Hi Everyone,
Usually, by this point in the school year, I will have already made several (whiny) references in Grey Matters to the cold temperatures and some impact that the season’s snowfall has had on my house. By now I’m also usually consistently wearing snow pants and arctic boots during morning traffic duty. The wear and tear that (normal) New England winters has on my soul then leads to me discussing with all of you my long standing dream of living in San Francisco and enjoying the food and more temperate weather. Things are a bit different this year. First, and I’m not complaining, there hasn’t been more than a dusting of snow except for those couple of inches in mid-November - and even that accumulation of snow melted within a few days. And even with current forecasts calling for about an inch of snow tomorrow night, the ten day forecast hovers in the 30 to 40 degree range. Thus, my snow pants and boots are still on standby in my office. Moreover, the less frigid weather has made me think about San Francisco less frequently, and the recent wildfires that choked the city with smoke, along with that region’s growing challenges with wealth disparity and affordability (and the occasional earthquake), has me thinking more favorably about our neck of the woods. One reason I am bringing up the weather and snow is that even with the mild(er) and stretch of snow-free days, our Ski and Board Club will still have its first session at Wachusett Mountain this Tuesday (hooray for snow-making technology). A final important reminder to Ski and Board Club families that equipment is not allowed on buses. Most families bring the equipment at morning drop off, and a few families bring the equipment to school later in the day (it all gets stored in the auditorium). Please be sure to have the ski and board equipment organized for a speedy drop off in the morning.
And while I personally would welcome a school year free of snow delays and snow days, that’s probably not realistic. If and when we do have some messy precipitation, our District sends out automated calls to families with delay/cancellation notifications. Along with the automated calls, families can also utilize different social media platforms for that and other information as well. Acton-Boxborough has both an official Twitter feed as well as a Facebook page where announcements and reminders will be posted. If you aren’t already following RJ Grey’s Twitter feed, please also consider joining our 763 other followers. On that feed, we’ll “re-tweet” important District announcements along with our own school-based reminders and updates.
Here’s a few additional reminders and update for the coming two weeks:
I need to make a correction from last week about the Winter Band Concert, which is Tuesday, January 15 at 7pm in the Auditorium. I mistakenly listed it as Wednesday the 16th, my apologies - I believe the Band Director, Mr. Arsenault, has sent the correct dates to families of Band students. The Chorus and Strings Concert is Wednesday, January 23 at 7pm in the Auditorium.
A reminder to students and families that our after school clubs and activities welcome new members throughout the year! You can review the club and activity options on our website at this page.
There is no school Monday, January 21 in recognition of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
I hope 7th grade families have had a chance to review the letter that I sent to parents/guardians last Wednesday regarding our plans to conduct the Signs of Suicide (SOS) lesson and the Brief Screening for Adolescent Depression to students in 7th grade later this month. We require every family to return a signed consent form (included with the original email and also sent via US Postal Mail) from every student’s parent/guardian indicating the student’s level of participation. Please send that form in with your child as soon as possible. If you need another copy of the consent form, please let me know. For parent/guardians who would like to learn more about the SOS lesson and preview the materials that are included in the lesson before deciding on their child’s level of participation, please consider attending the Parent Information session that we have scheduled for this Tuesday, January 8 at 6pm in the Junior High Library. This session will be led by Nanci Ginty, a staff member from Riverside Trauma Center who has worked closely with Acton-Boxborough over the past three years.
Separately, and in support of our efforts with student mental health, Eliot Community Human Services (with a location in Concord), with a Healthy Teen Initiative Grant from the AB United Way, will conduct a suicide prevention workshop for members of our adult community on Tuesday, January 29 at 6pm, also in our Junior High Library. QPR - Question, Persuade and Refer is a community-wide program that teachers the warning signs of suicide and an effective emergency response. People trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade and refer someone for help. Please note that while it has a shared goal, the Parent Information session about our SOS has a very different focus, and is narrowly focused on providing families with an overview of our plans with students.
Finally, it’s a pleasure to highlight 8th grader Sean Nelson, who is January’s 
Artist of the Month. Sean’s work is our first Artist of the Month foray into the
relatively new art form of drone photography. When asked about things that influence/inform the artwork he likes to make, Sean noted, “Nature and architecture definitely give me inspiration for my photography. I have taken drone photos of the beach, lighthouses, and the mountains, and have also taken drone photos in Acton
Center. I like taking photos of memories, or things that intrigue me, and things that other people can relate to.” If you’d like to check out some of Sean’s work,
you can click here. (As of Sunday morning, there are a few hiccups that need
to be fixed with Sean’s Artist of the Month profile page, but hopefully it will be
all set by later today, if not Monday morning).
Have a great week, everyone.
Cheers,
