R.J. Grey Junior High School

Good afternoon,

For most of Monday, I was the person at school who was not super enthused by the eclipse later that afternoon. At dismissal, with only a bit of the sun covered by the moon, a student leaving the building said it looked like a cookie with a bite taken out of it. Talking about something in the shape of a cookie is something I can usually get behind! Monday was a department meeting day for many of us, so when we pulled away from those meetings around 3:15, and I got to see the 150+ students in our front circle, I changed my tune. I’m sure like many of you, the effects of the eclipse took hold of me - the temperature change, the almost dusk-like feeling, and the joy from the onlookers made it feel like a special moment. I am grateful that our science department took the lead in teaching about the eclipse in classes and then hosting the viewing party for our students, complete with glasses. I think that for the students who participated, this event will be something they remember. We posted a few pictures of our watch party on Instagram if you’d like to take a look (@rjgreyjhs).

Our PTSO is hosting a fundraiser for RJ Grey in coordination with WECO. WECO will donate 10% of your dinner bill for orders placed between April 17th and April 24th. Your orders will be delivered between April 21st and April 27th. WECO offers a variety of delicious options, including dinners, appetizers, desserts, and kid-friendly meals. Plus, they'll deliver it hassle-free right to your door. To ensure your donation goes directly to RJ Grey, simply order at wecohospitality.com and use the promo code "RJGreyFundraiser" at checkout. Thank you for your support.

I hope you all have a nice April break next week. My family is staying close to home. A sure sign of spring for me is when I power wash the deck for the coming season. I am hoping to accomplish that task next week to be ready for spring! I wish you all a restful and safe week!

Upcoming Dates

• Mon, April 15 - Fri, April 19: School Closed for April Vacation

• Tues, April 23: Last day of PE and Health classes for Round 4

• Wed, April 24 : 6th Grade Family Info Night at RJ Grey, 6:45 pm

• Tues, April 30: Annual Town Election in RJ Grey Gym

• Tues, April 30: MCAS Math 8

• Wed, May 1: MCAS Math 8

• Thurs, May 2: MCAS Math 7

• Mon, May 6: MCAS Math 7

• Tues, May 7: MCAS Science/Tech 8

• Tues, May 7: School Council, 7 pm

Take care and have a great week!
Jim

Good afternoon,

Our staff and students were greeted by signs of spring when we returned to school on Monday. Our PTSO worked with us this year to install four beautiful planters at two of our main entrances. Special thanks to Kristina Rychlik for doing this beautiful work. Creating a welcoming, attractive setting to learn and work helps contribute to positive feelings about being members of this community. I am very grateful for the PTSO’s support. If you haven’t yet contributed to the PTSO this year, I hope you will consider making your annual donation. The PTSO’s work not only sponsors our beautiful garden baskets but will also help us to run our year-end field trips this spring. If you happen to have a special interest in gardening and want to continue the work

The cruel irony of the picture and paragraph above is that I write this message in my office, with no power, with the shades pulled way up, on borrowed time with our wifi. Spring will come soon enough! It seems that we just need to be a bit patient this year.

On Monday, I had the pleasure to observe several 7th grade social studies classes. Students from our A World of Difference club taught mini-lessons to all 7th graders. The AWOD student leaders designed lessons focused on bias, identity, and creating supportive communities. The students designed these lessons over the winter, with help from their Advisors, after being trained as peer leaders by the Anti-Defamation League. I was proud to see the work that our students put together for their peers, and I was happy to see the response from their “students” was positive and engaging. On April 25, we welcome back Mrs. Janet Applefield, who has visited RJ Grey many times before. She will talk with 7th graders about her experience living through the Holocaust. Both of these activities are in service of our work to create a safe and supportive community for all students and staff.

