R.J. Grey Junior High School

Hi Everyone,

Because running for President is now so incredibly expensive, candidates are turning to super fundraisers known as “bundlers” who are individuals who commit to collecting a certain amount of campaign contributions from other donors.  I’ve decided this month to serve as a bundler, but instead of for a political campaign, I’m going to take on this role in service of two important year-end activities at Acton-Boxborough, the 8th grade End-of-Year celebration, and the High School’s annual Project Graduation event.  And instead of trying to raise money, I am going to try and convince as many of you as possible to volunteer for one or both of those events.  These are two events that serve an important role at the Junior High and High School, respectively, as we continue to celebrate certain milestones and transitions for our students.  These two events also rely heavily, if not almost entirely, on the willingness of community members to contribute their time to planning, organizing, and supervising these events. We are fortunate that there already exists a core group of parents who serve as the event coordinators for both -- but as we near the actual date of both events, there is still an unfilled need for volunteers to help set up, decorate, chaperone, manage, or breakdown different activities or aspects of the event.  To be sure, many of you already give a good deal of your time, expertise, and also money - to many important programs in the community. I’m hoping and asking you to also consider giving a bit more of your time to one or both of these important events as a way to continue the pay-it-forward model that has served our community so well for many years. For 7th grade families, chipping in for the 8th grade dance has a pretty quick “return on investment” with your own kids attending this event next year.  And while our current Junior High students won’t be graduating from High School for another four to five years, the sheer size and scale of Project Graduation (think all-night festivities for 400+ kids) really relies on an all-hands-on-deck commitment from our families.  It might be ambitious of me, but I am setting for myself a “bundling goal” of 20-25 volunteers for Project Graduation, and asking our RJ Grey families to please consider a role that you can comfortably serve for that event which offers graduating students an all-night substance free celebration with prizes, activities, and food. Consider helping out because you remember an event like this when you yourself graduated from high school (for me it was Andover High School’s Senior Safari on June 5, 1995), or because my above plea about paying-it-forward resonated with you.  Learn more about Project Graduation by visiting their website here.  As for the 8th grade celebration on June 14 from 7-9pm, the organizers need your help with set up after school on June 14th, clean up after the dance, and with food and drink donations.  Please sign up if you can help us by following this Sign Up Genius link (8th Grade Celebration Help). If you have any questions, contact the 8th grade celebration team at [email protected].  Thank you for considering!

Here’s some reminders and updates for students and families:

Our Yearbook advisor Mr. Lewis has ordered several extra copies of this year’s Yearbook

that will be available to purchase by students and families who may have forgotten to

order one during the original window.  Stay tuned for details of how to purchase.  

Thanks to those families who have submitted their field trip permission form and

payment for the end-of-year field trips to Kimball’s (7th grade) and Canobie Lake (8th

grade).  If you still need to send it in, please make an effort to do so this week.  Within

the next week we will begin reaching out to families for whom we do not have a record

of their plans for that day.

If your child is not planning to be at school during the last day(s) of the school year, we

would appreciate it if you let us know so we can plan accordingly and account for

students during those days.  You can send an email to Katy Frey ([email protected])

and it would also be helpful if you let your child’s team teachers know as well.  

Don’t forget about the Empty Bowls event on Thursday, June 6 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm!  This is an evening of art, singing and ice cream! Students will showcase their art and singing talents and invite families to a charity ice cream social.  There will be an art show, Select Choir performance, a silent auction, and of course the charity ice cream social. The money raised from this event will be donated to the Acton Community Supper and Acton Food Pantry. The ice cream social is $5 per person with a $20 family maximum. The rest of the event is free and we hope many of you are able to carve out some time to join us.

The High School has released its updated Summer Reading List (click here to view) that it encourages all of its students, including rising 9th grade students (those are your kids, 8th grade parents!), to look at if they’re stuck for suggestions.  Please note that the Junior High nor the High School do not have any required summer reading, but we all want to encourage students to find something to enjoy and read.  

