February 5 - 'Surviving Adolescents' Parent Presentation (see details below)
February 6 - Superintendent's Advisory Council (8:45 a.m. at HS)
iPad Highlights Night at Blake (see details below)
February 7 - Ski/Snowboard Club
February 8 - 7th/8th Grade Dance (7-9 p.m.)
February 12 - CSA Meeting (7:30 p.m.)
Royal Pizza Night for Blake
February 13 - Grade 8 Band/High School Step-Up Concert
February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day!
February 18-22 - Winter Vacation
February 26 - Subway Night for Blake
February 27 - Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night
February 28 - 'Project Moves' at Medfield High School (7 p.m.)
March 7 - Incoming 7th/8th Grade Parent Night
March 20 - MCPE Spelling Bee
'Topic/Question for the Dinner Table'
As a connection to the topic of a 'technology integration', our Topic/Question for the Dinner Table this week is: "Technology gives us the freedom to do more: What is the cost of technology?"
iPad Highlights Night
In an effort to continue our dialogue and share information with the Blake community about our 8th Grade iPad pilot, we are inviting all parents/guardians to attend our iPad Highlights Night on Wednesday, February 6 at 7:00 p.m. Our hope for the evening is for the entire Blake community of parents and guardians to hear and see highlights from the pilot, answer questions, and learn about the progress that has taken place. This event is for parents and guardians only. Please RSVP via our Google Form link (http://tinyurl.com/ipadhighlightnight) to let us know if you are planning on attending so that we can make sure we are prepared. Please fill out the form for each parent/guardian attending the presentation.
Cradles to Crayons - Pajama Drive
Pajama Drive to Benefit Cradles to Crayons begins Tuesday Feb 6 and runs to Tuesday Feb 12. This is the 3rd year that the 7th grade has run this initiative with the people from Cradles to Crayons in an effort to support children in need in the Greater Boston area. The hope is to gather PJ's from infant sizes on up to size 20 to help children of all ages. All 7th graders should bring their donations of PJ's, nightgowns, and flannel pants to their advisory. Any other donations from children and faculty in other grades can be made in the box in the office. Thanks for your help with this great cause.
7th/8th Grade Dance
Parents/Guardians, please review the rules from the Dance Contract you and your 7th/8th grader signed before the next dance (2/8/13):
1) All 7th and 8th grade dances will be held in the Blake Middle School Cafeteria. Students should arrive in front of the Blake cafeteria by 7:00 P.M. and will not be admitted after 7:30 P.M., unless arrangements have been made in writing with Mrs. Campbell, Ms. Dengos, or Ms. Hurley 24 hours prior to the dance. All students must be picked up by parents promptly at 9:00 P.M. in front of the Blake cafeteria.
2) All school rules regarding behavior and appropriate dress will continue to be enforced at school dances.
3) If a student is absent from school on the day of the dance, the student is not permitted to attend the dance that evening.
4) Students may not leave the dance early unless they are picked up by a parent/guardian. Parents should contact Mrs. Campbell, Ms. Dengos, or Ms. Hurley in advance to be made aware of an early pick-up.
5) No outside food, beverage, or gum is to be brought into the cafeteria.
6) No moshing, slam dancing, dirty dancing, or grinding dances will be allowed.
7) Cell phone use is prohibited during dances, except in the specified cell phone-use zone. Failure to follow this rule will result in confiscation of the phone until the end of the dance.
Eastern District Junior Festival
16 band and orchestra students from Blake auditioned for the MMEA Eastern District Junior Festival on Saturday, January 26. Students from numerous schools in the Greater Boston area are selected to participate in a special two-day festival in March. Three Blake students were accepted to the Jazz Band: Ryan Maclean on tenor saxophone, Dana Cruickshank on bass and Melanie Baime on piano. Two Blake students were accepted to the Concert Band: Gavin Connolly on snare drum and Christian Newton on trumpet. Ninth grader, Joe Aversa was accepted to the Orchestra on tuba. Congratulations to all of the students who auditioned!
6th Grade Museum of Science Visit
The sixth grade welcomed the Museum of Science this past week. They came to the Blake auditorium and presented Cryogenics and Heat, a presentation about the effects of temperature on matter. Students reviewed the basics of states of matter and then used "exploding balloons," liquid nitrogen, and superconductors to investigate how matter behaves.
School Survey - Executive Summary
The Blake Site Council has taken time throughout the year to review the data collected from last year's survey. Focus areas on the survey centered on the topics of school culture, academic workloads, stress, and habits. I have posted an Executive Summary (located on the Forms and Documents tab of this blog) of the compiled data for your reference, and I hope you are able to find some time to read the highlights. Our intent is to distribute the 2012-2013 survey in the next week in the hopes of gathering the data by February vacation.
Twitter in Education - Account
Back in October I e-mailed everyone to let them know that I was exploring Twitter as a communication and resource tool for both the Blake community and my own Professional Learning Network (PLN), with encouragement from one of our Technology Integration Specialists, Diane Horvath. Again, this is by no means an expectation for anyone, but I encourage you to explore the world of Twitter, and along these lines here is a link that I came across that provides and outlines the benefits that can be gained/found for educators...
Five-Minute Film Festival: Twitter in Education
I was not sure how much I would like it or find it useful, but it has been wonderful and enriching. For your interest, I have copied information that was sent out regarding my account and some links that you may find helpful in regards to Twitter...