Upcoming Dates

• Thurs, April 4: Spring Play Performance, 7 pm

• Mon April 8: MCAS ELA Make-ups begin

• Mon, April 8: Solar Eclipse Viewing Party, 2:45 - 3:30

• Wed, April 10: No School for Eid-al-Fitr

• Mon, April 15:  Fri, April 19: School Closed for April Vacation

• Tues, April 23: Last day of PE and Health classes for Round 4

• Wed, April 24 : Welcome night for 6th grade families, 6:45 pm

• Tues, April 30: Annual Town Election in RJ Grey Gym

Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim

Good afternoon,

We’ve had a busy 4-day week here at RJ Grey. Our 8th graders did a great job of tackling their ELA MCAS tests on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our 7th graders will take their assessments on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. There is not much that a student can do to prepare for these assessments, other than: Get plenty of sleep, Eat a good breakfast, and Charge their Chromebook overnight! 

We wrapped up our Advisory March Madness Challenge on Monday with a head-to-head Rock, Paper, Scissors competition. The whole month was a lot of fun and had a positive effect on our community here at school. We’re also able to assist our community outside of school, too. As a result of our Change for Change drive, we collected over $900 in loose change. The advisory with the most amount collected now gets to decide which organization will receive this donation. We narrowed it down to four options: AB United Way, Acton Food Pantry, Household Goods, and Merrimack Valley Black and Brown Voices. Thank you to all families who let your children bring some change from your home. Our efforts will go to a great cause!

Speaking of doing good in the community, we are also now running a clothing drive to benefit Cradles to Crayons. Every year,

 RJ Grey selects two students to serve as our Project 351 Ambassadors. The number 351 represents the number of cities and towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Each school selects a strong 8th grader from each representative town to join with others to learn about leadership and to lead service projects in their hometowns. Emily Taylor and Phoenix Briggs are our Ambassadors this year and they are hosting the Clothing Drive through next Friday, April 5. We are collecting clean and gently used clothing for children, sizes 0 - 12. Thank you for any donations!

Lastly, we are hosting a Solar Eclipse Viewing Party for any interested RJ Grey student after school on Monday, April 8. We’ll provide glasses and some information about the eclipse. It will be exciting to observe this phenomenon with our science teachers and other students!

Upcoming Dates

• Fri, March 29: No School, Good Friday

• Mon, April 1: Library closed to students after school

• Tues, April 2: MCAS 7 ELA

• Tues, April 2: School Council at 7 pm

• Wed, April 3: MCAS 7 ELA

• Thurs, April 4: Spring Play Performance, 7 pm

• Mon, April 8: MCAS ELA Make-ups begin

• Mon, April 8: Solar Eclipse Viewing Party, 2:45 - 3:30

• Wed, April 10: No School for Eid-al-Fitr

Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim

Good afternoon,

You’re likely aware that our trimester 2 report cards were emailed earlier this week. They are also saved in the Parent Portal if you need to locate the document again. If you have questions about a grade or a teacher’s comment that your child cannot answer, please contact the teacher to gain some additional clarity. If you think meeting with your child’s team of teachers might be a good step at this time of year, I invite you to be in touch with your child’s counselor to arrange a team meeting. Our counselors’ contact information is located here.

If your student is an 8th grader, please be sure to log into the Parent Portal to select classes for next year by tomorrow (3/22). Doing so now allows the high school to map out how many students need certain classes, which teachers get assigned to those classes, etc. If you need support in completing this process, please check out this doc on the high school website.

If your child is currently in the 7th grade, I sent a Parent Square message yesterday announcing the opening of the Parent Portal for 7th to 8th grade registration. We do the same planning as the high school but on a smaller scale. Knowing which students are taking certain classes is important for us as we map out next year’s programming. Please see our Transition/Registration website for details. We’ll keep the Portal open through next Thursday, March 28.

Finally, as a reminder this week, several of our spring sports begin on Monday, March 25th. The thought of pitchers, catchers, and the long jump excites me for spring! If your child is planning to try out for a sport or join the track team, please make sure you’ve reviewed our spring athletic information. All student-athletes must have registered with Family ID and have proof of a recent physical on file in our Health Office to try out. Having these items taken care of will allow your child to do their best at tryouts.

