September 2023 - Posts
Good afternoon,
I hope you are all doing well. I hope I get to see many of you at tonight’s Back to School Night (please leave some time at the start to find a parking space). I have attended my own daughters’ Back to School Nights over the past week. As an educator, it is so very interesting to see how other schools deliver the same annual events but in completely different ways. At last night’s event in my hometown, a friend who knows my role asked, “Are you ready for your speech?” This was after we listened to the principal of my child’s school talk to a crowd of parents and guardians. My answer was “No - no one wants to hear from me!” And while there’s a bit of humor embedded in there, I do not give an address at Back to School Night. I am serious in my belief that you come to see your child’s teachers, their classrooms, and their hallways for a brief glimpse into their life at RJ Grey. You will likely see me in the lobby, hallways, and popping into a few classrooms. I view this Eye on the Junior High platform and other communications you’ve received from me as more than enough of what I might even consider saying at an event like Back to School Night. But please do stop and say hello tonight!
The District is continuing its use of Cartwheel Care this year. This service is in its second year at AB and allows us to connect students and families to mental health care quickly. If you would like to pursue mental health services for your own child, please be in touch with your child’s school counselor. Cartwheel Care also offers proactive sessions for parents and guardians at AB. The upcoming session on Addressing School-Related Anxiety and School Avoidance looks to be a good one. If you are interested in attending, please click here to learn more and sign-up.
As the construction continues in the area of Kelley’s Corner and Rte 111, we have been asked to share some news with our families. We are requesting that families no longer use the former Kmart parking lot as a cut-through to our campus or to drop off students. We have been informed that this is private property owned by Stop & Shop and they have requested that it not be used by the public. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation with this shift in practice.
The following updates have been approved by our Superintendent’s office for distribution:
Upcoming Dates
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Thursday, September 28: RJ Grey Back to School Night: 7 - 8:40 pm
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Monday, October 2: Early Release at 1 pm
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Tuesday, October 3: iReady ELA Diagnostic (postponed from 9/20)
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Wednesday, October 4: Webinar: Addressing School-Related Anxiety and School Avoidance
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Tuesday, October 3: School Council Meeting, 7 pm, RJ Grey Library
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Monday, October 9: No School, Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim
jmarcotte
Good afternoon,
A parent at this morning’s drop-off asked me if I was outside, everyday, helping drivers make their way through our parking lots. My answer was “yes,” and “it’s the easiest part of my day!” While this is true and it is something I can do without much thought, the most enjoyable part of my day is when I can be in classrooms, seeing your students interacting with each other and their teachers. This week, I saw Novice French II students practicing telling time. The trick was that the teacher was using an analog clock, which I bet was also a complicating factor for some students! I’ve seen a Spanish teacher working with Novice Spanish I students on greetings and expressions that we use when interacting with others for the first time. And I saw an 8th grade science teacher working on calculating velocity with her students. In all three of these examples, the students were engaged, connecting with their classmates, and their teacher.
Our counselors are stepping into the classrooms this week and next week to deliver the first of a series of lessons on bullying prevention. I observed a lesson this morning that helped students recognize and identify the terms peer conflict, harassment, and bullying. The students were able to think of scenarios from real life, or from TV and movies, and were able to give examples of how to handle bullying if they see it or experience it. And they also talked about how to act as an ally to others who might be targeted. Future lessons on this topic this year will be connected to our Health curriculum and our Advisory program.
Many of you may have received a message or two from your child’s teachers this week. And if you haven’t yet, you will. At RJ Grey, we believe that it is important to connect with our families early on in the year. If you’ve been asked a question in one of these communications, and time is available to you, please respond! When our teachers ask, “how’s the transition going for your son?” or “what is your daughter most proud of?,” we ask those questions to get to know more about your student. When we have strong relationships with our students, and you’ve provided some insight into what’s important to them, we know that our teaching and their learning will be stronger. This early connection from our teachers is intended to open to the door to future communications throughout the year. Please be in touch with with our teachers and counselors if you have questions or want to share information about your child. The more we know about what’s going on for them, the better off we are.
