Conferences
We just completed our conferences at the end of Term 1.
It was great to meet with parents, guardians, and students to go over progress during the first term this year.
Simple Talk About Difficult Subjects
Bethel middle and high school students and their parents are encouraged to attend the Bethel Community Health Forum at Prairie Mountain School this Wednesday.
In separate sessions for kids and adults, experts will offer helpful tips on “How To Talk About the Really Tough Issues” like peer pressure, depression, drug and alcohol use, and sexual activity.
This FREE event will also feature raffle prizes, childcare for toddlers, free healthy food, and community groups displaying useful health-related information.
Mark your calendar for Wednesday, October 12, 6:00 p.m. at Prairie Mountain School.
8th Graders Begin Social Studies
8th Graders in the Resource Room are beginning to delve into American history, using The American Journey as our primary resource. To help students prepare for high school next year, we are beginning to incorporate Social Studies into our writing block. Students are practicing the grade-level writing skills as they summarize, research, or persuade others about the content in each Social Studies unit.
Using Bethel’s revised ACCESS Toolkit, students are also learning important comprehension strategies to help them better understand the Social Studies text.
Laptops and Learning
Students have been making GOOD use of our “new” laptops for all sorts of learning activities.
This week, we’ve used them to create presentations explaining important Life Skills.
We also used them to complete our District-wide math assessments. Students were excited to use “rock-star type” headphones with microphones during the testing.
Now, the first thing I usually hear when students walk into the room is: “Are we going to use the laptops today?”
Thanks CRVA!!
AMAZING! Check-it out!! We just received a donation of 20 iBooks for students to use in our classroom for educational projects of all kinds.
This summer, I contacted several companies including a company called Computer Recycling of Virginia (CRVA) to see if they would sell me some used iBooks at a discounted rate so I could use them in the classroom to improve student engagement and enhance opportunities for learning.
CRVA replied that they normally donate laptops only to schools in Virginia (the company was formed to collect used inventory of electronics, primarily computers, from companies throughout Virginia and then “recycle” them for use in schools and nonprofit agencies). However, they said they were impressed with our Resource program at Prairie Mountain, and they decided to support our students by donating the laptops to our program.
I am so excited about the opportunities for learning that these laptops will provide for our students – and the students can’t wait to start using them!!
Check your child’s report card
Parents of Bethel students can log into Home Access Center. Home Access Center allows parents to view student grades, attendance, assignments, registration, scheduling and more. Continue to Home Access Center.
New Middle School Schedules Begin Today
School began today with a full schedule for students. This year, all middle school students have slightly different schedules, with electives spread throughout the day. Below is a representative sample of each grade’s revised schedule:
2011-12 School Year Schedule Change
6th Grade Schedule
Per 1: Reading/Lang Arts
Per 2: Writing
Per 3: Science
Per 4: Math
Per 5: Elective
Per 6: Academic Seminar
7th Grade Schedule
Per 1: Reading/Lang Arts
Per 2: Writing
Per 3: Math
Per 4: Academic Sem./Elective
Per 5: Science
Per 6: Elective/Academic Seminar
8th Grade Schedule
Per 1: Reading/Lang Arts
Per 2: Academic Seminar
Per 3: Math
Per 4: Science
Per 5: Writing/Soc. Studies
Per 6: Elective
Locker Night – A Lock on Success
Prairie Mountain 7th and 8th graders crowded the hallways Wednesday night for our annual 7th/8th Grade Curriculum and Locker Night. Over 200 students and parents came to hear about the expectations for the school year and were rewarded by getting to choose their own locker at the end of the evening.
This is always a popular night with middle school kids, and this year was no exception.
School Starts 9/6/11
Welcome back everyone!
This will be a year full of learning and new, higher expectations for all students in the middle school Resource Room.
At all levels, students will continue to use grade-level and/or general education curriculum materials. We are really excited about this opportunity to accelerate our students’ learning.
6th Grade Curriculum Night
THURSDAY, 9/22/11 – 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Come join us and follow your child’s schedule to find out what a day in the life of your child is really like. You’ll get to meet your child’s teachers and find out about the curriculum and learning expectations in each class.