2022-23 Back to School Information

2022-23 Back to School
Posted on 08/16/2022
Welcome to the 2022-23 school year at Bucksport Middle School! We are excited to have you all back and are looking forward to another great year. Classes will begin on Tuesday, August 30th. We will continue to start school at 7:55am this year. Breakfast is served at 7:30am and students can go to their homerooms starting at 7:40am. Students can arrive as early as 7:00am and must be in their home rooms no later than 7:55am. Dismissal is at 2:25pm Mondays-Thursdays and 1:25pm on Fridays.

Health & Safety
At this time, we will be handling COVID infections aligned to the CDC protocols. Masking for students and staff will be optional. Both students and staff are encouraged to stay up to date with available COVID vaccines, test if you are experiencing symptoms, and isolate for at least 5 days if you test positive.

Open House
Students and parents are invited to meet their teachers and get their schedule for the year at Open House, which will be at 5:30pm on Thursday, August 25th. All RSU 25 schools will be having Open Houses on the evening of Thursday, 8/25. Start times will be staggered to allow families with students in multiple schools to attend each Open House.

Supplies
Supply lists for each grade were sent home at the end of last school year. Supply lists are also available on the BMS website [bms.rsu25.org —> Our School —> News —> What’s New].

Student Schedules
Each student’s course schedule can be accessed via the Infinite Campus student and parent portals [www.rsu25.org —> Resources —> Infinite Campus]. If you need assistance accessing the parent portal, please contact the main office.

Food Service
Breakfast and lunch are provided at BMS in the cafeteria. Breakfast and lunch both remain free of charge to all students this year.

Lockers
7th and 8th grade students will be assigned lockers this year. Lockers will be assigned by homeroom teachers. Students participating in athletics and physical education will have access to the locker rooms.

Arrival/Dismissal
The school building will open at 7:00am for students. Students will need to report to the gym until breakfast is served at 7:30am or homerooms open at 7:40am. Parent drop off will be at the south entrance. Parents may begin signing students out for parent pick up at 2:15 and should park in the south parking lot. Students will be released for parent pick up at 2:25. Bus dismissal will begin at 2:30 and walkers and after school activities will be dismissed at 2:40. All dismissal times will be one hour earlier on Fridays.

Visitors
Visitors should begin their visit by reporting to the main office. Between 8:00am and 2:15pm, parents will need to be buzzed in through the east entrance [between the library and auditorium].

New Staff
We will have several new teachers joining us this year. Amanda Roy will be our assistant principal in addition to teaching one 5th grade math class. Other new staff members include:

Jared Coplin, 7th & 8th grade math
Kristina Cloutier, 8th grade science & social studies
Maddie Cormier, physical education
Cody Davis, long-term sub for Mrs. Short until November
Sue Isteero, special education
Matija Mamula, JMG specialist
Erin Montgomery, 5th grade math
Gwen Murphy, 6th grade science and math
Ryan Woodward, special education

Sports Information
The following sports are offered in the fall at BMS:

Cross country: grades 5-8.
Football: grades 6-8.
Golf: grades 5-8.
Soccer: grades 6-8.  If we cannot fill our teams, we will open it up to 5th graders.

The first practice for football was 8/15 but it is not too late to join the team if you are interested. Practices for other fall sports will start on 8/31. A reminder that before students can practice, parents must submit all required paperwork on RankOne. This includes a sports physical within the last two years. If you have any questions about fall sports, please contact Athletic Director Kyle McGeechan at [email protected].

Band & Choir Information
Students in grades 5-8 will have the option of joining band and/or choir this year as co-curricular music activities. Sign up information for interested students will be provided during the first weeks of school. There will be an assembly for 5th graders and other students new to our school to learn about various band instruments and an instrument rental night for students in all grades at 6:30pm on Thursday, 9/15.

Allergies
Please be aware that several members of our school community are sensitive to common foods including blueberries, garlic, and all nuts. As we strive for a school community that is inclusive of everyone, please be sure not to bring any items with garlic into school and make sure that any items containing blueberries or peanuts are well packaged and not consumed in common areas. We appreciate your precautions to help keep all members of our school community safe.