Hi Everyone,
If you dropped off your child at school last Friday morning in the lower parking lot around 7:37am, you might have been one of the innocent bystanders who witnessed a scene that would be disorienting to most anyone, one of those, “is this really happening or did someone put something in my morning coffee?” I turned 42 this past Saturday, and as part of our Main Office’s tradition of celebrating birthdays with a bit of dramatic flare, they decided that this year would be the right time to visit me during my morning traffic duties by pulling up to the drop-off area and creating a commotion that involved balloons and streamers, some very strange music, the window-sized laminated photo shown to the right taped to both sides of the car (in color no less!), and capped off with Katy Frey and two counselors leaping out of the back of the car waving all sorts of things including, but not limited to, what I think was a cow bell - I can’t be entirely sure, I’m still trying to process everything. For the handful who had front row seats, and for those who perhaps heard about it secondhand from your child, I wanted to offer reassurances that it is not a sign of the apocalypse or the end of days. Instead, it was another performance hatched by a great group of colleagues who share the belief that there’s no better way to celebrate a birthday than a public spectacle with a heavy dose of laughter. Through your own moments of interaction with the office staff most of you already know how great and helpful each of them are, and now you know a bit more about their humor and mischief, and one of the reasons I feel so fortunate to work at RJ Grey. That penchant for humor and mischief, however, never interferes with their ability to make the trains run on time at RJ Grey, and they are the primary reasons we’re able to operate so smoothly. From scheduling parent conferences, to the daily attendance and dismissals, there’s an attention to detail and deadlines that, selfishly, certainly make my job infinitely easier. Right now, a good deal of their attention and energy is focused on the course registration process for our students since deadlines are coming up for 8th graders (tomorrow), and 7th graders (April 3), and I want to provide some important reminders. Families of current 8th grade students should have completed the registration process for 9th grade courses at the High School. Please remember that the portal closes tomorrow, March 25th at 3:30pm. If your family is still reviewing the course recommendations, please carve out some time this evening to finalize those plans. Families who are considering override requests should also review the additional steps and paperwork associated with that process.
For current 7th grade families, there is still a bit of time before the registration window is closed for 8th grade, though please keep in mind that these deadlines often creep up on you pretty stealthily. All 7th grade families received an email last week that provided an overview of the online registration process, as well as a Registration Worksheet that provides instructions for how to navigate each step. Students were also provided a paper copy of this form. Families must complete the online course registration process by April 3, 2019. Having all of this information by that deadline is necessary so we can begin the initial steps of ensuring that we have the information needed to assign the appropriate number of sections for different courses.
As “veterans” now of the Junior High, I know that you appreciate how our team placement process focuses on creating teams that strive for balance and diversity in different academic and social areas, equitable class sizes, accounting for math level and world language choices, as well as scheduling for a range of services that students may require (to name a few of the dozens of variables). While we are not able to build teams based on individual requests, we do understand that there may at times be information worth considering during the placement process. Should that be the case, you may pick up a Parent/Guardian Information Form at the Junior High main office anytime or download a copy of the form by clicking here. The Parent/Guardian Information Form for current 7th grade students is due back to the Junior High main office by April 9, 2019. Please remember that filling out this form is not necessary nor is it expected.
I’ve got some timely updates and reminders to put in front of you, and then I spend some time reviewing the upcoming arrival of MCAS testing, which begins April 8.
Don’t forget that Thursday, April 4 is the Junior High’s last early release day, where students are dismissed at 11:06am and staff remain to participate in professional learning.
Our tryout and meeting schedule for Spring interscholastic sports - baseball, softball, and girls volleyball be viewed below. Students interested in the Spring Track program should plan to attend a meeting tomorrow - Monday, March 25 at 3:00pm in the Junior High auditorium. At this meeting overview of the season, distribute important paperwork, and review expectations attached to the two levels of participation that are options for students. Please remember that families must register on FamilyID for EVERY SEASONthat their student plans to participate in a sport. If your child already participated in a Fall or Winter sport and wishes to participate in a Spring sport, they must still register for their Spring sport on FamilyID. Additionally, all payments for spring athletic fees must be paid by CHECK and submitted to the team coach. The Athletics Department will not be accepting electronic payments during the spring season due to technical difficulties. All information related to Athletics can be found on our school website here.
A friendly and important reminder that we have students at RJ Grey who have organized a drive to support Cradles to Crayons with donations of gently used or new clothing and shoes to support programs that assist families that are homeless. They are collecting donations in the main lobby from Monday, March 25th to Friday, April 5th. Clothing should be youth sizes 0-20 or adult small and medium. Shoes, boots, sandals, and sneakers should be infant/child sizes 0-13 and adult sizes 0-10. Socks and pajamas must be brand new.
MCAS! I am sharing with everyone some thoughts about MCAS, and a good portion of it is reused from the past few years, since my/our thoughts on it haven’t really changed, along with our suggestions for how families and students should view MCAS testing relative to other aspects of the educational process.
This year we begin the 8th Grade English/Language Arts portion of the MCAS state assessments on Monday, April 8. Here again is a link to the RJ Grey-specific schedule for MCAS testing for April and May, and for both grades. If your child is absent for one of the testing dates, there are a number of make-up dates that we have already scheduled, and we will coordinate those make-ups with students. As I mentioned in an earlier Grey Matters, MCAS will again be computer-based for both 7th and 8th graders and we will continue to help students be prepared for that testing platform.
At RJ Grey, we are interested in continuing to express and balance two messages to students about MCAS. First, we hope that students take their participation in MCAS seriously, where they try their best and respond to the questions thoughtfully and to the best of their ability. At the same time, we want students to know that how they perform on these tests does not define them as individuals, nor as students. It’s one type of measure (given at one point in the year), and like any single assessment, can not truly capture all that there is to know (and needs to be known) about a student’s growth as a student, and all of their other talents and strengths.
MCAS results are provided to individual families to be reviewed; and as a school, we are responsible for addressing areas of concern that the state may identify based on our results. So we certainly pay attention to, and we prepare students for the MCAS, along with our other assessments. However, we never want students to experience anxiety or distress over the MCAS, and to know that there is much (so much) more to one’s development as a thoughtful individual than is reflected in this particular set of assessments. Each year, I include a link to a 2014 New York Times article entitled, “How to Get a Job at Google” (click here) that highlights Google’s approach and philosophy to recruitment and hiring, noting a de-emphasis on test scores and GPAs as a predictor for the qualities that they seek, and instead “cares about a lot of soft skills— leadership, humility, collaboration, adaptability and loving to learn and relearn. This will be true no matter where you go to work.” In a February 2015 article in the Boston Globe Magazine, a Williams College psychologist presented her ideas about how our schools’ efforts might benefit from a re-orientation of our standardized assessments around skills and qualities that, interestingly, have much overlap with the Google article. While the author didn’t specifically make reference to Google, it was hard not to see the similarities found in her “7 Things Every Kid Should Master” (and should therefore be the focus of assessments) as she emphasized reading, collaboration, conversation, flexible thinking and use of evidence, inquiry, and well-being. Just some food for thought as we enter this season of state assessments.
In an effort to support students during these testing days, we hope to work with families on establishing some routines that will deliver that dual message that I describe above. We begin MCAS testing about 15 minutes after homeroom so we can provide some time to make sure that all students are in their assigned testing location. If you have time at home, please think about making sure your child has a good breakfast before leaving home-- taking a 2 hour test on an empty stomach can be tough for some (count me as one of them).
Have a great week, everyone.
Cheers,
