R.J. Grey Junior High School

Good afternoon,

This is the penultimate edition of Eye on the Junior High for this school year. If you remember the first issue of this series, back in September, I commented that I changed the name of this message series to not be confused with our former principal’s series. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this update as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Being a principal this year has brought about a lot of changes for me, but most significantly, I have started to develop my “voice” as a principal. Assistant principals have voices, too…but usually used for different purposes. Thanks for being readers this year!

I have two RJ Grey staff members to recognize and thank in this week’s message. And then I’ll share a poem written by one of our students.

For the first recognition: Mr. David Lawrence has been with us at RJ Grey for the last five years as an assistant principal. David is currently the assistant principal for the seventh graders. He is entering his final weeks at AB before he moves on to be the middle school principal in the Dover-Sherborn school district. David has shown us over the last five years that he cares deeply about our students and he enjoys getting to know them as well as he can. He cares about the instruction in our classrooms and wants it to be the best it can be so that our students learn. In that regard, he has worked with teachers over his five years to improve the teaching and learning experience. We wish Mr. Lawrence well as he transitions to his new role…where I know he will find his principal “voice” very quickly.

Secondly, I want to write briefly about our only retiring teacher. Ms. Kellie Carter is currently the 8 Red Social Studies teacher and Social Studies Department Coordinator. Kellie is not acting like a soon-to-be retiree. She continues to give her all to her students on 8 Red and to her colleagues, every day, which is the way she’s always operated. Kellie started work at RJ Grey in 1997; she’s taught Social Studies in both 7th and 8th grades, and for a time, was an English teacher when RJ Grey had a half-team. She’s served on a ton of committees and has advised the Current Events Club, along with the Model UN club, among other things. In her role as Department Coordinator, she has helped her department plan responses to various and sometimes tragic world events. It has always been important for our social studies teachers to help students think critically, and our world has given us all plenty of things to think deeply about. Kellie is going to travel through Europe, spend time with grandkids, and catch her breath in the early days of retirement. Our students and our staff are going to miss Ms. Carter dearly. When the history of RJ Grey JHS is written, there will be a few special pages written about Ms. Carter.

Finally, I want to invite you to read a poem that was shared with students today as part of the morning announcements. Lucia Sabatelli is an 8th grader who entered a poem into our 8th grade Last Verse poetry contest. Another participant will share their poem at our end-of-year assembly. Lucia read her poem from my office this morning over the PA. I hadn’t read it ahead of time, so I got to enjoy it “live.” I asked Lucia to share it with me and I also asked if I could share it in this newsletter. She agreed. I hope you enjoy it:

Growth and Goodbyes

If only the walls of RJ Grey could talk

For then they would erupt with joy 

If only the echoing of my steps

Could match the beating of my heart

Filled with a yearning for new experiences

Yet encased with a melancholy for what once was

What trials, what tribulations

Once frustration, now learning

Growth

And although my feet will not walk these halls anymore

I will carry the halls with me

The lessons, the learning, the courage

Afterall,

RJ Grey has granted me such

So I will bask in the warmth of this final farewell

For there are no new beginnings

Without saying goodbye

~ 

Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:

-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

-Monday, June 20: No School due to Juneteenth holiday

-Tuesday, June 21: End of year assembly, early release at 11:10 am

Take care,

Jim Marcotte

Good afternoon,

I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful Memorial Day Weekend! On Monday afternoon, my family joined some neighbors for a cookout and it didn’t seem real that we had to return to school the next day. Last weekend felt like one of those great summer weekends - more of those to come shortly, I know.

I wanted to preview a little about our last day of school, coming up in just under three weeks. Our last day of school is Tuesday, June 21. We’ll release at 11:10 am that day. Our students will arrive in the morning and will receive their yearbooks and have some time to look at them. We’ll also have our annual Tug-of-War competition where homerooms compete against each other for the all-important plastic trophy! We’ll then head to the high school for our end-of-year assembly. We’ll recognize some student achievements, we’ll recognize our retirees, and end the year as a community, which has been an important part of our focus this year.

When our assembly ends, we’ll leave the high school and walk back towards RJ Grey where your children will either board a bus, meet up with you for a ride, or be with friends to begin their summer. As a reminder, there is no school on Monday, June 20th in honor of the Juneteenth holiday.

