**Enroll in BSD:** We are currently enrolling students for the **2023-2024 and 2024-2025** school years.
**Enroll in BSD:** We are currently enrolling students for the **2023-2024 and 2024-2025** school years.
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This live event was hosted on June 11, 2020 to welcome, provide information and answer questions from our sixth grade students who will be joining us in the fall. Questions and answers shared during the event are listed below.

Type

Content

Question how is the transport system
Response Students come to school via biking, walking, car, car pool, or metro. The choice schools do not have yellow bus service. There are a few metro routes that have supplemental yellow bus service. Students who live outside of the walk boundry will receive an Orca card for metro bus service. The BSD website has information on the metro bus routes.
Question in covid -19 situation do we have the option  of e learning or does attendance mattters
Response The district is working on the plan for the Fall and will follow state and OSPI guidelines for what is required for attendance and in-person vs virtual learning. Check out the bsd405.org website for info on Fall Planning.
Question Is there student goverment?
Response Yes, there is an ASB. Elections for officers will take place this Fall.
Question how do you support your statement of helping kids strive and be safe?
Response Our belief is that the advisory program and the relationships with the teachers and counselors help students communicate with us if they have been impacted by bullying. The PBIS team creates curriculum for students to reflect on ways to interact with each other positively. Furthermore, this team leverages student data to build systems to respond to all student needs as it pertains to safety and well-being.
Question is there any accommodation for students with special needs
Response Yes, we provide a resource special education program for students with  IEPS. Students will have their goals met in a variety of ways including co-taught LA classes, workshops through advisory, focused reading, writing, and math classes. General ed teachers will work closely with the special education team to implement the accommodations from the IEP into their classes. Students with 504 plans also receive accommodations in classes per their plan.
Question I heard that middle school will be online since September. How to help 6th graders in this transition? Especially when both parents working.
Response There has not been a decision about what Fall will look like yet. The district has 4 commitees working on options that will follow state and OSPI guidance on re-entry. Once the decision is know we will work to assist all of our 6th grade students and families in the transition to middle school.
Question If multiple students want to change the mascot will they be able to sign a petitition to change it?
Response Our panther mascot for the whole school cannot be changed, but mascots for advisory classes are decided upon by the advisories.
Question What languages could we learn?
Response Spanish is the only langauge offered at BP. Students can begin taking Spanish classes in 7th grade.
Question I’m recently selected, so I would like to know  how is this school different from other middle schools.
Response Big Picture is a small school community with 75 students per grade level. All students take an advisory class as one of their 7 classes each year at BP. Advisory students stay together all 3 years of midddle school. They will have 1 advisor in 6th grade and then will transition to a second advisor for 7th and 8th grade and loop with their teachers. In advisory you will focus on community building, service projects, college and career exploration, and other projects. Another difference from other middle schools is that work in your other 6 classes is project-based. You’ll work in groups on a variety of projects for each course, and will present your learning in a variety of formats.
Question what can we do in big picture- like what electives can we do
Response Electives in 6th grade are art and PE for all 6th graders. In 7th and 8th grade you will have choice to take coding, video production or ceramics as semester classes. You can also choose between Spanish, drama, or studio art.
Question what is tutorial like
Response Tutorial is 30 min afterschool on M,T,Th, and Fri. You can go to the room of any of your teachers for the 30min and get extra help, make up missed work, or work on a group project. Sometimes teachers will require individual students to attend tutorial for a period of time to get caught up. Mostly, students attend as it’s a great way to get a head start on HW before you head home. Attendance is not required at tutorial. However, if you are staying to attend a club meeting or Club jubilee sports, you will need to attend tutorial on those days prior to the club meetings.
Question What is the standard punishment for doing something that you aren’t supposed to?
Response Admin works collaboratively with the student, the advisor, the parents, and the counselor to mitigate problem behaviors that impact learning and student well being. We hope to repair pain caused and help students reflect on choices made while teaching replacement behaviors, so that problem behaviors are not repeated.  We follow all district guidelines, policies, and procedures when responding to behavioral situations.
Question My child is currently in an academic advanced program where Math and Language are a year ahead. Does Big Picture offer flexibility and keep students challenged?
Response Yes, each student who comes to us from an advanced learning program in BSD will have a plan that comes from the AL department to assist teachers in the types of differentiation that would be helpful to support these students. Project-based learning offers a lot of flexibility and natural differentiation for all levels of learners.
Question what is project based learning?
