|
Inside Billings
February 12, 2026
| | 🎒 What's Happening at Billings? 📚 | | As we near mid-winter break, we celebrate the strong engagement, creativity, and collaboration we see in classrooms, outdoors, and across school life each day. The upcoming pause offers a welcome opportunity to recharge, and we’re excited for all that awaits when students return refreshed for the remainder of winter term. | | |
Mike on the Mic 🎤
We are very excited that our 8th graders are on their Winter Immersion Trip to Lake Wenatchee! This is an excellent way to celebrate their leadership and perseverance as well as the beauty of the outdoors in winter.
We are also excited to offer your child a space at Billings for the 2026-27 School Year. This year, we are utilizing Clarity for our digital enrollment contract and payment process as well as for those families requesting tuition assistance. Enrollment Contracts will come electronically through the Clarity App for all families, even if you have not requested tuition assistance. To view your reenrollment contract, all families will need to create an account or download the Clarity App.
For most families, your reenrollment contracts will be sent to you via Clarity on Friday, February 13th. For families receiving tuition assistance, your reenrollment contract will be sent by February 20th, if not sooner. HERE is a step-by-step guide on how to sign the Re-enrollment Contract.
All reenrollment contracts must be signed and returned with a deposit payment by February 27. We understand that investing in education for your child is a significant family commitment, and we thank you for your confidence in and support of our school and staff!
Finally, thank you to all of the families who sent us off with such an amazing display of chocolate and gratitude messages yesterday. We are so thankful!
Have a lovely Mid-Winter Break,
Mike
| |
Head of School Search Update
Our Head of School Search Committee is excited to announce the dates for our finalist candidate visits, and invite current parents to meet the candidates on the dates and times below:
- Tuesday, 2/24: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
- Tuesday, 3/3: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
- Tuesday, 3/10: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
All meetings will be held in Mercury. Please sign up ahead of time.
These visits are an opportunity to meet our 3 finalist candidates and provide feedback afterwards via a survey. Reach out to Erika Wright, Search Committee Co-Chair (and mom to Cash, '26) if you have any questions!
| |
The big day is under a month away, and tickets are going fast with over 80 folks registered! Have you bought yours yet? Ticket sales close next Friday, February 27th or when we run out of space, so hop on that today!
An upscale, on-theme BBQ buffet dinner awaits, with offerings to appeal to all palates and dietary needs. The Winner of the $1000 Canlis gift card raffle will be announced, and the live auction will start. What will you bid on? Will it be a picture-perfect vacation to Tuscany? Or maybe you’ll save yours for the beautiful artwork made by our Billings students? The items will be enticing, and our auctioneer Matt Lorch will keep things moving with a lively program that will include inspiring words from Billings Alum Maya Garcia ‘17. You’ll hear how Billings teachers and its community of families inspired and supported her to do amazing things from being a teenage pilot, to studying abroad, to college graduation and beyond. You’ll also hear from a number of our current students in all grades.
We’ll wrap the night with the delicious Dessert Dash, in which each table will pool their bids to have first crack at a sumptuous spread of treats. You’ll leave with sweet memories of a night spent in good company for a great cause.
Many thanks to all the generous donors and our wonderful class reps, dessert dash team, auction committee, and everyone else who has volunteered to help make this night a smashing success in support of our wonderful school!
Catalog Tease of the Week:
6 Nights in Cortona, Tuscany for 2
| |
Tuscany is the very essence of Italy, with awe-inspiring landscapes, artistic heritage, culinary greatness, excellent wine and all over beauty. Soft rolling hills, lines of cypress trees, endless vineyards, orderly olive groves, picturesque towns and friendly people. You will stay in the spectacular medieval town of Cortona known all around the world as the setting for the book and movie Under the Tuscan Sun. Cortona is truly a gem, one of the most beautiful hilltop towns of Tuscany, with its medieval charm, dominating the enchanting landscape of the valley below, framed on the horizon with soft hills and the wide expanse of Lake Trasimeno.
On your arrival, you will be greeted with a welcome drink in the coolest wine bar in town located right on the town’s main square. One day during your stay, you will visit an estate winery and cellar with an informative tour which will end with a fabulous lunch paired with amazing wines. Concierge service at your disposal for arranging extra activities and tours during your stay!
| |
Base Camp VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We are looking forward to a fantastic event on Friday, March 6 at the Billings Base Camp Annual Celebration and Fundraising Dinner. And we need your help to make it happen! Please volunteer your time to help us set up the gym or clean up after the event. There will be a variety of specific roles from supporting the decorating committee to setting tables to running errands – something for all interests and skills! Thanks in advance for signing up at the link below:
| | |
Billings' ASB Vice President shared the meaning of Lunar New year in ASM this week, and 6th graders are celebrating by sharing appreciations with each other in a more formal, personal way than we routinely do in weekly all-grade meetings. Each student is writing an appreciation note to a student we’ve assigned them. We intentionally paired students so they appreciate someone who isn’t necessarily their closest friend or frequent collaborator. On Friday, students will exchange their appreciations in Lunar New Year red envelopes that will include some other small gifts from their teachers. Happy Year of the Horse to you all!
Last week, 7th graders had a conversation in class meeting around the ways students connect with one another. We discussed how sometimes we hear or say unkind things about others. Part of this is developmental, as students try to situate themselves in the broader social landscape. This is not ideal, however, nor is it in keeping with our core values. 7th graders were open in discussing how friendships should not revolve around gossip or unkind comments about others. As we strive towards inclusivity in our community, we are trying to guide the 7th graders and help them form relationships based on positive connections!
| | |
8th graders had a steep hike taking in spectacular views last week at Franklin Falls. The students showed resilience and a fun-loving attitude interacting with that waterfall! This week’s Winter Immersion trip to Lake Wenatchee will include fire-building, beacon rescue, a night hike and plenty of sledding. We’re excited for the adventures ahead!
