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Inside Billings
November 13, 2025
| | 🎒 What's Happening at Billings? 📚 | | As we enter this season of gratitude, we are reminded of how much we have to be thankful for — our engaged students, dedicated teachers, and the families who make our community so special. This time of year invites us to pause, reflect, and appreciate the connections that strengthen and inspire us every day at Billings. | | |
Mike on the Mic 🎤
As we come into this month of gratitude, I want to share my deepest thanks with each of you for your support of this year’s Annual Fund. Thank you to our classroom reps who have emailed, called and supported this work, to our Annual Fund Chair, Erika Wright, for your incredible support and for so openly and honestly sharing why you give to Billings. It has been inspiring to read about how our intentionally small school has had such a big, transformative impact on both students and families. Thank you to our students, who have shared their hopes for this year and to our faculty and staff who are continuously learning, growing and giving to ensure our students are receiving an excellent and unique education tailored to their needs.
While we have yet to hit our goal, we are still receiving gifts from alumni, extended community members, and employer matches. I am confident we will hit our goal as every additional dollar truly helps.
Thank you to our Board who led with 100% participation and to our faculty, with 95% participation as it means so much to have their additional support for our mission. I am also excited to share that 6th Grade and 7th Grade made it to 100% participation and will be receiving a free pizza party!! Details on the pizza party will be sent out via email to families in the coming days.
Thank you to each of you for your generosity and support!
Mike
| | Need to start shopping for the holiday season? Head over to the Billings shop and get up to 20% off Billings swag! | | |
Congratulations to Vicky and Nutifafa, our 6th grade class representatives! It was a very close race and we appreciate the courage and effort of all candidates. Student chromebooks with little to no charge are hindering academic work in some classes. Please help your child set (or keep up) an at-home charging routine by setting a specific time (immediately upon arriving home, before brushing teeth at bedtime) and location (bedroom desk, next to backpack, in a shared area next to other daily essentials). Helping them habituate closing tabs and shutting down their devices are also great organizational and tech-security practices. Mundane rituals like these are an underrated boost to executive-functioning skills!
With fall break on the horizon, the 7th grade team is spending time in advisory discussing how students can finish strong. 7th graders have an exam in Science, reading in ELA, math assessments, and other daily assignments that are all upcoming! As the days get dark and a break approaches, it can be tempting to take our “foot off the gas pedal,” and we are discussing strategies to ensure that students are equipped to do their best! On the executive function side of things, we spent time this week cleaning and organizing lockers.
| The 8th graders have been helping to organize, sort, and collect items for the North Helpline food drive. Final donations are due by Monday, November 17th. Students will send out a final count of items next week once we finish our donations. Please see the list of items we are collecting and send them in with your student before Monday! | | |
Food Items:
Canned Fruit
Cereal
Peanut Butter
Canned Chili
Protein-dense Soups
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Hygiene Items:
Travel-Size Shampoo & Soap
Toothpaste & Toothbrush
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Protein Shakes
Canned Fish
Granola Bars
Instant Oatmeal
Ramen
Ground Coffee
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High Need Items:
Baby Wipes & Diapers
Infant Formula
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8th grade ELA students wrapped up their reading of The House on Mango Street this week. We’ve had wonderful discussions where they’ve shared strong insights into characters and the author’s use of literary devices to convey meaning. Students are starting work on their essays, which are due before fall break. They may respond to one of three prompts that address the meaning of home, the novel as a bildungsroman, or the use of symbolism to develop characterization or theme.
In Acting With A Script, 7th and 8th graders are studying character choice and voice by rehearsing and sharing scenes from the spooky radio drama MAUREEN. Each group has been tasked with text interpretation, clear character interactions, and sound design.
6th graders have been working in their new sections to collaborate on silent stage direction challenges during Drama. These 30-60 second story puzzles stretch communication and interpretation skills while inviting students to view every member of the group as crucial to the success, just as every part in a play is crucial to the full story. (And they’re fun!)
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We’re wrapping up our unit on ratio concepts in 6th grade Math. We recently enjoyed a lesson that integrated three-part ratios with city planning. Students experimented with different combinations of market-rate housing, affordable housing, and green space in neighborhood areas with strict or flexible limits. Apart from applying accurate ratio calculations, students had to choose how to equitably distribute these different uses of community space.
