9/18 - Stars Canoe Trip (Rescheduled to 10/2)
SEPAC Meeting (7 p.m. in Blake Library)
9/19 - Yom Kippur (No School)
9/20 - Stars Canoe Trip
9/21 - Stripes Canoe Trip
9/25 - Blake PTO Meeting - 7 p.m. (see details below)
9/26 - Stripes Canoe Trip
#MedfieldPS Twitter Chat - 8 p.m. (see details below)
9/27-9/28 - Eagles Canoe Trip
10/1 - Blake Site Council Meeting (3:30 p.m.)
10/2 - Stars Canoe Trip (Rescheduled)
10/5 - Half Day for Students
Professional Afternoon for Staff
10/8 - Columbus Day (No School)
10/12 - Blake Picture Retake Day
10/23-10/26 - Nature's Classroom for 7th Grade
10/31 - Halloween
Topic/Question for the Summer Dinner Table
To help encourage conversations and dialogue about school, potential adjustments to our system/practices, and starting points, our topic/question for the dinner table is: If you could change one thing about our 'system of education', what would it be? Why? Starting the Conversation (Week of 9/16/18) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
#MedfieldPS Twitter Chat on 9/26/18
Our next district-wide Twitter chat is Monday, 9/26/18 at 8 p.m. Our continued intent is to bring the five schools together (staff and administration) at periodic times. The goal of these chats is to bring the five schools together (staff and administration) to discuss pertinent topics in education, initiatives, and ideas to collaborate around and share. I encourage you to follow the hashtag #MedfieldPS during the chat and to participate!
School Absence Reminder
This is a reminder for parents that a student's absence or tardiness must be reported by a written note or a parental telephone call to the school absence line (508-242-8501) by 8 a.m.
Blake Parent Nights for Fall 2018
For your reference and information, here are the links from our parent information nights...
Grade 6 Fall 2018 PIN Presentation
Nature's Classroom Final Details 2018 Shared
Nature's Classroom Fall 2018 Parent Presentation
Grade 7 Fall 2018 Presentation for Blog
Memorials, Monuments, and Museums Presentation Fall 2018
Grade 8 Fall 2018 PIN Presentation
Parent/Guardian Sign-Offs
All families should have received an e-mail from '[email protected]' with 'Emergency Contact Information' in the subject line. We are asking all families to complete this digital sign-off for most of the beginning-of-year forms...
- Student Responsible Use Guidelines/Acceptable Use Policy
- School Handbook (and Addendum, where appropriate)
- Free and Reduced Lunch
- Your child's emergency contact information (all students) and additional contact/authorizations (Grades 1 through 5 only).
- Photo release form
#MedfieldProjectHappiness
Thank you to everyone for supporting #MedfieldProjectHappiness - a few notes for your reference...
- The daily inspiration from Project Happiness is included in the morning announcements to staff and students.
- To subscribe: https://www.projecthappiness.org
- To follow on Twitter: @happyblakers #MedfieldProjectHappiness
Online Homework Posting System
This year we will be continuing our system for posting the homework on our website. The link to the homework pages is here - Blake Homework Pages. The primary mode for students' understanding and recording of the homework for the given night is from the teacher and the posted homework in the classroom. The information that will be on the website is intended to serve as a 'back-up' resource. Due to the inherent challenges of technology that arise from time to time (servers, e-mail, etc.), we can not always guarantee that the website will be 100% accurate and reliable. However, we hope that it will help students and parents as an additional source of information.
Blake Fall Intramurals
The 2018 Fall Intramural offerings are now available at: http://blakemsintramurals.weebly.com/ Please check them out at the following link and let Matt Marenghi (Intramural Director) know if you have any questions or concerns: [email protected].
Media Notification
In order to promote some of the exciting programs and events in the Medfield Public Schools, we plan to continue the use of student photos on our district/school websites, teacher websites, blogs, and district approved Twitter accounts. In addition, there are times when we will have coverage in the local newspaper or on local TV. Please let Nat Vaughn know by Friday, September 8 if you DO NOT want your child’s photo or name to appear in the media. Please note, your child’s image or name may still appear within the school for classroom projects, hallway postings, in-school presentations, newsletters, yearbooks, and other in-school media. Please contact Nat Vaughn if you have any additional questions.
Box Top Collections
Box top collection runs 9/24-10/29. The cluster with the most box tops wins a prize. Homerooms will collect the box tops and they will be brought to the office weekly.