Upcoming Dates

• Tues, March 26: MCAS 8 ELA

• Wed, March 27: MCAS 8 ELA

• Thurs, March 28: Trivia event after school

• Fri, March 29: No School, Good Friday

• Mon, April 1: Library closed to students after school

• Tues, April 2: MCAS 7 ELA

• Tues, April 2: School Council at 7 pm

• Wed, April 3: MCAS 7 ELA

Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim

Good afternoon,

I’ve spent part of the last three Sundays running as part of a road race series. The series started with a 3-mile race, followed by 4 and 5-mile runs on the subsequent Sundays. The race series was a lot of fun and gave me a good goal to work towards as I’ve picked up running again over the past few months. Beginning many years ago, I’ve made running a part of my life, on occasion. Over those years, there have been seasons with lots of miles, including running in several half-marathons and even a marathon. There have also been periods of months or years where I haven’t run anywhere! I have enjoyed getting back out there these last few months, and I know it has had a positive impact on combatting the stress that comes with being a principal. As Spring slowly arrives, I hope you find some way to reconnect with something that feels good in hopefully beautiful weather! 

We had a great turnout for our March Madness event last Friday afternoon. We watched many hard-fought 5-minute basketball games. Even our most skilled players had a hard time with the circumstances, including a highly overinflated basketball that was tricky to dribble and shoot! As we expected, our student audience was well-behaved and boisterous as they cheered for their friends. We owe a huge thank you to the PTSO for helping to organize the small gym, which was food and drink central. Specific thanks go out to Durga Nirgudkar, Liz Gutler, Alok Nemani, Katie Raymond, Majda Tanovic, Archana Barry, and Soula Stratakias, who kept the snacks and drinks flowing. And thank you to all families who donated said food and drink for the event. 

Our March Madness Advisory events continue this month. Yesterday, we had 70+ “plate game” competitions during Advisory. Tomorrow, each Advisory will partner up and compete in several Minute to Win It-style challenges. If you don’t follow us on Instagram (@rjgreyjhs), you should, and you’ll see some pics and videos of the plate game from yesterday. As we continue to work on building a joyful, inclusive community of engaged learners, this month’s Advisory calendar has really highlighted the joyful community present every day at RJ Grey!

Upcoming Dates

• Mon, March 18: Early Release at 1 pm

• Wed, March 20: Youth Risk Behavior Survey administered to 8th graders

• Thurs, March 21: Trimester 2 Report Cards Emailed (if not earlier)

• Tues, March 26: MCAS 8 ELA

• Wed, March 27: MCAS 8 ELA

• Thurs, March 28: Trivia event after school

• Fri, March 29: No School, Good Friday

• Mon, April 1: Library closed to students after school

• Tues, April 2: MCAS 7 ELA

• Tues, April 2: School Council at 7 pm

• Wed, April 3: MCAS 7 ELA

Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim

Good afternoon,

My umbrella didn’t seem like quite enough protection during the morning drop-off this morning! My shoes are just about dry, and it’s 12:21! I hope you’ve all fared well with our dreary weather these last few days.

Tomorrow afternoon, we will host our annual March Madness basketball tournament. We expect that lots of our students will stay to watch their classmates compete in a tournament of back-to-back games. A few things make this event ideal: it’s immediately after school, it’s wrapped up before dinner time, and doesn’t have the social pressure of a dance or an evening event. If your child is joining us, I know they’ll have a great time! We also welcome you to pick them up at 4:30. The pick-up can get pretty busy, so my advice is to park in our lot and let your child know where you are, rather than trying to drive through the front circle. Major thanks to everyone who has volunteered to donate snacks for the tournament!

March Madness means several things at RJ Grey this year. When we planned for our second year of Advisory, we wanted to do something fun and different for the month of March. During each advisory session in March, we are planning school-wide activities where individual advisories accrue points for their group. On Tuesday, we played head-to-head Pictionary with two teams competing in a single classroom. My group tied (21-21) with Ms. Nielsen’s group. Today, each group participated in school-wide Trivia. This message will go out after our game, so I feel okay sharing a few questions:

• What number do you get if you take the number of keys on a piano, and subtract the number of strings on an acoustic guitar? (82)

• In which state was Taylor Swift born? (Pennsylvania)

• What color sits directly opposite blue on the color wheel? (Orange)

• When Jason Kelce just retired from the Eagles, what was his jersey number? (62)

It was fun to see which students had an expertise and confidence in certain questions! In my small group of 8, we scored 8 correct out of 14. None of us knew the combined (rounded) populations of Acton and Boxborough from the 2020 Census…30,000! 

