Good afternoon,
Spring has arrived. The recent bright sunny days make the light coat of pollen over everything just a bit easier to deal with. I hope you’re looking forward to the unofficial start of summer this weekend with Memorial Day. Last year we bought a 15-foot Intex pool. It’s one of those that comes together quickly with PVC poles and a vinyl liner. I pulled it out of the garage last weekend to discover some pumpkin seeds and a 2-inch hole. I’m imagining some kind of small animal must have made himself comfortable over the winter. A quick trip to the hardware store for a vinyl patch made it possible to get the pool up and we’ve been slowly filling it over the week. My kids, who don’t feel cold in the water, will likely get to take the first swim this weekend. I hope you have some fun plans, too.
I wrote to you all on Tuesday night with our plans for how we planned to talk about the shootings in Texas. As always, your kids were great. When I sit in my office and make announcements, I don’t get the immediate feedback that teachers get when they’re face-to-face, so I never know how our messages on serious topics land for our kids. Our teachers reported back that they took our messaging seriously and I know some teachers asked them throughout the day to share, or write any of their fears, wonderings, or hopes coming out of the situation. I still remain sad thinking about it all while remaining committed to keeping RJ Grey as safe as it can be. That’s the work for all of us, so thank you for your partnership in this.
Turning to happier thoughts - we had a great seventh grade celebration last Friday. We sold about 340 tickets - I’m not positive all of those students came, but we had a great turnout. All of the chaperones and I were happy to see kids just having fun. I talked to the attendees at the start of the event and reminded them that our goals of Joy and Community were being represented by the particular event they were a part of and I reiterated our expectations for what their behavior should look like. They rose to the occasion and there was a lot of joy and community that night. Events like this only come together with the support of our PTSO and our staff. To start, I’d like to thank the parent volunteers who took on the important job of setting up and staffing the snack and drink tables. Megan Connor, Deb Datta, Diane Randolph Jones, Barbara Miranda, Durga Nirgudkar, and Dara Sweetser all volunteered their time and energy and the kids greatly appreciated it. And thank you to all of you who dropped off boxes of Doritos, desserts, and other snacks and drinks. You contributed to a great event!
I’m putting in a plug for our AB Summer School options. They have some classes that are appropriate for our students. If you’re interested, please see the info below and check out their website:
Summer School Registration
Join us this summer at the AB Summer school! Summer School 2022 dates are Monday, June 27th - Friday, August 5th for six-week classes and Monday, June 27th - Friday, July 22nd for summer physical education classes. A full range of Enrichment, Remedial and Test Prep courses include: English, Creative Writing, Math 7, Math 8, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Math Counts, SAT Prep, Science Research, & Physical Education. Course offerings and other information can be found on the AB Summer School website. Email [email protected] with questions!
We are certainly closing in on the end of the school year. I hope it winds down well for all of you and your children. Have a great long weekend!
Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:
-Monday, May 30: No School, Memorial Day
-Thursday, June 2: RJ Grey Choral Performance
-Friday, June 3: High School Graduation on Leary Field
-Friday, June 10: Great East Music Festival
-Friday, June 10: 8th Grade Celebration, 7 - 9 pm
-Friday, June 17: 8th Grade trip to Mel’s Funway
-Tuesday, June 21: End of year assembly, early release at 11:10 am
Take care,
Jim Marcotte