th/8th Grade
• Friday, October 7:  Rain Date

Open House:  Mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 27 at 6:30 PM.

Sports Teams: Our BRMS Fall Sports teams are now in full swing.  Below is a list of our teams and the coaches.  Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

• Cross Country 5th-8th Grade:  Jenny Magoon and Mac Sullivan
• Girls Soccer 6th-8th Grade:  Will Esmay and Heather Jo Didrichsen
• Boys Soccer 6th-8th Grade:  Scott McLaughlin and Greg Martin

Reminder: We are pleased to announce the replacement of most of the annual paper information forms with online versions through a program called InfoSnap!  Much of it will be pre-populated --you will only need to update information that has changed. And, if you have more than one student, then you will only need to do some of it once per family rather than repeat it for each child.

When?  InfoSnap will be open from August 1, 2016 to September 20, 2016.  We emailed you account information shortly before August 1st, which included a unique password for each child. If you did not receive an email by August 1st, please contact your school or the district helpdesk (helpdesk@cesuvt.org or call 802-899-4093).

Is it secure?  The system works via a secured server to which only you have a password for your child. It is similar to the security of online banking.

What if I have more than one student in the district?  Do I need to do this for each child? Yes, because you’ll need to provide information that is specific for each child. We recommend that you submit one form, and then start another – this will allow you to “snap over” shared family information, which will save you time.

What if I do not have access to the Internet or a computer?  You may use a computer at any public library, use a smartphone, or make an appointment to come into any school to complete the form on a computer.

May I still do a paper form?  We would prefer that you complete the forms online, but paper forms can still be obtained from the school.  MMUHS will still send home a pre-populated form on which you can choose to make changes rather than submitting them online.

Who do I contact for help?  Problems with the Infosnap website?  Obtain technical support via www.infosnap.com/parent-support/ or call 866.752.6850 (9AM-8PM EDST).

Have questions about the questions on the forms? Contact your school.
If you did not receive an email about InfoSnap by August 1st, contact the district helpdesk (helpdesk@cesuvt.org or 802-899-4093.

Date Change: Attention Parents of Fifth Grade Students:
Puberty Information Night has been changed to Tuesday, September 20 from 6-7PM in the health and wellness classroom. This is an opportunity for parents to review the curriculum and the puberty movie. Please email Tamara Pless with any questions: tamara.pless@cesuvt.org

grade5 7 slideshow2016

School's out for summer!

Trout Project 2016

BRMS Staff Send Off to Summer Video

S.T.E.A.M. CAMP Opportunity for 10-14 yr. Olds: Willie Lee and Suzanne McDevitt, teachers at Browns River Middle School, are facilitating a summer S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Camp, during the week of June 27-July 1.  The camp will take place, 8:30AM-1:30PM in the Design and Technology classroom at Browns River Middle School.  We welcome campers ages 10-14 to select from a variety of supervised projects including 3-D Design and Printing, Laser-Cut Design and Etch, Rocket Design and Launch, Robotics and Lego Machines, Computer Programming, Video Creation, Solar Powered Activities, AND more.  The cost is $250 per camper. Each camper needs to fill out a panel from our brochure to return with their check prior to June 10.  Space will be limited. For more information and to receive a brochure see Mr. Lee or Mrs. McDevitt at school OR email: brownsriversteamcamp@gmail.com .