Seventh Grade Trip to Nature's Classroom
The seventh grade will be leaving at 6:30 am on Tuesday, October 23 for the annual trip to Nature's Classroom on Lake George. Students should arrive between 6:10 and 6:20 am and report directly to their bus. You will be contacted if you have any outstanding paperwork or money due. On Friday, 8/31 we went over the roommate process with the students during science class. Students will not begin signing up for roommates until after the parent presentation on 9/11. We also handed out a sheet outlining final details and a packing list for the trip. The sheet will also be shared digitally with students next week and can be found by clicking here. The same information will be presented at the seventh grade PIN on Tuesday, 9/11 at 6:00 p.m. If you have any questions, please contact Judy Silva, [email protected]. In addition, please be sure to contact Tricia Williams regarding any medical needs, allergies, or health concerns ([email protected] or 508-242-8554). We are looking forward to the trip!
Challenge Success
We are thrilled to be partnering with Challenge Success this year, a coordinated program from Stanford University designed to help schools and families develop and articulate alternative models of success that are aligned with current research on healthy child development. A group of educators from Blake and Medfield High School will be trained this September and we look forward to bringing this work to our community. Big thanks to MCPE (Medfield Coalition for Public Education) and Medfield HS PTO for supporting this endeavor.
Eighth Grade Canoe and Swim Test Information
As part of the eighth grade Charles River Community Awareness Unit offered in the fall, each eighth grade student is required to pass a swimming test during the summer. Each student is required to tread water for five minutes and swim a distance of seventy-five yards. A qualified swim instructor is required to administer the test and sign the form: Swim Test Form. Completed swim tests may be dropped off at the main office of the Middle School Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. throughout the summer. All swim tests must be completed and returned to the student’s new advisory teacher by the first day of school. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. The Charles River Community Awareness Unit is an exciting way for students to begin their eighth grade experience! (FYI: In the past, students have been certified at Hinkley Pond, YMCA and local swim clubs.)
Safety Reminder for All Blake Families
Bike Safety Reminders-- We are noticing that students are riding through the middle of the bus circles amongst cars and ask that you remind your child that students should only be walking bikes on sidewalks and use the crosswalks when on bikes. We are also noticing a number of students with no helmets or with helmets on but not buckled. We will continue to remind students but any help with that message from home would be great. It's great to see so many kids on bikes and we want to ensure that everyone is safe.
Bird Seed Request
With the new school year upon us, Mr. Gow is looking to replenish his bird seed supply for the Exploration classes that he teaches. The most needed bird food is "black oiled sunflower seed." Please contact him at [email protected] or drop off a bag at the front office.
Blake Site Council Book Discussion Group
Over the last two years the Blake Site Council has read several books and we will continue this practice during the 2018-2019 school year. Stay tuned for more information and we hope you can join in these discussions!
Substitute Applications
Blake is always looking for substitute teacher applicants. Applicants need not have teaching licensure but should be energetic, flexible and enjoy working with children. For more information or to apply, please visit medfield.net and find applications under the tab "employment opportunities". Please contact Kelly Campbell at [email protected] with any questions.
Substitute Nurses
As with our teaching positions, from time to time our nurse, Tricia Williams, will be out of the building and we need a substitute nurse for these days. We are fortunate that we have several substitute nurses in the district who are able to work on those days. If you are a registered nurse and have an interest in potentially serving as a substitute throughout the year, please let us know. You can contact me ([email protected]) or Tricia Williams ([email protected]). By the same token, if you have friends in the area who would have an interest in serving as a substitute, please let them know that they can contact us as well. The safety and well-being of our students is always our top priority, and we would appreciate your interest in one of these roles.
Recess Donations
This year we are continuing with recess as part of our Advisory structure. A great deal of research evidence shows that students are more productive and intellectually engaged when a physical and or mental 'break' is provided in the middle of the day. We are looking for donations from families to provide options for students during this time: frisbees, wiffle balls/bats, kickballs, tennis balls, single and double jump ropes, volleyballs, foam footballs, soccer balls, and hula hoops. If you have done some 'fall cleaning' and have extra items that could be donated, have students drop them off in the main office. Thank you in advance for your help.
Blake PTO News
The first Blake PTO meeting of the year will be held on September 25 at 7:00 pm in the LMC- come learn what the PTO is all about! All are welcome!
Volunteers needed! We are in need of a Hospitality Chair or Co-Chairs, who help coordinate 3-4 teacher luncheons a year. It's a great way to get involved and appreciate the wonderful staff at our school! Also, there are few other positions available. Please visit the PTO volunteer page to find out how you can get involved. Below is the link to the volunteer form. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScVH6fbiK1-cVI5r7yu42e6szW5bnuT2EUO9qk3CLc-l9A8UQ/viewform
Don’t forget to like us on Facebook (Medfield K-8 PTO) and follow us on Twitter (@MedfieldK8PTO). And for more information and calendar of events, please check out our website medfieldk8pto.com
SEPAC News
SEPAC's first meeting of the academic year is Tuesday 9/18 at 7pm in the Blake library. Please come and meet Mary Bruhl, the new Director of Student Service along with other Student Service staff. Visit https://sites.google.com/mail.medfield.k12.ma.us/sepac/ for the agenda and information about Medfield's SEPAC