Weekly Memo

Hi Middle School families,  I hope you had a great weekend. 

What does community look, feel and sound like? Today’s answer is provided Ms. Gates’ 6th grade Advisory: Community looks helpful, sounds like students working together and feels welcoming and safe. 

Kids night out was great.  Thank you so much.  It was so fun to see students hanging out with each other and having fun.  We had a 5th grade student ask if we could do this every Friday. 7th and 8th grade students had a wonderful time at the dance.  At both events students were playing games cooperatively.  The PTO ran our concession stands at both events.  Thank you to our middle school PTO members for shopping and volunteering their time.

The bake sale run by the Diversity Club in the south building raised $323.00 for Amnesty International and the Trevor Project.

Families, thank you for your support with students needing to be picked up or speaking with me first.  I spoke to several parents after the 5-6 grade event and while the students were a little annoyed I felt it was important to speak with families before allowing students to walk down town.  THANK YOU

New Information:

  • Cafe information,  As we try to move to be a more recycling community we are doing things ala cart in the cafe to avoid all the waste.  Students will get their lunch and all that comes with it.  However we have noticed that some students will get a second lunch so they can get the chips or the cookie so in an effort to avoid this we are going ala cart with the extras.  These are the prices so that you are aware.  

  • second lunch $3.25

  • Extra Entree $2.25

  • Chips $1.00

  • Cookies $1.00

  • Lg Water $1.00

  • Sm Water $0.50

  • Milk $0.60

  • Drop off seems to be running smoothly.  I hope you feel the difference in the line.

  • 7th and 8th grade families,  Our pass system for the North students seems to be starting off strong.  Students are in the halls with passes and teachers feel like they have a better sense of who is in or out of their classrooms.  

  • We will be looking to schedule our Staff vs Student basketball game this month.  Last year this was a huge success and brought the school together in a great way.

  • Transition Think Tanks,  If you can believe it we are starting to talk about 4-5 and 8-9 transitions.  We have put together teams for both transitions and have started the conversations.  Stay tuned for more information as we plan for how our 4th graders will transition into middle school and how the 8th grade will transition to high school.

  • Kindness Week will be in February, starting 2/13. What is Kindness Week?

    • This is a new tradition in middle school and our second annual Kindness Week! We believe Kindness Week is an opportunity for students across the middle school to practice kindness to each other, staff members, and the community. The counselors have been planning some fun optional daily activities and themes to promote kindness. Kindness Week will be celebrated during the week of February 13th. A flier will be coming soon with more details!

Reminders:

  • WRITER’S CLUB sign ups are live on the Community Ed website. Students will meet with Mr. Coronis and Ms. Blydenburgh in room 212S on Tuesdays afterschool from 2:30 - 4:00 for 7 weeks, starting January 24.

  • Middle School MONTHLY Get Togethers ~ Math Challenges or Games 

These get-togethers meet on the second Wednesday of each month from 2:30-3:30 pm

  • Math Challenges Group Get-Together:  Students can work with their peers on challenging math puzzles, competition-type problems, and math-focused games. Those who attend should plan on working with others who enjoy learning new problem-solving strategies. The focus will be on a willingness to take on new challenges using perseverance.  Meeting Location: MS South Library Please email Mrs. Gartland at kgartland@gdrsd.org to RSVP for this event.

  • Games Group Get-Together:  Participants in Grades 5-8 will have the opportunity to engage in logic and problem-solving games such as Tsuro, Zombie Dice, Sushi Go!, Blokus, and more!  Meeting Location: MS North Library Please email Mr. Fleming at cfleming@gdrsd.org to RSVP for this event.

  • Scholarships and Clubs.  We want to make sure that all families know that if you wish for your student to participate in an afterschool club there are always opportunities for assistance.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or your student’s school counselor if you need some financial assistance.  We would never want a student to not play because of cost.

SEPAC: No SEPAC news at this time.

Dates to remember:

  • Quarter 3 has begun,  teachers will be updating SchoolBrains on 2/3  2/17  3/10  3/24

  • Kindness week starts Feb 13th

  • ½ day February 17th

  • February Vacation is February 20-24

  • MCAS will begin the 1st week of April

Sincerely your Groton Dunstable Regional Middle School Principal

Wendy Salvatore wsalvatore@gdrsd.org