We administered an iReady Reading diagnostic to our students yesterday. We use iReady as a way to check in on our students’ progress in reading and math two times during the year. I used the morning announcements to encourage students to do their best work so that we can see how much they’ve grown. I also told them that since it’s a dynamic assessment, the test is designed for them to get 50% of the questions wrong! We share this info so that students don’t spend hours on a question that is well beyond their current grade level. I am pleased with the effort that students put into their work yesterday, and we’ll repeat this on Tuesday for our math assessment.

Upcoming Dates

• Fri, March 8: Trimester 2 Ends

• Fri, March 8: Sports Jersey Day

• Fri, March 8: March Madness Basketball Tournament, 3 - 4:30 pm

• Tues, March 12: iReady Math assessment for all students

• Mon, March 18: Early Release at 1 pm

• Wed, March 20: Youth Risk Behavior Survey administered to 8th graders

• Thurs, March 21: Trimester 2 Report Cards Emailed (if not earlier)

• Tues, March 26: MCAS 8 ELA

• Wed, March 27: MCAS 8 ELA

Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim

Good afternoon,

Happy Leap Day to you all! I hope your February vacation week was enjoyable. I was able to tackle some projects that I’ve put off for a bit, and I read a few novels, as well. I am particularly pleased that the light in the morning and later in the afternoon is stronger, leading me to know that Spring is definitely on its way.

Our second trimester of classes will end next Friday, March 8th. If your child has any remaining work to complete, or an assessment to take due to an absence, this is the final push before grades close in on-team classes next week. As is our typical process, you’ll receive report cards by email about 2 weeks later. This gives our teachers time to finalize grades, add comments for each of their students, and it gives us time to verify everything before distributing report cards. 

Aside from the light changing in our mornings and late afternoons, another indicator that Spring is coming is that we start to prepare for MCAS here at RJ Grey. We’ve actually been preparing for quite a while behind the scenes, but below, I’m sharing the dates that we’ll be administering the tests this year. 

At RJ Grey, students in both grades take MCAS tests in English Language Arts and Math. Our 8th graders take a Science/Technology Engineering assessment, too. This year, a cohort of our 8th graders will take a pilot test in Civics; I will be in touch with families of students selected for that test. I thank you in advance for helping to make sure your child is present on testing days. We will always do make-ups for students who miss tests, but they then end up missing other classes as a result. So if you’re forced to make orthodontic appointments or physicals during the school day, I’d ask you kindly to avoid these dates:

• Tues and Wed, March 26 and 27: 8th grade ELA

• Tues and Wed, April 2 and 3: 7th grade ELA

• Tues and Wed, April 30 and May 1: 8th grade Math

• Thurs and Mon, May 2 and 6: 7th grade Math

• Tues, May 7: 8th grade Science/Technology

• Tues and Wed, May 14 and 15: 8th grade Civics Pilot

Upcoming Dates

• Mon, March 4: Early Release at 1 pm

• Mon, March 4: Library closed to students after school

• Tues, March 5: Ski/Board Club #6

• Tues, March 5: Presidential Primary voting at RJ Grey

• Tues, March 5: School Council meeting at 7 pm

• Wed, March 6: iReady Reading assessment for all students

• Wed, March 6: 6th to 7th grade transition night for families of students on IEPs, 7 pm

• Fri, March 8: Trimester 2 Ends

• Fri, March 8: Sports Jersey Day

• Fri, March 8: March Madness Basketball Tournament, 3 - 4:30 pm

• Tues, March 12: iReady Math assessment for all students

Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim

Good afternoon,

We are one day away from our February vacation week. If you have plans to be out of town next week, I hope they bring you to a warm location. I was excited to see a stretch of warm (40 degrees) weather next week, with bright sun for several days. Though, as was the case with this week’s “storm,” we know the weather pattern can change quickly! On my to do list next week are a bunch of things that just don’t fit into the typical work week - making dentist appointments, getting my car inspected, and fixing a few loose door knobs that have been loose for the 12 years we’ve lived in our house. Sometimes enough is enough! I hope you and your families have a great week.

