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Team assignments for the 26-27 school year will be released on the Parent Portal on Monday, August 17 beginning at 12:00 pm.

Scheduling a school with 800 students is a complex process. We build teams that are balanced by sending school, gender, race, world language choices, special education, multilingual services, and other academic services.

Given all of these variables, it is virtually impossible to build the schedule around individual team requests. When we received information from families about individual student situations via our Family Information Form in the spring, we reviewed it and made our best attempt to accommodate situations when possible and appropriate. We are confident that we have built teams in a manner that will ensure every student has the opportunity to maintain or develop friendships with their peers. We will not be able to adjust team placements after they have been released for any reason other than our own error.

In order to access your child’s team assignment, you need to log into the PowerSchool parent portal. You will first be required to complete your child’s emergency card information and answer some additional school permission-related questions, including specific PTSO permissions.  Please note that the parent portal will be closed until August 17th, so you will not be able to complete these forms in advance.  Once you complete the required information, you will be able to access your child’s team placement, which is listed in your student’s account.  

On August 12, families of students who were in a school at AB last year will receive their PowerSchool username and password recovery instructions to use if necessary. Families of new students will receive Access ID and Access passwords for the Parent Portal. These usernames are necessary to access the Parent Portal when it opens on Monday, August 17 at 12 pm. 

Should you be unable to access the internet, please call our main office at 978 264-3350, Press 1. We’ll invite you in to complete these forms at school; calling ahead will confirm that someone is there to meet you. This will allow us to assist you in entering the online emergency card information and permissions forms, after which we will give you your child’s team assignment. 

Again this year, we will have a total of seven (7) teams of teachers at RJ Grey. 7 Blue, 7 Gold, 7 Red, 8 Blue, 8 Gold, and 8 Red will be full-sized teams where the team teachers teach only students in the assigned grade level. Students on 7 Green and 8 Green will share a set of team teachers. The teachers will teach students in both grades. The students, however, will be in classes with peers only from their grade level. Students on 7 Green and 7 Red may be assigned to a single class on the opposing team. This practice will allow students to engage with more peers than just those assigned to 7 Green, for example. Students on all teams may take a French or Spanish class with a teacher who is not specifically assigned to the student’s team. Details of student schedules will be shared within the first few days of the year.

We know that assigning a Chromebook to students as a tool can be helpful, but we don't believe that our middle school students need a device in their hands at every moment of the day, including at home. RJ Grey is shifting from an environment where technology is everywhere at all times to one where we use technology in a more intentional way. As such, we are going to keep school-issued Chromebooks at school. Chromebooks will not come home with RJ Grey students this year. Our RJ Grey School Council and our Leadership Team have helped create this plan, and we think that moving away from sending devices home will help all of us to keep better control of the physical devices (reducing damage) and will help with the distraction that is ever-present. 

This year, students will be assigned an individual Chromebook for the year. They'll pick it up from their Homeroom each morning and will deposit it there to charge before dismissal at 2:36. We'll be taking some other steps here at school, too, including changing many of our classroom routines to include leaving the device in a cubby until the teacher decides that the device is necessary. Teachers will shift practices, too, to include assigning homework that does not require technology. We're also going to distribute planbooks to students and help them to develop organization systems for their materials. While any shift in practice will present some challenges, we believe that reducing the amount of screentime and distraction that our students face on a daily basis will be a positive move as we continue to engage our learners. 

The video, camera, and real-time text capabilities of cell phones and smart watches present the difficult challenge of ensuring an appropriate learning environment for students at this age level.  In order to maintain the focus on learning and to minimize distractions to students, the use of student cell phones and smart watches is not allowed during the school day. We appreciate that students may wish to have cell phones available before and after school. Students who choose to bring cell phones or smart watches to school MUST keep them in their lockers (and turned off) from 8:00am to 2:36pm. This means that even having a turned-off cell phone in your pocket is not permitted. As a parent/guardian, we ask for your help by not reaching out via cell phone to your child during the day. Our Main Office is happy to answer calls and pass along messages to students. This also applies to students who don’t feel well during the day. We ask all students for whom this is the case to go to the Health Office. Our nurse will reach out to you if your child needs to be dismissed or for any other reason. Thank you for your assistance with this!

For seventh graders, the first day of school is Monday, August 31. Upon entering the school, students will be directed to their Homeroom location. Prior to that day, students will not have (nor need) their individual schedules. Schedules will be shared during the first days of school. The name of your child’s Homeroom teacher will be available on the Parent Portal.
 

Each team works hard to welcome its students on that first day. They will help students get settled in, take them on a tour of our building, and help them use their lockers. There will not be a focus on academics on that first day of school - getting everyone into our building and making them feel comfortable is our goal. Students may bring their own lunch or receive a lunch from the cafeteria. After lunch, we will hold an assembly where we officially welcome everyone to RJ Grey and begin the school year with some words of encouragement and a preview of what will be a part of their RJ Grey experience.  

