R.J. Grey Junior High School

Good afternoon,

We kicked off MCAS season this morning with our 8th graders who took Session 1 of the English Language Arts test. They’ll continue working tomorrow on Session 2. The remainder of the ELA MCAS sessions are listed below. I was the MCAS administrator at RJ Grey for many years. The tracking required, the details, and the preparation for giving the exam to more than 800 students over 5 days, plus make-ups, is mind-boggling. Ms. Broadwater is the assistant principal in charge of MCAS this year and her work on this enormous undertaking has made me proud! And our kids have made me proud, too. While not their favorite day of the year, most of today’s test-takers tried really hard and gave it their best effort. I also appreciate that we only had a few students absent today - this means fewer make-ups! All in all, it was a good start to this ongoing series of assessments.

On Monday evening, I joined our Superintendent and Director of Equity and Inclusion at a meeting at Congregation Beth Elohim in Acton. We had been invited by Rabbi David to a meeting with members of the congregation in light of some of the issues of anti-semitism that we shared with you in the winter. The Boston Globe published an article just last week about how the rise in anti-semitic incidents soared in Massachusetts in 2022. We got to hear about the experience of several AB students and families, past and present. The questions from the community at CBE focused on our experiences as school leaders dealing with issues of hate and bias. There were questions about what we’re seeing in our schools and how we might be able to make progress in reducing and eliminating these issues. The congregation was warm and welcoming to Peter, Jen, and me, and to other members of the RJ Grey admin team who attended. I really appreciate the invitation to connect with the CBE community on this important issue. 

On Tuesday evening, I attended a meeting with the district-based Leadership Coalition to Eliminate Hate and Bias Speech. This coalition of educators, students, and families has begun its work to determine how we might reduce the use of hate and biased language in our schools. While I believe RJ Grey does a lot to work with students about understanding, appreciation, and celebration of differences, we are committed to doing more. This spring and summer, we’ll continue to work in conjunction with the district to make our schools an even safer and supportive community for all of our students and families. The commitment to making AB a better and safer place for everyone, displayed by people at both of these meetings, is impressive. I’m excited about the work that we can all do together.

There is another caregiver education presentation with Cartwheel Care coming up on Wednesday, April 5 from 7 - 8 pm. This session’s topic will be: ADHD & Executive Functioning: Symptoms and Strategies. Click here for the flyer with more information and to register for the webinar.

Finally, Minuteman High School has asked us to let you know that they have some interesting summer enrichment offerings that you might wish to check out. Click here for some details.

Here are some dates to be aware of:

• Friday, 3/31: MCAS ELA Session 2 for 8th grade

• Monday, 4/3: Library closed to students after school

• Monday, 4/3: RJ Grey School Council Mtg on Zoom at 7 pm

• Tuesday, 4/4: MCAS ELA Session 1 for 7th grade

• Wednesday, 4/5: MCAS ELA Session 2 for 7th grade

• Wednesday, 4/5: Webinar: ADHD and Executive Functioning

• Friday, 4/7: No School, Good Friday

Take care and have a great weekend,
Jim

Good afternoon,

I hope you are all having a good week. The change in the weather pattern is noticeable - my office windows are open right now and it definitely is making me realize we’re almost into a true spring! 

Earlier this week, on Monday night, my wife and I, along with our three daughters attended (part of) the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Garden. My wife is a long-time fan and has seen him live more than 25 times. In the last 13+ years of us being together, I have become a fan too...I’ve seen him a measly 7 times, I think. When tickets became available for this week’s show, I thought she was crazy to even consider bringing our young kids to a concert…on a Monday night…in March…that starts no earlier than 7:45 pm. But my arm was twisted enough that we did it. 

As a super fan, my wife just couldn’t imagine not letting our kids (who know most of the words to lots of his songs) see him before he retires. He’s 73 and still plays for close to three hours. My kids and I left the show well before the end. On my quiet drive home because they were sleeping, I was wondering about the three of them - who will they adore as a performer some day? What will really get them excited in life? What will they do 25+ times and still be joyous about? Your kids are older than mine, and I bet you wonder that too. As you are raising young adults, I hope you’re starting to see some glimpses of what really makes them happy, what really makes them excited and passionate. I hope you encourage them to pursue that thing that they truly just love! If it’s The Boss, please let me know and we’ll compare notes! And I’ll be clear to share that we all made it to our respective schools on time the next day!