When school was cancelled on Tuesday, it interrupted our Ski/Board Club plans. We’ve worked with Wachusett to extend our season (again). The final two weeks of the season will be on Tuesday, Feb 27 and Tuesday, March 5. Since we’ve pushed out our season so long, group lessons will not take place on March 5, but students will still be able to use the mountain. 

We are getting closer to spring, which means spring sports will start up at the end of March. We offer Baseball, Softball, Girls Volleyball, and Spring Track. Our list of tryouts and practices is posted on our website. Please note that any student interested in trying out for a sport needs to have a recent physical on file in our Health Office, and families must complete Family ID information before tryouts. Separately, we are seeking a softball coach. If you are interested in applying or learning more, please be in touch with Jon Duclos ([email protected]), our JH Athletic Director. 

Tomorrow is our annual Blue and Gold Day celebration. If your child leaves the house in atypical attire, and they’re dressed in combinations of our two school colors, they’ll be in good company. Each grade level will have an assembly during the afternoon with performances by our band, chorus, and orchestra. Our cheerleaders will perform and we’ll have a student Musical Chairs competition. This assembly is one of the few times we gather as a whole grade, and it’s something I always look forward to. You’ll be able to check out some highlights on our Instagram account after the fact! 

For those keeping track, with two snow days, our last day of school is currently Tuesday, June 18, with an 11:10 early dismissal at RJ Grey.

Upcoming Dates

• Fri, Feb 16: Blue and Gold Day

• Mon, Feb 19 - Fri, Feb 23: Vacation Week - No School

• Tues, Feb 27: Ski Club Session #5

• Mon, March 4: Early Release at 1 pm

• Mon, March 4: Library closed to students after school

• Tues, March 5: Presidential Primary voting at RJ Grey

• Tues, March 5: School Council meeting at 7 pm

• Wed, March 6: 6th to 7th grade info night for families of students on IEPs, 7 pm

• Fri, March 8: Trimester 2 Ends

• Fri, March 8: Sports Jersey Day

• Fri, March 8: March Madness Basketball Tournament, 3 - 4:30 pm

Take care and have a great week!
Jim

Good afternoon,

I was able to watch the first half of our 7th grade girls’ basketball game yesterday afternoon. Our players did a great job against an older team from Sudbury. The final score wasn’t in our favor, but I saw a really confident group of RJ Grey players playing strong defense and making some great shots, too. Our final games for both 7th grade teams are this Friday. Our 8th grade teams have wrapped up their season. Our 8th grade girls’ team went undefeated this season. To end 10-0 is quite a feat and we are proud of our players. Our boys’ team finished 8-2 and had a really strong season, as well. Congrats to all of our players, coaches, and families who supported this season!

Our RJ Grey 7th grade boys’ team was the recipient of a very generous gift from an anonymous donor. The donor outfitted our team with a new set of uniforms to replace uniforms that were slightly younger than me (!). I am very appreciative of the donor that went out of their way to work with us and offer a gift that will be part of our program for many years. 

At school council this week, we talked a bit about school attendance. As you know, we are required to have 180 days of school per year. In a state with compulsory attendance, we are required to track the number of absences and report back to the state about our daily attendance. The state reports back to us how many of our students are deemed “Chronically absent,” which means they’ve been absent at least 10% of the year (18 days). When looking at the data, there is a marked difference in these numbers pre-Pandemic and post-Pandemic. Certainly there needs to be recognition that Covid quarantines and mandates about isolation are at play in our numbers. RJ Grey and the District will be spending more time looking at attendance and trying to get to the root cause of what is causing this dramatic change. In March, the School Committee will likely talk about attendance as part of our Student Opportunity Act Plan.

I wrote about attendance back in October, around the time that our first set attendance letters were sent home. I figured it would be good to write about it again. When students are absent two times per month, each month, they reach at least 18 absences for the year. It is actually quite easy to reach 18 absences without knowing it when you factor in the viruses and other ailments going around! We emphasize good attendance for students so that they are comfortable in their classes, have time learning directly from their teachers, and have time to be social and interact with peers their own age. If you think that your child has too many absences, or if you need some strategies to support better attendance, please be in touch with us as we would like to help.

