Good afternoon, RJ Grey Families:
Every teacher, principal, and most others in schools start the day with a plan. My plan for today (created yesterday afternoon) was to make sure our iReady administration went well, collate some data on student learning, and visit some classrooms. Well...best-laid plans get put aside when necessary. Many of our students received an email overnight that included lists of student email addresses and passwords. As Superintendent Light noted yesterday, the District is working with outside agencies to get to the root of this cyber issue. As a result of knowing that passwords were shared with students, our Ed Tech department correctly forced a reset of our students' abschools passwords this morning. For most students, this forced password change went well. For some students, the forced reset required adult intervention and additional steps. As a result, we did not complete our iReady reading assessment today. Instead, we reverted to a normal schedule, and the admin team, joined by some members of Ed Tech, visited classrooms throughout the morning to assist any student whose password wasn't able to be reset earlier in the day. So while my plans for this morning were not what I had hoped, it was important time spent to ensure that our students' accounts are safe. At this point, we have assisted any student present today at school with setting a new password. We'll plan our iReady reading assessment for next Wednesday, September 16.
Buses and Morning Drop-offs
Thank you for your patience as our Transportation Department continues to fine-tune their morning drop-off routines. This week, we've continued to have buses drop off immediately before or at 8:00. We know this is impactful on your child's start to the school day. We're working with Transportation to make this better. Thank you to everyone for continuing to avoid driving in the front circle between 7:30 and 8:00. While it is so tempting to get your child closer to the front door, especially when you're running late, I need to ask you to drop your child off in the lower lot. With buses coming in later than we're used to, we need to keep those driveways open to the buses. Thank you for your help with this!
School Council Nominations
Every year, I recruit interested parents or guardians who would like to serve on the RJ Grey School Council. The School Council meets with me six times during the year to talk about school-related items, the School Improvement Plan, and ideas to make our school an even better place to be. I am seeking two parent/guardian reps from the 7th grade. Anyone interested should send me an email with a brief bio and why you're interested. If I hear from more than two parents, we'll hold a virtual election later in September. Thank you for stating your interest by September 22nd. You should feel free to view past meeting notes on our School Council website.
RJ Grey School Store
Last year, we started working with a local vendor to create some RJ Grey swag to help boost our school spirit. If you are interested, please take a look at our online store; items are available for purchase through September 25th, and purchases will be delivered to RJ Grey in October.
Back to School Night
Please mark your calendars for Thursday, October 8th from 6:45 - 8:30 for the RJ Grey Back to School Night. Caregivers are invited to come to RJ Grey, where you'll follow your child's schedule and hear from teachers about their courses. I'll share more about the evening in future weeks, but I want to put this on your calendars now!
Daily Announcements Email
585 of you have signed up to receive our Daily Announcements email. If you haven't already done so, I always recommend that at least one parent/guardian per family sign up to receive our Daily Announcements email. Please click this link to join our group.
Danny's Place Event
On occasion, I will pass along community activities that match up with our students' needs. Danny's Place is sponsoring the following event:
Mattering in a High-Pressure World: Helping Teens Thrive Beyond Achievement Culture
Join a community conversation with author and educator Stephanie Malia Krauss on helping teens feel valued beyond grades and achievement. Krauss, author of How We Thrive and Whole Child, Whole Life, will share practical ways parents, educators, and teens can push back against achievement culture and build a stronger sense of "mattering." Free and open to parents and teens — West Acton (Thu, 10/1, 7–8:30 pm at Gallery at Villageworks). Register at thinkgiveproject.org/guw.
I hope you have a good weekend,
Jim
Monday, September 14: Early Release at 1 pm
Wednesday, September 16: iReady Reading Assessment for all students
Monday, September 21: No School - Yom Kippur
Wednesday, September 23: iReady Math Assessment for all students
Tuesday, September 29: School Picture Day
Monday, October 5: Early Release at 1 pm
Thursday, October 8: Back to School Night, 6:45 - 8:30 pm
Friday, October 9: Pajama Day
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