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Good afternoon, RJ Grey Families:
The promise of warmer weather in April is yet to come. I reverted to wearing gloves this morning while directing traffic, having not worn them for the previous few days. I hope the long weekend brings us some sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures!
The past few weeks have been a prime example for me of the frequency illusion, otherwise known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. It's that theory that when you've bought a new car, you start seeing that car everywhere, having never noticed it before. This has happened to me with cars in the past. But over the last few weeks, cars have not been the subject of my attention; rather, social media and screen time for adolescents have taken over. The admin team and staff have had some early conversations about potentially limiting student Chromebook use for next year. That conversation happened at our School Council meeting on Tuesday night, as well. And separately, several parents happened to reach out about social media at school over the past week, too. The universe is trying to tell me to pay attention to something, it seems!
This CNN article summarizes a recent court case in California that determined that social media companies will need to pay millions of dollars because "social networks are harmful and addictive to our kids..." The article continues by sharing ways that parents can talk to their children about social media. I think there are some good strategies there. This article from the NY Times shares how one town in Ireland banded together to create the "It Takes a Village" program, where residents adopted a voluntary "no smart devices" code. The story is an interesting one about the power of community.
As parents, we are in difficult positions when it comes to holding the line on what we allow our kids access to. I encourage you to connect with your fellow AB parents and talk about what expectations you have for social media use, what safeguards you have at home (i.e., looking at your child's phone, creating expectations about where and when phones can be used), etc. While it may be possible for the school to limit technology a bit more next year, we are all fighting an uphill battle with the world that our kids are growing up in. I thank you in advance for your continued work on monitoring your child's usage and enforcing age-appropriate restrictions.
Student Attendance
Thank you for continuing to prioritize good attendance for your children. Our overall attendance numbers are strong. Below are a few images that compare the average daily attendance for last year vs. this year. Any box shaded in pink or red had an average daily attendance of less than 95%.
 MCAS Testing Starts Tuesday
Our MCAS testing season starts in two weeks, with ELA testing on both Tuesday (4/7) and Wednesday (4/8). Helping your students get to school on time, with something in their system from breakfast, will help them feel confident in the testing sessions. At RJ Grey, we value the data that MCAS gives us. One takeaway for us, in addition to individual student performance, is that MCAS measures how well we've taught the state frameworks. Thank you in advance for encouraging your child to do their best on this spring's assessments.
Acton Food Pantry Food Drive
RJ Grey will be holding a Food Drive from April 1 - 16 to benefit the Acton Food Pantry. The Food Pantry is a great partner with the schools, including providing us with food items that students can take home for weekends and vacations. Food insecurity presents a challenge for many in our community, so when we are asked to help, we do! Specific items that would be helpful are: flavored oatmeal, nut-free granola bars, applesauce squeeze pouches, salty snacks (cheese crackers, pretzels, popcorn), Mac and cheese, boxed rice pilaf, cereal, canned pasta, and paper products like toilet paper and tissues. Students will drop off these items in their homerooms from April 1 - 16. Thank you in advance for your support.
Have a good long weekend,
Jim
Friday, April 3: No School - Good Friday
Monday, April 6: Library closed to students after school
Tuesday, April 7: ELA MCAS Session 1
Wednesday, April 8: ELA MCAS Session 2
Friday, April 10: End of Q3 (PE, Health, GB classes)
Monday, April 13: Early Release at 1:15
Thursday, April 16: Spring Showcase Performances at 7 pm
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