Finally, the Student Council elections were held last week to determine next year’s President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary.  We first want to thank and applaud every 7th grader who ran in the elections. It’s not easy at any age to put yourself out there, let alone plan and deliver a speech to a few hundred classmates. The 7th grade class listened to a range of thoughtful and funny speeches by each of our candidates.  Congratulations to next year’s Student Council officers: Secretary, Advikar Ananthkumar; Treasurer, Josie Hanlon; Vice President, William Wu; Co-President(s), Ryan Leo and Miller Lillie.   

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend.  Finally some good weather!

Have a great week, everyone.  

Cheers,

Hi Everyone,

Earlier this week, an RJ Grey student reached out to me to make sure I knew that she and a few classmates were planning a student walkout for the following day to demand action on climate change, an issue about which they had passionate feelings.  I had a chance to meet with two of the students ahead of time and we had a really healthy and productive discussion about their specific plans and goals, as well as many of the complicating factors in terms of how a school might need to view or respond to these plans.  We also talked about student activism in general, and how competing goals might collide with each other in these types of situations. In this case, how does a school community support the development of student voice and activism, while also meeting its obligations around safety and avoiding disruptions to classes and instruction?  Because of the relatively short amount of time before the expected walkout, I decided that for this particular moment we were going to have a “hold harmless” approach to any student who participated in this walkout and focused our time and energy on safety and supervision of the situation. When the time for the scheduled walkout arrived, approximately 200 students participated by leaving their classes and gathering on one of our school fields.  To be sure, a number of those students participated because of a sincere interest in the issue of climate change, and a few of those students prepared speeches to deliver to others in attendance. I think I can also say with confidence that a number of students who participated did so less for the stated reason, and more for the novelty of walking out of class and engaging in some boundary-testing that would not involve any consequences. With a bit of impromptu adult guidance and supervision, the walkout gathering lasted about 25 minutes and the students were generally respectful of the students who spoke.  

I know that the organizers felt really excited about how things turned out, and I would too if I were them.  I also appreciate that they know through our discussions why I have mixed feelings about the approach we took with the walkout and that my concerns come from a place of good intentions. They know that I’m in that “I want to support you, but….” place.  Specifically,  I’m not sure that in general, a “hold harmless” approach to walkouts is the correct response moving forward, for a couple of reasons.  First, as a matter of principle, if we want students to fully understand the choices involved with acts of civil disobedience, then it might be appropriate to hold them to the natural consequences that would come with a decision to cut a class and potentially creating a (peaceful) disruption to the school day.  Indeed, the power of civil disobedience comes from individuals saying that they care enough about a topic to accept the consequences that they know or anticipate will result from those actions. We want to encourage young people to develop a sense of agency around things they care about, and I think making some of these choices a bit messier for them might need to be a part of that process. I also, as a practical matter, have to always consider issues of safety and appropriate supervision of students given our responsibilities while your kids are with us during the day.  Having a response where students get the impression that we will accommodate and work around any plans of this kind would be, I feel, a bit problematic. Separate from these considerations, last week’s conversations did make me think about additional avenues and forums -- beyond the walkout method -- that we can help young people consider and access, where they will be part of a dialogue about those issues and concerns that are most important to them. I share the above thinking partially as a therapeutic exercise for myself (i.e. if I have to think about these questions, I’m bringing you all with me), and to acknowledge and engage with all of you in another area of our work in schools that is inherently grey and requires a bit of thought.

Here’s a couple of updates and reminders for families:

We originally scheduled the annual 8th Grade class photo to be taken last Friday, and then, shockingly, it rained all day.  We are going to try and have the photo taken this coming Tuesday, and early forecasts suggest that the skies will cooperate.  As a reminder, this is a panoramic photo that we take outside on the hill by the football field, and order forms were distributed to 8th grade students last week.   If you have any questions or need any sort of financial assistance, please contact David Lawrence at [email protected].

Next Monday is Memorial Day and there will be no school that day. Enjoy the long weekend!  

