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Good afternoon, RJ Grey Families:
It's always a good day when I am able to carve out some time to be with students and teachers in their classrooms while learning is happening! Today I was able to stop into several 7th grade Social Studies classes, along with a Spanish class. In my social studies visits, I saw lots of work that required students to examine sources and choose strong evidence, all while trying to make a strong claim. This work was done at the individual level, along with a lot of small group collaboration. In Spanish, I saw a Novice Spanish 1 teacher speaking two sides of a dialog in Spanish, asking students to draw what she was saying. In both of these examples, our teachers pushed students to think critically and to make connections between what they already know and what they're now learning. Now that we have the start of the year behind us, I am excited to witness these moments of deep thinking that lead to student learning.
Most days when I ask my three daughters, "How was school?", I'm often met with answers like "fine," "good," or "boring." When my wife asks me the same about my own day, I often answer "fine," too. I don't ever say that my day is "boring" because it never is! While my kids' answers may be short because of my influence, I find that when I ask more pointed questions like, "What did you do in math today?" or "What did you read in ELA?" I get more specific answers. I know that there has been a lot of work with integers in math for my oldest and some good reading about Fairy Tales and Tall Tales for my 2nd grader. I encourage you to ask your students some specific questions to find out how they used their brains this week.
Student Activity Fee Collection
If your child is joining one of our clubs, we collect a $50 Activity Fee that helps support the costs of running our extracurricular programs. If your child has already joined a club and plans to continue with it, you can send a check for $50 (made out to Acton-Boxborough Regional School District) that they can drop off at the Main Office. You can also pay online here. If your family is in need of financial assistance, please submit a request for financial assistance according to the instructions on our District's website.
School Picture Day - Tuesday, September 29
Mark Lawrence Photographers will be at RJ Grey on Tuesday to take photos of each student and staff member. Mark Lawrence Photographers has reached out to families by email and text message with info about ordering picture packages. If you have not received that message, which contains info about ordering, please call the company directly. Each text and email has an individualized code for your child. Even if families don't choose to purchase pictures, all students have their picture taken to be included in our yearbook!
Back to School Night Reminder
You are invited to RJ Grey's Back to School Night on Thursday, October 8. The event starts at 6:45 pm and ends by 8:30. I encourage you to plan ahead and time your commute well, as our nearby parking lots fill up quickly. You are free to park in any of the spots at RJ Grey, the Parker Damon Building, or the High School. More info to come in future updates!
I hope you have a good weekend,
Jim
Monday, September 28: Student Council applications available for interested 7th graders
Tuesday, September 29: School Picture Day
Monday, October 5: Early Release at 1 pm
Tuesday, October 6: Minuteman High School visits RJ Grey to talk to 8th graders
Thursday, October 8: ALICE drill #1 at RJ Grey
Thursday, October 8: Back to School Night, 6:45 - 8:30 pm
Friday, October 9: Pajama Day
Monday, October 12: No School - Indigenous Peoples' Day
Tuesday, October 13: School Council Meeting #1, 7 pm
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