There two ways to get the tweets from my account...
1. To get the 'real feel' for Twitter- you should sign up for your own twitter account and follow me (@nat_vaughn). This works well when you use the twitter app to get the live feed.
2. Go to this link: https://twitter.com/nat_vaughn where you'll be able to see all my tweets without a twitter account.
Here are two links that may be of interest or of help regarding Twitter...
A Twitter Guide: http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
'How to Get Started with Twitter' video tutorial from the 'Twitter Guide': http://youtu.be/4YGp4cWdndc
If you have other questions about Twitter, I encourage you to reach out to Diane Horvath ([email protected]) or Neal Sonnenberg ([email protected]).
Project Moves
Save the Date-- MCPE and Blake CSA are proud to sponsor "Project Moves. . . accept ME" (http://www.projectmoves.org/Performances.html) at Medfield High School on Thursday, February 28th at 7:00 p.m. Project Moves Dance Company, Inc., the resident company of The Gold School of Dance Art in Brockton, Mass., features dancers ages 6 to 18. The show uses dance, spoken word, and visual media to promote acceptance. Upon special invitation in 2012, members of the dance company performed on ABC's “Dancing with the Stars”. The mission of the Project Moves Dance Company, Inc. is to advocate a message of acceptance and tolerance through dance art. The company is dedicated to creating a platform that empowers young dance artists with the knowledge, compassion and understanding necessary to create works that address the most pressing issues of today's youth, thus transforming the artists and their audiences. Tickets are free and available at the door. This show is suitable for middle school and high school students, as well as their parents and guardians.
Parent Information Nights
The planning for the 2013-2014 school year has already begun, and our parent information nights have been scheduled. Incoming 6th Grade Parent Information Night is on Wednesday, February 27 and the Incoming 7th/8th Grade Parent Information Night will be on Thursday, March 7. More details will be shared in the coming weeks.
SIPS - Penny Drive
SIPS is partaking in its annual Penny Drive starting February 4th. The drive benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. All proceeds are directly donated to the organization. SIPS members will collect coins during the lunch block. Each grade competes against the other. Pennies are deemed positive points for the grade while sliver coins are assigned negative points for the grade. The competition is a fun way to promote coin donations. The drive lasts two weeks until the Friday before break. Start saving those coins today.
'Surviving Adolescents: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast! And the ABC's of Parenting Adolescents' - Parent Presentation
The Medfield SEPAC is hosting a parent presentation by Nadine Briggs, founder of Social Smart Kids (see flyer on the Forms and Documents tab of this blog) on Tuesday, February 5 at 7 p.m. in the Blake Middle School auditorium: 'In these workshops on adolescents, we will explore adolescent development and how this exciting, yet sometimes excruciating, process of growing up can impact family life. Surviving Adolescents will explore why teens become “allergic” to their parents and how boys and girls journey through adolescence in similar and different ways. We will talk about how to gain respect from your teen, strategies for parenting a teen as opposed to a younger child and how to avoid the traps our teens set for us and the ones we set for ourselves to establish a healthy relationship with our adolescents. The ABC's workshop focuses in depth on Collaborative Problem Solving with teens and easy, quick “catch phrases” that parents can use to communicate with their teen as well as hints from teens themselves on how to parent them.' For additional information on this workshop and more, visit www.socialsmartkids.com. RSVP not required but suggested to Una Smith at [email protected].
Blake Drama Production
Emails went out to parents/guardians of all students who wished to participate on Cat in the Hat and Seussical the Musical productions. If you did not receive an email, please contact Ms. Allen at [email protected]. The cast will meet Tuesday, 2/5 @ 3:30pm (there will be a study hall before in the caf) and the crew will meet Wednesday, 2/6 @ 2:15pm in the auditorium. Please continue to check the theater website (http://wallwisher.com/wall/611ejx2h8v) for all rehearsal and crew schedules and other information. In lieu of rehearsal on Thursday, February 28th, the entire cast and crew is requested to meet and see Project Moves at the Medfield HS auditorium. If parents would like to join us, they are more than welcome. The show starts at 7:30pm.
Ski and Snowboard Club
Thursday, February 7th is the Nashoba Valley Ski and Snowboard Club's last trip. Thank you to all the parents who chaperoned to help make these trips safe and successful.
Boxtops Competition!
First Annual Boxtops Competition! February 11th thru March 11th. Have your student bring in General Foods Boxtops to their advisory. The advisory in each grade with the most Boxtops collected will receive a class prize. Just want to give your boxtops in now? Collection box is conveniently located in the main office. All items for Boxtops are located on the Forms and Documents tab of this blog.
MCPE News
Save the date for the Annual Spelling Bee on March 20th! All entrants will be entered into a raffle for an iPad Mini!
In other news, total grant investments so far this school year have reached $66,406. Progress towards the fundraising goal of $100,000 continues as the MCPE 25th Anniversary Appeal greets the New Year. MCPE thanks the 364 donors who have contributed nearly $68,000 towards future enrichment programs for Medfield’s schools. The campaign will continue through the end of the school year and contributions are still being gratefully accepted either online at www.medfieldcoalition.org or by mail to MCPE, P.O. Box 452, Medfield, MA 02052.
CSA News
Come join us for the CSA meeting on Feb. 12 at 7:30 in the library. We hope you can make it!