Good afternoon, RJ Grey Families:
I hope you're doing well and enjoying the recent warming temperatures. On the way out of our house this morning, my middle daughter Caroline said, "It smells like spring." She's right! There is a distinct smell in the air as we emerge from the dark and cold winter. The angle and intensity of the sun feel different. I have heard birds in the morning. At this morning's drop-off, I took a picture of our long-lost parking barrier that got pushed aside by the plows a few weeks ago. Its broken legs weren't visible yesterday - snow is melting, and spring is coming!
With spring comes spring athletics tryouts. If your child is interested in trying out for baseball, softball, volleyball, or joining our spring track team, please check out the information we provide on our website.
With spring also comes MCAS testing! You may remember a state ballot question in November regarding the MCAS. The outcome of that vote eliminated the requirement to pass the 10th grade MCAS in order to graduate from high school. It did not, however, remove the requirement that we administer the MCAS in 7th and 8th grades (and other years, too). No matter how you voted in November, the MCAS remains an assessment of the state frameworks. I find value in seeing how students perform because it tells me how well we've taught our content and grade-level skills! Our teaching gets better when we are able to see our students' responses to the MCAS. Below are this spring's dates for the MCAS administration at RJ Grey:
- April 8 and 9: 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts
- May 14 and 15: 7th and 8th grade Math
- May 19: 8th grade Science/Technology Engineering
- May 28 and 29: 8th grade Civics
The second trimester (on-team classes) will wrap up next Thursday, March 13th. If your child has any lingering work for trimester 2, now is the time to turn it in or follow up with a teacher. There are no class changes as a result of entering trimester 3. Trimester 2 report cards will be emailed home around March 24.
If you haven't already done so, please take a few minutes to complete the Chronic Absenteeism survey that was sent by the District (link here). Our students took a similar survey in Advisory on Tuesday. You know that we're regularly trying to improve our student attendance, and this data collection will help the Chronic Absenteeism Task Force understand the issues at play with student attendance.
I try to remain aware of our student attendance over time. My brain sometimes needs a visual, so I have been regularly updating a calendar with the percentage of students present in school on any given day. The varying shades of pink and red on the calendar below are a quick visual for me - any day below 95% gets marked with a color. We know that some early travel and some widespread illness kept more students out of school the week before February vacation. If you have any questions or concerns about attendance for your child, please be in touch!
Finally, tomorrow is Sports Jersey Day and our March Madness basketball tournament after school. We expect that lots of our students will stay to watch their classmates compete in a tournament of back-to-back games. A few things make this an ideal middle school event: it’s immediately after school, it’s wrapped up before dinner time, and it doesn’t have the social pressure of a dance or an evening event. If your child is joining us, I know they will have a great time! I also remind you to pick them up at 4:30. The pick-up can get pretty busy, so my advice is to park in our lot and let your child know where you are, rather than trying to drive through the front circle looking for them. Major thanks to everyone who has volunteered to donate snacks and drinks for the tournament!
Take care and I hope you have a nice weekend,
Jim