This Week at BMHS April 9 - 16, 2018

BMHS Extended Tuesday Schedule

Extended Tuesdays schedule

Beginning Tuesday, April 24 BMHS will be ending the school day at 3:02 p.m. All current school day protocols will remain in place until the end of the day, including dismissals. We will be using this time for a number of different purposes, but primarily to ensure uninterrupted teaching time through the end of the year. We have identified all of our school assemblies that would have disrupted class time between April and the end of the school year and will be adjusting those events to the additional hour. This will ensure uninterrupted teaching time in our regular school day through June. We will also be prioritizing our Advanced Placement courses due to the lost time ("New England disadvantage") and the inability of those tests to be moved to a later date. All other students will be following their regular schedule for each additional hour on Tuesdays where their teachers will be assisting them in their respective subject. The schedule for the next 8 weeks is as follows:

• April 24 - Block 1A
• May 1 - Block 1B
• May 8 - Block 2A
• May 15 - Block 2B
• May 22 - Block 3A
• May 29 - Block 3B
• June 5 - Block 4A
• June 12 - Block 4B

Game Change

Last week Ms. Tracy and Ms. Clark supported a group of sophomore and junior students with completing the Game Change Training at BMHS, an Anti-Violence Partnership program between the New England Patriots, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and Northeastern University. The students participated in a two-day seminar focused on healthy relationship education and prevention of gender-based violence. This is a sample of the feedback we received from students after the training:

"I learned that bystanders have a lot more power than they think."

"I learned how easily consent can be confused."

"I got so much information from this program and I now know what to do in different situations."

"It was educational, informative and entertaining at the same time."

BMHS Musical

The curtain closed on another outstanding musical production this past weekend. The students' performances in Sweeney Todd were terrific. The set designs were complex and drew the audience deeper into the performance. Seniors Dylan Loftin and Jackie Wyatt capped a remarkable four year career with their performances as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett.

BMHS Winter Guard

Billerica Memorial High School's Winter Guard continued their impressive performance this season capturing first place at the New England Scholastic Band Association's Winter Guard Finals held yesterday at Salem High School. BMHS received top honors in the Nationals Scholastic A with a final score of 95.94. 

Team 4909

The Bionics completed a successful weekend at the Greater Boston Regional hosted at Revere High School. The team finished 5th at the end of the two-day qualifier before bowing out in the semifinals. The team captured the Quality Award sponsored Motorola which celebrates concept and fabrication. The team's collaboration led to a beautiful electronics board, a wall-riding winch, and a two-cube autonomous. The team also captured the Safety Award sponsored by Underwriters Lab.

Team 4909- Bionics, is having a fundraiser at Blaze Pizza in Burlington, MA on Wednesday, April 18th from 5:30pm to 9pm. They are located at 91 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington.
Paper and electronic (pull-up on your phone) copies of the flyer are accepted. Blaze Pizza will donate a percentage of their sales to the team. Please support your local robotics team and dine at Blaze Pizza during the Wednesday of April Vacation! Attached below is a copy of the flyer needed to participate.

United Sound

This past Saturday our United Sound performers under the direction of Dr. Cardella took part in the ABLE Assembly: Arts Better the Lives of Everyone. The ABLE Assembly is an exceptional professional development opportunity in the field of arts education and special needs, bringing together educators, artists, researchers, policymakers, school administrators, program administrators, and students to share best practices, engage in hands-on experiences, explore new research, and learn from each other. 

BATV Summer Offerings

GUIDANCE NEWS

Guidance will host Advanced Placement pre-administration sessions on Monday, April 9^th in the Lecture Hall of BMHS.  Every student taking an AP class MUST pre-register on MONDAY. 

It is expected that students will choose an appropriate time to come to the Lecture Hall for their preadministration.  As a reminder, appropriate times are during your study, during lunch (if you wish), or before school starts at 7:00 AM.  Please be prompt in your arrival to the lecture hall (no matter if you come during study, lunch, or before school) as we have much to do together for pre-registration, and only a short amount of time to complete our tasks.  

If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly at 978-528-7925 or you may email your child’s guidance counselor directly.

Billerica Memorial High School’s 3rd Annual College Fair has been RESCHEDULED!

SAVE THE DATE AND MARK YOUR CALENDAR!  The Billerica Memorial High School Guidance Department will be hosting our Third Annual College Fair on Thursday, April 26 from 6:30-8:00 p.m., to be held in the BMHS Gymnasium.  This is a free opportunity and open to students in all grades.  We encourage students and their parents/guardians to come and explore the many opportunities available for college and post-secondary education!   We will share a list of attendees as we get closer to the event. In past years, this has been a tremendous event for our students and their families.  This is a night you won’t want to miss!  Also, join us for the College Panel, to be held immediately prior to the college fair. Please see details below.

^7th Annual College Panel

The Billerica Memorial High School Guidance Department will be hosting our 7^th annual College Panel on Thursday, April 26 from 5:30 pm to 6:15 pm in the BMHS Lecture Hall, immediately prior to the college fair.  This event is open to students and parents in all grades. The panelists are admissions representatives from four different colleges, and they will discuss universal tips and components needed for a successful college application, which includes:

• The importance of high school transcript

• How GPA is used in the admissions process

• The use of standardized testing (SAT, SAT subject tests, ACT)

• The importance of the college essay and letters of recommendation

• The significance of extracurricular activities

• Tips for application management 

ATTENTION JUNIORS: SAT DEADLINE

The deadline to register for the May 5 SAT at BMHS is APRIL 6.   Click HERE to register. 

COLLEGE FAIR IN BOSTON: There is a college fair in Boston on April 12 & April 13.  Please click HERE for more info. 

ATTENTION SENIORS:  Please make sure to come by the Guidance Office and fill out a pennant to proudly display your post-secondary decisions! 

SENIOR TASK:  COLLEGE APPLICATION RESULTS

For every college that you’ve applied to, we need to know what your status is:  accepted, denied, deferred, or waitlisted.  You will need to add the results of each application to your Naviance account and set your attending college.  If you haven't heard from all your colleges yet, or if you haven't yet made a decision on where to attend, that is OK.  However, this task will need to be completed for all of your college applications in Naviance before you sign out of school at the end of the year.  

There are 7 easy steps to do this!  Please do the following:

1. Log into Naviance.  If you need assistance with your username or password, please let your guidance counselor know.  Click HERE for the link to Naviance. 
2. Click on the College top tab.
3. Click on the Colleges I’m Applying To Link, and your college list appears.
4. Look towards the right-hand side.  There is a column titled “Edit”, and pencils in the column.  Click on one of the pencils and your entire college list comes up, with boxes you can edit. 
5. Under each of your colleges, there’s a drop down menu called “Result”.  When you click on it, you can set your college result to Accepted, Denied, or a few other options (most people will only use the Accepted and Denied functions.)  If you were waitlisted or deferred, please set the field to “Unknown” and check off the “waitlisted” or “deferred” box next side of the result area.  If you chose not to apply to a school that you have on your list, please set the field to “withdrawn”. 
6. Once you have set the results for all of your colleges, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Update Applications. This brings you back to your original college page.
7. Lastly, scroll to the bottom of your college page, under the heading College That I Am Attending.  Click on the dropdown menu, select the college you will be attending, and click the update button.  Please make sure to set this field correctly; it tells us where to send your final transcript to confirm for your college that you have graduated! 

****Students will not be able to sign out at the end of the year until your data in Naviance is complete. If you have any questions about how to add the results of your college applications into Naviance, please contact your guidance counselor.