Good afternoon,
I hope you had a nice April vacation. My family and I spent some time in the yard, we visited a Maine beach for a portion of a day, and I read a book for pleasure! I hope your week was fulfilling, too.
Every year when we return from April vacation, it feels like we are stepping onto a broken treadmill that is dialed in to “High,” and the controls won’t allow for slowing down! Already this week, we’ve been involved in interviewing candidates for new teaching positions, we hosted about 200 people for our 6th grade family info night last night, and we opened up our outside eating locations again for our lunches. Our students also got back into the swing of things with classwork, along with games and practices for our athletic teams. On the horizon are some field trips for 7th graders to Boda Borg. And our 8th grade teams all take turns going to the Peabody Essex Museum to complement much of what they’ve been learning about in their social studies classes.
It’s also the time of year when we start to get excited about end-of-year celebrations. On the night of Friday, May 20th, we’ll host an evening celebration for our 7th graders. We’ll have music, dancing, and food for our students to celebrate the almost-end of their 7th grade year. Students tend to dress up a bit - nothing formal at all - and get together in the gym for a good time. Please be on the lookout for emails about donating some snacks or drinks, or even volunteering for the event. As the year progresses, we’ll also mention the 8th grade version of this event! More to come!
Our next batch of student at-home testing kits went home today. Thanks to all of you who still have your children take their tests on Sunday afternoons. Each day since vacation, we’ve had one or two reported cases of Covid in our students or staff. We’re still continuing to be mask-optional as a school and students continue to be respectful and cooperative with their peers who make a personal choice about masking. If you would prefer that your child stop receiving these at-home test kits, you can find an opt-out form on our District’s Covid page.
We’re heading back into another round of MCAS testing starting next week. Both 7th and 8th graders take two sessions each of Math, and our 8th graders take 2 sessions of Science, as well. Our schedule for these test sessions is below. We had great attendance, with students arriving on time to school during our ELA testing window. We hope for the same with our next tests. As always, a good night’s sleep, along with breakfast the morning of their tests will help students feel ready to show what they know!
A few weeks ago, a student volunteered to share the meaning of Ramadan over the morning announcements. As we approach the end of Ramadan and the festival of Eid-al-Fitr on Monday, we wish everyone who celebrates Eid Mubarak!
Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:
-Monday, May 2: Early Release (1 pm)
-Thursday, May 5: 8th grade Math MCAS Session 1
-Monday, May 9: 8th grade Math MCAS Session 2
-Tuesday, May 10: 8th grade Science MCAS
-Thursday, May 12: 7th grade Math MCAS Session 1
-Friday, May 13: 7th grade Math MCAS Session 2
-Monday, May 16: School Council on Zoom, 7 pm
-Friday, May 20: 7th grade Celebration, 7 - 9 pm
Take care,
Jim Marcotte