October 23 - 1/2 day for Students (11:10 a.m. Dismissal)
Professional Afternoon for Staff
Subway Night for Blake
October 24 - MCAS Presentation/Discussion at 9 a.m. (See details below)
October 25 - Student Council Mtg at 2:15 p.m.
October 26 - 7th/8th Grade Dance (7-9 p.m. in Blake Cafeteria)
October 30 - Grade 8 to Salem
October 31 - Halloween (see details below about costumes)
November 1 - Student Council Mtg at 2:15 p.m.
Student/Staff Charity Basketball Game (see details below)
November 2 - Magazine Drive orders are due
November 5 - Site Council Mtg (3:15 p.m. in Blake LMC)
November 7 - 6th Grade Parent Coffee (9:30 a.m.) - see details below
November 13 - Royal Pizza Night for Blake
November 16 - CSA Mtg (9:30 a.m. in Blake LMC)
November 20 - SEPAC Mtg (7:00 p.m. at Memorial School)
MCAS Information Session for Parents/Guardians
Do you have questions about the MCAS assessments? Would you like to better understand the data that has been provided by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education? Do you want to gain insight about the terminology (growth percentiles, CPI, PPI, etc.) and understand the context for your students and the schools? If the answer to any or all of these questions is 'yes', we would like to extend an invitation to all parents/guardians in the Blake community to join us for parent information coffee on Wednesday, October 24 at 9 a.m. in the Blake Consumer Science room. Nat Vaughn and Susan Bycoff, our Mathematics Content Specialist, will give a brief presentation, followed by a question and answer and 'open discussion' about the tests. This is not a forum to discuss individual scores, but rather to better understand the assessments, data, and reports from the DESE. If you are interested and able to attend the session, please e-mail me ([email protected]) so we have an understanding of interest and numbers.
Term 1 Interim Reports
This past Friday students will brought home their interim reports for the first term. Time was spent in advisory reflecting upon the work they accomplished, as well as setting healthy goals for the second term. If you have any questions about your child's work or the reports, please start by having a conversation with your own child. If questions still exist, you should contact the teacher directly to gain more insight.
Blake Magazine Drive
Tomorrow, Wednesday 10/24, is the first turn-in day for magazine drive orders. Students who turn in one or more orders will receive a "bed head duck" keychain and lanyard and will also be entered in a drawing to win a $100 amazon.com gift card. Remember, the school receives 40% of the profits from the drive and 30% of the 8th graders' sales will be used to offset the cost of their trip to Washington D.C. in the spring!
Items of Note from the Nurse's Office (Mrs. Williams)
Gym Notes: Due to the large number of students our nurse needs to evaluate in the nurse's office on a daily basis, we are asking parents assistance in dealing with student requests to be excused from gym class. If your child has a minor injury or illness and is not feeling well enough to attend physical education (gym) class, then please give your child a dated note from you excusing him/her from gym for the day. Parents are allowed to excuse their children from physical education classes for up to a period of two weeks. After the two week period, a doctor's medical excuse is required.
7th grade: If your child had medication for the Nature's Classroom field trip, please stop by the main office by November 1st to pick up the medication. All medication not picked up by a parent/guardian will be discarded after this date.
6th Grade Parent Coffee
The 6th graders seem to have settled into the Blake routines quite nicely, but that doesn't mean all the information about school is being shared at home. Join Tracy Allen and Kelly Campbell for a parent coffee where you can get some of your questions about Blake academics, routines, and school culture answered. The coffee will take place Wednesday, November 7th, at 9:30am. Please feel free to send questions in advance or walk in with your list. Hope to see you there. Please RSVP to Tracy Allen at [email protected].
New Twitter Account (@nat_vaughn)
As noted in last week's blog entry, I encourage you to explore the world of Twitter. I am exploring this technology as a communication and resource tool for both the Blake community and my own learning network. If you are interested in exploring with me, my account is @nat_vaughn. In addition to the weekly blog to our community, I plan on tweeting up-to-date information, Blake happenings, links to sites, and articles of interest on a daily or more frequent basis. Admittedly I had some reservations, but Diane Horvath (one of our Technology Integration Specialists) has been encouraging me to get out of my 'comfort zone' - thanks, Diane. This is by no means an expectation for anyone, but I thought you may find it of interest - I have found the 'dialogue and network' via Twitter to be relevant, engaging, tangible, and simply put - useful.
There are two ways to get my tweets...
1. Go to this link: http://twitter.com/nat_vaughn where you'll be able to see all my tweets without a twitter account.
2. To get the 'real feel' for Twitter- you should sign up for your own twitter account and follow me. This works well when you use the twitter app to get the live feed.
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
3rd Annual Student/Staff Charity Basketball Game
The 3rd Annual Student/Staff Charity Basketball game will take place Thursday, November 1, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Middle School gym. Tickets cost $3 each. All money raised goes to benefit Christmas in the City, a non-profit organization which receives donations each year to throw a Christmas Party for homeless children in Boston. This year, 8th grade students and teachers will spend two days helping to set up the party and purchase gifts for homeless children. Students can purchase tickets during advisory or at the door the day of the event. Any additional donations are welcome.
