JANUARY 2020

Happy New Year Booker Nation!

It is my pleasure to thank you for your commitment to creating and maintaining an orderly,

trusting and caring environment where teaching and learning are exciting and scholars are assisted as

they develop responsibility. We have rallied together to build upon our school’s organization, curricular

and VPA programs and activities. These activities are not only child centered, but we continue to design

ways to accommodate individual learning styles so that all may experience success.

Our staff members lay down their lives daily so that our students may live to be productive

citizens in the communities we serve. I encourage you to remain committed daily to helping us provide a

strong educational base, in a richly diversified environment, that will develop our scholars’ individual

interests and talents. Booker Middle will continue to be a positive place for learning where children and

adults grow in knowledge, skills and respect.

Have an amazing 2020 and Happy Valentine’s Day to each of you!

Sincerely,

Dr. LaShawn Frost, Principal

DON’T MISS!!

PARENT UNIVERSITY Tuesday, February 18th 5:30-6:30 PM @ BMS

STAY INFORMED! Website: www. sarasotacountyschools.net/schools/bookermiddle

Remind VPA: Text @bookerm to 81010

VPA Website: www.BookerMiddleSchoolVPA.weebly.com

VPA Facebook: @BookerMiddleSRQ

VPA Instagram: @BookerMiddle

VPA Twitter: @bookermiddle

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Legend Purple and Gold BMS General

Blue Academics

Yellow Clubs

Red Sports and Athletics

Purple VPA and Arts

VPA & Arts

MUSICAL THEATRE LEVEL 1

PERFORMACNE Friday, February 21st

First Presbyterian Church @ 7:00

MUSICAL THEATRE LEVEL 1

PERFORMACNE Saturday, February 22nd

First Presbyterian Church @ 4:00

DRAGONFLY CAFÉ Thursday, March 5th 6:30 @ BMS Rm 130

SPRNG BAND CONCERT Tuesday, March 10th

7:00 @ BMS

BMS GENERAL

PRINCIPALS AWARDS Tuesday, February 4th

6-7 PM @ BMS

PARENT INVOLVEMENT Tuesday, February 18th

5-6 PM @ BMS

SAC MTG Tuesday, February 18th

6-7 PM @ BMS

PARENT UNIVERSITY Tuesday, February 18th 5:30-6:30 PM @ BMS

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IMPORTANT HIGH SCHOOL DATES

(SPIN is Student/Parent Information Night)

BOOKER HIGH SCHOOL Magnet Night/SPIN at BHS is Thursday, Jan. 23, at 6 p.m. in the

VPA Theatre. Booker High School counselors will visit Booker Middle on March 2 for orientation and return on March 5, 9 for registration.

BHS Visual and Performing Arts’ “Forecast Festival” is Saturday, Feb. 1 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This event is a showcase or display of the performing arts programs available at Booker High.

February 22 is the deadline for auditions for Theatre, Art, Film & Animation, Music, Production & Design.

Dance auditions during shadow appointments only.

March 6 is the priority deadline for all application materials. Shadows may be arranged by calling the

school. If students need applications to audition for VPA programs, please contact BMS school counselors Mrs. Clark or Mrs. Thomas. Students should also speak to BMS encore or VPA teachers regarding the audition

process. If you’d like to apply for any other special programs, visit the school website.

SARASOTA HIGH SCHOOL Sarasota High School SPIN Night is Wednesday, Jan 29 from 6 to 8 pm in the Auditorium. The evening begins with a presentation. Afterwards, those interested in our AICE and/or MaST programs may stay for a presentation about both of these

programs. All others will be dismissed to visit the cafeteria for information about clubs, athletics and more.

SHS counselors will be visiting Booker Middle School on March 6 for an orientation. Then on March 11 they return to register students for classes. Applications for the AICE program are available at

www. shsaice.com. Visit the school website to apply for other school programs such as MAST. You can also see BMS counselors.

RIVERVIEW HIGH SCHOOL Riverview High School SPIN Night is Wednesday, Feb. 19

from 6 to 8 p.m. in the courtyard. Riverview High School counselors will be visiting Booker Middle School on March 6 for

orientation and on March 11 for follow up registration. All applications for the International Baccalaureate program (advanced/college prep classes) at

Riverview High School should be completed online through an electronic format and can be accessed via the school’s website, www.riverviewib.com. An IB information night is scheduled in the Riverview Performing Arts Center on February 4th at 6:00 pm.

NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL North Port High School SPIN Night is Wednesday, Jan.

29 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Starts in the Courtyard

VENICE HIGH SCHOOL Venice High School SPIN Night is Tuesday, Feb. 25 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 or 8 p.m. in the Venice Performing Arts Center

SUNCOAST POLYTECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL SPHS will visit Booker Middle School on Wednesday, January 29 at 9:00 in the cafeteria. Open House: Jan. 28 and Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. Walking tours: Jan. 21, Feb. 4, Feb. 18 and March 24 from 8:45 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The

application deadline is Friday, February 28th. The application is available online at the school website.

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Congratulations Principal Award Recipients!!

Straight As Samiyah Albritton, Deliyah Brown, Jackson Carney, Elina Carter, Aukan

Coliguante-Rivero, Keira Donovan, Emmanuelle Fandoux, Taltos Fuszfas, Cora Gerdes, Melia Haddock, Ayden Hall, Karaijus Hayes, Gabrielle Huff, Nhi Huynh, Josephine Jorgensen, Hana Knowlton, Cristobal Lugardo-Lopez,

Catherine Luis, Arif Mahe, Hong Nguyen, Emma Ortiz, Audrey Patrick, Aijalon

Pegram, Alejandra Peguero, Kyle Ramon, Kyra Rosier, Dante Rutland, Casey Scolardi, Morgan Sims, Micah Stillwagner, Julia Stover, Augustus Toynton,

Annabelle Truong, Gabriel Vaquera-Meija, Jillian Vega, Haily Vu, Logan Warren, Kylee Worth, Naomi Yamada

Academic Excellence Emily Aldridge, Jolissa Allen, Genearia Ash, Kelsey Berroyer, Deliyah Brown, Lila Burgess, Ursula Cook, Lilah Davenport, Anahi Dominguez-Silva, Loudon

Dougherty, Bolero Eastman, Ariyana Enis, Emmanuelle Fandoux, Maria Ferrer, Saidy Flores-Vaquera, Taltos Fuszfas, Cora Gerdes, Lashaurd Gilchrist,

Gabryella Gonzalez, Ayden Hall, Gabriella Huff, Josephine Jorgensen, Nikita Kondratyuk, Charles Lester, Jose Lopez-Ramirez, Cristobal Lugardo-Lopez,

Giselle Martin Del Campo, Brian Mata, Ben McDonald, Angelyn Medina, Javari Mitchell, Sarah Monasterios-Ramirez, Emma Ortiz, Valeria Pacheco-Villeda,

Kamilah Pallares, Karissa Pallares, Aubrey Patrick, Aijalon Pegram, Alejandra Peguero, Connor Peltier, Lotisha Quinn, Jessica Ramirez, Jose Ramirez, Kyle

Ramon, Dante Rutland, Jauzlyn Schwaed, Casey Scolardi, Morgan Sims, Emily Smith, Daniel Stillwagner, Julia Stover, Hailey Torres, Jillian Vega, Emily Villarreal, Logan Warren, Michah Williams, Heidi Wolfe, Kylee Worth

Citizenship Johanna Barrientos, Darius Behn, Richard Carino, Anthony Cerda-Reyes,

Taliyah Durn, Evelyn Garza, McKayla Helton, Caleb Lee, Angelyn Medina, Geneva Pobjoy, Kyle Ramon, Jonathan Vasquez

Most Improved

Damarion Abnar, Judy Alvarado-Acosta, Marcus Allen, Brianna Behn, Juliet Camacho, Carron Chestnut-Ung, Alanis Cruz-Santiago, Miracle Deveaux, Iris Dougherty, Brian Elizarrarez-Hernandez, Antronique Foster, Emma Green, Jazmynne Goddard, Esmeralda Guzman, Oliva Daney Hernandez, Emily

Hernandez, Jaime Irizary, Alondra Lugo, Torin Merritt-Radney, Oswald Munoz-Mendoza, Lilia Pearson, Myla Phelps, Anthony Queved, Kate Rodriguez-Cedillo, Jada Rowe, Edwin Sanchez-Roblero, Amanda Sauceda, Jamiyah

Saunders

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Awards Cont.