We issued trimester 2 report cards yesterday, so if you didn’t receive one, please check your email. Please reach out to me if you still cannot locate it. As we we enter the final third of the year, this is a good time for students to hit reset on some habits that might have emerged over the winter. Please have conversations with your children if there are report card comments or grades that came as a surprise. And if you have questions, please reach out directly to the teacher to seek additional information as necessary.

For current 8th grade families, this is a reminder that the Parent Portal closes on Monday, March 27. Please head to the Portal to select high school courses that were recommended by 8th grade teachers, and pick some electives too. For current 7th grade families, our Portal opened today for 8th grade courses. You’ll log in and help select Grey Block classes, along with approving the recommended math level. We’ll roll out similar info to 6th grade families in the next month or so.

Here are some dates to be aware of:

• Monday, 3/27: Early Release at 1 pm

• Thurs, 3/30: MCAS ELA Session 1 for 8th grade

• Thurs, 3/30: Team Trivia Event after school

• Friday, 3/31: MCAS ELA Session 2 for 8th grade

• Monday, 4/3: Library closed to students after school

• Monday, 4/3: RJ Grey School Council Mtg on Zoom

• Tuesday, 4/4: MCAS ELA Session 1 for 7th grade

• Wednesday, 4/5: MCAS ELA Session 2 for 7th grade

• Friday, 4/7: No School, Good Friday

Take care and have a great weekend,
Jim

Good afternoon,

I am very hopeful that we experienced our final weather-related interruption of this school year. The snow day on Tuesday was a welcome interruption for my family. As we returned to school on Wednesday, I heard stories from many staff members who live west of here, making me grateful to have shoveled only a few, albeit wet, inches of snow. However your kids spent their snow day, I hope it was fun!

I’ve spent part of each day this week in our classrooms. This is in due in part to our teacher evaluation process, but also to get a handle on what our students are doing in school each day. I’ve observed Phys Ed, Spanish, and some social studies classes. On each occasion, I’ve found myself engaged in what our kids are studying and enthralled with how our teachers are teaching it. This week I’ve learned about the Harlem Renaissance, a bit about Confucianism, a brush-up on how to conjugate -ar verbs in Spanish, and a primer on how to properly hold a hockey stick in Phys Ed. Even this brief overview makes it apparent to me that our kids are exposed to a lot each day. So when your kids say that school was fine, or they did nothing, don’t believe them! They’re doing a lot and learning a lot each day!

Some of you were likely able to attend the March 1st webinar with Cartwheel Care: Mindful Media Engagement: Positive Relationships with Screen-Based Technology. If you weren’t able to attend and you are interested in seeing the content, the webinar has been placed on our district website along with a number of associated resources: Families/Mental Health Resources for Families/Cartwheel Care 2022-2023 Webinar Series. 

Finally, our Superintendent’s Office has approved this flyer to share. ABCares, in conjunction with other community partners is sponsoring a gun buyback event. Thanks for spreading the word about this event to help keep our students and families safe. 

Here are some dates to be aware of:

• Monday, 3/20: Parent Portal opens for ninth grade course recommendations

• Friday, 3/24: Trimester 2 Report Cards emailed home

• Monday, 3/27: Early Release at 1 pm

• Thurs, 3/30: MCAS ELA Session 1 for 8th grade

• Thurs, 3/30: Team Trivia Event after school

• Friday, 3/31: MCAS ELA Session 2 for 8th grade

Take care and have a great weekend,
Jim

Good afternoon,

I had a meeting in another building this afternoon and considered walking to it without wearing my jacket. The bright sunshine was giving me the false sense of what the actual temperature was outside. We’re making progress towards spring, but I am glad I wore my jacket...we’re not quite there yet! As spring inches closer, we approach the beginning of our spring athletic season. We have baseball, softball, volleyball, and track teams. Our tryouts begin on March 21 and are staggered, so please check out the schedule here. The most thing to remember is to sign-up on Family ID and make sure we have your child's current physical exam on file prior to tryouts. We don’t allow students to try out or participate without a current physical exam, so if you need to, please work on that soon to avoid any disappointment. 

Last week, representatives from ABRHS came to speak to our 8th graders about life at the high school. Since then, our 8th grade counselors have (or will) visit 8th grade classes to talk in more detail about the high school schedule, course sign-ups and other pieces of info about ABRHS. The portal for 8th grade families will open on March 20, where families and students will select high school courses for next year.

