Congratulations on your fabulous spring concerts, Band and Orchestra!

$30K Box Tops award helps Brown Barge purchase new furniture

When Brown Barge Middle School students return this fall, they will have brand new trapezoid desks and black chairs in all the classrooms.

The new furnishings – made possible by a $30,000 Box Tops for Education award along with $170,000 from the Escambia County Public Schools – will replace a mishmash of old desks and chairs, some dating back decades.

Brown Barge Principal Janet Penrose said when Tawanna Edwards, the school’s Box Tops for Education coordinator, shared news of the award, new furniture was at the top of everyone’s – students, faculty and administrators – wish list.

The Box Tops for Education award would only cover furniture for four classrooms, but Penrose said she asked school district administrators for help with furnishings for a few more classrooms. The administrators went even further and put in additional funds to replace furniture in all 25 of the school’s STREAM classrooms.

“Some of the desks and chairs in our classrooms are probably 40 years old. I think because we had such a good donation, the district moved us up and decided to replace all the furniture for the other classrooms,” Penrose said, adding school furnishings are replaced on a rotating cycle.

Brown Barge was the only Florida school and one of only 10 schools in the U.S. to receive the $30,000 Box Tops for Education award – which is part of a $300,000 total investment from General Mills to uplift school communities.

Read the full article here!

Click the image to open a pdf.

Announcements

New Student Information

Thanks to all who attended our orientation. Here is the link to our slideshow.

The Encore preference form for incoming sixth grade students is now available at this link.

Report Cards

Stream grades will be sent home every six weeks.

Grades for Math and Encore will be sent home every nine weeks. They are always accessible to students and families through Focus.

Quarter 3 Report cards went home with students on Monday, March 18.

Trimester 3 Progress Reports went home with students Wednesday, April 16.

Yearbooks

Yearbooks for 2024-25 can now be ordered through TreeRing.com. Yearbooks are not available at BBMS, and must be ordered directly from TreeRing.

Yearbooks are scheduled to be delivered to school on May 19. If you do not order in time to meet the school shipping date, you can ship directly to your home (with a shipping charge).

Please see this flyer for more information and how to order.

Athletics Reminder

Be aware of Escambia County Public Schools' attendance procedure in regards to all athletic events. Any middle school age child attending a high school or middle school athletic event MUST be accompanied by a parent or guardian who will also remain with the student until the conclusion of the event. Any middle school student who is NOT accompanied by an adult will NOT be allowed admission to an athletic event.

Early Release Days

In order to provide our teachers and staff regular opportunities for professional development, Escambia County Public Schools scheduled early release days for students during the 2024-2025 school year. They are Wednesday, September 18th and Wednesday, November 6th. Wednesday, February 5, 2025 is no longer an early release day.

Friday, December 20 and Friday, May 23 are half days, with dismissal at 12:15pm.

Transportation Requests - Now open for 2025-26

The forms for requesting Courtesy Transportation Accommodations for the 2025-26 school year are now live. Please note that there are 2 different forms—one for magnet school students (NB Cook, Brown Barge, West Florida High, and Pensacola High I.B. students), and one for students of all other schools. Here is the form link for magnet schools: https://forms.gle/bjXfLtrGCPrTdp2w5

Accommodation requests are required to secure a seat on any magnet school bus, or to request bus transportation for any student who wishes to travel between anyplace other than their primary FOCUS address and their residentially-zoned school.

For ALL Accommodations:

SCHOOL ENROLLMENT AND AFTER-SCHOOL CARE CHOICES SHOULD NOT BE MADE ON THE PRESUMPTION THAT COURTESY TRANSPORTATION WILL BE PROVIDED.

Alternative transportation plans should be made and ASSUMED NECESSARY until confirmed otherwise.

All accommodations are granted on a space-available, first-come-first-served basis.

Accommodations must be requested along existing bus routes, and new bus stops cannot be created for accommodations.

Requests must be resubmitted each year.

Be sure to select the correct school year on your request. Requests that select the 2024-2025 school year will NOT be processed for the 2025-2026 school year.

"Sibling Preference" aims to help ensure siblings within the same household are all transported together, IF THEY ATTEND THE SAME SCHOOL.

After submitting your request, you will receive an auto-generated email copy of your request, sent to the email address you give on the request form. This is your "confirmation of receipt."

Only requests submitted between February and July 1 of the current year will be considered for approval in time for the start of the next school year.

Accommodations for the next school year do not start being processed until July. Regardless of when you submit your request, you will not get an "answer" about 2025-2026 accommodations until July 2025.

Additional conditions governing this service are articulated in School Board Rules 6.04(6) and (7).

Magnet School Accommodations (Cook Elem, Brown Barge Middle, West Florida High, and PHS I.B. students who live outside the PHS attendance zone)

Existing riders are requested to submit a new request each year, to confirm your desire to continue riding.

Changing schools (such as moving from BBMS to WFHS) or changing trunk stop location selections will be treated as a completely new accommodation.

Seats are granted on a space-available, first-come-first-served basis, regardless of any other factors except in cases where sibling preference is applicable. Students of District staff do not get preferential seating over non-staff students.

Requests may be submitted for presumptive next-year magnet school students, even if you have not yet received a letter of acceptance. When the requests are processed over the summer, magnet enrollment will be verified prior to assigning any student to a bus.

The form allows up to 3 trunk stop location selections, and those should be made in order of preference. Listing the same choice more than once is unnecessary.

Students who are initially routed for their 2nd or 3rd choice trunk stop will remain on the waiting list for their 1st stop, even if they accept the seat on the 2nd or 3rd choice bus.

Students who are waitlisted for bus seats will remain on the waitlist until/unless a seat becomes available on their preferred bus. This could happen at any time throughout the school year. Parents should check your email regularly to ensure you don't miss the opportunity to accept if a seat is offered for your student at a later date.

Parents of magnet school bus riders are required to provide/arrange transportation for their student to & from the assigned trunk stop. Bus service is not provided between the students' homes and the magnet bus trunk stops.

Accommodations are granted on a space-available basis, and are processed in the order the requests are received. Anyone requesting any sort of accommodation should also pre-plan an alternate method of transportation for the student, to be used in the event that your request cannot be granted or, in the case of magnet schools, is placed on a waitlist after the initial round of bus assignments has filled the available seats.

Please be sure to input your email address correctly on your request, as this will be where you will receive notifications regarding accommodations. We begin processing accommodation requests in July, so please do not be concerned if you don't receive any immediate communications about your request. As requests (and all other bus assignments) begin to be processed over the summer, your student's bus assignment will be available in the FOCUS parent portal (instructions for locating FOCUS transportation info can be found HERE). Any requests received after July 1, 2024 will not be evaluated or processed until at least the 3rd week of the 24-25 school year.

Questions regarding the accommodations process should be EMAILED to the appropriate Route Manager for the school your child will be attending. A directory of contacts for our department can be found here: Transportation Directory

Links to both Courtesy Transportation Accommodation Request forms can be accessed on the Transportation Department's Accommodations Page.

Click HERE or the image below to view a slideshow with more information about transportation and magnet schools.

Car Rider Tags

Will you be a new car rider in 2024-25? Request a car rider tag using the link below. Also, please see our car rider procedures by clicking on the "School Information" tab just above.

Will you be a part of a carpool group? Do you need more than two car tags? Did you misplace your car tag and need a replacement? Please fill out our Car Rider Line Information Form located below. We will get the tags ready for you as quickly as possible.

Car Rider Line Information Form

2024-25 Focus and Canvas Set-up

Please see this attached document for help setting up Focus parent accounts, Canvas observer accounts, and the Canvas Parent App.

Have a question about using Focus? Please see the Focus Parent Help Page.

2024-25 Meal Applications

Applications are required for the upcoming school year for parents who believe their student(s) may be eligible for free or reduced-priced meals.

Applications will be available online on August 2, 2024. To avoid processing delays, please submit an online application as soon as possible by clicking the link:

https://www.myschoolapps.com.

Parents should plan on providing their child(ren) with money for their meals until eligibility is established to avoid creating a deficit in their account. Funds can be added to student accounts online at myschoolbucks.com.

Meal applications will be required at the following sites:

Elementary Schools: Beulah Elementary, Blue Angels Elementary, Cook Elementary, Cordova Park Elementary, Hellen Caro Elementary, Kingsfield Elementary, and Suter Elementary.

Middle Schools: Brown Barge Middle and Ransom Middle.

High Schools: Tate High and West Florida High.

Escambia County School District will continue participation in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) for the following sites for the 2024-2025 school year. All students will be served breakfast and lunch at no charge.

Elementary Schools: Bellview Elementary, Bratt Elementary, Brentwood Elementary, C.A. Weis Elementary, Ensley Elementary, Ferry Pass Elementary, Global Learning Academy, Holm Elementary, Jim Allen Elementary, Lincoln Park Elementary, Lipscomb Elementary, Longleaf Elementary, McArthur Elementary, Molino Park Elementary, Montclair Elementary, Myrtle Grove Elementary, Navy Point Elementary, Oakcrest Elementary, Pine Meadow Elementary, Pleasant Grove Elementary, Scenic Heights Elementary, O.J. Semmes Elementary, Sherwood Elementary, Warrington Elementary, and West Pensacola Elementary.

Middle Schools: Bailey Middle, Bellview Middle, Beulah Middle, Ernest Ward Middle, Ferry Pass Middle, and Workman Middle.

High Schools: Escambia High, Northview High, Pensacola High, Pine Forest High, and Washington High.

Alternative Education/Centers/Charters: Acceleration Academy, Achieve Academy, Byrneville Charter, Capstone, Escambia Westgate Center, Hope Horizon, Jacqueline Harris Preparatory Academy, and Success Academy.

The CEP provision means that parents of the students at these schools are not required to apply for the Free and Reduced Lunch program at that school in order to receive free meals.

For additional information about ECSD School Food Services, please visit and LIKE their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ecsd.foodservices/.

7th Grade Shots

Under Florida State and Escambia County regulations, all students must receive the TDAP immunization prior to beginning 7^th grade. You can contact your child's doctor, or many local pharmacies and clinics in Pensacola offer this immunization. You may contact the Escambia County Health Department at 850-595-6500 for more information or visit this website.

Once your child has received their TDAP immunization, please ensure you receive an updated copy of the State of Florida Form 680. Please send in a copy of this form to BBMS as soon as possible.

KidCare Insurance

The Escambia County Public Schools Foundation partners with Florida KidCare to provide all uninsured children in Escambia County with affordable health and dental insurance. Please click the image below to view the KidCare back-to-school toolkit.

BBMS Calendar

School Information

Brown-Barge Middle School is a public magnet school serving grades 6-8. For information about enrollment, please contact the Escambia County Public Schools Enrollment Services.

ECPS 2024-25 Academic Calendar

Students return Monday, August 12, 2024.

The last day before Winter Break is Friday, December 20 (half day, 12:15 dismissal).

Students return from Winter Break Tuesday, January 7.

The last day of school is Friday, May 23 (half day, 12:15 dismissal).

In order to provide our teachers and staff regular opportunities for professional development, Escambia County Public Schools scheduled early release days for students during the 2024-2025 school year. They are Wednesday, September 18th, and Wednesday, November 6th, 2024. Wednesday, February 5, 2025 is no longer an early release day.

School Times

Student supervision starts at 8:15.

First bell rings at 8:40.

Last check out is at 2:45.

Dismissal is at 3:25.

*Early release days will dismiss at 1:15.

For 2024-25, those days are September 18, November 6, and February 5.

*Half days will release at 12:15.

For 2024-25, those days are December 20 and May 23.

Afternoon Pickup Procedure

Please click through this short slideshow to view the procedures.

Students will be receiving a Car Rider Tag that needs to be displayed in their cars. As cars arrive, the numbers will be entered into our system and students will be sent to either Zone 1 (front of school) or Zone 2 (back of school, like morning car rider drop off) to get into their cars. Drivers need to pay attention to directions from staff as cars will all be stopped and released to move in groups.

Will you be a part of a carpool group? Do you need more than two car tags? Did you misplace your car tag and need a replacement? Please fill out our Car Rider Line Information Form located below. We will get the tags ready for you as quickly as possible.

Car Rider Line Information Form