August 29 2022

Dear Beagle Middle School Parents, 

We enjoyed seeing so many parents and students during our two days of schedule distribution last week!  It was great to see our hallways coming alive once again.  We also wanted to thank you for your patience with our air conditioning being off as our condenser lines were being repaired.  The good news is that the air conditioning is back up and running at this time.  In addition, we also thank you for your patience regarding our lockers being out of order.  Now that construction and renovation is fully complete here at Beagle, our custodial staff intends to address the numbering of lockers in an orderly fashion this upcoming summer, so that we no longer have to search for lockers beginning next year.  

Here are some important updates that we wanted to pass along at this time:

Open House Tomorrow 4:30-6pm: Our staff welcomes students and parents to attend Open House tomorrow.  This is a great opportunity to meet teachers and walk through schedules one more time before the first day of school on Wednesday, which is a half-day 7:55–10:50am.  Also, for those families that were not able to come to schedule pick-up last week, we will have both 7th and 8th grade schedules available in the cafeteria; in addition, students will also be able to obtain their Chromebook at this time if they still need to do so.   

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS): As many are aware, Grand Ledge is a PBIS district.  Here at Beagle Middle, our staff engages in PBIS strategies to support the social, emotional, and behavioral growth of our students, which ultimately positively impacts academic growth and success.  At Beagle, we model and reinforce Comet PRIDE in all that we do together on a consistent basis.  This means that we are/show/have:

• Positive

• Respectful

• Integrity

• Determination

• Effort

Staff recognize positive behaviors using the PBIS model, and students earn Comet PRIDE tickets for demonstrating the aforementioned behaviors we model and reinforce on a daily basis.  Students can use their PRIDE tickets to earn prizes. Comet PRIDE pride drawings happen bi-weekly during Check and Connect and at the end of each trimester.

Morning Drop-Off/Afternoon Pick-Up: To ensure the safety and proper supervision of our students, we open our doors for students at 7:40am.  Parents may, however, drop students off at the front of the building with the understanding that until 7:35am, there will not be direct supervision of students outside.  We kindly request that if you have to drop your child off early, you tell them to remain at the front of the building where they can be in the view of secretarial staff.  The South Street crosswalk and the crosswalk in front of our building will consistently be supervised by school staff from 7:35-7:55am and 2:30-2:40pm; the roundabout to the South of the building will not be supervised by school staff.  Therefore, we strongly discourage students using the roundabout on the South end of the school.  If students do use the roundabout to the South of the school, we encourage parents to supervise their crossing.  We encourage parents to drop their children off using the innermost lane closest to the building as the outer lane is for passing only.  If students are dropped off in the parking lot, then students must be crossed by our crossing guard near our main entrance for their safety.  Finally, students that travel to the high school for after school clubs and recreation must use South Street and Spring Street to do so for their safety; this ensures that students enter the high school from the front of the building as expected.  

Bus Riders: Bus riders are dropped off at the back of Beagle each day, and this will be monitored by school staff.  Once students exit the bus, they will enter the building using the West to East travel corridor that separates the gymnasium from the pool area.  This area will also be monitored by school staff.  Bus riders will enter the building beginning at 7:40am.  Students will use this same process after school to board their bus. This year, the majority of our middle school students will not have to transition buses at the high school like they did last year, which means that once our middle schoolers are on the bus and depart from Beagle, they will be able to stay on that same bus when they arrive at the high school.  Students that do not follow the expectation of boarding their bus at Beagle and walk to the high school will not be allowed to board their bus. These expectations are in place to ensure appropriate safety and supervision of our students. 

Emergency Contact Info: Emergency contact changes have gone digital this year! Please log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal to verify and/or update your contact information as well as provide at least one emergency contact for your student in the event we are not able to reach you. If your address has changed, you are required to provide updated proof of residency to the office where your student attends.

Steps to Complete this Process:

Log into the Parent Portal (https://ps.glcomets.net/public/)

 Click on Forms on the Left Hand Navigation

There will be 4 Forms For you to Complete: Student Address, Student Parent/Legal Guardian Contact Information, Student Contact Order, Student Emergency Contacts

As you work through these forms you may click on the save button and come back anytime to complete them. Once you click on Submit, the form will send a notification to our secretaries at Beagle for their review of the changes you have made. We will only make contact if they have questions or need additional information. If you have any questions, please contact Joan Pedraza at pedrazaj@glcomets.net. 

