Belmont Ridge Middle School

“EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION”

19045 Upper Belmont Place, Leesburg, VA 20176

www.loudoun.k12.va.us/bmrms

A Note from Your Principal …

Congratulations to Shivam Kollur who received a perfect score in AMC8 (25)

that was given in November. He was the only one to do so from Loudoun

County and one of thirteen in Virginia. Six students made the AMC honor roll

and two the distinguished honor roll.

Congratulations to our choir, band, orchestra, and guitar students. The various

winter programs here at Belmont Ridge made us proud to be associated with

this school. Even in very difficult times, the music enriched our spirits. We

also want to thank the choirs from Stonebridge for coming over and singing so

beautifully.

There has been a lot of discussion and review of our security procedures

following the tragedy in Connecticut. We are fortunate to have our door-

camera system and a full time Loudoun County Sheriff's Deputy on campus.

We will practice our various drills and be diligent in every possible way.

Please know that the safety of our students is always a priority.

Mr. Ryan Hitchman arrived on December 21st and will be in charge come

January. I have had the privilege for the past three months of being at a

wonderful school, working with great teachers, students, and parents. I want

to thank everyone for their kindness and good wishes.

The exam schedule for January is below. Friday the 18th

is a teacher workday

with no school for students. Monday, January 21st is the Dr. Martin Luther

King holiday and schools are closed. In the event of inclement weather

resulting in school being canceled on any day when exams have been

scheduled, the exam schedule will resume on the next day that students attend.

Regards,

Dr. Edgar Markley

Administrative

Team

Mr. Ryan Hitchman

Principal

Mr. David McKenzie

Assistant Principal

Mr. Michael Surma

Assistant Principal

8th Grade

Mr. Michael Skinner

Dean

Mrs. Kim Walters

Secretary

Mrs. Jorie Devine

Counselor

7th Grade

Ms. Giao Dang

Dean

Mrs. Marlo Newman

Secretary

Mrs. Amy Scott

Counselor

6th Grade

Ms. Jennifer Byrne

Dean

Mr. Damien White

Counselor

Mrs. Kelly Sovine

Secretary

Special Services

Mrs. Terry Mawyer

Counselor

School Nurse

Mrs. Sherri Flynn

School Information

Office Hours

8:00-4:30

Phone: 571-252-2220

Fax: 703-669-1455

Absentee Line

571-252-2222

House A – 8th

571-252-2228

House B – 7th

571-252-2227

House C – 6th

571-252-2226

January 2013

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Holiday

No School

2

It’s an A-Day

Classes Resume

3 4 5

6

7 Chorus 6 rehearsal

3:30-4:30 PM

8

9 Chorus 6 rehearsal

3:30-4:30 PM

10 6

th Grade Chorus

Concert 7:00 p.m.

11 12 District Band

Auditions

8:00 AM-5 :00 PM

A Capella Chorus

Workshop

8:30 AM-5:00 PM

13 8

th grade–block 5

Guitar students @

Rusk Library

2:00 p.m.

14 Burgundy Band 6

Rehearsal

3:30-4:30 PM

15 8

th Grade Winter

Guitar Concert

7:00 p.m.

PTO Meeting

9:30-10:00 AM

Principal Coffee

10:00-11:00 AM

16 Silver Band 6

Rehearsal

3:30-4:30

17 End of 2

nd Grading

Period

Burgundy Band 6

Rehearsal

3:30-4:30 PM

18 Student Holiday/

Teacher Work Day

19

20

21

No School

22 5

th Grade Instrument

Drive 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

23 Silver Band 6

Rehearsal

3:30-4:30

24

Band 6 Concert

7:00 p.m.

25 26

27

28

5th

Grade Instrument

Drive 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

29

30

Report Cards

Sent Home

31 District Band Clinic

6:30-8:30 PM JCHS

2013

3

FIRST SEMESTER EXAM SCHEDULE The table below shows the schedule for first semester exams for all middle and high schools.