Upcoming Dates

• Sat, Feb 10: Budget Saturday, 8:30 - 3:30, Admin Building and on Acton TV

• Mon, Feb 12: Early Release, 1 pm

• Tues, Feb 13: Ski Club Session #5

• Thurs, Feb 15: End of Round 3 for PE/Health classes

• Fri, Feb 16: Blue and Gold Day

• Mon, Feb 19 - Fri, Feb 23: Vacation Week - No School

• Tues, Feb 27: Ski Club Session #6

Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim

Good afternoon,

Happy February to you all! Each morning, I leave the house with my two youngest daughters. On the way out the door this morning, my 5-year-old  asked if we could go sledding soon. She’s right - we haven’t gone to any local hills to sled yet this year. I am hopeful the sun will return this weekend to be able to enjoy a bit of the snow before it’s gone. And I am hopeful that with one more year under her belt, she can walk back up the hill on her own to avoid me carrying her!

Our Ski and Board club is halfway through its season. With cold enough temperatures and some natural snow, they’ve had better conditions than recent years. If you drive your child to school, I am ever grateful for your patience on Tuesday mornings. I know our regular drop-off routine can get slowed down by all the gear that gets brought into school on those days. We have considered alternative drop-off strategies to keep things moving, but we worry those will actually make the impact worse and slow down traffic even more. If you do drop off, regardless of the day of the week, please pull as far forward as possible (up to the car in front of you, or as far forward as Mr. Zhang!) to allow additional cars to pull in behind you. If you stop right at the stairs or even earlier, we prevent at least 3 or 4 cars from pulling in. 

Next week is National School Counselor Week. We have four excellent counselors here at RJ Grey, plus three great school psychologists. They are all busy this week and next with teaching lessons on the Signs of Suicide in 7th grade classes. If you have had experience working with our counselors, next week, or really any time, is a good week to thank them!

As I noted, we started SOS this week. I taught the lesson to Ms. Kulkarni’s homeroom on Tuesday morning. It’s only on rare occasions nowadays that I get to teach full class periods. My class was great - they were all interested in the topic, asked great questions, and had thoughtful responses. The main focus of our SOS work is to have students remember a simple acronym, ACT: Acknowledge, Care, and Tell (a trusted adult). I find that the acronym is universal to lots of situations but is highly applicable to a situation when an adolescent is concerned about a friend who might be feeling depressed, upset, or in the worst case, suicidal. We talk with students about the differences between sadness and depression, we alert them to warning signs for depression, and we ask them to think about who a trusted adult is for them. While we hope all RJ Grey students have at least one trusted adult at school (89% report they currently do), we know that almost all of them are more likely to have someone they trust in their homes (93% report that they do). One of the vignettes presented in the SOS video is between two middle-school aged boys. And while one of the boys is resistant to talking to his own mother because she has so much going on, the friend offers up his own mom as someone who could help. Please know that many of you may be a trusted adult for kids who aren’t even in your own family! Kids certainly know who they can trust, so please be open if a student needs to talk to you about something important.

Next Wednesday, February 7th from 6 - 7:30 pm, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School is hosting their annual Transition to ABRHS Night for parents and caregivers of current 8th graders. The high school administrators, department leaders, and students will talk about life at the high school. Our 8th graders already met with reps from the high school in the fall, and we’ll take them for a tour later this spring. Please mark your calendars for this important event.

Upcoming Dates

• Mon, Feb 5: Library closed to students after school

• Tues, Feb 6: 7 Red SOS Lesson

• Tues, Feb 6: Ski Club Session #4

• Tues, Feb 6: School Council Meeting at  7 pm

• Tues, Feb 6: Cartwheel Care Seminar

• Wed, Feb 7: Transition to ABRHS Night for 8th grade families

• Thurs, Feb 8: 7 Green SOS Lesson

• Sat, Feb 10: Budget Saturday, 8:15 - 3:30

• Mon, Feb 12: Early Release, 1 pm

• Thurs, Feb 15: End of Round 3 for PE/Health classes

• Fri, Feb 16: Blue and Gold Day

Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim