Greetings Berkshire Families:

As we end the 2020 – 2021 school year, I have to say how grateful that I am to be a part of our Berkshire school community. Everyone (students, staff and families) has put in a lot of hard work in what seemed like a constantly evolving teaching and learning environment to make the very best of a challenging situation. Despite the challenges, we have successfully and gracefully made it through the school year and can now take some time to enjoy the fruits of our hard work in what I hope will be a fun and relaxing summer for everyone. However, before we go into summer mode, I wanted to share one final Berkshire Family Update to say thank you and to also share some information regarding upcoming dates to start off next school year.

Enjoy the summer!
Jason Clinkscale
Principal
Berkshire Middle School

Report Cards and NWEA Scores
We are in the process of now mailing out the final report cards to all of our Berkshire families. This is the only hardcopy of the report card that we mail each year. Within this mailing, you will also receive your student’s NWEA score reports.

Congratulations 8^th Graders!
We salute all of our exiting 8^th graders as they prepare to go on to high school and achieve greatness outside of Berkshire. On Wednesday (6/9) we were able to live-stream their ceremony while families and parents watched and celebrated outside of school. For those that were unable to see the ceremony feed, here is the link to the recorded event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N2xs019fs8&feature=youtu.be
Unfortunately, we did have technical glitch where the video feed failed for the last five minutes of the ceremony. Regardless, it was a spectacular event for our students and they had a great time celebrating at their party after the ceremony.

Barb Babich Memorial Scholarship Award
Congratulations to Samantha (Sammie) Jacobs who was recognized at the most recent 8^th grade ceremony as the winner of 2021 Barb Babich Memorial Scholarship award. Sammie has worked very hard over her middle school years to live up the legacy that our late and beloved Berkshire teacher Barb Babich would be very proud of. As part of this award, Sammie has received a $500 scholarship award that she can apply to any educational endeavor of her choice. In addition, her name will be engraved on a plaque, along with last year’s winner (Jordyn Jacobs), that will be proudly displayed outside of the Berkshire office.

8^th Grade Artifacts to Claim
We still have many 8^th grade students’ t-shirts and 8th grade ceremony certificates. If your child did not receive theirs please let us know. We would be more than happy to place it outside on the cart in a bag. Please let us know by calling the office at 203-4811.

Thank You Field Day/Wildcat Games Volunteers
The 2021 Field Day/Wildcat Games were a huge success and tons of fun for our Berkshire students this past Thursday (6/10). We are very grateful for all of our parent volunteers and even some of our former Berkshire grads that came out to help make this event possible. Thank you also to our CSO Pam Lucken for helping to coordinate this fun event for our students.

Important Upcoming Dates
August 12                        Math and Reading Placement Test (for students new to BPS)
August 16 – 19              Berkshire Bound (for incoming 6^th graders)
August 16                        6^th Grade Picture Day (students take pictures at Berkshire Bound)
August 17                        6^th Grade Registration (8 am – 12 pm)
August 18                       7^th & 8^th Grade Registration & Picture Day (8 am – 12 pm)
August 19                        6^th, 7^th & 8^th Grade Registration (8 am – 12 pm)
August 20                        New Student Orientation (for students new to BPS)  ***New Student Schedule Pick Up
August 30                        First Day of School
September 9                  Picture Make-Up Day
October 14                     Picture Retake Day

Berkshire Summer Reading Programs
Summer Reading is officially kicking off soon. Check out some of the options available to all our Berkshire Readers:

Berkshire Media Center and Public Library Summer Programs:
https://www.birmingham.k12.mi.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=11321

