Principal’s message – March 3, 2022

March 3, 2022

Dear BKW Families,

Although our cold and blustery weather indicates otherwise, spring is just around the corner. Here at school, we have been busy organizing for state testing in grades seven and eight. The student performance data from these exams helps us to reflect on our teaching and continue to improve our instruction.

This year, as in years past, students will be completing these exams on the computer. The ELA and math exams must be administered on two consecutive days and students will have as much time as they need, throughout each school day, to complete the exam. Those students who have IEP or 504 plans will receive all of their accommodations. The schedule below outlines the dates of each exam.

Grade 7 
ELA Exam: Thursday, March 31st and Friday, April 1st
Math Exam Tuesday, April 26th and Wednesday, April 27th 
(No Science Exam for Grade 7)

Grade 8
ELA Exam: Tuesday, March 29th and Wednesday, March 30th
Math Exam: Thursday, April 28th and Friday, April 29th
Science Exam: Monday, June 6, 2022 (written test – the lab practical will be done during class time)

Your child will receive more specific testing information, including testing locations, from his or her classroom teacher. If you have any questions about your child’s exams, I encourage you to reach out to the subject teacher in the coming weeks.

As the Coronavirus pandemic improves in New York State, BKW Secondary School has begun the process of reissuing lockers to all students. We will be issuing lockers starting on Monday, March 14th. All students who are interested in having a locker must rent a lock from the main office. The cost of the lock is $5.00 and this money will be refunded upon the return of the lock at the end of the year.

Please observe the locker distribution schedule for next week and send your child in with the $5.00 on that day. Please note that for safety and security reasons, only school issued locks are permitted to be used on the lockers. In the event of an emergency, we must be able to quickly access all lockers. Also remind your child that he or she should not allow anyone else to use his or her locker nor to share the locker assigned to him or her with anyone else.

Grade level  & Date of distribution
Grade 7 – Monday, March 14th
Grade 8 – Tuesday, March 15th
Grade 9 – Wednesday, March 16th
Grade 10 – Thursday, March 17th
Grade 11 – Friday, March 18th
Grade 12 – Monday, March 21st

There are no expectations of privacy in using lockers here at school. Nothing that does not belong in the building or that a student does not want us to see should be stored in a school locker.

Respectfully,
Mark A. Pitterson, Ed.D.
Principal

Bonnie Kane
SDM Chairperson