March 27, 2025 
Good afternoon, RJ Grey Families:

We are closing in on the end of our March Madness Advisory Activities. Our final competition takes place tomorrow. You might have heard from your students about the 100 Missing Marcottes this week. A few of our teachers convinced me to share twenty pictures of myself over the years. I dug through a shoebox of photos (and some more recent digital pics) to locate some pictures that were then printed, duplicated, and have been strategically hidden throughout the school this week. Each student who finds a Missing Marcotte earns a point for their Advisory. 

In my professional life as a principal, I need to be a bit of an extrovert. This can be hard for me because in my personal life, I am much more introverted. In fact, I share more with you as a family audience than I do with some of my own family! So trust me that seeing 100 pictures of myself and having a whole game centered around me doesn't feel super comfortable to me as a person. But as a principal, it has brought a level of joy and fun to the week, and has been the topic of conversation and connection that has made it all worthwhile!

The activities in Advisory and the week-long search for the principal affect our community in positive ways. We know that when kids feel connected to their peers, their teachers, and their building, they are more likely to learn and grow. We do lots of things to promote this aspect of community in our school. 

While we certainly experience many behaviors that positively impact our community, at times we experience negative ones, too. Before April vacation, we'll be speaking with each team of students to reset our expectations about community and behavior at RJ Grey. Things like running in the hallways, physical aggression, inappropriate language, and other issues have bubbled up in a way that the Admin team and many staff are uncomfortable with. To be the strongest community we can be for all students and staff, we are going to tighten up a few things. For example, we'll be more closely monitoring the length of time some students spend in the hallways, we'll prevent students from taking the "long way" back from lunch, and we'll be more strict with behaviors that push the bounds of being acceptable at school. I will share our entire message in the next few weeks. I thank you in advance for your support as we work to make the spring feel positive.

I sent a Parent Square message today to those 7th grade families who have yet to complete the course registration process for 8th grade. I also remind all 7th grade families that our Family Information Form is the only location to share any info about your child in advance of our team placement process this spring and summer. If you need to share something about your child that we should know prior to team placement, please be sure to complete the Family Information Form by tomorrow. All registration-related materials are found on our Transition Website.

Take care, and I hope you have a nice weekend,

Jim
Posted by jmarcotte On 27 March, 2025 at 3:22 PM  

 
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