On Tuesday, June 18 (second to last day of school), both grades will be participating in their respective end-of-year field trips, and permission slips will be distributed to students in the very near future.  As in previous years, the 7th grade will be going to Kimball Farm where they have full access to the bumper boats, miniature golf course, driving range, and other activities; the 8th grade will be going to Canobie Lake amusement park in New Hampshire. These field trips have historically been great and memorable parts of our year-end activities.  We also appreciate that the RJ Grey community includes families that may find the cost of these trips difficult to absorb.  Like all of our other trips and activities, we never want cost to prevent anyone from participating.  Please do not hesitate to let us know if some relief from these field trip costs would be helpful to your family.  

“What is the quotient of 5040 divided by the product of its unique prime factors?” After answering that question correctly in less than 22.5 seconds, 8 Green student Daniel Mai was named the 2019 Raytheon National MathCounts champion at its annual competition in Orlando, Florida.  Daniel was one of 224 competitors from across the United States, all of whom earned a place at the competition after competing with 90,000 other students in local and state competitions.  If you’re interested, you can view the final round of the competition on ESPN, which was hosted by Wil Wheaton of Star Trek and The Big Bang Theory fame.  When Daniel returned to RJ Grey late last week classmates on his team hosted a small victory celebration, and the photo to the right is with his math teacher, Ms. Kelly.  Congratulations to Daniel whose ice-in-the-veins facial expressions and calm and collected demeanor throughout the final round were what I enjoyed most while watching the match unfold.  

I’m pleased and excited to be sharing with everyone information about our sixth annual Empty Bowls event.  The Empty Bowls event will take place this year on Thursday, June 6 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm.  This is an evening of art, singing and ice cream! Students will showcase their art and singing talents and invite families to a charity ice cream social.  There will be an art show, Select Choir performance, a silent auction, and of course the charity ice cream social. 7th grade students made handcrafted ceramic bowls in their art classes and families that participate will get to take home a handcrafted bowl as a reminder of the vast number of hungry families around the world and right here in our own community. The money raised from this event will be donated to the Acton Community Supper and Acton Food Pantry. This organization helps to feed many hungry families in the greater Acton area. This event has helped raise $1000 for the charity each year.  Families from throughout the District are welcome, not just those with students at the Junior High. The ice cream social is $5 per person with a $20 family maximum. The rest of the event is free and we hope many of you are able to carve out some time to join us.

A few weeks ago Acton-Boxborough hosted a workshop about the rise of vaping and use of electronic cigarettes by adolescents.  This workshop featured Mary Cole, Program Coordinator for the Greater Boston Tobacco-Free Community Partnership.  For those who were not able to attend but are still interested in the discussion, the evening’s discussion was recorded and posted to the District’s Youtube page, which you can access by clicking here.  In addition to that video, here is a TedMed Talk that a colleague sent my way and features biobehavioral scientist Suchitra Krishan-Sarin who offers a very useful overview of electronic cigarettes and what is actually being inhaled when an individual engages in vaping - including providing the distinction between a vapor and an aerosol.  

I’ve recently passed along a “save the date” for our end-of-year 8th grade celebration, which is scheduled for Friday, June 14th.  I also provided 7th grade families with their own “save the date” for a 7th grade celebration that we are planning for Friday, May 31st and will be at 7pm.   This week, I’d like to pass along some information about the 8th Grade Celebration from Carol Chytil, Deb Verner and Ranjini Reddy, the RJ Grey parents who (thankfully) are again coordinating the planning of this event.  Usually at least 350 students attend this event, so we rely heavily on the many volunteers who help make this evening a special way to end the year.  Parents or guardians of 7th and 8th graders are needed for the following jobs: set up after school on June 22nd; clean up after the dance; food and drink donations.  In past years, 7th grade Parent/Guardian Volunteers "pay it forward" so that parents of 8th graders can focus on their own children's participation in this important event. As a volunteer, you'll also get a preview of what your child will enjoy next year! Coming soon will be a “Sign Up Genius”  that invites parents and guardians to sign up to help in various capacities. This will also be sent out via the PTSO weekly newsletter. If you have questions, please free to contact Carol at [email protected].

Have a great week, everyone.