Pumpkin Decorating Contest
It's time for Blake's annual home room pumpkin decorating contest! Pumpkins must be decorated (no carving please!) under the supervision of the home room teacher, orchestrated by the advisory Student Council Representatives. Pumpkins are due in the library by 7:00am on Friday, November 2. Blake staff will judge and vote and the will be a prize for the winning advisory!
7th/8th Grade Dance
The 7th & 8th grade Dance on Friday, October 26th at 7:00-9:00pm in the Blake Cafeteria. The dance is $5.00 to enter. All students must have turned in a signed Dance Contract by Friday 10/26/12. Extra Contracts can be found on the Student Council Website and in the main office at Blake. Guest contracts are also available on the Student Council website and in the Blake office. Students must arrive by 7:00 and be picked up at 9:00, unless arrangements are made in advance with Ms. Dengos or Mrs. Campbell.
Costume Day
Student Council would like to invite Blake Staff & students to join in showing your Blake spirit for "Costume Day" on Wednesday, October 31st. Participation is not mandatory, but encouraged! Rules for the spirit day are NO masks, NO full face paint, & NO weapons (real or fake) of any kind. Prizes for the best costumes!
Visitors from Bengbu
More information will be coming soon, but I want everyone to be aware that Medfield will be hosting eight students and three teachers from Bengbu from 11/1-11/21. Four students will be at the high school and four will be here at Blake. The itinerary and agenda is still being determined, but there will be different activities during their stay.
Veterans Day
More information will be coming in the next few weeks, but we will be taking the week of 11/5-11/9 in advisory to recognize and honor Veterans Day with our students. The culmination of this work will be the dedication ceremony for the Vietnam Memorial on Friday, 11/9.
Health Information from the Nurse's Office
Medications from the 7th grade Nature's Classroom trip should be picked up in the main office by parents within the next two weeks. Medications not picked up by Friday, October 26 will be disposed of in an appropriate manner.
Private School Applications
Students who plan on applying to private school need to contact their guidance counselor by no later than November 30th. For more information, please call the guidance office or visit the guidance website: http://blakeguidancepage.weebly.com/index.html.
iPad Pilot Information on Website
A new tab on the Blake Middle School website has been established with information about the iPad pilot. Please click on this link (iPad Pilot) if you are interested in learning some information about the pilot. We will be adding more information throughout the year and I will be highlighting the components as they are developed.
Medfield Food Cupboard Drive for 6th Grade
Attention 6th grade families: October is the 6th grades' month to support the Medfield Food Cupboard. The most needed items this month are:
- Juice - both bottles and boxes
- Kid friendly cereal - not cheerios or corn flakes
- jelly - but not grape, please
- pasta sauce
- canned chicken
- macaroni and cheese
Nashoba Valley Ski/Snowboard Club
SAVE THE DATES: The Nashoba Valley Ski/Snowboard club will be running again for six consecutive Thursdays (January 3rd - February 7th) this year. Paperwork to sign-up will be available near the end of October. Students participating will be expected to attend a mandatory meeting on January 2nd from 2:15 -2:45. If a student is renting, staff from Nashoba Vally Ski Area will be available to fit your student on December 15th from 2:15-2:45. Please email Eileen Hurley at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.
Cross Country
The Blake Cross Country Team finished its season last week with a strong win over Weston. Liam McNulty crossed the finish line in 1st~ ~place in 5 out of 8 meets and the lightning fast Breanna Morgan placed 1st in 6 out of 8 meets. Annie Phipps and Dan Whelan also were impressive with 2nd and 3rd place finishes. Madelyn Long and Kathleen Lanzilla also placed in the top five for the team. The season closed with an amazing 5-3 record for the girls and a 4-4 record for the boys. Congratulations, Cross County!
Volleyball
The Blake Volleyball team heads in to their last full week of volleyball practice and games as they face Hopkinton away (Thursday 10/25). The girl's final game will be next Monday (10/29) at Holliston. These last few games will be a great opportunity to put their skills to the test! Go Warriors!
MCPE News
MCPE is celebrating 25 years! Check out our flyer in the Thursday packet for more information about what is happening this year to mark this very special anniversary.
CSA News
Week 5 of the 8th Grade Trip Promotion! – 34 families have earned an average of $80 in trip credits. Increase your trip credit by asking family and co-workers to purchase gift cards. Everyone buys groceries, pharmacy, coffee, and fast food not to mention holiday gifts. You’re asking them to use a gift card for something they already need which is different from asking for a donation. Make sure you list your child’s name on the trip order form so we credit the correct account. Check the full list of nation-wide merchants at http://www.glscrip.com/Shop/Default.aspx.
Special Trip Order forms and checks are due by Thursday, 2:10 pm in the Blake OFFICE or 6 pm at Lord's (Scrip box on the front counter). Order forms can be found on the Blake website under Washington trip, at the Blake office or at Lord's. Any questions contact Helen Dewey [email protected] or Cathy Chung [email protected].
Tuesday, October 23rd is Subway Night!!!! Scrip will be for sale at Subway night Tuesday from 5:30-7pm. Bring your checkbook or email [email protected] and pick up your scrip conveniently near Blake.