If you know that your child will not be with us on one of the last days of school, feel free to start communicating that directly with our Main Office. You can email us at [email protected] and let us know the days your child will miss. That will help you by not having to call your child in absent on those particular days. If your child won’t be here starting prior to June 16th or so, please be very clear with them that they have to return to their Chromebook, library books, textbooks, or other loaned items before they depart for the summer. When returning their Chromebooks, we need students to return the device, the charger, and if in 7th grade, the stylus. Teachers will check off that those elements are all returned so that we can be ready for distribution again in the fall. Thank you for your help with this important task.

Lastly this week, I wanted to point out an email you received from the district at the end of May. The email directed you to a School Climate family survey about our Acton-Boxborough schools. I’d like to make a plug for you to please complete the survey about your experiences at RJ Grey. I haven’t completed the parent version, but I have completed the staff version. Knowing the questions that I answered, I am hopeful that you’ll take the time to complete the survey as I anticipate that your responses will help inform our work next year. So please, if you haven’t already done so, please spend some time providing some feedback about your RJ Grey (and other AB schools) experience. The survey closes tomorrow evening (Friday, June 3) at 5 pm.

Tomorrow marks our ABRHS Graduation! Congratulations to any families who have a graduating Senior. Our kids have all been through a lot in the past few years. Getting them to the finish line was likely not an easy task. I hope you have a great ceremony and celebration with your kids!

Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:

-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

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

Good evening,

Thank you to everyone for your well-wishes regarding my Covid case. I feel fully recovered, and as I said last week, I feel grateful for having a mild case. Up through now, my wife and daughters remain negative, which is also great news! I hope your family has been able to stay healthy.

This was a busy week at RJ Grey. We are in the process of hiring for several teaching positions. After our hiring committees do initial interviews of candidates, we invite finalists back to RJ Grey for demo lessons. We have our finalists create a lesson to deliver to one of our current classes. While the demo lesson doesn’t show us the complete perspective of how a teacher will lead a class of their own, it does give us a bit of insight into how a candidate interacts with students, and how students respond to the energy and instruction of the guest teacher. Relationships and trust between students and teachers are huge factors for us. We know that if students don’t trust their teachers or if they don’t have a relationship, we won’t see the maximum amount of learning. After a candidate teaches a demo lesson, they then spend about 30 minutes in an interview with me. I ask what they thought of the lesson, I ask what it might look like if I visited their own classroom, and I ask about their thoughts about working with middle schoolers! We are very fortunate to have lots of candidates who love the idea of working with 12, 13, and 14 year olds. I am excited about the teachers we’ll be bringing on board for next fall.

Before we get to the fall, we need to get through this spring. Coming up tomorrow evening is our 7th Grade Celebration! It starts at 7 and ends at 9 pm. The event will feature food, music, dancing, the Limbo, and fun for all. Thank you to Ms. Ahl, our Student Council advisor for her work on this, along with our PTSO volunteers who help with all of the arrangements. Later this spring, on June 10th, the 8th graders will have their own evening celebration. We are not a school that does a graduation ceremony. It just has not ever been a part of the culture of RJ Grey. So in addition to the evening celebration, we’ll have an 8th grade year-end field trip to Mel’s Funway Park, in Litchfield, New Hampshire. This trip will take place on Friday, June 17th. Permission slips will be coming home soon. Prior to Covid, we took the 8th graders to Canobie Lake Park. I am very willing to admit fault in not booking Canobie early enough this year for our entire grade to attend. So, we made some adjustments and are going to try out a new venue for this year’s trip. Trying something new seems to be the theme of the year; we are very excited about getting to spend a fun day off-campus with our 8th graders.  Our 7th grade teams have each taken, or will take, trips to Boda Borg this spring, so they will be staying on campus for the end of the year. But we have some fun activities in store for them, too.

Our last day of school is Tuesday, June 21st, with an 11:10 dismissal. We’ll end our year with a school-wide assembly at ABRHS where we’ll recognize some of our students and our retiring staff members, and we'll get to see the always fun End of Year Slideshow. This is always an enjoyable assembly for me and marks the close of the year with all of us being together one last time.