Work Ethic

Sofia Alvarado-Navarro, Miracle Deveaux, Giselle Martin Del Campo, Angelyn Medina, Thaliana Ricardo Sanchez, Madison Rivera, Naomi Yamada

Best Class Participation Bolero Eastman, Julian Geers, Khenyon Jones, Ivan Lucio-Vega, Jessica

Ramirez, Dalia Rodriguez-Esparza, La'darien Smith, Emily Smith, Hailey

Uffinger

Leadership Cora Gerdes, Hong Nguyen, Matthew O'Hara, Kenya Taylor, Augustus Toynton

Most Engaged Ariadna Aguilera, Katherine Balbo, Victoria Gonzalez, Khenyon Jones, Abigail

Kinsey, Ivan Lucio-Vega, Jazlyn Mathis, Makhalia Pride-Young, Jonathan Vasquez

Most Kind, Courteous, and Generous to All Handy Sandoval

Most Polite Darius Behn, Madeline Holdway, Savannah Kincaid, Gina Masarik, Mario

Sanchez

Never Give Up Award Eligha Lane

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VPA Dance Concert On Saturday January 11th the Booker Middle School VPA dance

program put on a fabulous dance concert entitled “Transformation.”

Parents, staff, and community members were impressed by the

outstanding talent and technique of our students. Way to go

dancers!

Meteorologist Greg Dee with ABC Action News - WFTS -

Tampa visited our school this month to speak with our eighth

grade students about convection as well as his career in

meteorology. The students had a fantastic time!

Greg Dee Visits

Dr. Frost Honored With Education Award

Monday January at the 39th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Breakfast at Robert L Taylor Community Complex hundreds gathered

for breakfast and a “unity march” to honor the minister and civil rights

leader whose message of equity, justice and love continues to inspire

people decades after his 1968 assassination. At this celebration our

own Dr. Frost received the Education Award. We are so proud of the

work Dr. Frost does at our school and in the community!

College and Career Center Spotlight

This month, we focus on career in Information Technology. Many

businesses employ technicians, programmers and network

administrators to keep their technology up and running. You can even

begin your IT pathway by earning certifications here at Booker Middle

School! Special thanks to Sarasota Memorial Hospital for allowing our

scholars to tour their facilities as well as Author Amy Hammond for

providing her college storybooks to each one of our students. If you’re

looking for more information about IT careers, stop by your College

and Career Center.

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January 21st- January 24th our school celebrated how much we love

our school during our annual Spirit Week. The Interact Club helped

organize the whole week culminating in the “Roaring 20s

Homecoming Dance”. Students and teachers alike had a blast!

National Junior Honor Society Inductions Forty-three Booker Middle School 7th and 8th graders were inducted

into the Purple and Gold Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society

on Tuesday, Jan. 21 during a ceremony witnessed by friends and family.

Students went through a rigorous application process for the honor of

being accepted into one of the nation’s oldest, largest, and most

prestigious student recognition programs. This included a 3.5 GPA and

also recommendations from teachers rating students on the pillars of the

organization: scholarship, service, citizenship, leadership and character.

NJHS members volunteer for school and community through many

activities such as Great American Clean-up, Campus Clean-up, Humane

Society of Sarasota support and advocacy, “See Something, Say

Something” campaign. Congratulations new members!

CFES Visits CFES scholars continue to have incredible experiences exploring

careers. This month the students were treated to fantastic

speakers in the fields of Social Media, Ceramics Engineering and

Dentistry. It is wonderful to see our students inspired by local

experts and professionals

Dragonfly Cafe Dragonfly Café was held on January 16th to a full house. All

dragonflies shared their best poetry of the quarter. Guest poets, young

and not as young stepped up during open mic. Getting ready for café is

a time of fun, laughter, and bonding making for a memorable event.

Spirit Week

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Dragonflies at Ringing Museum Some of our wonderful Dragonfly Café poets had a chance to visit

the Ringling Museum this month. There they learned about the

grounds of the museum, they found poetry, and made some new

friends. It is always a pleasure for our students to visit the

wonderful Ringling!

Bobcat Brawl Vex Robot Competition Results The Bookerbots Robot team took a first place in the

Create Award Category and a third place in the overall

competition at the Bobcat Brawl at Northpot HS this month.

