Dear Biloxi Upper Family, 

Welcome to another exciting year at Biloxi Upper! I love being the principal of this school, and I am excited for the wonderful plans we have for this school year. 

At Biloxi Upper, we live and work by our creed of ACHIEVE. LEAD. EXCEL.—a call to action inspired by our district’s mission of Excellence From All, For All. To further deepen this call to action, our 2024-2025 school theme is “Building Excellence Together,” an invitation for all stakeholders to partner together and build the best educational experience possible for our most important stakeholder:  our students. 

We know 5th and 6th grades are pivotal years for a student’s educational growth, and we take the responsibility of helping your child transition from lower elementary students into middle schoolers seriously.  But the job of educating students is too important to do alone, and we need a village of people willing to help us build excellence together.  

You may ask what you can do to help, and there are three easy ways parents and families can assist: 

1.  Ensure your child is present and on time to school. Missing just two days a month is all it takes for a student to be chronically absent.  Checking a student in late or out early means they miss crucial instruction in core classes. 

2. Read with your child. Encouraging your student to read for at least thirty minutes a day outside of school helps build crucial fluency and comprehension skills. Have them read aloud to you, so you can join in the process of helping to build stronger readers. 

3. Ask your child what happened at school, and most importantly, what they learned. Nothing makes teachers more proud than a student who is excited to share what they’ve learned. 

With that said, I look forward to the partnerships we will create throughout this school year.  It will be an amazing year! 

Sincerely, 

Jamie Barnes, Principal