We will be sharing pictures from the Winter Immersion Trip next week, but if you'd like to catch up on all the pictures from the Winter term expeditions so far, check out our SmugMug! Reach out to the Front Desk if you need the password.
| | |
🎓 Deans on the Scene ✒️
Culture Club has reconvened with old and new members to learn and celebrate culture. Our small but mighty membership aims to create awareness about national heritage months and to invite others to share their cultures with our club and community. This month we are recognizing Black History Month and Lunar New Year. 8th grade members Ivan-Luc and Lee joined the planning meeting last week and 6th grade members, Myer, Nutifafa, and Bryce created posters and presented slides at ASM.
| | |
In 7th grade Science students are wrapping up their “Climate Change and Environmental Justice” unit with a final project. Students are working on presentations in the form of slideshows, posters, raps, and much in between. Last week students acted out the carbon cycle as we explored human impacts on earth’s carbon cycle, and students also participated in a greenhouse gas lab.
| In 7th grade Math, we’re just now closing out our work on percent increase, decrease, and error. We spent the last week or so discussing taxes and tips and even dipping our toes into simple interest. Before we head out for break the kids are getting an introduction to the constant of proportionality and to independent and dependent variables, all building up to being able to construct multiple representations of proportional relationships. | | The Stage Management and Acting teams have developed a strong working relationship and rehearsals are at a solid place for the Winter Term Production! We celebrated our halfway point with our first offbook challenge (testing how well actors know their lines without their scripts and how prepared stage managers are to support them) followed by our first stumblethrough (running the show from the top without stopping). I’m so proud of our team: both challenges went the best I’ve seen in my years at Billings. We’ll return from Midwinter Break to the second half of the show, with more lines to learn and blocking to craft (including some wild transformations and chase scenes)! | | Billings Family Association | | |
RSVP Now for Family Movie Event on Fri 2/27
Join us for an after-school screening of Enola Holmes on Friday, February 27th at Billings. There will be pizza, popcorn, and drinks, and all family members are welcome, including non-Billings siblings. Suggested donation is $15 per person. Register here to join the fun, and please sign up here to help with the event.
Save the Date: LGBTQ+ Families Social
Are you or your child in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community? You are invited to a parent-led potluck on April 25th! Our goal is to foster intergenerational community relationships - and have fun! Join us for an afternoon of food and activities, location TBD depending on the weather. Email us for more information or sign up here to get connected.
Co-Facilitating Tech and Kids Conversation
Billings parent Chris Clearfield is looking for a co-facilitator for his kids and technology discussion group. The confidential WhatsApp group connects Billings parents wanting to share what’s working (and what’s not) and to support each other along the way. Please click here to join this safe space for discussion, and let us know if you’re interested in being a co-facilitator.
| |
|
Upcoming Events: 📅
- 8th Grade Winter Immersion Trip: February 12-13
- NO SCHOOL: Mid-Winter Break, February 16-20
- Annual Celebration & Fundraising Dinner: March 6
- All-School Production: March 27-28
- NO SCHOOL: Teacher In-Service Day, March 30
- 7th Grade Central WA Trip: April 8-10
| | |
Creative Nights for Teens & ’Tweens (Ages ~10–16)
at Squirrelly Art Studio.
💌Valentine Pop-Up Cards & Poetry (All Ages) – Fri, Feb 13 | 6:30–8:30pm, $55
🍝Pasta Making – Fri, Feb 27 | 6:30–8:30pm, $55
✍️Poetry Workshop (All Ages) – Tue, Mar 10 | 6:30–8:00pm, $40
🎨Acrylic Painting – Fri, Mar 27 | 6:30–8:30pm, $50
🖌️Stencils & Spray Paint – Fri, Apr 25 | 6:30–8:30pm, $55
Hands-on, social, and screen-free.
Register at squirrellyworkshop.com (spots are limited, invite a friend!).
Located in NE Seattle at: 5414 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105.
| | Embodied STEAM and/as Liberation:
Science, Imagination, and the Right to Be Free in Learning | | |
What happens when education honors the full humanity of every learner—their bodies, their cultures, their histories, and their radical imaginations? In this powerful address, Dr. Christopher Emdin calls us to reclaim education as a site of embodied liberation. Rooted in his work at the intersections of race, science, justice, and the arts, Dr. Emdin explores how learning environments that celebrate the rights of the body—movement, rhythm, expression, rest—and center imaginative thinking can transform not just classrooms, but communities. This is more than a talk. It’s a blueprint for rehumanizing education—and a celebration of what’s possible when we teach and learn with our whole selves.
Join us on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 from 5-6:15 PM (PT) to welcome Dr. Christopher Emdin, a writer and professor at Columbia University’s teacher college who holds a Ph.D in Urban Education with a concentration in Mathematics, Science, and Technology. He is best known for his book For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education, which he wrote from his own experiences growing up as a young person of color feeling undervalued in the classroom. He will be speaking to us about his writings, Hip Hop, and much more! “Education is not memorization. It is the activation of the imagination and a path towards liberation”- Dr. Emdin. Learn more about Dr. Emdin at his website.
This event is free and open to the public hosted by POCIS Northwest. Please RSVP to get our Zoom Link.
| | |
Billings Swag Clearance Sale!
Hop on over to our online apparel store here to grab any items you've been needing while they're on sale!
| | |
Executive Function Workout!
Join me (Greg: Director of The Learning Center at Billings) for a regular morning EF workout from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM 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.
| | |
Click the icons to follow us on Social Media!
Looking for old issues of iNews?
Visit the archive.
| | | | |