Finally, our friends at the High School have asked for your help in being part of the annual Project Graduation. Please see the info below about how you can be part of this very successful event to help keep our graduating Seniors safe on their graduation night:

RJ Grey Parents: We Could Use Your Help! 

I hope you’re all doing well. Have a good night!

Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:

-Friday, May 20: 7th grade Celebration, 7 - 9 pm

-Monday, May 30: No School, Memorial Day

-Friday, June 3: High School Graduation on Leary Field

Take care,

Jim Marcotte

Good afternoon,

I hope you and your families are doing well and enjoying the recent change in the weather. It’s starting to actually feel like May! This will be a brief message today and it focuses on our nemesis of the last two years: Covid-19. In full disclosure, I am at home this week with Covid. My symptoms are mild, for which I feel very lucky. Many of us know people who have had serious complications or worse from Covid. So while at home, I’m trying to isolate myself from my family but find myself super grateful that it’s a beautiful May day and not the dead of winter so that I can spend time outside with my family safely.

Each day for most of this year, our nurse has sent me an email (or multiple emails) with the name of a student who is newly diagnosed with Covid. I send that along to that student’s set of teachers with their expected date of return. You can see our case counts over the last few weeks by checking out our Covid site; our case counts have been growing over the last few weeks. What I’ve noticed over the last few days is that we’ve been diagnosing some students here at school. Plenty of students are tested at home and don’t come in on a day when they’re not feeling completely well. As we narrow in on the end of the year, I’d ask all of us to redouble our efforts to be on the lookout for signs of illness. If there is any sign of illness, I ask that you please test your child, either at home or at their doctor’s office or pharmacy, and if they aren’t feeling great, please keep them home. I am hoping we’re on the downward trend with cases at RJ Grey, but only time will tell us that. If you have any questions about illness or symptoms, please reach out to our health office at 978 264-4700 x 3318.

While there is no change in official mask status at AB, we still encourage students to make decisions about mask-wearing that make sense for them and for their families. We continue to keep doors and windows open and our air filtration systems operating. We’ve returned to allowing for outdoor lunches on the days that weather and supervision allow for it. I know we’ll have a positive end of the year, and I thank you for your support in keeping an eye on your child’s health status. Please be in touch with any questions.

Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:

-Friday, May 13: 7th grade Math MCAS Session 2

-Monday, May 16: School Council on Zoom,  7 pm

-Friday, May 20: 7th grade Celebration, 7 - 9 pm

Take care,

Jim Marcotte

Good afternoon,

I hope you are all doing well. If you aren’t aware, this week is National Teacher Appreciation Week. I follow many educational leaders on social media and I see the gifts, spreads of food, balloons, and daily treats that other principals have provided for their staff over the past four days. If I had to rate myself on a rubric, I would be “Unsatisfactory” for demonstrating my appreciation in this way. I do have the same sentiment these people have though, just without the catering bill to pay.  I continue to be so very appreciative of the teachers and staff who work at RJ Grey. I have asked you twice before in this column to please reach out and thank your child’s teachers. If you haven’t already done so, or even if you have, this is a good week to thank a teacher or someone who works in a school.

I have observed several teachers this week, and in our post-observation conversations about the lesson, I often ask questions that I’m wondering about, or I ask the teacher to fill in the gaps for me: what happened the day before, what was next in the sequence of activities? Having these lesson debriefs this week continues to remind me that our teachers are thinking of 100 things at the same time: planning for the student who has trouble reading to access the text you just handed out, making sure the two girls who are having an argument aren’t sitting in the same group, re-teaching something that you taught the day before that you know went right over their heads, remembering when class ends today because the schedule is different because of Math MCAS. The to-do list of every teacher is endless, and all of those tasks are in service of teaching our kids and making our school a really great place for kids to learn. If you haven’t done so yet, please thank a teacher or two this week!

I have several community-based announcements that I want to share with you today: one is RJG-based, one is AB-based, and the others relate to the summer!