As spectators of the assembly described above, our RJ Grey staff was disappointed in the behavior of some of our 8th graders during the assembly. Yesterday, during Advisory, we brought the grade together again to talk about how we expect students to behave in situations like an assembly. I noted to our students that I was especially disappointed that some of them behaved poorly in front of our guests. I shared that in my own family (hi, mom - a frequent reader of this column), my sisters and I were always expected to behave better when around guests than when we were just with our parents. I have the same expectation for my own daughters. In our Assembly, Part II, our students demonstrated excellent behavior and showed us exactly how we know they can behave. We took advantage of the time together and we reviewed expectations related to timeliness to class, use of cell phones, appropriate use of language, and other items that have become noticeably more lax in these winter months. The third trimester of 8th grade (which starts next week) is often a time of celebration and excitement. We were happy to be able to review our expectations that will allow for all of our students to be able to enjoy their last trimester before heading off to ninth grade. 

Tomorrow is Sports Jersey Day at RJ Grey. For some of our kids, every day is sports jersey day! Whether they dress the part or not, we’re excited for a festive day, leading into our after school basketball tournament.

Here are some dates to be aware of:

• Friday, 3/10: Sports Jersey Day

• Friday, 3/10: Student Council March Madness Basketball Tournament, 3 - 4:30pm

• Monday, 3/13: End of Trimester 2

• Monday, 3/13: Early Release at 1 pm

• Tuesday, 3/14: Orchestra Concert

Take care and have a great weekend,
Jim

Good afternoon,

I hope you and your family had a nice February vacation. The early part of last week was warm enough that my family and I spent some time walking on the beach at Plum Island. And then of course we had snow this week to snap us back into the reality that it’s still winter! However you spent your week, I hope it was enjoyable.

Our Ski and Board Club wrapped up this week after quite a long season. With an early January cancellation due to no snow and rainy conditions, and a week where Wachusett had no power, we owe a great deal of thanks to our chaperones for pushing through six weeks of fun. Ernie Camposano served as our lead advisor and was joined by RJ Grey staffers: Anastasia Koulopoulos, Karen Dudziak, Allison Paul, Nancy Perry, and Ingrid Joyce. They were joined by some parent chaperones, too: Josh and Rebecca Bregman, Mike Plate, and Barry Yaceshyn. This particular club is a huge undertaking but one that all of the participants enjoy. Thank you to everyone who helped pull it off.

We are approaching the end of Trimester 2 on Monday, March 13th. We’ll then issue report cards about 2 weeks later. If you know your child has any work to catch up on, please check in with them about the upcoming end of term. 

With the spring coming quickly, we are also approaching the season where we administer MCAS tests. At RJ Grey, students in both grades take MCAS tests in English Language Arts and Math. And our 8th graders take a Science/Technology Engineering assessment, too. Below are the dates when we’ll be doing testing this spring. I thank you in advance for helping to make sure your child is present on these 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 this spring, I’d ask you kindly to avoid these dates:

• Thurs 3/30 and Fri 3/31: 8th grade ELA

• Tues 4/4 and Wed 4/5: 7th grade ELA

• Thurs 4/27 and Fri 4/28: 8th grade Math

• Tues 5/2: 8th grade Science and Technology/Engineering

• Thurs 5/4 and Fri 5/5: 7th grade Math

Next Friday, we’ll host an after school March Madness basketball tournament for interested students. We have a request for some assistance with snacks for the event. Please check out this info from our PTSO volunteers, who help coordinate events like this: The RJ Grey Student Council will be hosting a basketball tournament at the school on Friday, March 10th from 3:00 - 4:30pm. The PTSO is looking for donations of snacks and drinks and a few parent volunteers to set up and work the snack tables. If you are able to donate snacks, drinks, or a little of your time, please sign up via the SignUpGenius link. If you have any questions, please contact Durga at [email protected] Sign up here: https://signup.com/go/xtcfvGY

Finally, our Superintendent’s Office has approved this flyer to share: AB Girls Lacrosse Clinic

Here are some dates to be aware of:

• Monday, 3/6: Library closed after school for staff meeting

• Monday, 3/6: RJ Grey School Council Meeting on Zoom, 7 pm

• Wednesday, 3/8: District-wide Pan Choral Concert

• Friday, 3/10: Student Council March Madness Basketball Tournament, 3 - 4:30pm

• Monday, 3/13: End of Trimester 2

• Monday, 3/13: Early Release at 1 pm

• Tuesday, 3/14: Orchestra Concert

Take care and have a great weekend,
Jim