Cell Phone and Earbud Policy: Students may use their cell phones and earbuds during three specific times throughout the school day: before school, during lunch while in the cafe’ or on the playground, and after school.  Cell phones are not to be used within the classroom for any reason as all students have a Chromebook.  Ear buds within the classroom may be used only under teacher discretion for instructional purposes (i.e. audio assessments, instructional videos, and to support dynamic learning needs of students with specific accommodations).  Cell phones and ear buds are to be off and out of sight in the hallways at all times.  We appreciate continued parent support with this policy to ensure students are focused on learning and building positive relationships while at school in addition to building self-regulation with technology use.   

Dress Code Policy: Students are expected to dress in a fashion that promotes a positive, safe, and focused learning environment. Students and parents are expected to use discretion to ensure that student clothing is appropriate for school. Pursuant to school board policy, clothing that contains religious or racially intimidating symbols (e.g. swastika, Confederate flag, etc.) or messages that are disruptive to the learning environment are not permitted.  Sexually suggestive messages, clothing that promotes drug and/or alcohol use, or violence are not permitted. For health and safety reasons, students are required to wear shoes or footwear with soles. Final decisions regarding dress code are exclusively up to administrative discretion.  

Passes: This year, students will be provided three passes per class, per trimester with the exception of Check and Connect (CNC).  Passes will be provided to students on colored paper at the beginning of each trimester.  Unused passes can be turned in as Comet PRIDE tickets to earn prizes at the end of the trimester.  Students that have documented, specific accommodations or medical needs will be provided a break card to meet their dynamic needs if necessary.  

Passing Time: There is five-minute passing time between all classes. Students are expected to be in their class when the bell rings to be considered on time to class.  While we do have and enforce a tardy policy here at Beagle Middle, we also understand that the first few days of school is going to be a learning curve for many students, and we will be flexible and supportive in helping students find their classes.  

Tardy Policy: Once students have become acclimated to the routine of middle school after the first few days, we will begin to mark and track tardies on an hourly basis, including first hour.  Students are able to be tardy for each class up to three times per trimester.  After the third tardy, Mrs. Swagart, ISS coordinator, will have a warning conversation in a one-on-one, private fashion.  If a fourth tardy happens for the same class within the trimester, a one-hour, after school detention will be assigned, and Mrs. Swagart will arrange that with parents.  

Lockers: We do encourage students to use their lockers; however, we do not require students to use their lockers each day.  

Chromebooks: Students who still need to do so may obtain a Chromebook beginning Tuesday, September 6th before or after school in the library.  Staff will not begin to use Chromebooks for instructional purposes until Thursday, September 8th. 

Information Regarding Transportation: Our transportation department sent an email to students that have been assigned a bus route.  For more information, here is a helpful link: https://www.glcomets.net/parentcommunityresources/pupiltransportationbusgarage/

Volleyball Tryouts:

• 8th grade volleyball tryouts will be 5:30-7:30 on Monday, August 29th and Tuesday, August 30th and then Wednesday, August 31st will be 2:30-4:30.
• 7th grade volleyball tryouts will be 6:30-8:30 on Wednesday, August 31 and Thursday, September 1st.  

 All students wishing to tryout must have a valid MHSAA physical on file. A physical is considered valid if it is dated on or after April 15th, 2022.  

Newsletters Moving Forward: Our next newsletter will be sent on Friday, September 9th, and every newsletter thereafter will also be sent on Friday mornings.  Newsletters are archived on our web page under Parent Communication Archive.  Here is the link to our webpage https://www.glcomets.net/ourschools/beagle-middle-school/. 

A copy of our bell schedule for the year can also be found on our web page. 

These are all of the updates that we have at this time.  Typically, our newsletters are not this long, so we appreciate your patience with our sharing of so much information over the past three weeks.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out. 

Take care, 

Dave Kushman, Principal

Eric Leopold, Assistant Principal