Congrats to the team A Mahe, D Mendoza, J Bayles, S Weaver,

and S Rezin. Stay tuned for results for when they go up against

all other SCS Middle Schools at the StemSmart Competition at

STC coming up soon.

College Book Author Visits Campus. Thank you to author Amy Hammond for coming to BMS to share her

passion for college and career readiness with our scholars. She even left

our students with some of the books she has authored about different

schools in Florida and beyond!

VPA Drama Solosynergy Performance

Bravo to Mrs. Mills and her students (and elder volunteers) for an

absolutely moving project/performance! This is year 2 of VPA

Drama’s partnership with Sarasolo productions where Drama students

and community elders were paired to share each other’s stories in

monologue performances.

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Parent University: We know your child’s education and development is important to you

and that you would like to encourage them in any way you can. Our monthly Parent University will give you some tools and strategies to best support their Booker Middle School education. (see dates in the “Calendars”

section)

Parent Involvement: Our parents are the lifeblood of our school’s support network. Each

month our parents and faculty meet to discuss the activities associated with

our school’s fundraising efforts. (see dates in the “Calendars” section)

SAC (School Advisory Council): A formal monthly meeting where parents and community members meet

with our principal and other administrators to collaborate on school issues. (see dates in the “Calendars” section)

Magnet, Club, and Program Fundraising: Our students participate in a number of events and activities both on and

away from our campus. Our fundraising programs are designed to help our parents get involved and support performances, activities, and field trips. Ask

how you can get involved.

Donate: Donations come in many forms and we appreciate all of them. Email

our arts coordinator (BookerMiddleVPA@gmail.com) for information on BMS Arts Giving. For information regarding donations to our other

programs email Debra Alvis-Greenwald (debra.alvis-greenwald@sarasotacountyschools.net).

Volunteer: BMS can always use a helping hand. If you would like to donate your

time to our wonderful school, come to the front office of our school and sign up or contact Debra Alvis-Greenwald.

Attend: There are so many events for our students and it means the world to our

students when the attendance and support goes beyond their friends and family. Attend an arts event, a sports event, or just come out to a Family

Night with one of our business partners (see dates in the “Calendars” section).

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Light supper served

Julie Howie, Miriam Chilton, Corinne Day, Gina Toynton, Kelly and Drew Carney, Roxanne and

Serge Jorgensen, Cameron Parker, Kelly Endress, Tiffany Lawrence, Jennifer Lozzi, Ysbelia

Sanchez, Liliana Pallares, Lyndsey Ashley, Sally Blackheart, Jessica Young, Donna Ortiz, Philip

DuQuesney, Araceli Herrera, Marianna Cruz, Joanna Martinez, Eliabel Ramirez, Heriberto and

Natashie Enriquez, Judith Hall, Maggie Davenport, Rhonda Berroyer

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For more information on Booker Middle School Visual and Performing Arts events or

admissions contact our VPA coordinator at bookermiddlevpa@gmail.com

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Parental Notification

Principal Attestation of Qualifications For Teachers and Paraprofessionals

Booker Middle School

Sarasota County School District

As required by P.L. 107-110, Section 1119(i) of Title I, Part A, I attest to the following for

the school year 2019-2020:

• All teachers teaching in core academic subject areas and hired after the first day of

2001-2003 school year and teaching in a program and supported bt Title I, Part A funds, are highly qualified.

• All instructional paraprofessionals, (except for translations and parental involvement activities) meet the requirements to be considered highly qualified.

Copies of this attestation are available online and at the school and district office and will be made available to the general public upon request.

Dr. LaShawn Frost

Title I Booklet Distribution

What is “Parent’s-Right-to-Know” Federal law requires that the Sarasota County School District notify parents of all children

in Title I schools of their rights to receive timely information on the professional qualifications of their child’s teacher. Parents may request information about the

professional qualifications of the student’s classroom teacher including, at a minimum, the following:

• Whether the teacher has met the state qualifications and certification criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction.

• Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through

which state qualification or certification criteria has been waived.

• The baccalaureate degree major of the teacher and any other graduate certificate or

degree held by the teacher, and the field of discipline of the certification or degree.

• Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their

qualifications

If you would like to receive a Title I booklet, please notify Debra Alvis-Greenwald

(941)359-5824 or debra.alvis-greenwald@sarasotacountyschools.net