Good afternoon,
If you’re wondering why you’ve received this email message today, it’s because you are currently subscribed as a recipient of the Daily Announcements and Eye on the Junior High message series at RJ Grey Junior High School. I will not feel bad if you choose to “unsubscribe” by clicking the button at the bottom of the email you received. And if you are in the right place, Welcome! Please stay and read these weekly messages which will generally come out on Thursday afternoons.
We’ve now been back to school for four days - an excellent four days! After the first two days, I woke up on Wednesday morning grateful that we had moved past the two prior days of mixed-up, choppy schedules. Whenever we get the chance to return to our predictable schedules, our daily rhythm just seems to flow better here at RJ Grey. The next few weeks will have lots of random events and interruptions to our days, including safety drills, picture day, and other items, but we’re happy to have our feet beneath us and ready to move forward with building our Joyful, Inclusive Community of Engaged Learners.
The return of students to school is always an exciting time for us. Before we even managed to have our students return, we had a major shift in our Admin team at RJ Grey. We hired one new assistant principal last spring after we found out that Mr. Lawrence had accepted a principal position in another middle school. And we found out later in the summer that Ms. Boege had accepted a curriculum coordinator position in another town, too. I have tried to not take each of these departures personally, as each presented a great opportunity for their continued professional growth.
We have lucked out with our recent hires of assistant principals who are truly great additions to our leadership team and the daily life of RJ Grey. Because they both work primarily with students, families, and teachers, I want to make sure to introduce them to you.
Mrs. Kelly Doherty is joining us as the Assistant Principal responsible for working with 7th graders. She has experience as an assistant principal at the elementary and high school levels. She was a math teacher and digital learning teacher, along with being a department leader for many years. Kelly has hit the ground running, getting to know the 7th grade students and all of our teachers. She’s been a great addition to our school. Kelly can be reached by email at [email protected].
Mr. Jun Wei (Anthony) Zhang is also joining us as an Assistant Principal. Anthony will work with our 8th grade students, families, and teachers. Anthony recently earned his degree in ed leadership while working as a 7th grade English teacher in Massachusetts. Anthony grew up in New Jersey and after college, joined Teach for America which brought him to the Bay State. We are thrilled that he stayed in the area and has joined our school community. If you need to reach Anthony, you’ll find him at [email protected].
Our Fall Athletics programs get going next week. Please check out this doc with tryout/sign-up info. If you have questions about a particular sport, please reach out to the coaches listed, or to our JH Athletic Director, Jon Duclos ([email protected]).
With every August/September, comes a level of excitement for people who work in schools. We hope that our excitement for school and learning has been made apparent to your children. If school hasn’t hit the mark for your child yet, that’s okay. Change, whether it be to a new grade or new school, can be difficult for some students. If the return to school seems like a real struggle after another week or so, I invite you to reach out to your child’s teachers or counselor. We’d like to hear what you’re seeing at home so that we can partner together on how to help.
Here are some upcoming dates that will be helpful for you to know:
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Friday, 9/2: No School
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Monday, 9/6: No School - Labor Day
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Monday, 9/19: Early Release at 1 pm for Professional Learning
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Friday, 9/23: School Picture Day at RJ Grey
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Monday, 9/26: No School - Rosh Hashanah
For now, enjoy the long weekend. We’ll see all of our students again on Tuesday, September 6.
Take care,
Jim