October 31, 2024 
Good afternoon, RJ Grey Families:

I hope we all collectively remember what a beautiful night this will be for Trick or Treating. If you are spending any time outside with your children, I hope you enjoy it, because not too many years ago, we did this in the rain and the snow! Several years ago, after I was allegedly a bit too rushed on the sidewalks, and not very patient, I was assigned the task of handing out candy at home. I do think my rushing and organizing on the sidewalks of our town was directly related to the amount of time spent making sure the RJ Grey hallways are safe and orderly. Tonight, my vampire, witch, and Descendants character will go through our neighborhood with my wife and neighbors. I'm just as happy to hand out candy at home. I hope everyone has a safe night tonight and a Happy Diwali for those who celebrate this weekend. 

As you know, we have no school on Tuesday, November 5th, to allow for voting in our Gym. I hope you all take the chance to vote on Tuesday. Our students will vote in our RJ Grey Mock Election on Monday. They will have the chance to vote for the presidential ticket of their choice and they'll be able to vote on the five ballot questions, as well. Every four years, our Social Studies department organizes this mock election where students enter their precinct (the library), check in by giving their name, and are given a ballot to vote privately. If our tallying goes quickly enough, we'll announce the winners before the end of Monday. We study civics in seventh grade Social Studies, so when we get the chance to make those studies feel a bit more real, we do! 

Over the next few days, we are going to be a bit more firm with students about the use of our building after 2:36. We have found that some students have been leaving school, heading to Starbucks or other locations, and coming back inside to wait for the late bus or a ride home. The intention of having our building open after school is to support those students who stay for a club, extra help, or for some other school-related reason. Any student who does not have something to do immediately after school needs to go home after school. In this period between sports seasons, we will work with students (and you) to reset expectations on necessary reasons for staying at school. Socializing, unfortunately, is not one of those reasons. Thank you for your help with this.

We had a very successful season of fall athletics. Our soccer, field hockey, and cross country teams had great seasons! We have published our winter season tryouts on our school webpage. If your child is interested in basketball or cheer, please make sure to review the tryout procedures and pay attention to two important things: Sign up on Family ID, and have a recent physical exam on file with our Health Office. Our winter sports tend to bring out a lot of interested players and we usually need to make cuts in order to create appropriately-sized teams. Thank you for helping to set expectations if your child is planning to try out for a team.

Finally, some of our families will receive a request for information from the RJ Grey school nurse in order to update their child’s school health records. This may include proof of vaccination or a copy of a physical exam signed by a doctor. Please send the requested documentation to the school nurse (Amanda Frank, [email protected]) as soon as possible.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to our Health office.

Take care and have a good weekend,
Jim
Posted by jmarcotte On 31 October, 2024 at 11:57 AM  

 
Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.