Dear Beagle Families,
Here are some updates we wanted to share at this time:
Surprise Lunch Time Concert: During our lunches today, students enjoyed a surprise lunch-time concert hosted by the Grand Ledge District Area Library in conjunction with Shawne VanSteeland from Audio Logic. The group known as the “Lunch Box Band” made up of our very own Mrs. Erin Fredericks, Art teacher; her husband, Mike Fredericks; their son, Lucas Fredericks–current 7th grade student at BMS; Shawne VanSteeland, Audio Logic; and Bob Motycka put on an amazing performance for our students. In addition, current GLHS student, Alex Schulte, also supported in today’s show. We thank all members of the Lunch Box Band for providing our students an outstanding opportunity today, and we also thank Mike and Shawne for continuing to organize and facilitate Music in the Park here in Grand Ledge each summer, which they have been doing for the past 13 years. Today was another great example of our community coming together to do something extremely positive for our students and even staff.
Youth Lacrosse, Last Call: Grand Ledge Youth Lacrosse registration is open at this time, and the window closes on February 24th. If your student is interested in Grand Ledge Lacrosse, please click here: https://www.gllacrosse.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1352025 and scroll about half-way down the page.
7th Grade Vision Testing: 7th grade vision testing will take place on February 26th; students will be called out of their Science class each hour for testing.
Rising 9th Grade Families, Parent Orientation: Dr. Wright, Principal at GLHS, sent an email to all current 8th grade Beagle families last week regarding a parent orientation on February 27th from 6:30-7:30 at the GLHS auditorium. This presentation will review high school credit requirements, registering for courses, and transitioning to high school. We encourage parents of rising 9th grade students to attend this orientation. On March 11th, GLHS administrators and counselors will be meeting with all of our current 8th graders in the media center out of Science classes; GLHS representatives will be providing students an in-depth overview on high school courses and registering for courses. After the meeting, our 8th grade Science teachers will support students in registering for courses via PowerSchool next year.
Rising 8th Grade Families: On March 12th, we will meet with all of our current 7th graders regarding the process to request elective-based courses for next year. This presentation will be shorter than the presentation received while in 6th grade. After our meeting, students will work with their families to select elective requests for next year, and then Science teachers will support students placing requests into PowerSchool the following week.
International Night: previously hosted annually at Delta Center, this year’s International Night Celebration will be even bigger and hosted here at Beagle Middle School! Join us on April 13th from 2-6 pm to explore the different international cultures represented in GLPS. Please see the flyer attached for more details and for information on how to audition to represent your culture. Reach out to Amanda Gabriel at gabriela@glcomets.net with any questions. Please click here for more information: International Day Flyer and Sign-Up 2023-2024.pdf
Student Talent Show: Our Beagle Comet Council will be hosting a student-based talent show here at Beagle on April 13th at 6:30 pm, free admission. In the future, we will share more information with our families. We thank our Beagle Comet Council student members for organizing this event. For more information regarding our Beagle Comet Council, we encourage our students and families to access their link on our website: https://sites.google.com/glcomets.net/cometcouncil/home
PTO Meetings: The Hayes/Beagle PTO meetings will be hosted here at Beagle Middle School in our media center. Parents should enter through the cafeteria doors as they are open for athletic events. The media center is located in the first hallway to the left once in the cafeteria. Meetings are held from 6:30-7:30 pm in a hybrid fashion–in-person and virtually. Families interested in attending virtually can do so by using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82744686994. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, March 19th. We greatly appreciate parent support and participation at these meetings. In addition, please follow the Hayes & Beagle PTO Facebook page for more information and updates regarding upcoming events.
Students’ of the Week: To view our Students’ of the Week, please click here https://www.glcomets.net/ourschools/beagle-middle-school/studentoftheweek/. Please note that Students’ of the Week are updated to our website the Monday after receiving their certificate on Friday.
Family Communication Archive: Please click here https://www.glcomets.net/ourschools/beagle-middle-school/parent-communication-archive/ to review family communications (current and previous newsletters) sent to Beagle Families.
District and Community News: To review district-wide and community news, please click here:https://www.glcomets.net/parentcommunityresources/fun-things-to-do/#upcoming
Looking Ahead:
- March 12th,14th, and 15th–Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences (communication coming soon)
- March 15th–Half day for students, no PM classes, end of second trimester
- March 18th–Third trimester begins
- March 22-29th–Spring Break, no classes
Looking Way Ahead….Spring Testing Schedule:
In an effort to be as transparent as possible while also providing our families with as much notice in advance, we will continue to run our Spring Testing (PSAT, MSTEP, and NWEA) in our subsequent newsletters. We kindly ask parents to avoid scheduling appointments, if possible, on these dates in an effort to ensure smooth testing and having to avoid pulling students from classes (first, best instruction) to make up these assessments.
- PSAT–April 10th, 8th grade only reports this day; 7th grade does not come to school. This is due to testing protocols required by College Board. More information to come as we get closer.
- 8th grade MSTEP Social Studies–April 17/18
- 8th grade MSTEP Science–April 24/25
- 7th grade MSTEP Math–May ½
- 7th grade MSTEP ELA–May 8/9
- NWEA Math–May 21 (with organized break by hallway and snacks)
- NWEA ELA–May 28 (with organized break by hallway and snacks)
These are all of the updates that we wanted to pass along at this time. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.
Take care,
Dave and Kelly
