Good afternoon,
Today while I was at lunch duty in our cafeteria, a student asked if she could go to her locker to get her sweatshirt because she was “freezing!” I had to ask, “really?” She was serious and she returned a few minutes later with her sweatshirt! You have likely heard from your student about their experiences with heat this week at RJ Grey. Many of our classrooms do not have air conditioning. This is the result of ours being in a building built in 1957, and renovated in 1966 and 2002. Some areas of our building, including our cafeteria have air conditioning…so maybe the student I mentioned above was actually chilly! Regardless, we are very much hoping for a drop in temperature and humidity over the weekend to make next week feel more comfortable for learning. I tend to lean toward the positive when thinking about our students and teachers, but this week, they’ve gone above and beyond. While heat can make me cranky, tired, and all the typical emotions one feels when sweating, I so appreciate the positive attitudes that our staff and our students are bringing to school this week. They are all doing an amazing job of making the best of a difficult situation.
Today we had our second session of Advisory of the year. This month’s Advisory theme focuses on Belonging. Today, each group practiced a Community Circle, which is a protocol we use when discussing an important topic. Last year we used a few Community Circles when talking about challenging issues we were facing as a school. Today, the questions in the circle were light - “Ice cream: cone or bowl?” And “if you could time travel, where and when would you go and why?” By having these types of light questions now, framed in a pretty prescribed way, we are hoping to have students start to feel comfortable sharing and talking. We know that at some point, we’ll need a Community Circle to deal with something more heavy. Advisory and the work that we do in our classrooms focuses on lots of things, but to start the year thinking about Belonging is intentional. When we intentionally include all kids in various classes, including Homeroom, English, Grey Block, and all the others, we are hoping that all students find a sense of belonging in one or more of those groups. We know life is much more fun when we feel included and a part of something. I hope your student is starting to feel a part of something at RJ Grey.
The Acton Food Pantry has always been a strong partner of the AB Schools. If you or someone you know could benefit from the resources available through the Food Pantry, please be in touch with them. Please see here for some information. Another strong partner of ours is Danny’s Place. They are moving into a new space and having a celebration; please see below for more information.
Join the community celebration for Danny’s Place on Sunday, September 17th, and tour its newly renovated expansive space at 543 Mass Ave in West Acton. The event will begin at 11am with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and an open house! We invite the community to meet the staff and learn more about the exciting upcoming program offerings. At 12:30pm, join the celebration on the Gardner Field lawn for family-friendly activities, music, food and beverage for purchase from sponsors True West and West Side Creamery, and an all-ages cornhole tournament fundraiser. For more information and to register for the tournament, please visit dannys-place.org/cornhole.
Upcoming Dates
-
Monday, September 11: Library closed to students after school
-
Wednesday, September 13: Ribbon Cutting at the AB Resource Center
-
Monday, September 18: Early Release at 1 pm
-
Tuesday, September 19: School Picture Day at RJ Grey
-
Wednesday, September 20: iReady ELA Diagnostic Assessment
-
Monday, September 25: No School, Yom Kippur
-
Thursday, September 28: RJ Grey Back to School Night: 7 - 8:45 pm
The following flyers have been approved for distribution by our Superintendent’s Office:
Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim