Hi Everyone,
The newly released Avengers: Endgame film grossed a record-breaking $1.2 billion this past weekend, and my wife Melisa and two of our kids participated in the hype last Thursday night. Reports from Melisa are that our youngest son had a smile plastered to his face for 95% of the movie which is unsurprising given how much of his time (and our money) he has devoted to the Avengers franchise. I have enough of a familiarity with the storyline to understand the “big picture”, but was very appreciative of this recent Washington Post piece that provided a guide to the sequence of events that were portrayed in the previous 21 Marvel films, and the role that the many characters played at different points in time. Knowing quite a while ago the date of this film’s release, we made sure to reserve seats at a nearby theatre a few weeks in advance. While probably a bit different in feel and flavor, that feeling of anticipation that our son Parker had for this weekend’s movie release might be comparable to some of the growing excitement that students and families are having for the Spring and the end of the school year. As temperatures increase (hopefully soon, and above this recent stretch of wet and raw weather), and we enter the month of May, the conclusion of the school year -- and Summer vacation -- definitely starts to feel like it’s within arm’s reach. That’s especially the case this year given that we only had one snow day (hallelujah). Our last day of school is scheduled for Wednesday, June 19 and prior to that date we still have some important teaching and learning planned, and then we will be hosting a series of annual events and activities for students to mark the conclusion of another school year. For 8th grade families, a very brief “save the date” for the annual End-of-Year Celebration for 8th grade students. It will be held the evening of Friday, June 14th, so mark it on your calendars. Within the next few weeks I’ll share a bit more about the event, and also the role that families play in making it a great event to finish off the year (and one’s time at RJ Grey). I also want to provide 7th grade families with their own “save the date” for a 7th grade social/dance that we are planning for Friday, May 31st. Stay tuned for more details later this month.
Here are some reminders and updates for the next few weeks:
Interim reports for this current Spring Trimester will likely be sent via email towards the end of this upcoming week, or at the very beginning of the following week. If your child receives one or more from his/her teachers and you have any questions about those interims, please start a dialogue with your child’s teacher.
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 21 at 7pm. Please stay tuned for updates from your kids and/or Mr. Arsenault (band), Ms. Green (Strings) or Mr. Charig (chorus) about details for those evening festivities.
This week we continue to take a pause on MCAS testing and then the following week we move to the Mathematics portion with 8th grade scheduled for that Monday and Tuesday, and then taking the 8th grade Science and Technology portion on Wednesday. 7th grade students will take the Math portion of the MCAS between that following Thursday and Friday. Students who are absent on days where they are scheduled to participate in MCAS testing will be scheduled for make-ups during the following week. Here again is the MCAS schedule. A friendly reminder to please help your child get some nourishment in the morning before they leave for school.
I want to be sure to also acknowledge the upcoming start of Ramadan, which for our Muslim classmates, neighbors and friends will begin this year on the evening of May 5 and continue through early-June. Thank you to the students and families who continue to find opportunities to share with us their experiences and what, for them, serves as the most important and impactful aspects of Ramadan. In previous years a number of our students who were fasting during Ramadan had conversations with teachers about options and choices for their daily lunch period. There will be some students who are fasting who may still want to be in the cafeteria so they can spend some downtime with their friends. For students who would prefer to be in a space other than the cafeteria, our teams have started to identify some supervised rooms that can be available during lunch.
For both 7th and 8th grade students, the last part of MCAS testing falls within the first week of Ramadan (Wednesday, May 6 through May 10). During the MCAS testing window, we often send reminders to families about the benefits of students having something to eat before they arrive to school and we also make small snacks (granola bar, etc.) available to students who might need something when they first arrive to class. For our students who will be observing Ramadan during this time, I wanted to acknowledge that this particular testing schedule could feel a bit harder for them if they are fasting. If your student plans to fast during that week, I wanted to offer a friendly reminder and suggestion to, if possible, plan a pre-dawn meal (I believe it’s called sehri) for your child on those days in particular so they may have a bit of food in their stomachs as they begin MCAS testing later that morning. We will continue to work with each of our teams to offer messages to our students about the choices that are available and the standing invitation to speak to us about anything they’d like us to keep in mind as they and their families continue to observe Ramadan this month.
Starting three years ago the English Department began sponsoring a friendly contest for students who had an interest in reading an original poem during our end-of-year assembly. We’re pleased to be including that feature again this year as part of our annual send-off event. Called, “The Final Verse”, current 8th grade students are invited to submit an original poem that speaks to one of a few possible themes (such as life lessons, memories, endings/beginnings). One of the submitted poems will be selected and the student author will be invited to read it as part of the year-end celebration. 8th grade English teachers will share more information directly with students, and students who submit a piece must make sure to give it to their English teacher by May 21.
Finally, this past week I met with our fifth group of Everyday Leaders, who joined me for some pizza and conversation, as the students caught me up on how the school year has gone. Congratulations to the following students whose teachers included them in this cohort of Everyday Leaders: Kaelyn Greene, Maddy Primiano, Tanvi Sistu, Vaishnavi Murthy, Fiona Fagans, Lila Stanton, Mihir Nagarkatti, Katharine deBethencourt, Jialin Chen, and Griffin Bentley.
Have a great week, everyone.
Cheers,