Last week, I mentioned that we’ll be having a 7th grade celebration on May 20 from 7 - 9 pm. Music, food, fun, and some dancing will hopefully make for a fun night in the gym. 7th graders will be able to start purchasing tickets soon. This event, and the next one I’m going to describe, are just for RJ Grey students: friends from other towns will have fun at their own schools, I’m sure!  Towards the end of the year, we’ll also have our 8th grade celebration. This will take place on Friday, June 10th at 7 pm in our cafeteria. This is historically a really fun night for our 8th graders before they move on to high school. My wife went to RJ Grey many years ago and still affectionately calls this event “the semi,” as in semi-formal. We have moved past that understanding and while students do dress more nicely than they do for school, it is a low-key event where kids get together. No one needs fancy clothes, no one needs a “date,” and no one needs special plans for an after-party. We’ll talk more about this event to your students in the coming weeks. We are very grateful for the group of parents who will work with our PTSO and some of our staff to pull off this great night.

- - - - - - - - -

If your child went to the Douglas School, I want to make sure you see this announcement: 

Calling All Douglas Elementary Alumni!

The C.T. Douglas Elementary School PTO is hosting a Farewell to Elm St Party on June 1st from 5pm-7pm. Our entire Douglas Community (alumni too!) is invited to party together and give Elm St. the send-off it deserves before we move over to the Boardwalk Campus. Picture warm weather, food trucks (BYO option too), yard games, and just plain hanging out with people…it’s going to be FUN! *Held rain or shine

RSVP HERE by May 15 as we need a headcount for our food trucks/vendors to prepare. Those who RSVP by the deadline will be entered into a gift card raffle announced at the party.

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If you are thinking about summer (we all are!), I want to share a financial resource that we’re aware of. The Doli Atamian Campership Program provides scholarships to summer camps and programs/classes for children in Acton and Boxborough based on family income. The application process is simple, and each child/student may receive up to $300 towards a summer camp program or activities/classes of the family’s choice. For more information about the Campership scholarship and an application form, go to https://www.doliatamiancampership.com/ or call 978-515-3227.

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Dear Families of Students Who Will Be Entering 6th-8th Grade Next Year:  

Minuteman High School is offering summer school enrichment programs for students entering grades 6-8 throughout July and August. Enrichment courses are optional classes intended for students to learn about subjects that interest them. 

Middle School Courses  

Click this link to register for summer courses. 

-Cost: The cost is $200 per 1-week enrichment course. 

-Transportation: School buses will be available for grade 6-8 students who live in one of Minuteman’s nine member towns: Acton, Arlington, Bolton, Concord, Dover, Lancaster, Lexington, Needham, and Stow. Scheduling and route information will be provided after the registration process is complete. 

-Dates for Middle School Summer Enrichment Courses: 

--July 11-15, 8:30 AM-11:30 AM: Auto Mechanics, Plant Science/Horticulture, Cosmetology/Salon, Early Education, Environmental Science, Veterinary Science, Multimedia
--July 11-15, 12:00-3:00 PM: Cosmetology/Salon
--July 18-22, 8:30 AM-11:30 AM: Auto Mechanics, Cosmetology/Salon, Environmental Science, Veterinary Science, Multimedia
--July 18-22, 12:00 PM-3:00 PM: Cosmetology/Salon
--July 25-29, 8:30 AM-11:30 AM: Environmental Science, Veterinary Science, Public Speaking/Debate 

If you have any questions about summer school courses, please contact Cindy DeMaio, summer school coordinator and cosmetology instructor.  

Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:

-Monday, May 9: 8th grade Math MCAS Session 2

-Tuesday, May 10: 8th grade Science MCAS

-Thursday, May 12: 7th grade Math MCAS Session 1

-Friday, May 13: 7th grade Math MCAS Session 2

-Monday, May 16: School Council on Zoom,  7 pm

-Friday, May 20: 7th grade Celebration, 7 - 9 pm

Take care,

Jim Marcotte

Good afternoon,

I hope you had a nice April vacation. My family and I spent some time in the yard, we visited a Maine beach for a portion of a day, and I read a book for pleasure! I hope your week was fulfilling, too.

Every year when we return from April vacation, it feels like we are stepping onto a broken treadmill that is dialed in to “High,” and the controls won’t allow for slowing down! Already this week, we’ve been involved in interviewing candidates for new teaching positions, we hosted about 200 people for our 6th grade family info night last night, and we opened up our outside eating locations again for our lunches. Our students also got back into the swing of things with classwork, along with games and practices for our athletic teams. On the horizon are some field trips for 7th graders to Boda Borg. And our 8th grade teams all take turns going to the Peabody Essex Museum to complement much of what they’ve been learning about in their social studies classes. 

It’s also the time of year when we start to get excited about end-of-year celebrations. On the night of Friday, May 20th, we’ll host an evening celebration for our 7th graders. We’ll have music, dancing, and food for our students to celebrate the almost-end of their 7th grade year. Students tend to dress up a bit - nothing formal at all - and get together in the gym for a good time. Please be on the lookout for emails about donating some snacks or drinks, or even volunteering for the event. As the year progresses, we’ll also mention the 8th grade version of this event! More to come!

Our next batch of student at-home testing kits went home today. Thanks to all of you who still have your children take their tests on Sunday afternoons. Each day since vacation, we’ve had one or two reported cases of Covid in our students or staff. We’re still continuing to be mask-optional as a school and students continue to be respectful and cooperative with their peers who make a personal choice about masking. If you would prefer that your child stop receiving these at-home test kits, you can find an opt-out form on our District’s Covid page.

We’re heading back into another round of MCAS testing starting next week. Both 7th and 8th graders take two sessions each of Math, and our 8th graders take 2 sessions of Science, as well. Our schedule for these test sessions is below. We had great attendance, with students arriving on time to school during our ELA testing window. We hope for the same with our next tests. As always, a good night’s sleep, along with breakfast the morning of their tests will help students feel ready to show what they know!

A few weeks ago, a student volunteered to share the meaning of Ramadan over the morning announcements. As we approach the end of Ramadan and the festival of Eid-al-Fitr on Monday, we wish everyone who celebrates Eid Mubarak!

Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:

-Monday, May 2: Early Release (1 pm)

-Thursday, May 5: 8th grade Math MCAS Session 1

-Monday, May 9: 8th grade Math MCAS Session 2

-Tuesday, May 10: 8th grade Science MCAS

-Thursday, May 12: 7th grade Math MCAS Session 1

-Friday, May 13: 7th grade Math MCAS Session 2

-Monday, May 16: School Council on Zoom,  7 pm

-Friday, May 20: 7th grade Celebration, 7 - 9 pm

Take care,

Jim Marcotte

Good afternoon,

The students have left for April vacation! If you have plans for the week, I hope they’re fun and joyful! My family and I will be sticking close to home. I am looking forward to catching up on some sleep this week and hopefully doing some fun stuff outside! When I came home from school on Monday, I walked into the house to one of my three daughters who said, “Hi.” While hanging up my school bag and coat, I responded without thinking, “Good morning.” The three of them thought that was pretty hilarious! “Good morning” is my standard greeting when kids get out of their families’ cars each morning. I think I must say “Good morning” between 75 and 100 times within a half hour. I’m often responding to “Hi,” so this trigger worked even at home…I’m hoping a few days away from RJ Grey will reset that auto-response!

Many of you probably saw the announcement from the district that I was selected to continue in my role as Principal at RJ Grey. I am very happy to be given the opportunity to continue working with some really great teachers and some really great kids from some really great families. RJ Grey has been my home for ten years and I still get excited to start my work each morning. Thank you for all of your well wishes over the past few days - I really appreciate them!

I wanted to use this space to remind all of you about the chance to weigh in on our current mascot process. If you haven’t yet given an opinion, please consider doing so by clicking on this link. The survey is open until April 22nd at 5 pm.
 

Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:

-Monday, April 25: Schools Reopen

-Wednesday, April 27: Welcome night for 6th grade families, 6:45 in auditorium

-Monday, May 2: Early Release (1 pm)

-Thursday, May 5: 8th grade Math MCAS Session 1

-Monday, May 9: 8th grade Math MCAS Session 2

-Tuesday, May 10: 8th grade Science MCAS

-Thursday, May 12: 7th grade Math MCAS Session 1

-Friday, May 13: 7th grade Math MCAS Session 2

Take care,

Jim Marcotte

Good afternoon,

It has been another busy week at RJ Grey! Most of you saw my emails yesterday about the safety issue we dealt with. I know you will all appreciate the privacy that I’d like to protect at this stage. We had several students come forward this morning with information and we were able to resolve the situation today. What I can share is that there was never any intent to cause harm or create a disruption. Thank you all for your cooperation and understanding as we worked to get to the bottom of this most recent concern. 

I really hope many of you will join us for Guys and Dolls, Jr this weekend. As we were temporarily relocating students around our building yesterday afternoon, I got to see our actors all decked out in their costumes and garb. They look great and I know that the acting, music, and singing will be awesome, as well. Performances are on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 2pm at the Dragonfly Theater (the RJG Auditorium). Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and are on sale tomorrow (Friday) at the Main Office, or at the door. ABSAF passholders are entitled to two free tickets for the JH musical and are encouraged to pick them up, in advance, from the Main Office between 8:30am and 3:00pm on Friday.

As a reminder, next week is a 4-day week at AB. We’re closed on Friday for Good Friday and then closed the following week for April Vacation.

Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:

-Thursday, April 7 - Sunday, April 10: Guys and Dolls, Jr Musical at RJ Grey

-Monday, April 11 - School Council Meeting, 7 pm on Zoon

-Friday, April 15 - No School for Good Friday

-Monday, April 18 - Friday, April 22 - Vacation Week

Take care,

Jim Marcotte

Good evening,

I rarely watch professional basketball or college basketball. But when it comes to March Madness, I'm all in with checking my bracket regularly. While my predicted winner is already out of contention, I’m currently in the lead! I’ve screenshotted my “1st place” a few times for posterity, as I know one of my in-laws will pass by me soon. At RJ Grey, we are celebrating the almost end of March Madness with College Jersey day tomorrow. If your child has a favorite college to support, send them in with their gear. My Stonehill College sweatshirt is in the wash as I write this.

During morning announcements this week, I was happy to learn that our school raised over $1400 for the Sunflower of Peace organization, with the goal of helping the people of Ukraine. I’m always proud of our community and our students - but I certainly want to thank our families for the funds that I’m sure many of you gave for this effort. With an intentional focus on community this year at RJ Grey, this is an example of how our little community has the potential to impact communities in other parts of the world. We hope our small token of funding makes a difference for Ukraine.

Each year, RJ Grey is asked to nominate two students to represent our two towns as Ambassadors for Project 351: a non-profit organization dedicated to youth service and leadership. The 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts all have an 8th grade representative and together, the students work on service projects in their own towns. Our reps, Lilah Nakimuli and Julia Zhou are behind an upcoming RJ Grey Clothing Drive. If you have gently used or new clothing, sized Infant to Youth Large, please consider donating. We’ll have donation bins in the main lobby of RJ Grey all next week. Feel free to come by during the week, or send in a bag with your child. We’ll happily accept your donations for this good cause.

We are wrapping up our ELA MCAS tomorrow with the final day for most 7th graders. If your child missed one or more days of  MCAS this week, we’ll be in touch with them next week to do make-ups. By all accounts, the testing has gone smoothly! Thanks for reminding your kids to charge their Chromebooks - we had very few tech issues this week, which just makes the whole process more relaxed for everyone involved.

Finally, we are excited to bring back the Junior High Musical! Like most things, it’s been a few years since we’ve put on a musical. This year, our Stage Works crew is presenting Guys and Dolls, Jr! I encourage you to buy tickets to come see our students sing and dance! Our students and staff have been working hard on this performance. Performances are on April 7th-9th at 7pm and April 10th at 2pm at the Dragonfly Theater (the RJG Auditorium). Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and are on sale now at the Main Office, or at the door. ABSAF pass holders are entitled to two free tickets for the JH musical and are encouraged to pick them up, in advance, from the Main Office between 8:30am and 3:00pm. I’m very excited to be in the audience and I hope to see many of you there!

Here are some upcoming dates to be aware of:

-Friday, April 1: 7th grade ELA MCAS

-Monday, April 4: Early Release (1 pm)

-Thursday, April 7 - Sunday April 10: Guys and Dolls, Jr Musical at RJ Grey

-Monday, April 11 - School Council Meeting, 7 pm on Zoon

-Friday, April 15 - No School for Good Friday

-Monday, April 18 - Friday, April 22 - Vacation Week

Take care,

Jim Marcotte