A few Reminders and Updates

Welcome to the new school year! It is a pleasure to serve as your principal, and our team is thrilled to welcome your children back to school.

For those who may not know me, this marks my 13th year as principal at BAMS and my 17th year in school leadership overall. As a lifelong Vermonter raised in Townshend, I now live in Vernon with my wife, Jessica, and our two teenage children. In my role, while I assist with student discipline when needed, my main focus is on the broader administrative and leadership tasks required to run our school smoothly.

Our Assistant Principal is Mr. Aaron Walsh, also a lifelong Vermonter, who joined us last December. Mr. Walsh brings a rich background in education, having most recently served for five years as an academic support teacher at Putney Central School. As part of his primary responsibilities, Mr. Walsh manages day-to-day student support and discipline.

Here are a few reminders from the letter that was mailed out this summer:

Please join us for 7th Grade Welcome Night on Monday, August 24th, from 5:00–6:00 PM. The first day of school is Wednesday, August 26th for 7th graders, and hursday, August 27th for 8th graders. School runs from 8:40 AM to 3:30 PM (arrival after 8:15 AM), and all electronic devices must be powered off and stored in lockers by 8:33 AM. Class schedules will be handed out on day one, and free breakfast and lunch are provided to all students daily. If your child plans to participate in fall athletics, please complete online registration and ensure an updated physical exam (within the last two years) is on file. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Keith Lyman

Staffing Changes at BAMS

Daily Schedule

Our daily schedule is similar to last year, but there are some slight changes to times. Click here for the schedule: BAMS Daily Schedule.

Student Support Services

Over the years we have developed a program called SEA. It has essentially been a space where students could go who are needing a break or a reset and also a place where students served certain types of consequences such as detentions and in -school suspensions. We have decided to revise how we offer these supports in an effort to keep more students in class for longer periods of time and for students to develop the skills to remain in class and to maximize their learning time. We are retitling and rebranding this and calling it Student Support Services (SSS). Each of our teams will have a skilled and experienced paraprofessional aligned and assigned to a specific team. Those paraprofessionals will get to know the needs of each student on their team very well. We will have a few designated locations if we need to provide short resets and/or fulfill obligations from specialized support plans such as IEPs.

Communication: ParentSquare

Starting this fall, our SU uses ParentSquare to keep families informed, connected, and up-to-date with school announcements, events, and classroom updates.You will automatically receive essential school messages via email or text using the contact details on file. However, creating an optional ParentSquare account gives you complete control over how and when you hear from us.

Why Register an Account?

Choose Your Notification Schedule: Choose Instant updates to receive messages in real time, or select Digest mode to group all non-urgent announcements into a single summary each evening.
Pick Your Preferred Delivery: Decide whether you want to receive communication via email, text message, or app notification.
Set Language Preferences: Automatically translate incoming updates and outgoing replies into your preferred language.
Access Interactive Features: Easily direct-message teachers, sign up for parent-teacher conferences, fill out digital forms, and view class photo albums.

Account Setup is Optional Creating an account or downloading the free ParentSquare app (available for iOS and Android) is entirely optional. If you choose not to register, you will still receive all important school communications and emergency alerts through your contact information on file.To get started or adjust your notification settings at any time, visit ParentSquare or download the mobile app.

At BAMS:

Safety: We make safe choices.

Community: We respect each other; we work together.

Learning: We are curious, seek new knowledge, and learn from our mistakes.

Our Vision Statement:

We support a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment
We work collaboratively and support all learners in an inclusive and diverse community
We believe in the capacity of everyone to learn, and create structures that support social, emotional, and academic growth
We help students discover their strengths and the confidence to excel in their academic and personal pursuits

BAMS Newsletter

Safety, Community, Learning

Issue 10 · 20 Aug 2026

In this issue