Students in all grades are enjoying handball, a sport that is simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. It combines many essential techniques and gameplay fundamentals utilized in basketball, soccer, ultimate frisbee, hockey, etc., and is oddly much less popular (in our country) than these team sports. Regardless, students are loving it! 6th graders also enjoyed their first bouldering experience on our climbing wall this week.
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🎓 Deans on the Scene ✒️
In All School Meeting this week, students spent time writing a thoughtful appreciation to someone else in the school community. In writing these, we stressed the importance of giving an appreciation that is specific, relevant and unique! Appreciations are a cornerstone of the Billings experience, and students practice giving them in advisory, class meetings, and on every trip we take throughout the three years!
| | Billings Family Association | | |
Tomorrow’s Kick-off Meeting for December Faculty Appreciation
The planning team for the December faculty appreciation event will meet tomorrow, Friday 11/14 from 8:30-9:30am. We are planning a festive catered event for the faculty meeting the afternoon of 12/17. If you can’t make it tomorrow but would like to help, just let us know.
Parenting Resources
Effective Coping Strategies for Adolescent Stress
With Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy
Nov. 18, 12–1pm
Register here for this free webinar from ParentMap
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Upcoming Events: 📅
- Open House: Saturday, November 15, 10am-12pm
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Pinehurst Craft Fair: Saturday, November 15, 12pm-3:30pm
- Alumni Reunion: Saturday, November 15th, 12:15pm-1:30pm
- NO SCHOOL: Fall Break, November 24-28
| | Swing by Billings after our Open House on November 15th starting at 12:00pm to check out Pinehurst's Makers Market! We've been delighted to partner with them for years to host their event on our campus. Student artists will be manning the Billings booth with homemade crafts, and all profits will go to a local charity chosen collectively by them. Our crafters have narrowed it down to three options and will make their final decision tomorrow! | | |
SQUIRRELLY WORKSHOP:
Teens & 'Tweens: Holiday Gift Making Series (4 Fridays)
Sign up your Teen or 'Tween for a Squirrelly Art Class where they can get creative with art in a safe and fun space! Squirrelly offers diverse art experiences every day of the week in our bright, woodland studio on Sand Point Way.
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Our favorite series starts tomorrow, November 14th, Surprise Holiday Gift Making. Register now at squirrellyworkshop.com to secure your child's spot!
- Squirrelly has after-school art for kids, art for adults, and art for preschoolers, too! Come enjoy an adult evening out learning watercolor or print-making, sign your elementary school aged student up for after-school art class or bring your mini-artist for our Friday morning preschool open studio!
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Learn more and register at squirrellyworkshop.com! Financial assistance and scholarships are always available.
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Looking for something to do as a family? Check out the Mosaic Room which is located just around the corner from the Billings campus. The Mosaic Room offers family friendly classes from Yoga and Salsa dancing to Yo-Yo tricks! Scan the QR Code to sign-up!
All Billings families will receive 10% off with the code: BILLINGS10
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Executive Function Workout!
Join me (Greg: Director of The Learning Center at Billings) for a regular morning EF workout from 8:30am to 9:30am on Mondays. Developing EF, or Executive Function, requires the exercise of the brain in specific ways. Drop in on any Monday morning to share stories and explore strategies for strengthening our EF muscles and by extension, that of our students.
Think of EF (Executive Function) as the CEO of the brain, helping us improve our self-regulation and aid our ability to make both short and long-term plans that enhance our performance in many aspects of our life. At a middle school pragmatic level this includes things like: doing your nightly HW, working on long term projects, or doing chores around the house. This is not a class. This is an opportunity to share collective wisdom. While 30 plus years as a middle school educator has certainly allowed me to garner some wisdom, I am really a facilitator on Monday mornings. Regular attendance is not a prerequisite. I don't need advanced notice. Drop in as you are able.
We will be meeting in person in Mercury during advisory and the beginning of first period. If you do not want to attend in person and prefer Zoom, let me know and I will send you a recurring Zoom link. Masks are not required but can be worn upon request.
And if Monday mornings are not a viable option for you but you want to learn more, don't hesitate to e-mail me, and let's find time to chat 1-1.
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