Hi Middle School families, Happy Super Bowl Sunday.
What does community look, feel and sound like? Today’s answer is provided by Ms. Osterholtz’s 5th grade Advisory: Community looks fun and focused, sounds enthusiastic and feels like a place of acceptance and appreciation.
New Information:
ALiCE drills, I’m sorry to anyone who did not know what an ALiCE drill was/is. I guess I assumed that by middle school, families would be aware that we have these drills during the school year. ALiCE stands for ALERT, LOCKDOWN, INFORM, COUNTER, EVACUATE
These lockdown procedures are evaluated for improvements after each drill. To ensure schools are prepared to proactively handle the threat of an intruder or active shooter, all principals and teachers have been trained in ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate). We practice these with students so that they too are aware of their surroundings and what to do in the event of worst case scenarios.
Kindness week will be celebrated from February 13-17. Students and staff will engage in different activities during advisory. You can click here for daily themes that promote our activities. Participation is optional.
Please ask your student what they did in advisory and talk about ways that you can include kindness at home and in our community.
Random Acts of Kindness Day is celebrated on Friday, February 17. How can you celebrate RAK day to kick off vacation week?
Members of the school's new group for diversity and inclusion, World of Difference, created a project to plant sticky notes with positive messages, jokes, or riddles in places students will find them. Their mission is to spread positivity and erase hatred within the Groton-Dunstable community. The group spent hours over the last few weeks creating hundreds of colorful and positive notes, and they finally distributed the sticky notes Friday after school by going around the North building and putting them on lockers, in books in the library, on walls, and even delivering packs of notes to teachers to hide in their classrooms for students to find!” We hope to do this in the South building in the very near future.
Grade 8, We are working on 2 day trips for our grade students to participate in as toward the end of school year. We do not have dates yet. We are looking at a day trip to New City and to New Hampshire. Please stay tuned.
Office News:
With the advent of the new attendance alert system, alerts are going out earlier than in previous years. Per the MS Handbook, we ask parents to call the attendance line by 8:00 AM. This is the best way to report absences as it is always cleared. 978-448-6155, option 5.
We have noticed an increase in dismissals during the school day. While we understand parents have no control as to when doctor's appointments are scheduled, we do need you to send a note with your students to turn in at the office before the school day begins. This gives us time to prepare a dismissal list and quickly find your student when you arrive for pick up.
Reminders:
MCAS
Grade | ELA | Math | Science |
5 | April 5 & 6 | May 2 & 3 | May 16 & 17 |
6 | April 5 & 6 | May 2 & 3 | |
7 | April 10 & 11 | May 9 & 10 | |
8 | April 10 & 11 | May 9 & 10 | May 16 & 17 |
Most make up sessions are immediately following the testing dates.
Get ready for volleyball tryouts or just come for fun! Varsity coach Heather Barlow and the GD varsity team will be offering a two-week middle school volleyball clinic for boys and girls, starting March 7 (Tues, Thurs, Fri). Practices will be immediately after school in the North gym—2:45-4:15. Dates: March 7, 9, 10, 14, 16, 17. T-shirt included. Register today! https://www.familyid.com/organizations/groton-dunstable-athletics
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