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Inside Billings
December 11, 2025
| | 🎒 What's Happening at Billings? 📚 | | December offers us a moment to pause, reflect, and celebrate the growth we have witnessed in our students this fall. Whether through hands-on learning, creative expression, or moments of leadership and kindness, our community continues to shine. | | |
Mike on the Mic 🎤
Even though we focused on a strong finish to Fall Term, preparations for Winter Term have already begun. There will be a special schedule designed to inspire your students with unique field trips and opportunities to explore the outdoors in winter and prepare for an awesome Winter Performance. The Winter Term is also a great time to mix students of all grades together during our Arts Block with unique offerings in Set/Props, Vocals, Band, Acting, and Stage Management.
To add to our Arts experience this winter, I am excited to share that Blake Cisneros has accepted the position of Part-Time Music Teacher, hosting a special drumming residency for our Band students on Wednesday afternoons. Blake has a degree in Bilingual Education and Spanish from the Evergreen State College and has taught Spanish and music in a wide variety of schools. His experience includes public school in New Mexico and independent schools in Hawaii and Seattle, such as Seattle Waldorf, Brightwater Waldorf, and Bertschi School. Blake also leads private drumming facilitation for everyone from adult corporate groups to highly joyful Baby Jam world music and language classes for early childhood. Not only will Blake bring his great skill and enthusiasm, but he is also a proud Billings alum parent of Aviv ’23! Please join us in welcoming (back) Blake to Billings.
I am very thankful that families have reached out to me to let me know that they would be interested in driving a carpool from Billings in the afternoons to the Northgate Light Rail Station. We would like to gather and share information about who is available to drive and on what days, the capacity of students, and the number of students needing transport each day. Please fill this carpooling survey out by the end of Thursday, if you are either willing to drive students at 3:30 or if your child is in need of a ride at 3:30.
Thank you for your support,
Mike
| Reminder that the 7th grade class has their Annual Fund 100% participation Pizza Party at normal lunch time next Thursday, December 18th! | |
Join us on March 6th, 2026 at Billings Middle School for our annual celebration and fundraising dinner, Billings Base Camp - Adventure Awaits! Help us celebrate community, exploration, adventure, and learning in true Billings style. Tickets will be available on the event website starting January 9th.
More details to follow. We hope to see you there!
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In 6th grade advisories this week, we’re brainstorming kind and firm responses to rude remarks or minor conflicts. We often hear great examples in candid moments: two students were arguing over a seat the other day, and another interjected, “Hey guys, it’s just not worth it.” Affirming kind, mature behavior and thoughtfully calling out inappropriate conduct is a very influential, positive form of peer pressure. And it’s challenging! We discussed that it’s particularly challenging to correct your friends, but perhaps all the more important. A friendly reminder to turn in or complete your snow trip permission forms and gear request surveys as soon as you can! The first 6th grade winter trip is on Thursday, January 15th, but the paperwork must be turned in before break to help us facilitate our planning.
7th grade students will be holding a “Secret Snowflake” gift exchange on the last school day of the calendar year (December 18th)! Students have been randomly assigned to someone in the 7th grade, and their task is to give them a gift that is under $10. This has been a 7th grade tradition for many years, and we’re excited to celebrate together next Thursday. If this won’t be possible for your family (for any reason) please let your child’s advisor know!
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8th grade students are beginning to prepare for our upcoming snowshoeing days in January and February, as well as our Winter Immersion camping trip. Our goals this year as a cohort are focused on leadership, stewardship, perseverance and kindness - and all of these will be practiced and honed during our winter outings as we explore in the snow together with younger grades. Students have been asked to complete a bus survey and return permission forms for these upcoming excursions. Coming soon too is our Winter “secret snowflake” gift exchange. Students have drawn a name for this fun tradition - maximum of $15. Our “snowflake” party is set for Wednesday December 17th!
Additionally, several 8th graders have been working hard with Maya to earn their rock climbing Belay Certifications. Students have gone through multiple rounds of practice climbs, both as climbers and belayers as a part of this certification.
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6th grade Social Studies students are wrapping up a portion of their “Around the World” unit, completing a map and learning basic facts about North America. This week and next, students will be assigned groups and topics related to Central, South and North America. The task for each group is to create a game to play with classmates that uses class content and social studies skills!
7th graders are completing a project they have been working on for a couple of weeks: engaging in a debate about the benefits and drawbacks of dams in Washington State. The various roles or “stakeholder” positions include farmers reliant on irrigation, environmentalists, the Army Corps of Engineers and salmon conservationists. Students are working on skills of research, supporting their arguments with specific facts and responding to challenges in the moment. Students showed themselves to be capable debaters and demonstrated many times how complex and multifaceted this issue is!
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8th grade Social Studies students are wrapping up their unit on Buddhism with a final creative project of art, collage or original comics. Students will finish the year watching a subtitled film, The Cup. The film was written and directed by Bhutanese filmmaker (and Tibetan Buddhist monk) Khyentse Norbu. It depicts the story of a young novice monk who REALLY wants to watch the world cup soccer tournament! How will he bring the beautiful game to this remote monastery in exile? And what other lessons will there be along the way?
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Over the last few weeks, the 8th graders have been hard at work developing cell phone case businesses. At the start of the project, students were tasked with designing prototype cases (limited only by their imagination), creating a business portfolio that breaks down their projected profits, and producing an advertisement to market their cases to the prospective buyers. Through this project, students have demonstrated a mastery of linear relationships and systems of equations. This Friday, December 12th, Eleanor will be transformed into a marketplace where the 8th grade students will sell their cases to the school community. I would encourage families to ask about their students designs and am excited to see which company comes out on top!
Students have been working on learning different verbs in Spanish this month. 6th graders learned the uses of the verbs ser and estar, 7th graders learned the verb ‘ir’ (to go), and 8th graders learned other irregular verbs. Everyone demonstrated a great understanding of these verbs on their tests earlier this week!
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🎓 Deans on the Scene ✒️
Billings ASB will be hosting a Cocoa Lounge Thursday, December 18th, during 6th period. Students should bring a mug, bowl, and spoon to school that day like they do on overnight trips. There will be cocoa, snacks, sports, a movie, and lots of fun!
Fall Term ends on December 19. Grade reports will be published in ALMA prior to the start of Winter Term on January 6. Now is a good time for students to check Google Classroom and to talk with teachers about incomplete or missing work as well as opportunities for honors assignments before the term ends.
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🖥️Business Office💼
Hello Billings Families,
A brief reminder that if you are currently receiving Tuition Assistance, you need to re-apply every year. The Tuition Assistance portal is currently open. Please apply through our Clarity App HERE. Your application needs to be completed and submitted no later than February 1st, 2026. We ask that you apply sooner rather than later so we have ample time to review your application.
If your child is a scholarship award recipient, you do not need to re-apply. That award is valid for your student's entire time at Billings as long as they continue full participation in our program, maintaining strong academic standing, and adherence to the policies outlined in our Student Handbook.
Agreements for the 2026-27 school year will be sent out via Clarity on or before Friday, February 27th.
You are welcome to email or call me directly if you have any questions,
Joan Krussel
joank@billingsmiddleschool.org
206.412.5626
| | Billings Family Association | | |
Planning Meeting for Mid-Winter Faculty Appreciation
Tomorrow 12/12 from 8:30-9:30am, please join us to plan Mid-Winter Faculty Appreciation, which runs from mid January to Mid-Winter Break in February. Through this series, we celebrate our amazing faculty with gloom-busting events like on-site massages and espresso catering. If you can’t make the planning meeting but would like to help out just let us know.
Parenting in the Age of Technology
Navigating technology with our kids can feel overwhelming, and many of us are trying to figure it out as we go. Parent Chris Clearfield has created a confidential WhatsApp group where Billings parents can share what’s working, what’s not, and support each other along the way. Please click here to join this safe space for discussion.
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Upcoming Events: 📅
- NO SCHOOL: Teacher In-Service Day, December 19
- NO SCHOOL: Winter Break, December 22-January 5
- Winter Term: Tuesday, January 6
| | Bring your friends and family to the ECS Holiday Gift Market December 13 & 14! | |
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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