Fall 2024 Bemis Junior High School Parent/Teacher Conference Information

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, October 10, from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. Our evening conferences will be held on Thursday, October 17, 2024, from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. We will be using SchoolSoft’s Conference Manager again to schedule conferences. With this conference format, families have two options for conferences, remote or in-person.

Please schedule your conferences depending on the type of conference you prefer.

· Remote: October 10 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

· In-Person: October 10 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

· Remote: October 17 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

· In-Person: October 17 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

BOTH In-person and remote conferences require an appointment. “Drop in” conferences are not available. Please do not come to the school during in-person conference times unless you have a confirmed appointment from SchoolSoft’s Conference Manager.

We ask that you are prompt for in-person appointments. To keep all our parents on track for their scheduled conferences, parents and teachers will need to keep to the five-minute conference time allotment.

The first time you use the Conference Manager you will be required to register and create a parent account. This only takes a minute or two to complete. You will continue to use this same account for the duration of the time you have children in school, so please save your password for future reference.

Please note - while you can register at any time, the window to book an appointment will not open until 8:00 a.m. on Monday, October 7, 2024. The appointment window will close on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.

To create an account, or if you need a reservation refresher, please use the following steps:

 PARENT GUIDE TO CONFERENCES 2024-2025 

1. Go to the following website https://utica.schoolsoft.com.

2. Register for a parent account. To register click the REGISTER NOW button and complete the registration page. Once registered you will be able to immediately log in to the Conference Manager. An email will also be sent to the address you specified. This email restates your username and password and should be saved, as you will use the same username and password when booking future rounds of Parent-Teacher Conferences. If you forget your password, you can reset it using the FORGOT PASSWORD link under the login button.

After registering, you can log back into Conference Manager after 8:00 a.m. on Monday, October 7, 2024, to select your teachers and conference times. This can be done up until 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 9, when the window will close. The instructions to schedule your conferences are below.

3. Click the BOOK NOW button and select a conference date in the date drop-down that appears. Then, select the teacher(s) you wish to meet with and click the NEXT button. To coordinate bookings involving multiple teachers select all the teachers applicable to your child(ren) with whom you wish to meet.

4. Click on an available time slot for each teacher you selected and complete the booking form that appears. You should see the booking appear in the summary list on the right-hand side of the screen. A confirmation email is sent for each booking you made or subsequently cancel. You will also receive a reminder and conference itinerary by email.

5. Confirm your appointments have been booked by looking at the “CURRENTLY BOOKED CONFERENCES” box on the right of the screen or click on the MY CONFERENCES tab. Only appointments that appear in the CURRENTLY BOOKED CONFERENCES box or on the MY CONFERENCES page are confirmed bookings.

6. When finished booking, click the log off button located at the top right of the browser window. You will have the opportunity to provide feedback regarding the use of the Conference Manager to the school administration through a user survey before completely exiting. We appreciate you completing the survey as this helps guide our decision-making regarding how conferences are booked in the future.

7. REMOTE CONFERENCES: Just prior to your scheduled conference time, you will receive a link to your video conference. At the appropriate time, click on the link and the teacher will admit you to the room.

8. IN-PERSON CONFERENCES: Print/screenshot your conference itinerary email so that you have it with you to check in at conferences.

If you have questions, please contact us at: 797-2500.

Peanut/Tree Nut Safe Classroom

We are asking for your help this year in a very important matter. Your child is in a classroom where at least one student has an allergy to peanut and/or tree nut products. For that reason, we have made your child’s room a “peanut/tree nut safe classroom.”

Our students’ overall health and wellbeing are issues that involve all of us. Peanut products to avoid include peanuts, peanut butter, peanut flour and/or peanut oil. Examples of tree nuts that should be avoided include such things as almonds, cashews, macadamia, pecans and walnuts.

A student's allergy can be so serious that contact with even the smallest amount of a peanut product can cause a severe or even fatal reaction. There are a number of simple things you can do to help us to ensure a successful school year for all of our students:

• Do not send daily snacks that may contain/were processed on shared equipment with/ or manufactured in the same facility with peanut or tree nut products. Be aware that traces of nuts can be found in unexpected foods. Please check packaged food labels for content ingredients or potential allergens.
• If there is a classroom activity or celebration for which you are providing a special treat, please be sure to not send foods with peanut or tree nut products.
• Even though they may be delicious, we also must require that no homemade baked or commercially prepared bakery treats be brought to school.

This is a learning process for all of us. It is extremely important that we respect and adhere to these guidelines. If you have questions at any time about this issue, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Thomas Yaw, Bemis Junior High School Principal

2024-2025 School Calendar

Please follow this link for key dates in the 2024-25 school calendar - https://bit.ly/3wRuptx

Computer Use Rules

You are to read Student Responsible Use agreement that appears when you log on to the laptop.

THIS LAPTOP DEPLOYED TO YOU IS FOR SCHOOL USE ONLY

DO NOT USE IT FOR PERSONAL COMMUNICATION OR PERSONAL USE     

DO NOT LET ANYONE ELSE USE OR LOG ON TO THIS LAPTOP!

DO NOT USE TEAMS OR ANY APP TO CHAT OR CALL ANY FAMILY MEMBERS OR OTHER STUDENTS

IF YOU ARE NOT USING IT FOR SCHOOL WORK, THEN YOU ARE NOT USING IT AT ALL.

DO NOT USE SCHOOLOGY OR EMAIL TO SEND PERSONAL MESSAGES -THESE TOOLS ARE FOR SCHOOL USE ONLY

DO NOT ADD ANY APPS, VPN’S, GAMES, EXTENSIONS, ETC.

DO NOT ACCESS YOUR PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA ON THIS LAPTOP

DO NOT ADD ANY APP OR TOOL UNLESS APPROVED BY ONE OF YOUR TEACHERS

This means no games, no ZOOM, no Discord, no private chat accounts, ETC.

DO NOT USE ANY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APP OR ACCESS ANY SITE TO ACCESS AI

CHAT GPT, ELSA, GOOGLE ASSISTANT, AMAZON ALEXA, LENSA, ASK AI, YOU CHAT, ETC.

ARE NOT USED FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES AND SHOULD NOT BE ACCESSED

PLEASE REMOVE ALL PROFILE PICTURES

You have 6 teachers and they do not want to see anime, celebrities, characters, cars, pets, objects, etc.

You do not need a profile picture but if you do want one, it MUST be of your face only.

DO NOT CHANGE ANY SETTINGS -VERY IMPORTANT!

The laptop is set up accordingly for you to use for schoolwork only.

Charge your laptop EVERY night so it is ready for the next day.

IF YOU FORGET TO CHARGE IT OVER NIGHT, BRING YOUR CHARGER WITH YOU.

DO NOT LOAN OUT YOUR CHARGER, IF IT GOES MISSING, YOU HAVE TO PAY $38 TO REPLACE IT.

You only receive one at no cost as that has to be returned when you leave Bemis.

IMPORTANT IF YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES AT ANY TIME WITH THE LAPTOP OR YOUR CHARGER,

PLEASE ASK TO SEE MRS. BROWN AS SOON AS YOU NOTICE AN PROBLEM

Her office is in the Media Center (8:15-2:45 daily). 

You can reach her by email at nicole.brown@uticak12.org Or send a message in Schoology.