April 14, 2025

Greetings, BHS students, families and community.  I hope this note finds you well and enjoying these early spring days. It looks like we'll be getting warmer and sunnier weather soon. Inside BHS, teaching and learning continues and we are well into the 4th quarter of the year. We also see our school calendar getting increasingly full with end-of-year celebrations, concerts, and awards nights. Please skim each newsletter to make sure you don't miss anything; our school website and calendar page are also good places to look for routine updates.

Last week, I was able to bring my Principal's Student Advisory Group to the new BHS campus for a tour. Things are coming along rapidly in the interior, while the parking lots, roads and walkways, and some of the early landscaping elements are taking shape outside. The students, who represent grades 9-12, were both thrilled and astonished by the new building and all its features and facilities. While not all of them will be able to benefit directly from the new campus, their excitement for future generations of students, and for our community as a whole, was palpable. As someone who is often caught up in the fine details and design decisions, I felt deeply grateful to be able to experience the tour with them and through their eyes. You can find some photos of our trip, including a group shot on the balcony (yes, a balcony!) below.

Speaking of appreciation, Teacher Appreciation Week will be celebrated on May 5-9. We will be doing a variety of things to celebrate our teachers, but it's also the perfect time to honor those educators -- both teachers and paraeducators -- who stand out and exemplify all that's great about the profession. Like last year,  I'm inviting our entire school community, including students and families, to submit nominations for the Teacher of the Year Award and Paraeducator of the Year Award. The leadership team will review all nominations to determine our 2025 honorees, and will also publish the full list of nominees to the staff (because it feels great to know you were nominated!). Our honorees will be named at Academic Awards Night on May 28th. To nominate an educator, please submit either or both of these forms no later than May 9th:

• Teacher of the Year Nomination Form

• Paraeducator of the Year Nomination Form

Finally, this is the last week to complete the BSD Annual Family Survey for BHS. If you've not taken it yet, please consider doing so -- it's fast, anonymous and important. We have had a great response rate from our staff and students, but we've only heard from 11% of our caregivers so far. We want to hear from you! BSD values your feedback and perspective on your and your child’s experience in our district and at our school. If you need language support to access the survey, please contact your Multilingual Liaison. Responses are used to measure our progress on our district Strategic Plan, inform professional development and training, and to identify bright spots and areas of need. Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey!

As a reminder, all BSD schools will be closed on 4/21-4/25 for Spring Break. Whether you're traveling or staying in town, I hope you and your family have a restful, safe and fun time away from the usual routine!

With appreciation,

Sabrina Westdijk