7th grade Gifted and Talented Art student, Baxter Guthrie, submitted a design for the Great American Brass Band Festival Youth T-Shirt Contest. Baxter's design was selected from a number of submissions as the winner. His name and design will be used on all of the youth t-shirts at the 2015 Festival. 

Four Boyle County Middle School Academic Team Members have qualified to compete in the KAAC State Governor's Cup Competition on March 14-16 at the Galt House in Louisville. 

Farhan Muhammad and Karan Desai will both be competing in Math Written Assessment. Jaelyn Young will be competing in Written Composition, and Faris Allahham will be competing in Science Written Assessment and Arts and Humanities. 

We wish these students well as they represent BCMS in the Governor's Cup!

The BCHS Academic Team recently competed in the Region 12 Meet. Overall, the team finished in 2nd place, and individually, four students qualified to compete at the State Governor's Cup, which will take place March 14th-March 16th in Louisville.

Savanah Stow and Kelsey Kendrick, two Boyle County High School Seniors, participted in tne Rotary Club Speech Contest on February 13th. For this competition, students were required to write and memorize a 5-7 minute speech on the topic of service. With only ten days to prepare for the event, both Savannah and Kelsey both gave compelling speeches. Overall, Savannah Stow finished in second place, earning a $200.00 scholarship, and Kelsey Kendrick finished in third place, earning a $100.00 scholarship. Both ladies did an excellent job of representing the Boyle County FFA Chapter. Congratulations to Savannah and Kelsey!

The Boyle County Board of Education will accept sealed bids in its Central Office for the purpose of purchasing Chromebooks for Boyle County High School and Boyle County Middle School beginning February 23, 2015.  Bids will be accepted until March 5, 2015 at 9:00 AM. See bid information by clicking link below.

CHROMEBOOK RFP

Parent Feedback Needed! If you have a child in any of the BC elementary schools or in middle school, please take a moment to participate in a short survey on Spanish instruction in our schools. Thank you!

SURVEY

The Boyle County High School Boys Bowling Team competed in the State Bowling Competition on February 12th at the Eastland Lanes in Lexington. The Rolling Rebels were seeded 6th after completing the first round of competition, and after defeating Graves County in three consecutive games, the Rebels faced Pleasure Ridge Parks in the State Quarterfinals. The Rebels won 1 of 4 games against Pleasure Ridge Parks, and ended their season as one of the top 8 bowling teams in the state. 

This year will be the second year that all Boyle County High School Sophomore students will have the opportunity to sign up for the ACT free of cost. The funding will be provided by the Boyle County Board of Education, and the results from the exam will be used to create continuous review for students throughout their Junior year. Although this is not a requirement for students, last year, 86% of the sophomores participated, and we anticipate this number increasing this year. 

In an article on AllKyHoops.com, the Rebel Rowdies were officially named the Student Section of the Season for 2015! To read the full article about the Rowdies, click here.

Next week, the first of three ACT prep sessions will be held for 110 Boyle County High School Juniors who opted to sign up for the free review courses offered by the school. These sessions will be held from 9 am – 12 pm on three Saturday mornings and will be focused on specific weaknesses of each student based on previous ACT results. There will be 9 Boyle County Teachers hosting review courses in Reading, Math, and English.

Due to the number of students who registered for the free ACT at the Boyle County Public Library on February 8th, the event has reached capacity. Because there are many students who didn't have the opportunity to sign up, Kaplan has added a second practice test date on March 1st at 1:30 pm at the Boyle County Public Library. 

After the test, students will be given an explanations document to help in reviewing their test answers. They will also have the opportunity to ask questions about the ACT. 

To register for this FREE practice exam on March 1st, click here

For several years, Boyle County Schools has been in the forefront of new developments in education, using many innovative instructional strategies to further improve student growth. One such strategy being used in 4^th-12^th grade classrooms comes from the Math Design Collaborative, a joint effort between the district, the Kentucky Department of Education, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. MDC structures are used to teach the Common Core math standards, as well as the 8 mathematical practices outlined in the standards. These practices include abstract reasoning, perseverance, and constructing and critiquing arguments. Assistant Superintendent, David Young, explains how MDC has been incorporated into the Boyle County evaluation system in an effort to measure skill growth in students: “Math Design Collaborative units, along with Literacy Design Collaborative and Project Based units, have been built into the Deeper Learning segment of PGES (the evaluation system) as a lens through which we see 21^st Century Skill Growth in students. As a result, our students are learning how to communicate, problem solve, and think critically in mathematical settings – skills which will pay huge dividends for them in their lives.”

The Board approved the 2015-2016 calendar during the regular session in December.

Key Dates:

Aug 12: First Day for Students
Sept 7: Labor Day, No School
Oct 5-9: Fall Break
Nov 3: Staff Development Day, No School
Nov 25-27: Thanksgiving Break
Dec 21-Jan 1: Winter Break
Jan 4: Staff Development Day, No School
Jan 18: Martin Luther King Day, No School
Mar 18: Staff Development Day, No School
Mar 28-Apr 1: Spring Break
May 18: Last Day for Students

Click here for full calendar

We are already planning for Black and Gold Academy 2015! 

June 15-19

This academy is open to all Boyle County students. Breakfast, Lunch, Two Enrichment Courses, Fitness Activities, a T-shirt, and much more are offerred during this week long camp. 

Look for more information following winter break.

Math after school homework help is here!
Boyle County students in grades 6-12 can take advantage of free Math homework help from 3:30-4:30. This is a free service provided Monday-Thursday. These help sessions began September 8th and will go until May 1st, 2015. Two sessions will be offered; one at the high school and one at the middle school.