Cheers,

Hi Everyone,

Happy Mother’s Day to any and all of you who plays that role to one (or more) of our students, or to anyone else.  If any of you were gifted with extended periods of peace and quiet as part of the day (unfortunately another rainy one) I wanted to re-share a link to a video that I came across four years ago, and have shared every Mother’s Day since, that documents the time when the New York Times Magazine decided to invite a group of 2nd grade students to experience a 7-course tasting menu prepared by chef Daniel Boulud.  Normally a dining experience that comes with a $220 per person price tag, probably closer to $300 in current dollars, I am predicting many of you will appreciate the experiences and honest feedback that the 7-year olds offer in this 8-minute video.  There’s no direct connection between the video and Mother’s Day, it’s just a fun video to watch during a quiet moment that I thought would be nice to share and has since become a Grey Matters tradition.   

Here’s some reminders for this week and beyond:

MCAS testing was completed last week (hallelujah).  Students who were absent on a day when they were scheduled to participate in one of the exams will be called down over the course of this week to compete those portions that were missed. We hope each of our students found themselves in a place last week where they were able to demonstrate their knowledge of the questions that were asked.  We also hope and will try our best to remind each student that while the scores that come back in Fall tell us how they did on these recent days in May, it will not tell us everything about them, including their growth as thoughtful students and people.

Memorial Day weekend is Monday, May 27th and all schools will be closed for that holiday - there will be no homework assigned for the long weekend, and I hope that families will use that time to relax and enjoy themselves.  

On Tuesday, June 18 (second to last day of school), both grades will be participating in their respective end-of-year field trips, and permission slips are being distributed to students this week.  As in previous years, the 7th grade will be going to Kimball Farm where they have full access to the bumper boats, miniature golf course, driving range, and other activities; the 8th grade will be going to Canobie Lake amusement park in New Hampshire. These field trips have historically been great and memorable parts of our year-end activities.  We also appreciate that the RJ Grey community includes families that may find the cost of these trips difficult to absorb.  Like all of our other trips and activities, we never want cost to prevent anyone from participating. Please do not hesitate to let us know if some relief from these field trip costs would be helpful to your family.  

A few weeks ago I provided a “save the date” for our end-of-year 8th grade celebration, which is scheduled for Friday, June 14th.  I also provided 7th grade families with their own “save the date” for a 7th grade celebration that we are planning for Friday, May 31st and will be at 7pm.  In the next few weeks we will include some additional information for how families can offer their assistance for these fun end-of-year events.

Even though the 8th grade Dance/Celebration is about a month away, I also want to re-share some information and messaging that I send out each year at this time about the event - and do my best not to oversell or undersell the atmosphere that exists at this great end-of-year activity.  Every year, I mention the below thoughts because sometimes, during some bouts of excitement about the event, a few expectations get generated within our student population that may be a bit on the unrealistic/ambitious/fantasy-ish side-- and then they occasionally get re-articulated to parents as school guidelines. So below is my annual “We’re really excited for this event, but this is not an episode of MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen” plea.  

We definitely make an effort (and with the help of parent volunteers, are always successful) to make this more than a “typical” or casual dance/celebration in terms of atmosphere -- we’ve got great decorations, props and backdrops for group photos, and an impressive spread of food (and it’s at night).  We want students to come excited and eager to spend an evening with their friends and classmates, and somewhat dressed up for the event. We ask students who attend this event to dress a bit more formally than most would for a regular school day -- whatever is your child’s individual version of “taking it up a notch”.  I’d try and get into more detail about clothing options, but then you’d discover how out of touch I am with current youth fashion trends.

As we get closer to the end of the year and students typically develop an increasing interest and excitement about the event, which is great.  We want to celebrate that enthusiasm and we also want to make sure everyone has a clear understanding that this is not an event that requires “coming with a date.” Quite frankly, it doesn’t even require dancing.  It’s a social event where music and the option to dance are a central feature, but certainly not a requirement. Please know that we are not trying to discourage students from attending the dance together, and happy for those who might be at that place. Our students are certainly at an age where for some of them dating, romantic feelings, and matters of the heart are a new area of intense interest. For other kids, this particular aspect of puberty does not currently play as prominent a role, with some being completely oblivious or unphased by it.  With that in mind, we are trying to strike a bit of a balance of providing an appropriate space for students to navigate this arena of teenage romance, but not have other students unintentionally develop the impression that dances and social events must involve a romantic angle. I hope this information helps if and when you have a conversation, or eavesdrop on overhear a conversation, about the event.  

