BAMS NEWS
February, 2022
A MESSAGE FROM PRINCIPAL LYMAN
Dear BAMS Families,
Most of my communication these days has been via email to you so I wanted to get something a little fancier out with some photos.
For the 1st time in a long time, COVID is starting to move in a positive direction and it feels like we could get some relief in the coming months. The kids really have been good about wearing masks. It might feel weird if we can ever take them off!
We are finally able to have some field trips so each of the four teams have or will be traveling to the Nelson Whittington park in Brattleboro to skate. The kids have had some much needed fun and it has been terrific to see kids getting out to experience our community for the first time in a long time!
Most of our students are excited to leave on break, and I know the staff is ready for a recharge as well! I hope you have a nice time with your kids and we look forward to seeing everyone back on Wednesday, March 2!
Don't forget to vote on March 1!
Sincerely,
Keith Lyman- Principal
A Few Photos from Skating and Around School
Social Justice Work at BAMS
Our school has dedicated a tremendous amount of work to issues of diversity and social justice. Despite these efforts, we still have racism in our school and all around us. Below I have shared introductory statements from the plan I have been working to develop with our staff.
Why are we focusing on Social Justice Education?
Let's face it; we live in a world that is full of hate, racism, sexism, and many other forms of hurtful behaviors towards others. We know that in our school acts of hate, racism, misogyny and other hurtful actions towards a variety of individuals and groups have happened and do still occur. We need to do more to prevent hurtful behavior from happening, to educate kids and adults about their responsibilities, and to be proactive to eliminate the negative effects of these hurtful things towards members of our school community.
Overview
How the school addresses topics of race, equity and diversity happens on a variety of levels. It breaks down into two major categories. Prevention education is the 1st level, and the 2nd level is our response when something does occur. The prevention topic is extensive and there are countless ways to fold diversity education into school culture.
We break the topic of prevention down into two subcategories. The first category is relatively simple and essentially covers the rules and consequences and educating kids about the seriousness of violating our hazing, harassment and bullying (HHB) policies. This is done in a variety of ways routinely in the school culture.
The second level of prevention is rooted in complex societal topics. It involves subtle and also explicit education we do on a daily basis with kids regarding kindness and treating kids with respect and dignity, no matter their ethnic, cultural or racial backgrounds. There’s also deeper levels of education when it comes to curriculum and how we are addressing issues of diversity through our lessons and curriculum.
As a school when we go through and identify what we are doing, we do many things during the school year and in different classes to address these topics vary from books that students are reading, and the discussions that come in classrooms to projects we might be doing in social studies, English, and other classes. Students might write essays or do research on topics of race, equity, social justice, sexuality etc. However, we need to do more as a unified school. We want all students who come to BAMS to receive explicit anti racist education and to learn more about multicultural education by the time they leave our school.
How will we do it? Overview of the Curriculum Plan
- Our curriculum plan requires a commitment from all staff to dedicate time, interest, and effort into teaching an anti racist curriculum and to support the work in all settings of the school culture.
- We want to teach the curriculum during the current structures we are using. Therefore, we will dedicate a lot of time during our daily advisories, our Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) days and also in some of the regular classroom curriculum.
Our primary resource as we begin this plan will be from the “Learning for Justice” website. There is a draft of further details, but it is premature to release that information as we are currently reviewing it and discussing it more as a staff.
I will continue to update you on this critical work as we move forward. Thank you!
Family Survey
If you have not taken our survey, please do so by March 1. Thanks! Click here to access the information to complete it.
Afghan Students
We have one new student at BAMS who is originally from Afghanistan, and we are expecting at least one more student after the break. We are proud of the experience so far for the new student, and for all of the students and staff who have been part of welcoming him to our community.
Kindness Campaign
Our student Leadership brightened our week by spreading kindness all over the school. Today all of the teachers, paraprofessionals and office staff received beautiful cards signed by all of the kids at school. Yesterday, every locker had a note of kindness and encouragement on it. It was special! Here are a few photos below.
Our School's Website
Our website offers a lot of information about the school. Right on the main page, you can find links to updates sports information, announcements, and links to the team's homework websites. I encourage you to check it out on a regular basis. http://bams.wsesdvt.org/