Response In Project Based Learning (PBL), students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge. While allowing for some degree of student “voice and choice,” rigorous projects are carefully planned, managed, and assessed to help students learn key academic content, practice 21st Century Skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking), and create high-quality authentic products & presentations. The goal of Bellevue BPS is to create a PBL rich experience for students across all grades and courses. Projects vary in length, from several days to several weeks or even a semester. Usually the projects are done in teams of two to four students. This emphasizes the collaborative nature of learning and develops interpersonal communication skills, all of which will be reinforced in the internships.
Question What about afterschool programs?
Response Afterschool clubs and Club Jubilee sports are the key afterschool activities.
Question When do we find out which advisor we have?
Response At the August orientation, students will meet their advisors.
Question Are there school lockers?
Response Students have lockers for their PE clothes in the locker room. There are no other lockers on campus. Students are allowed to take their backpacks from class to class with their laptops.
Question how difficult will it be to move to other middle school/high school if a scenario arises that my parents need to change cities/locations
Response Students can transition into other middle or high schools just fine. We follow the same content standards as other schools, we just teach them in a project-based way.
Question my friend told me that during lunch people play on video game consoles are we really allowed to bring them
Response We discourage students from bringing other devices to campus. Some students do have cell phones and choose to play games on them at lunch. We encourage students to spend time socializing with friends during lunch and taking a tech break.
Question how do you guys prepare the student for high school or even college
Response Our curriculum is aligned to the national standards preparing students to advance each grade level with the content knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to be successful. Being a 6-12th grade school, our middle school teachers are very aware of the skills needed for high school and work closely with the high school team to ensure a smooth transition into 9th grade. We begin prep for college in 6th grade. In part this is through exploration of various careers and college pathways in yearly advisory projects. It is also through our robust and rigorous projects in each course, the high school internship program, and practice college assessments given in 9th-11th grade.
Question What academic goals do we want to achieve   for students. are there academic competition programs
Response We want students to be deep critcal thinkers, with a depth of content knowledge and the ability to navigate our complex world successfully. We are preparing students to enter into post-secondary educational pathways of their choice. Students graduate from BP incredibly successful and prepared for college and beyond.
Question Can we learn french, at big picture?
Response Spanish is the only language we offer.
Question How will you chose your electives and when and also are the classes first come first serve
Response Electives will be chosen for 7th and 8th grade in the Spring. 6th graders all have the same set of classes. Art and PE are the electives.
Question Which routes have supplemental Yellow bus service?
Response https://bsd405.org/departments/transportation/metro-transit/ Check out the BSD website linked here for more info on these routes.(Neil (Unverified) asked “Which routes have supplemental Yellow bus service?”)
Question Do we think it will be more difficult to have collaborative learning if teaching is remote?
Response Collaborative learning can still happen if we are remote. We would assist students in developing the skills and tech use to do so productively.
Question What are the various electives? When do we elect them?
Response 7th and 8th grade is when you can choose coding, ceramics, video production and Drama, studio art, or Spanish.
Question Will there be SBA in middle and high school?
Response Yes, if the state requires schools to do it next year.
Question how does school go with bully prevention
Response Big Picture teaches bullying prevention classes across advisories, where students learn about empathy, making friends, problem solving and responding to bullying. Integrated lessons include the impact of gossiping, taunting and bullying, as well as the dangers of cyber-bullying. All students are challenged to think about a “Virtue of the Month” traits, such as respect, kindness and forgiveness. Furthermore, students can complete HIB forms online, or anonomously for administrators and counselros to respond.
Question Any support for SAT preparation ?
Response Prep for college entrance exams is embedded in our focus on developing critical thinking and academic skills. In 9thgrade, students begin taking practice SAT or ACTs each year. PSAT 9-9th grade, Pre-ACT 10th grade, PSAT 11- 11th grade.
Question can you drop out if you dont like the school?
Response We would hope that any concerns would be brought to our attention so we could work together to make things better. Families can make a decision to withdraw from the school at the quarter if that is what the decide.
Question How long is lunch?
Response lunch is 30 min.
Question is there a before/After school day care ?
Response we open at 7:45 to provide a space for students who come prior to 1st period 8:30. After school students can attend turorial until 4pm and then go to Club jubilee sports until 4:45 or other clubs everyday except Wed. There is not an afterschool day care program like in elementary school.
Question Is there anywhere else we can sit for lunch thats not in the lunch room
Response Students can sit outside in the courtyard for lunch or in the café.
The Bellevue School District acknowledges that we learn, work, live and gather on the Indigenous Land of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Duwamish and Snoqualmie Tribes. We thank these caretakers of this land, who have lived and continue to live here, since time immemorial.