Grey Matters, September 23, 2019; Volume 8, Number 5 

Hi Everyone,


Last school year was our first with a later start time in the morning, having shifted from 7:30am to 8:00am. I was excited for this change, and pleased that what started as a community conversation resulted in an actual change in practice that has been good for kids on a number of levels.  However, I also shared with families last February that with a later start time, our tardiness rates that first year went in the opposite direction of what I was predicting, nearly doubling what we had the previous year.  We never came to a definitive conclusion about why we experienced such a dramatic increase, whether it was a change in traffic patterns, more complications in family schedules, or a substantial change in sleep patterns.  My hope, naively or not, is that with one year of an 8:00am start time under our collective belts, any logistical challenges that contributed to student tardiness might be less of a factor. While it’s still too early in this school year to notice any concerning patterns, it’s not too late to ask our families to work with us to make sure students more often than not get to school ahead of the morning bell so they can begin the day more grounded.  Rest assured that we know there will be times throughout the year when morning routines have hiccups - planned and unplanned - where a student might arrive late to school, and that’s life and to be expected.  The challenge and concern is when those late arrivals becomes a bit more habitual and casual. We also know the occasional absence within a given school year is also to be expected for many students.  We certainly appreciate that, besides absences for sickness, there may be times when a family needs to make plans that takes their kids out of school but we still want to emphasize that keeping those absences to a minimum is in the best interest of the students.  On the issue of absences, I want to also mention that when absences do accumulate for an individual student, we are required to send home a letter with an update about total absences for the school year.  Specifically, when a student reaches 7 absences, excused and unexcused, a letter needs to be sent to parents/guardians (with the same happening at 14 days, 21 days, etc.).  Please know that even in circumstances where we are aware of contributing factors like a long-term illness, or a combination of other things, we still need to send those letters.  While these letters can simply be seen as part of a standard notification practice, it may also offer the opportunity to connect with us about any larger challenges that may exist.  If in your home there is an increase in tardiness or absences that you see as less about logistics and potentially related to struggles or concerns with/about school, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s counselor to begin a conversation about how we can work together on those issues.  


Back to School Night is this Thursday evening at 7pm (6:35pm if your child takes the Band, Chorus or String Ensemble electives and you want to meet the teachers).  Each of you will have a schedule for that evening emailed to you. We have three 7th grade parents who so far have expressed interest in the two open School Council positions, and therefore we will have ballots that evening for each of you to fill out.  If you’d also like to submit your name for the School Council election, there’s still time since the deadline is tomorrow (Monday) at noon.  As a reminder, 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 Monday evenings at 6:30pm (the first will be October 7).  If you have any interest, please submit a short (4-6 sentences max) paragraph about yourself to me by the noon deadline.  We look forward to seeing many of you there!  


Here are some important reminders and notes for the next few weeks: 


I want to thank everyone for their patience and support last Thursday after one of our school buses was in a traffic accident that resulted in the fatality of the motorcyclist involved. An incredibly difficult situation on so many levels, and numerous people were involved in responding. In particular, the families of the athletes who were traveling on the bus were instrumental at the accident itself, along with our efforts on Friday to make sure the students were properly supported.  Because our attention was redirected to this incident, we made the decision to postpone the ALICE drill that we had originally scheduled for last Friday.  Once we identify a new window of time for this drill, I will send out a quick update to families.  


Picture Day is this Friday, September 27.  Students have or will receive an order form to bring home to their parent/guardian.  Students who plan to order photos should bring the order form (and payment) on Friday.  If your child forgets the form, don’t panic - the forms can always be submitted afterwards. Regardless of whether students order a package of photos, all students will have their photos taken so they can be included in the yearbook.  If you have any questions, please contact David Lawrence at [email protected].  


An important reminder that there is NO SCHOOL on Monday, September 30 for Rosh Hashanah.  Later that week the Junior High and High School will have our first Early Release day on Thursday, October 3, and staff will then participate in professional learning for the remainder of the day.  Dismissal for students is at 11:10am at the Junior High and all standard bus routes will be available at that time.  Please note that the Late Bus will not be available that day.  I would encourage families to discuss and confirm with their child plans for this early release and expectations regarding transportation and post-release activities.  On the following week, there will be no school on Wednesday, October 9 because it is Yom Kippur, and then no school on Monday, October 14 for Columbus Day Weekend.  


Finally, as Melisa and I prepare to attend another one of my childrens’ athletic events later today (the 8th one amongst the three kids this weekend, for those who might be counting, which is probably just me), and our Junior High athletic programs are now well under way, I wanted to offer encouragement to all of us to be continually mindful of how to be a supportive and thoughtful sports parent.  There is an intensity to youth sports today that can unfortunately dilute the many benefits that would typically be a part of the experience of being on a team and participating in lively competition. On that note, I wanted to share a recent Boston Globe article about the increasing physical risks and significant growth in “overuse injuries” that result in specializing in a single sport, and often playing that sport year-round.  I share that article not in an attempt to wag my finger at anyone, and instead with the goal of offering food for thought on a trend that many of us in the community probably have witnessed or ourselves experienced.  As for what the kids are hopefully getting out of their involvement with sports, I share every year an excerpt of a letter written by the father-in-law of a good friend to the players assigned to the Little League baseball team that he was assigned to coach in the Spring of 1977.  As we enter this Fall season of sports, and many of us are standing on the sidelines tempted to coach the kids, or object to a referee’s call, I wanted to again share a portion of it in case it might offer a reminder of what we might want to place the focus: “I do not care how many games you win or lose; I hope you win at least one game so that you and your teammates can experience the satisfaction of winning as a team, but I also hope you lose one so that you will experience the shared disappointment of a team loss...The purpose of the program is to give you and your teammates an opportunity to learn something about competition, sportsmanship and team play by actually playing on a baseball team, in the belief that, if well taught, the lessons learned on the baseball field will be valuable to you as you continue to grow up.”  


Have a great week, everyone.  


Cheers,

201408111403_0001.tif



Posted by ashen On 22 September, 2019 at 11:46 AM  

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