Any 8th grade student new to the Acton-Boxborough District (those who did not attend RJ Grey as 7th graders last year) is invited to participate in an orientation program on Monday, August 31, beginning at 1:30 PM and ending at 2:36 PM, so that students may ride home on their regular bus. Students are invited to gather in the lobby, where they will be directed to a meeting space. Please click on this form to let us know if your child will be attending.

The first day of school for all other eighth grade students is Tuesday, September 1. 8th graders should report to the school by 8:00 AM on Thursday morning, where they will be directed to their Homerooms. 

In order to be prepared for classes on a daily basis, students and families will need to supply some basic items. The following is a list of items that will be useful in most classes at RJ Grey. Students do not need to bring all of these supplies on the first day of school but should be ready to have them during the first several days of the year. Please note that some teams might recommend additional items once the school year begins in order to be the most productive and organized for the school year.
 

• One school-sized backpack  
• Two 1.5” 3-ring binders   
• Two packs of 5 subject-dividing tabs for binders
• Four folders with pockets 
• One 5-subject spiral notebook
• One single-subject notebook for English class (to keep in class)
• One calculator: 8th grade needs TI-30xIIs; 7th grade only needs a 5-function calculator but could use the TI-30xIIs
• One single-subject graph paper notebook for 7th grade math
• One package of loose-leaf lined paper
• Pencils and pens 
• Pencil case
• One package of thin dry erase markers
• One pair of earbuds or headphones for use with Chromebooks
• Two pads of standard-sized Post-It notes
• One box of tissues (as a donation to Homeroom)

We encourage students/families for which any of the requested school supplies presents a hardship to contact us, and we can provide those items. Please email your child’s counselor or Assistant Principal.

Here you will find a link to the What Day is It Calendar at RJ Grey. This shows our rotating schedule and includes “no school days.” Please note that we will continue to have an Early Release on the ten (10) Mondays listed below. Students leave the building at 1:00 pm so that our staff can engage in professional learning. Please mark these dates on your calendar:

• September 14
• October 5 and 26
• November 16
• December 14
• January 11
• February 8
• March 1 and 29
• April - none
• May 3
• June - none

Over the past few years, we have focused on the attendance patterns of our students. When possible, scheduling vacations, appointments, and family events outside of school hours is helpful. We know that being in school every day is important for student learning, of course, but it is also vital to creating and maintaining strong relationships with supportive peers and adults. As such, you will hear from us if your child’s attendance during the year shows a particular pattern or a high number of absences. We hope to partner with you to problem-solve if attendance seems to be a concern. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education classifies students who are absent 10% or more of the year as “chronically absent.” Ten percent of our year is 18 absences: this is an easy number to approach if a student is absent only two days per month! If you need help with reinforcing strong attendance habits with your child, please be in touch with us. 

Please also note that our school day starts promptly at 8:00 am. If you drive your child to school, you will inevitably face challenges with traffic, inclement weather, and other barriers. Please work to make sure your child is in school before 7:55 am every day so that they are on time and ready to learn.

If your child will be absent from or late to school, please call the absence line at (978) 264-3350, Press 2 before 8:00AM and state your child’s: 

1. name 

2. team  

3. and, briefly, the reason for the absence or tardy arrival. 

If you need to call during school hours (8:00-3:30), please call our number and Press 1 to leave a message with a member of our office staff. You may also email the RJ Grey Main Office at rjgrey_main_office@abschools.org to send in information.

Our office staff will compare the messages with our homeroom attendance. Students who are marked absent in homeroom but for whom we did not receive a call will be marked as “unexcused” and will generate a call home. Please assist us in this process, and remember to call the school if your child will be absent. 

If you need your child to be dismissed during the school day, please email us at the address above, or send your child in with a note and instruct your child to bring it to the main office when arriving at school. The main office will issue a pass that your child will use when it is time to be picked up. If your child is not feeling well, your student should visit the nurse, and the nurse will work with your child to determine the next course of action. Students should not use their personal cell phones to make arrangements to be picked up. 

To maintain student safety and building security, the doors to the front lobby are the only public entrance to school during the school day (visitors are asked to check in at the Main Office upon arrival). All other doors will be locked during the school day. 

Students will be allowed to enter RJ Grey at 7:35 am each day. Access to the building will not be available until that time. Students will exit their buses or their family’s vehicle and will enter the main entrance or through the door at the top of the stairs from the parking lot. There will be no school activities or programs scheduled before the start of the school day. On occasion, extra help meetings may be arranged between a teacher and a student between 7:35 and 8:00am.

