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 6 - Grade 8 Field Trip to Salem
Student/Staff Mock Election
November 7 - Superintendent's Advisory Council
6th Grade Parent Coffee (9:30 a.m.) - see details below
November 8 - Student Council Mtg at 2:15 p.m.
November 9 - Veterans Day Assembly for Students
November 13 - Royal Pizza Night for Blake
November 15 - Magazine Drive Wheel Spin
Student Council Mtg at 2:15 p.m.
November 16 - Picture Retake Day
CSA Mtg (9:30 a.m. in Blake LMC)
Grade 8 Higgins Armory Presentations
November 19 - MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey Administration (Grades 6-8)
November 20 - SEPAC Mtg (7:00 p.m. at Memorial School)
November 21 - No School
November 22 - Happy Thanksgiving!
November 23 - No School
November 27 - Subway Night for Blake
November 29 - Student Council Mtg at 2:15 p.m.
December 3-7 - Scholastic Book Fair
December 3 - Blake Site Council (3:15 p.m. in Blake LMC)
December 4 - Grades 6-8 Band Winter Concert
December 5 - Spaghetti with Santa
December 7 - 7th/8th Grade Dance (7-9 p.m. in Blake Cafeteria)
December 11 - Royal Pizza Night for Blake
December 12 - Blake Ski & Snowboard Club Rental Fittings
December 13 - Grades 7-8 Chorus/Orchestra Concert
December 19 - CSA Mtg (7:30 p.m. in Blake LMC)
December 20 - Grade 7 to A Christmas Carol
2012-2013 Yearbook
The 2012-2013 Yearbook goes on sale this week. Orders will be taken until November 15. The book costs $30, with checks payable to the Blake Middle School. Orders are being collected in Advisory. Order now to ensure that you will receive a book in June. Please contact Mrs. Boulos ([email protected]) with any questions.
Staff and Student Mock Elections
In the final week of election season, we will be taking time in Advisory to preview the upcoming election with the students. We encourage families to engage in these conversations with students at home. On Tuesday, November 6 we will be holding a 'mock' student and staff election at Blake.
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].
MCAS Information Session
We were pleased with the turnout at our MCAS Information Session last Wednesday. We are looking at dates and times to set up a similar session to be held at night for parents/guardians. More information will be coming.
School Absences
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. Absence from school for vacation purposes is discouraged. However, we are aware that some parents make the decision to take their student out of school based on specific circumstances that may allow for the family to be together or for the student to gain a different educational experience. We strongly request that student vacations or family obligations be scheduled within the framework of the school calendar. When parents/guardians do remove students from school, we request that two weeks notice is provided to the administration so that teachers can be notified. Should parents keep a child out of school for vacation purposes, they are assuming the responsibility for their child to make up the work. It should be recognized that teachers can not realistically provide work to take the place of instruction missed during planned absences. Since assignments are based on material that has been previously taught, work can not in most cases be identified until after the child returns Academic and special education teachers will not provide make-up instruction or tutorials.
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 there will be a prize for the winning advisory!
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
Medfield is 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.
Blake Magazine Drive
The magazine drive ends Friday, November 2nd. Eighth graders will see 30% of their sales go toward their Washington D.C. trip in the Spring.
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.
Nashoba Valley Ski/Snowboard Club
Nashoba Valley Ski Area offers a winter ski and snowboard program. This will be Blake Middle Schoolís third year participating in this program. It is a great opportunity to sharpen skills for skiers and snowboarders while enjoying fresh air. The program begins our first week back from break, January 3rd and runs for 6 consecutive Thursdays, until February 7th. The bus will leave Blake at 2:15 p.m. We will plan to arrive at the mountain by 3:45 p.m. to give students time to get their rentals and equipment on. We will leave the mountain at 7:00pm, arriving at Blake around 7:50-8:00 p.m. For those interested in ski and snowboard lessons, they will begin at 4:00 p.m. All paper work for this program is located on the Forms and Documents tab of this blog. Please email Eileen Hurley at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.
MCPE News
MCPE's community wide campaign kicks off on November 1st. Look in your mailbox at the end of the week for your opportunity to support continued enrichment programs at Blake or visit www.medfieldcoalition.org for more information on our 25th anniversary appeal.
CSA News
Final 8th Grade Trip DEADLINE THURSDAY NOV 1st. Please bring orders directly to the Blake OFFICE (DO NOT send them through the teacher) by 2:10 Thursday or at Lord's by 6pm.