Date Periods

Monday, January 14, 2013 6 and 5

Tuesday, January 15, 2013 1 and 2

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 7 and 8

Thursday, January 17, 2013 3 and 4

Friday, January 18, 2013 Teacher Workday

Tuesday, January 22, 2013 Grades Due

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 Report Cards Sent Home

Belmont Ridge Middle School

TESTING WINDOWS 2012 – 2013 SCHOOL YEAR

TEST START OF WINDOW END OF WINDOW

ACCESS for ELLs (ELL students) January 14 March 8

SOL English: Online Writing – Multiple Choice (8th Grade)

March 11 March 15

SOL English: Online Writing – Short Paper (8th Grade)

March 18 March 22

SOL End-of-Course (Alg 1, Geometry) April 29 May 24

SOL Non-Writing (All grades) May 3 May 31

** After May 24 will be make-ups only **

For more information and resources on the SOL assessments, you may go to the following websites:

Virginia Department of Education: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/index.shtml

Loudoun County Public Schools: www.loudoun.k12.va.us Go to: Academics>Testing

When your child will

be out of school for an extended

time please notify the House

Secretary, as well as their

teachers.

Did you know Belmont Ridge collects Box

Tops??? Please support our school by clipping

and sending in these valuable items. Collection

boxes are located in the main office and each of

the house offices.

4

Foreign Language Department

Attention, Rising 7th and 8th graders! Course offerings for seventh and eighth graders will include

Levels I and II high school foreign language courses in French, German, Latin and Spanish similar to

this year’s program. A grade of C+ or higher is strongly recommended for Level II.

Midterms! The comprehensive January midterm exams assess proficiency in the materials of the first

semester. Students are urged to complete the review packets in their possession, which are due in the

first weeks of January. The exams will consist of multiple choice questions, including listening

comprehension, a writing section, and a speaking component.

Guitar News

8th grade guitar students in the Block 5 class will perform at Rust Library in Leesburg on Sunday,

January 13th at 2:00 p.m. (Students, this is a mandatory performance). They are appearing as part of

the Loudoun Co. Public Library's Young Musicians of Loudoun concert series. The concert is open to

the public, and we hope to see many of you there!

The Winter Guitar Concert by Belmont's 8th grade guitarists will be held on Tuesday, January 15th at 7

p.m. in the school auditorium (Students, this is a mandatory performance). Guitar students & parents,

please see Ms. Edmondson's page on the web site for detailed information.

Spelling Bee Information

The champions of the Belmont Ridge spelling bees are Liliya Petrosyan for 6th

grade, Alexander Kim

for 7th grade, and Grace Bruce for 8th

grade. All three winners will represent Belmont Ridge at the

Loudoun County Spelling Bee on March 14, 2013 at Stone Bridge High School.

1. Go to the school website: www.lcps.org/bmrms

2. Click on "Staff" at the top of the page.

3. Find the teacher's name and click on the name.

4. Click the calendar link, often called homework.

5. Choose a day on the calendar and click on it, or you can go to the list of calendar events.

Your child should have his/her homework assignments written in their agenda.

Students must be absent from school for 3

consecutive days before work can be

collected from teachers for pick up.

5

LAST CHANCE TO ORDER YOUR

RIVER HAWK YEARBOOK!!!

The last day to order a yearbook is January 18th

Order your book at

www.yearbookordercenter.com or toll-free at: 1-866-287-3096

Order number: 13554

If you have any questions, please contact our yearbook Advisor,

Samantha Kelley: Samantha.Kelley@lcps.org

Sweet Chef Club….

We want to send a special Thank You to Lola's

Cookies and Treats for visiting Belmont Ridge

Middle School.

Members of the Sweet Chef Club had the

opportunity to learn how to decorate and

assemble a cake from chief decorator, Jillian

Cimino. Students also got to taste a piece of

their delicious cake! Lola's Cookies and Treats

is located in downtown Leesburg.

6

Cafeteria News

The Loudoun County Public Schools new Secondary Lunch Menu is a three week repeating menu.

This menu may be viewed online at www.lcps.org by selecting school menu.

January Hot Meal Menu Schedule

Week of December 31st Week 3

Week of January 7th Week 1

Week of January 14th Week 2

Week of January 21st Week 3

Week of January 28th Week 1

Spectrum News!

During the past few months the Spectrum students have been business people! They’ve been creating,

making, and selling unusual items in the Spectrum Store. It has been an excellent hands-on approach to

learning about business plans, marketing strategies, advertising, profit, and loss along with the ups and

downs of all corporations. Quickly, it was learned that timing is a central part of any good business

decision and the life of a creative product is sometimes short.

Counselor’s Corner…

As of November 8, 2012 there was a title change from “Guidance Counselor” to “School Counselor.

