Please note that all members of the BBMS community are required to wear masks when entering the school (hallways and common areas where social distancing is not possible). Students will not be continuously supplied a mask beyond the ones that have already been made available (ie. those who forget it at home/those who do not have one). We have a limited number left and will be unable to provide a mask to those who come without one.

t’s that time of year again!!!!! BBMS will be hosting Rik Leaf during the week of Sept 28th-Oct 2nd. For those who are not familiar with Rik, he’s a motivational speaker and artistic presenter who has spent 20 years inspiring and encouraging audiences around the world. He has been to BBMS many times working with all grades with a focus on literacy/storytelling/song writing/etc. Throughout the week, Rik will be working with some of our Language Arts classes, culminating with a Zoom-style performance for the school community on Friday afternoon!

On October 1st, BBMS will recognizing a great Canadian~Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope (40th anniversary of the event).

The Leadership class, along with Mrs. Bell & Mrs. te Bulte, have been spending a lot of time preparing for the event, with a special focus on making it safe during the pandemic: social distancing measures as well as staggering the start times for those classes that are participating.  We will be posting photos from the run following the event!

Friday, Sept 25th is a Non-Instructional Day (Planning Day) and our school will be closed.

On Thursday, Sept 24th (1:30pm), Bert Bowes Middle School will be conducting a lockdown drill. These drills are required to ensure that our school community knows the proper safety procedures in the event of an emergency situation that requires a lockdown. We will be hosting another drill later on in the school year.

Following some recent updates from the PHO (September 11th), parents are requested to download and review the following COVID Health Assessment Checklist. This document will be at the entrances of our building as a reminder for students and staff to ‘Help Stop The Spread Of COVID-19’!

We have had a few requests coming from parents to explain student schedules as well as a listing of dates for how long classes last.

In brackets on this grade 7 sample schedule (you’ll notice similar things in a grade 9 schedule as well), you’ll see things like FY (full year), S1/S2 (semester 1/2),and six sampler courses for grade 7’s called X1/X2/X3/X4/X5/X6. Please note that the list within each Period is alphabetical.
There are two semesters in a school year. The first one ends on Jan. 28th, 2021 and the second one ends on June 24th, 2021.
Grade 7’s have six samplers in a full year/3 per semester. The first one ends on Oct. 20th; the second one ends on Dec. 3rd; the third one ends on Jan. 28th; the fourth ends on March 12th; the fifth ends on May 12th; and the sixth one ends on June 24th.
All dates are available on the Calendar which is available above under the “About” tab.

With orientation week wrapping up, we wanted to share some updates about next week. At this time, we are finishing up our review of student schedules and should have them in students’ hands on Monday morning. It’s been a long, arduous task for sure!

For Monday, all students will be coming to school and starting the day with their TAG teachers as they did during their orientation. They will continue to enter/leave the building through their designated entrance/exit, and meet in their TAG classroom.

The morning will be spent going through any remaining items from orientation day (updating any students who were not in attendance during orientation) as well as explaining student schedules in preparation for the afternoon run through of the timetable. The afternoon will be an opportunity for students to practice the transitions between classes (moving safely from class to class), getting familiar with the building if they’re new to it, and also meeting their Semester 1 teachers for 30 minutes. Following Monday, students will begin their regular schedule of classes! Please note: We will have Mountain West photos here on Monday for ‘Picture Day‘ ~ there was an information package that was sent home with students following their orientation day.

On Friday morning, BBMS will be hosting its first fire drill. We host several drill each year to ensure that all members of the Bert Bowes community are familiar with the safety protocols involved in the drill.

On Friday, Sept. 11th Bert Bowes Middle School staff will welcome back our Grade 8’s and 9’s to their campus! It will be a full day (8:45am-3:06pm) where students will meet their new TAG teacher and classmates, familiarize students with the BBMS Safety Plan, and get back into the swing of things in a non-virtual school! Teachers sent an introductory email to parents and students earlier today so please check your inboxes. Going forward, students will need to bring their own mask to use while inside the building/outside of their classrooms. If students do not have one they will be issued one when they come into the building! All students will attend school on Monday! We’re looking forward to seeing you all.