Groves Sports Information and Dates (for incoming 9^th graders)
FALL OFF SEASON PRACTICE & TRYOUT INFORMATION
Check the Athletic website for more information in August
www.grovesfalcons.com
Pompon – Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays from 6:00pm - 8:30pm in the weight room. For more information contact Coach Mady at grovespompon@gmail.com
Cheerleading – Tryouts June 16^th, 17^th, 18^th 5:00pm – 7:00pm. Meet in the weight room. For more information contact Coach Danielle at dbeauregard@birmingham.k12.mi.us
Boys & Girls Cross Country – Captain led runs, weekdays at Beverly Park.  Meet at the park at 8:30am.  For more information contact Coach Inloes at dinloes@birmingham.k12.mi.us.
Boys Soccer – Captain let practices, Mondays and Fridays from 5:00pm – 7:00pm, Wednesdays from 10:00am – 11:30am.  For more information contact Coach Perkins at greg12117@hotmail.com
Football – Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays meet in Groves weight room for lifting from 9:00am-11:30am. June 24 Team Camp 6:00pm – 9:30pm, July 12, 14, 15 Team Camp 6:00pm – 9:30pm, July 22 Team Camp All Levels from 7:00pm – 9:00pm in the stadium.  July 26 Team Meeting 5:00pm,   July 26 – August 5, All Level Conditioning 6:00pm – 9:30pm.  August 8^th all levels leave for Football Camp.  Practice times are subject to change, for more information visit www.grovesfootball.com
Tennis – Starting June 16^th, Wednesdays 9:00am – 11:30am, Tuesdays & Thursdays 4:00pm – 6:00pm.  For more information contact Coach Annie at annie.moore11@gmail.com . 
Sundays 12:00pm – 4:00pm, for more information contact Coach Farmer at daf222@msn.com
Girls Swim & Dive – Practice begins August 11^th at Groves in the pool.  The schedule is: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8:00am – 10:00am, Tuesday, Thursday 8:00am – 9:00am in the weight room, Monday – Friday in the pool 3:15 – 5:30, Saturday 8:00am – 11:00am.  Practice schedule is subject to change depending on Asst. Coach availability.  For more information contact Coach Torriglia at dltorriglia@gmail.com
Boys Water Polo – For more information contact Coach Curry at scurryman24@gmail.com  
Wrestling – Starting July 12^th, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 3:00pm – 4:00pm meet at the stadium. For more information call Coach Jones at (248) 705-8372
Volleyball – Refer to the Athletic website www.grovesfalcons.com for more information.

FALL SPORTS AND TRYOUTS BEGIN Monday, August 9^TH.  Tryout information can be found on the athletic website www.grovesfalcons.com as it gets closer to August 9^th or you can contact the coach directly.
Before your athlete tries out for any team the following must be completed in order to get a Blue Slip from the Athletic Office.                Athletes without a Blue Slip will not be allowed to tryout.  The Blue Slip tells the coach that your athlete has all of the required forms and payment completed.

• A current Athletic physical must be on file in the Athletic office.  The physical must be dated after April 15, 2021. 
• Pay to Participate needs to be paid.  The link can be found on the Athletic website www.grovesfalcons.com under the Announcement tab.  Pay to Participate is a district charge for athletics.  This fee that is not included in booster dues.  Financial assistance is available.  For more information regarding Pay to Participate please contact Mrs. Righter at drighter@birmingham.k12.mi.us
• A current emergency card/form to give to the coach needs to be completed.

Pay to Participate Fees
Football - $195
Cheerleading, Pompon, Cross Country, Swimming, Tennis, Soccer - $160
Water Polo, Volleyball, Golf - $180
For more information and links to other teams please visit the athletic website www.grovesfalcons.com

BBSC Update
BBSC soccer is back in action! Under new leadership, BBSC will be returning to league play this fall. Registration will be up shortly on our new and soon to be live website: bbscsoccer.com. 
We will also be opening registration for our summer tots program. This is a play based soccer skills class for kids from 3 years old to those heading to kindergarten this fall. 
For all the latest news and info follow us @bbscsoccer on Facebook and Instagram. 
We're excited to see new and familiar faces on the soccer field soon. Thanks for your continued support during this transition.