Over the past few years the position responsibilities of the School Counselor have changed and

expanded greatly. The role of this position is no longer to provide “guidance” as the primary or

exclusive function. In fact, the stated expectation for the role of school counselors from the American

Association of School Counselors is to “do more than school counseling.” The services provided

include direct services to students, staff and families. Counselors provide education, support and

resources to promote academic achievement and personal social/emotional success. As the position has

changed, school divisions, professional associations and state agencies have moved to change the title

Guidance Counselor to School Counselor. As we continue to align with best practices and maintain our

commitment to professional standards, Loudoun County Public Schools have made the determination

that the title change is needed.

From this point forward, the term School Counseling will be used to identify the programs, services and

professionals in this capacity.

Thomas Jefferson Information – Students will be notified of their semifinalist status at the end of

January.

7

Note from your PTO President:

Dear Belmont Families,

With the unseasonably warm December weather it’s hard to believe that winter is here and it’s time for break and a New Year! I know how hard everyone is working to finish out the year, with a rush to the end to complete school and work obligations. I hope we can all look back on 2012 with gratitude, and be happy with our accomplishments.

The Sandy Hook tragedy has hit hard on our hearts. It was comforting to receive messages from Superintendent Hatrick and Principal Markley reassuring us of the ongoing efforts to keep our community safe. In addition, this past Tuesday at our PTO meeting, our School Resource Officer spoke to us about school security. He will be walking around the school on a more regular basis. Increased visibility will hopefully bring a more secure feeling to the staff and students and the school is looking at additional security measures.

When we return from winter break we will be doing a snowflake decorating event during lunchtime. Students can make one at lunch or bring one in from home. The Sandy Hook PTA is hoping to fill the new school with snowflakes, each snowflake representing care and compassion from others. The deadline for snowflakes will be Wed. Jan. 9. We are taking a group photo of each grade at the Friday, December 21st winter assembly at school. We will create a poster size collage with words of support and encouragement to be hung in their new school.

On the brighter side, Cate Todd and Beth Elrefai arranged for 160 dozen treats to be hand crafted for a staff cookie exchange last Friday, Dec. 14. We want to thank all of the willing and fabulous bakers from all over the community! It was a fun event.

We can’t thank the entire staff at Belmont Ridge Middle School enough for the constant and consistent job they all do to provide the best education and learning environment for our kids.

BASAP is over for this session and it was a big success. Teachers are asking if we can do another session and we are considering it.

We have enjoyed Dr. Markley and the work he’s done in the interim for our school. His experience and wisdom have been needed and helpful, we will miss him. He’s already on to his next school experience. So much for retirement!

We welcome our new Principal, Mr. Ryan Hitchman to Belmont Ridge.

Happy holidays to all!

Sincerely, Nancy Smith PTO President Belmont Ridge Middle School nancybsmith7@gmail.com

8

LIBRARY NEWS!

Used book Sale

Did you read all of the books that you got as holiday gifts? Would you like to recycle them? Then

consider donating your books to the Used Book Sale that Belmont Ridge library is planning to have in

May. We are seeking donations of gently used children and young adult books. Proceeds from the sale

will be used to support the library activities and the Belmont Ridge book club. Students can bring their

donations to either their language arts teacher or to the library staff. The used book sale would be a great

opportunity for students to purchase summer reading material at bargain prices. Please think about

donating your used books for others to enjoy and support our book club! We will accept donations all

year long and store them for you.

Overdue Books

Some of our students have yet to return their overdue library books. We have a long list of students who

are patiently waiting for the books that others have borrowed. Please remember that library books may

be renewed or dropped off before school, during lunch, after school, or from Resource. You do not have

to wait for Library Day to return overdue books.

Book Club

The library sponsors an after school book club every Thursday. This year, our book club members, are

preparing for a Battle of the Books with the Smarts Mill Middle School Book Club and the Eagle Ridge

Middle Book Club to be held on March 19th

at the Rust Library’s Teen Center. The three book clubs are

reading the same set of books and as students are reading their books they are also creating questions for

the battle. They have read the following books: Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine, Matched by Ally

Condie, The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh, Warp Speed by Lisa Yee. Our January book is When the

Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka.

Library Mystery

Our December mystery was related to the gender of Santa’s reindeer. Students had to observe the

displayed deer skull and research facts about reindeer to figure out the gender. Our January mystery is

about snakes.