If you plan to drop off your child before school, please review our Morning Drop-Off Routines to understand traffic flow and drop-off locations at RJ Grey.

Our school day ends at 2:36 pm. After 2:50 pm, students may be in the building only if they are participating in a school-sponsored activity that is supervised by a staff member, coach, or advisor. The most common after-school activities include: 

• Attending extra help sessions with a teacher/making up a quiz or test
• Participating in a school club or activity (such as Games Club, MathCounts, Green Team, etc.)
• Participating in a school sports program (such as Girls and Boys Basketball, Cheerleading, etc.)
• Participation in a special event/program (such as the school Musical)
• Being in the Library to complete schoolwork and/or reading

Students are welcome to access the Library until 4:30 pm (except during once-a-month staff meetings). The Library will be supervised to ensure an appropriate setting for students to work.  Please know that students who are not utilizing the Library for quiet work and study will not be permitted to stay. Except for the occasional sporting event and musical rehearsals, all school activities held inside the school are over between 3:30 and 4:00 pm. Students will not be able to remain in the building after 4:30 pm. The District currently offers a Late Bus service that arrives at the Junior High at 4:30 pm.  You can review the Late Bus route(s) on the Transportation Website.

Information about our Athletics program is found on the RJ Grey website.  This includes tryout schedules for our Fall sports programs, none of which begin before the first day of school.  However, families of interested athletes must review instructions for registering their child and submitting required medical information ahead of tryouts. No student may try out for a fall sport without signing up on Family ID, along with the clearance of our school nurse.

Students who wish to participate in a club or activity will pay a $50 user fee in order to participate. Students who choose to participate in more than one club will pay the user fee only once and then will be eligible to participate in as many clubs as they choose. Some clubs will have an additional cost associated with them: Ski Club, for example. Students may bring a check for $50, made out to Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, or families may pay online by clicking here. Fees will be due at the beginning of October, allowing students to try out a club or two before committing.

Information from RJ Grey that is directed to all families will come via Parent Square. Please log into Parent Square to set your message delivery preferences. You have the choice to decide if you want your messages to come as an alert via text, or if they come strictly via email, and at what time of the day you’d like to receive messages. You have the choice to download the Parent Square app, as well. Please click to learn more about how to update your Parent Square settings.

The principal’s weekly message, Eye on the Junior High, will be sent to all families each week via Parent Square. We share our Daily Announcements via Parent Square every day. Click to join this group to receive our Daily Announcements. The Daily Announcements message will not automatically be sent to all family members. I recommend that at least one caregiver per family receives the Daily Announcement message each day.
 

Staff and faculty at RJ Grey can be reached through email or by leaving a voicemail. The format for most staff email is first initial, last name, followed by @abschools.org. For example, my email address is jmarcotte@abschools.org. Links to teacher email addresses can also be found on the RJ Grey website. Teachers can be reached through voicemail by calling our main number (978) 264-3350, Press 1, and ask for the teacher’s voicemail. Teachers do their best to respond to inquiries in a timely manner, and will get back to you within 24 hours.  

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has the following requirements for all students entering Grade 7 in the fall of 2025. Please click to review the Physical Exam and Immunization requirements for all students. 

Many of the above vaccines may have been administered while your child was in elementary school. Elementary health records have been transferred to RJ Grey. Please check with your Health Care Provider to be certain that your child’s immunizations are up-to-date and documented in his/her record. Please send any updated records to the RJ Grey school nurse at the Junior High School (16 Charter Road) by August 28, 2026. 

Similar to last year, all students are eligible to receive one free breakfast and one free lunch while at school. You can access the Food and Nutrition Services website for details about our food services program.

While meals are free for all, qualifying for free or reduced-price meals can provide your family with additional benefits, such as:

* Waived school and test fees (e.g., SAT, college applications)

* Discounts on internet and utilities

* Waived school fees such as afterschool care, athletic and music fees, field trips, etc

If you received an email from Food Services in August saying you qualified for free or reduced price meals, you do NOT need to apply again.  If you did not receive an email and believe you may qualify, we encourage you to apply online beginning on 8/6/26. Paper applications are also available on the Food Services website or through your school’s main office.  You only need to complete one application per family.

If you do not qualify for Free and Reduced Price meals, you may be eligible for financial assistance through Acton-Boxborough's Financial Assistance program.  Please visit our Financial Assistance website for instructions and required documents, and then complete the Financial Assistance Application form.

We are grateful for the annual support provided to us by the Acton-Boxborough PTSO. Over the years, the PTSO has supported our work with grants to help us with student events, student spirit gear, student planbooks, furniture, and staff appreciation gestures. We invite any interested family to renew their annual membership to the PTSO. We thank you for your support.