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Blacksburg Middle School is a grade 6-8 public school located in Blacksburg, VA. The school, which is the town’s only middle school, serves approximately 970 students from 5 feeder elementary schools. The current facility opened in 2002. Blacksburg is also the home of Virginia Tech. The Blacksburg Middle School faculty and administration are committed to creating and maintaining a middle school learning environment that is caring, safe, and dedicated to furthering the dreams of our students. The interdisciplinary teaching approach of the middle school helps students develop knowledge and understanding that span language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, fine and practical arts, as well as health and physical education. BLACKSBURG MIDDLE SCHOOL

CHOIR AT BMS Students can begin taking chorus in the 6th grade at Blacksburg Middle School. All choir classes meet every day for 50 minutes. All 6th grade students are placed into the same chorus class. Students study the fundamentals of music and develop skills in proper vocal technique, tone quality and sight reading. In 7th and 8th grade, students are divided into three different choirs. Intermediate Choir is a non- auditioned treble choir for new or returning choir members. Boys Choir is a non-auditioned tenor- bass choir for new or returning choir members. Both of these groups focus on increasing musicianship and musical knowledge and guiding students toward becoming independent singers. Bel Canto is an auditioned treble group for returning choir members. The ensemble emphasizes continued development in vocal and choral techniques, music reading, and theory skills. The ensemble sings two-, three-, and four-part harmony both accompanied and a cappella. The Bel Canto choir has an admirable record of musical accomplishments. Students regularly participate in honors choirs offered at the county, district, state, regional, and national levels. The choir also participates in District VI Choral Assessment and consistently receives superior scores. BMS has been named a Blue Ribbon school 4 of the past 5 years. This is the first time that Bel Canto has appeared at the VMEA conference.