Hi Everyone,
Welcome and welcome back to RJ Grey. I hope this year’s first edition of Grey Matters finds each of you well. To be sure, not nearly enough time has passed between today and last year’s closing assembly that Student Council President Tycho Dickerson opened with the remark, “It’s June 27, what are we all still doing here?!” Despite the brevity of this particular summer, the Shen’s were able to to reach another family milestone that came in the form of our first overseas trip that included visits to both London and Paris. Our time in those cities certainly benefited from a healthy amount of advanced planning on our part, allowing us to secure tickets to a few plays in London, a Premier League football match, and a bike tour of Versailles. Along with those and other highlights, our trip also included a few impromptu activities and unscripted moments that made for memorable experiences, including a bit of accidental sightseeing by yours truly. On our first morning in London, I decided to embark on what I wanted to be a 4-mile run as a way to explore the area where we’d be staying for the week. Despite having spent my entire life with a horrible sense of direction, I convinced myself that I could rely primarily on instinct to guide me on a roundtrip running route through an unfamiliar neighborhood, within a foreign city, of which I had yet to see in daylight. Once the running app on my phone announced that I was nearing four miles, and I arrived at a large park area, I thought to myself, “hmm… maybe I’ve reached Battersea Park?” You’ll notice to the right a screenshot of my eventual running route that reveals a few things: (1) how far away I actually was from Battersea Park (see bottom right corner of map - despite not having crossed the Thames River I somehow still thought I might have ended up at Battersea); and (2) just how disoriented I was - clearly taking lefts when I needed to take a right, and taking rights when I should have taken a left if I wanted to end up back where I started. Though running willy nilly through the streets of South Kensington and arriving in Hyde Park wasn’t the original plan, it ended up being a delightful (albeit much longer) run that brought me to areas and sites that we wouldn’t be visiting during our time in London. It was an unexpected and helpful reminder that not every meaningful experience is scripted and planned with exact detail, and there are plenty of situations where a bit of spontaneity can offer a path to something memorable and worthwhile. My hope is that like my family’s vacation, your time this summer was satisfying and perhaps benefited from a combination of planned activities, travel, and good company, with at least a few unplanned and random -- but no less memorable -- adventures thrown in for good measure. As I mentioned to the staff at RJ Grey, my sense is that like an enjoyable vacation adventure, the makings of a good school year - for our staff, for students, and for families -- includes a mixture of advanced planning while also allowing for certain things to unfold over time. It also requires giving ourselves permission to take a few detours here and there, and on occasion trying things without a clear destination. Within those important plans, routines and structures that you and we have put into place for this coming year, I would encourage each of us to be available and open during the year to moments when trying something a bit different or permitting something unexpected to play out a bit longer might offer our students and families a valuable experience.
As we all prepare to enter this first week of school I know you share our excitement and hopes for a strong start to the school year. For those new to RJ Grey, please be assured that we dedicate these first few days to helping every student get acclimated to one’s surroundings, and we know that there’s a lot to take in during these first few days. We will have opening assemblies for both grades, and the 7th grade assembly includes a short welcome video that we hope offers students a snapshot of what will be part of their school year. I will end that assembly emphasizing that our goal for our opening activities is for each of them to leave knowing how excited we are to have them at RJ Grey this year.
For those of you who might be visiting RJ Grey during the day, please remember that visitors can only enter through the front door, where they will request entry by ringing a buzzer. Once the front door has been unlocked for you to enter, you will need to check in at the Main Office window where you’ll be greeted by Ms. Katy Frey, who is our front office receptionist (also known in our office, and various corners of Acton and Boxborough, as the Executive Director of Office Affairs).
For those who plan to drop off your children in the morning, I look forward to seeing you bright and early in the lower parking lot. While some of the morning traffic can be a bit of a nuisance, I have shared this site with families at the start of the last few school years as a way to offer some perspective on some of the traffic woes that we might experience over the course of the upcoming year. For those families who are veterans of the drop-off circus process, thank you for your patience as we help new families adjust to our morning traffic routines.