Have a great week, everyone.

Cheers,

Hi Everyone,

Who knew that when I was a kid and my parents would often sing to me Burt Bacharach’s “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” it was to prepare me for these past few weeks, and apparently there’s more rain on the way though with slightly warmer temperatures.  While the rain has certainly been helpful for the garden and grass at our house, it wouldn’t hurt to have the sun make a guest appearance once in awhile.  I would imagine that for those families whose kids participate in an outdoor sport or activity the precipitation has been a challenge, and perhaps on occasion a bit of a gift on those days when you’re admittedly not psyched about driving to this practice, game or tournament.  This week’s Grey Matters is going to be a bit on the shorter side, though not in protest of the weather.  I’ve been working on a letter to families that is a follow up to what I shared with everyone last week after the graffiti was found in one of our bathrooms.  I admittedly don’t have enough words in my brain to produce two separate pieces this weekend. My hope is to send that note out to families early this week to provide everyone a bit of additional thinking around the work that we’re doing and what I hope families will do in support of those efforts.  One additional important note: this week is Teacher Appreciation Week. If you’re able to carve out a few minutes this week, please consider sending a note to any teachers who have developed a positive connection with your child this year, and let them know!  Thanks in advance for considering.

Here are a few reminders and updates for the next few weeks:  

We are about to enter the final week of MCAS testing (insert cheers, streamers, and noisemakers here).  On Monday and Tuesday, 8th grade students will be completing the Math portion of the MCAS, and then 8th grade students will also be taking the Science/Technology portion of the MCAS on Wednesday.  7th grade students will then start the Math MCAS on Thursday and Friday. Students who are absent on the days they are scheduled for MCAS will be scheduled to complete those portions during a make up session the following week.  

Interim reports for this current Spring Trimester were sent via email last Friday.  If your child received an interim from a teacher please take a moment to review the comments and feedback.  If you have any questions about those interims, please start a dialogue with your child’s teacher.

Come see RJ Grey StageWorks’ Spring One-Act Plays, "10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse" and "Bad Auditions by Bad Actors." Performances are Thursday, May 9th and Friday, May 10th at 7pm. Join us for a fun evening of zombie attacks, purposely bad acting, and lots of laughs. Tickets are $5 for RJ Grey Students and $8 for adults and will be sold only at the door.

A friendly reminder for families whose children participate in our Band, Strings and Chorus programs.  The Spring concerts are coming upon us.  The Band’s Spring concert is scheduled for Wednesday, May 15 at 7pm, and the Chorus and Strings Spring concert is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22 at 7pm.  Families of Band members hopefully received clarification from Mr. Arsenault about the date of the concert.  Please stay tuned for any additional updates from your kids and/or Mr. Arsenault (band), Ms. Green (Strings) or Mr. Charig (chorus) about details for those evening festivities.  

On Friday, May 17 we will be taking the annual 8th Grade class photo.  This is a panoramic photo that we take outside on the hill by the football field.  Order forms will be distributed to 8th grade within the next week or so. If you have any questions or need any sort of financial assistance, please contact David Lawrence at [email protected].  Please know that we are very committed to never letting
finances interfere with any student’s ability to fully participate in these types of school events or “keepsakes”, and want everyone to enjoy these moments without having to think twice about potential financial impact.  

And a hearty congratulations to Ethan Li who was named Artist of the Month for this May. As a reminder, this is a  program created by RJ Grey art teacher Holly Vlajinac as an opportunity for 7th and 8th Graders to have an authentic, juried art exhibition experience similar to the process in which professional artists participate.  Ethan and his artwork were chosen for the month of May and he is posing with one of his pieces in the photo to the left.  You can view more of Ethan’s work by clicking here.  

Have a great week, everyone.

Cheers,