Each public school in Massachusetts has a School Council. While the composition of each School Council may vary, the RJ Grey School Council is made up of the principal, two 7th grade parents/guardians, two 8th grade parents/guardians, and two RJG staff members. We are looking to elect two new parent/guardian reps - both from the 7th grade (our 8th grade reps are continuing from last year). The role of the School Council is to review and discuss various aspects of the school's activities and goals, and offer advice and guidance about different topics that may emerge during the year. The Council will meet seven times this year, on Tuesday evenings at RJ Grey (October 3 being the first meeting). If you are a parent/guardian interested in serving on the Council, please submit a short (4-6 sentences) paragraph about yourself by noon on Monday, September 25th. Write-ups can be sent to me at [email protected]. Once I have any interested candidate’s info, we’ll do a virtual election, allowing our family community to vote via Google Form.
As the construction continues in the area of Kelley’s Corner and Rte 111, we have been asked to share some news with our families. We are requesting that families no longer use the former Kmart parking lot as a cut-through to our campus or to drop off students. We have been informed that this is private property owned by Stop & Shop and they have requested that it not be used by the public. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation with this shift in practice.
The following updates have been approved by our Superintendent’s office for distribution:
Upcoming Dates
-
Monday, September 25: No School, Yom Kippur
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Wednesday, September 27: iReady Math Diagnostic Assessment
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Thursday, September 28: RJ Grey Back to School Night: 7 - 8:40 pm
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Monday, October 2: Early Release at 1 pm
-
Tuesday, October 3: iReady ELA Diagnostic (postponed from 9/20)
-
Tuesday, October 3: School Council Meeting, 7 pm, RJ Grey Library
-
Monday, October 9: No School, Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim
jmarcotte
Good afternoon,
I hope you’re all doing well on this beautiful and less humid day. We started the day with a power outage not long after the start of our day, and then we had an ALICE drill. Through both of these situations, combined with what we all experienced last week, I continue to be very pleased with our students’ flexibility and patience. And yet still, I have fingers crossed for smoother sailing going forward in September!
We have school picture day coming up on Tuesday, 9/19/23. We are waiting for the hard copy order forms to come from our photographer. We are hopeful that they arrive before dismissal tomorrow, and we will send them home with students then. No family is obligated to purchase a picture package, though we do have all students get their picture taken so that we have updated photos in our information system, Power School, and they also are included in the Yearbook. If you would like to order pictures, you can order online using this link to Mark Lawrence Photographers, or students can bring the paper order form and check on picture day to give to the photographer. Students will be called to the photographers’ stations by team throughout the day.
Starting Monday, we will be able to issue bus passes to students who wish to take a bus to a friend’s house to a pre-existing bus stop. We ask that parents and guardians contact us through our email address ([email protected]) or by phone if your child is to take a different bus. We will then issue a hard copy bus pass for that day. Please know that at times, we may be alerted to a full bus, causing us to not be able to issue a requested bus pass.
We have lots of clubs and activities starting up this week and next week. If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for our Daily Announcements email. This listserv is the one we use when we postpone a game, practice, or other after school activities. I have been made aware that our announcements were coming at you through text, email, and phone calls recently. I’m sorry for those inundating messages - we’re back on track with how we communicate non-emergency related updates. Thanks for your patience with that hiccup.
Upcoming Dates
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Monday, September 18: Early Release at 1 pm
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Tuesday, September 19: School Picture Day at RJ Grey
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Wednesday, September 20: iReady ELA Diagnostic Assessment
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Monday, September 25: No School, Yom Kippur
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Wednesday, September 27: iReady Math Diagnostic Assessment
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Thursday, September 28: RJ Grey Back to School Night: 7 - 8:45 pm
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Monday, October 2: Early Release at 1 pm
Take care and have a great weekend!
Jim
jmarcotte
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
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Monday, September 11: Library closed to students after school
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Wednesday, September 13: Ribbon Cutting at the AB Resource Center
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Monday, September 18: Early Release at 1 pm
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Tuesday, September 19: School Picture Day at RJ Grey
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Wednesday, September 20: iReady ELA Diagnostic Assessment
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Monday, September 25: No School, Yom Kippur
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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
jmarcotte
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