By now I hope most of you have had an opportunity to visit our school website - rjgrey.abschools.org. We make every effort to keep the site current, and you can access a number of important school documents and connect to individual teacher websites. Every team also maintains a shared online homework calendar that can also be accessed through our school website. In addition, we have both an RJ Grey Twitter account and Instagram account - please consider signing up for one or both! These accounts will repeat some information that will always be included in our Daily Announcements, and also gives us a platform to share some fun photos and notes about activities taking place within the school.
There’s a few upcoming events and activities that I want to make sure families have on their respective radars:
A friendly reminder that we do not have school next Monday, September 13 as it is Rosh Hashana. A happy new year to those of you who observe that holiday. There will be no homework or assessments scheduled to be due for the following day (Tuesday).
Our Fall interscholastic sports programs start this Wednesday, September 6 in terms
of tryouts (except for Cross Country which is a no-cut program, and has an informational meeting at the start of the following week). For all information on our Athletics programs, visit this page. Please remember that all students who plan to participate in tryouts must have completed the “Family ID” registration process. This process is taking the place of the paper “Green Forms” that were required in prior years. Details and instructions are posted on our Athletics website.
This year, our school musical will be Annie and auditions will be taking place later this month. Audition workshops will be held on Sept. 12 (for Music) and Sept. 13 (for Dance), and attendance at both workshops is mandatory. The auditions themselves are schedule for Sept. 18 and Sept. 20, and attendance is expected for both days as well. Visit our Theatre Arts page for additional details and information.
Our annual School Picture Day is scheduled for Monday, September 24th. When we get closer to that date, we will send an order form home with students. No need to prepare for it now, just wanted you all to know the date.
Within the next week or two, our website will include a list of clubs and afterschool activities that are open for all students to join. We’re hoping to offer many of the same clubs and activities as previous years, along with some new offerings that emerge over the course of the year.
This coming week will include a few safety-related activities and conversations with the students, and so I want to make mention and provide important reminders about both the technical and relationship-focused strategies that are associated with our efforts to maintain a safe learning environment. As previously mentioned above, our schools have locked entrances during the school day and a protocol for entering the school. Additionally, there are cameras positioned (only) in the main entrance and hallway areas within the school. These decisions did not come lightly and certainly speak to the increasing complexities and responsibilities that school districts must address regarding student safety and addressing behaviors that might violate community values. What I want to emphasize to families is that those practices don’t replace our more important efforts and dedication to developing relationships with students that focus on a culture of mutual respect. In the classroom, on teams, and as a whole school, we know how essential it is to emphasize messaging about our individual and shared responsibilities for establishing a positive school climate for everyone. Helping students this age develop skills and strategies to manage peer conflicts, difficult conversations, and decision making during challenging moments are not only “school safety strategies”, but are in and of themselves a part of the learning experience that is central to a successful middle school education.
Along with the first of four fire drills that we hold annually, we’ll also be hosting two all-grade assemblies to re-introduce students to the recently adopted ALICE protocol. Given that ALICE training is specifically focused on responding to a situation involving an armed intruder, we do plan to approach our conversation with students as thoughtfully as possible. Students at this age present an interesting dilemma - they are usually savvy enough to quickly see through any use of ambiguous language to describe why we are introducing ALICE. At the same time, we have to be mindful of the fact that 12 to 14-year olds still need help processing what is an inherently messy and upsetting topic. We want students to have an appropriate level of awareness and preparation, and we also want avoid having the experience be anxiety-inducing. So it’s a delicate balance we work hard to establish and of which we are mindful during our presentations.
Finally, Back to School Night will be on Wednesday, September 26 - save the date! On that evening, we ask parents to vote for two 7th grade parent/guardian representatives who will serve on this year's School Council. The School Council is comprised of 4 parents, three RJ Grey staff members, and yours truly. 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 (October 16 being the first one). We are again looking for two 7th grade parents to serve a two-year term. If you are a 7th grade parent interested in serving on the Council, please submit a short (4-6 sentences) paragraph about yourself by noon on Friday, September 21st. Write-ups can be sent to me at [email protected].
Have a great week, everyone. Welcome back.
Cheers,
