|
 |
Good afternoon, RJ Grey Families:
I hope you are doing well. Thank you in advance to everyone who has offered food and beverages for our March Madness basketball event after school tomorrow. This fun event is open to all students as spectators. Students who are playing basketball have already signed up with our Student Council advisor. We don't have space for any family audience members, so you'll have to rely on your child's report on how their team does! Thank you, as always, to our PTSO for their support of events like these.
Last week, I shared info about our upcoming spring sports season. That info is still relevant, and you can find out more on our website. The sign-ups for our softball team are rather low right now, so if your child is interested in softball but hasn't signed up on Family ID yet, please do so! Having a handle on anticipated athletes for tryouts will help us make a plan if we don't have enough players to field a team. Also, if you or someone you know is interested in coaching our softball team, I encourage them to reach out to Jon Duclos (jduclos@abschools.org) soon!
If you have an 8th grader at home, I'm sure they have shared something about the conversations their teachers have been having about courses for next year. Our goal is for students to be placed in an appropriate and challenging level at the high school. This week, teachers are finalizing their recommendations for which course they think will be best for your child in the 9th grade. In many cases, the teacher and student are on the same page about the recommended course. In cases where the teacher and student have a different perspective on which course would be best for 9th grade, the teacher has a conversation about why they are recommending a certain course. Starting next Wednesday, March 11, the Parent Portal will be open for you to see the courses that have been recommended by our teachers. That is also when the override process opens if your family chooses to override the course recommended by our teachers. The high school has shared a website with all the information related to high school course selection. Please take a few minutes to check out the resources and timeline for selecting courses.
Starting yesterday, and continuing for another week or so, we are holding brief assemblies with pairs of teams during Directed Study. 8 Blue and 8 Gold met with their assistant principal yesterday to review and reset behavior expectations as we approach the spring. We review things like lunchroom routines, the restrictions around staying after school, and items as simple as bringing something to write with to each class! Over the past few years, we've needed to be reactive to some student behaviors that emerge in early spring. This year, we purposely scheduled these assemblies as a way to reconnect with students on what's important. 7 Blue and 7 Gold will have their brief assembly tomorrow afternoon during Directed Study. Please feel free to ask your child what messages they took away from the assembly.
Finally, last week, as an Advisory competition, our students were challenged to extend the cover of a book into a scene. This was the first time we've done this challenge as a school, and our students' creativity was exceptional! See below for a few examples of some of our very creative Advisory groups!
 I hope you have a nice weekend!
Jim
Friday, March 6: Sports Jersey Day at RJ Grey
Friday, March 6: March Madness Basketball Event, 3 - 4:30 pm
Wednesday, March 11: Parent Portal opens for high school course recommendations
Friday, March 13: Youth Risk Behavior Survey given to 8th graders
Wednesday, March 18: End of Trimester 2
Wednesday, March 18: NAEP testing for selected 8th graders
Friday, March 20: No School - Eid al-Fitr
Monday, March 23: Parent Portal closes for 9th grade course selection
Friday, March 27: College Jersey Day
|
|
