11/18 - School Committee Meeting
11/19-11/21
11/23 - Blake Site Council Mtg (3:30 p.m.)
11/24 - Half-Day for Students and Staff
11/25 - Happy Thanksgiving!
11/26 - No School
12/6 - Samaritans Presentation
12/7 - Blake Winter Band Concert
12/9 - School Committee Meeting
12/13 - Term 1 Report Cards go Home
Blake Winter Chorus Concert
12/16 - Blake Winter Orchestra Concert
12/20 - DEI Task Force Meeting
12/23 - Half-Day for Students and Staff
12/24-1/2 - School Vacation
Blake’s Question of the Week
To encourage dialogue and reflection about the ways that we can learn by rethinking and challenging our beliefs and assumptions, our question for the week is: What is something (an idea, understanding, or practice) that you are currently rethinking and trying to better understand? Checking Our Beliefs, Assumptions, and Understandings (Week of 11/14/21) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
The Descendants - this weekend!
You've seen the movie. You know the songs. Come see Mal and her friends as they head to Auradon Prep as Blake Theater returns to the auditorium this year with 4 performances of Disney's The Descendants. Tickets are $15 (plus service fee) for adults and $10 (plus service fee) for students or Medfield Public Schools staff. To adhere to proper safety protocols, we are selling tickets for half of the auditorium's capacity, and there will be at least one empty seat on each side of your party. In addition, all theater attendees MUST wear a mask.
The performances are Friday, 11/19 @ 7pm, Saturday, 11/20 @ 1pm and 7pm, and Sunday, 11/21 @ 1pm. To purchase tickets, please go to Brown Paper Tickets. Buy your tickets now as they are not likely to be available at the door.
Student Council - Pig Races are Back!
Student Council at Blake is bringing... PIG RACES BACK!!!! (mechanical pigs...that is) - Here are the details:
1) Advisories can earn a pig from student council if 50% of advisory students do community service/acts of kindness
2) Adults must sign off on THIS certificate to confirm student acts of service
3) Acts of service/kindness can be school or community based
4) Kids have until the Day before the assembly 11/24 to earn the pig
5) Pigs will race at the Thanksgiving assembly 11/24
The goal is to spread kindness and service to others, and have a little fun along the way!
8th Grade Turkey Bowl Information
Who: Teams of any four students from Grade 8.
What: A one-hand touch, single elimination 4v4 football tournament. The event is meant to be inclusive, active and a showcase of the skills and rules students have been asked to demonstrate in class the past several weeks.
When: Wednesday (11/24/19) 7:45-9:10 AM.
Where: High School turf. On the morning of the tournament there will be an announcement for students participating in the Turkey Bowl to report to the gym following announcements and attendance.
GOOGLE FORM: SIGN-UP
Extra Details:
- Sign ups are ongoing through the attached Google Form. All entries must be submitted by Tuesday November 23 at 2:30PM. Our Google Form will have an option for students unable to field an entire team of 4 to submit their interest so that we may assist them in the process.
- Wearing the same team colors or a fun uniform is encouraged, though not required. Dress appropriately for the weather.
- Participants are encouraged to bring in at least one non-perishable food item (canned or boxed) and place it in the donation box by the PE office. The Medfield Food Cupboard has expressed a need for the following items: Juice, applesauce, soups, tuna, hot cereal, rice, jelly.
Coats for Kids Drive
At Blake we are collecting winter coats for those in need. The coat drive is called “Coats for Kids”, but coats for all ages are more than welcomed. The collection box will be located in the Blake front lobby. Please ask your parents if you have any coats that your family no longer needs that can be donated. The collection will run up until winter vacation. Thank you for supporting this great cause!
Blake Battles Bias
Blake Battles Bias will next meet on Monday, November 22nd in Ms. Thress' room. All 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are welcome!
Interdisciplinary AI Project Mentorship Opportunity (Beginner-Friendly) by MIT Graduates
Inspirit AI is a 25-hour enrichment program that introduces middle and high school students to fundamental artificial intelligence concepts in order to work through socially impactful projects in areas including art, healthcare, education, and more. Developed and taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford and MIT, students receive a personalized, interdisciplinary learning experience with a student-instructor ratio of 5:1, and custom curriculum appropriate for complete beginners to more advanced students. Applications for our Winter 2021 programs are now open and due November 20th. For our high school program, you can find more course information here and our HS application here. For our middle school programs, you can find our flyer here and our MS application here. Please contact Program Manager, Aidan Goltra at [email protected] or call our team at +1 (240) 226-1366 with any questions. Thank you!
Private School Applications
If your child is applying to private school, please notify your child's guidance counselor by Tuesday, November 30th. This will give us an appropriate amount of time to complete any recommendation forms and enusre we meet all of the application deadlines. For more information, please visit the Guidance Website.
New Student Club Offering!!
Recently your student viewed the Say Something program in advisory. The program teaches middle and high school students to recognize the warning signs of someone at-risk of hurting themselves or others and how to say something to a trusted adult to get help.
A student club is being offered, at the middle and high school levels, to allow for ongoing discussion with students about building and nurturing inclusive welcoming environments for all. Part of the club will include opportunities to learn about being empathic, increasing social skills, how to identify problems and how to engage in responsible decision making.
Advisors for this club include Medfield Outreach mental health clinicians, Kathy McDonald, M.Ed, MSW, LICSW and Chelsea Goldstein-Walsh, LICSW as well as Medfield’s Substance Use Prevention Coordinator, Meri Haas.
If you think your student may be interested in joining, please have them fill out this google form. Parents/guardians will be asked to sign a permission form if their child expresses interest.
Feedback and Reporting Update
This year the Blake faculty is continuing and expanding our work and efforts to provide effective methods of formal and informal feedback for students. The purpose of reporting on academic progress is to provide feedback on a student’s progress and to help direct future efforts. Effective feedback to students during the learning process is essential to a healthy and productive learning experience. Formal grade reports are issued at the end of each trimester. In lieu of traditional grades, students at Blake receive feedback in the form of Standards Based Reporting (SBR).**
Students will receive feedback in two major areas: (1) Content Standards and (2) Learning Skills. The Content Standards feedback provides information on the student's progress on meeting content area curriculum standards addressed by each department. Learning Skills feedback gives information on the student's progress on acquiring skills important for life-long learning that we strive to foster and help develop in our students. SBR has enabled us to provide:
- more descriptive and actionable feedback to students and families
- more meaningful and personalized grading practices
- greater calibration of expectations and assessment practices between teachers
** In the spring of 2021, the Director of Instruction and Innovation shared an 'Analysis of Standards-Based Reporting Assessment Practices' at Blake Middle School. The report made several recommendations, including some adaptations to the system for grades 7 and 8. A cross-discipline/grade level team was established to explore and collect potential strategies and models to bring to the greater Blake staff and community for the fall of 2021. The research team was tasked with exploring, researching, and brainstorming various methods to address the recommendations within the report. This will help to lay the foundation to guide and structure the work going forward. Updates to our system of reporting will be shared with families throughout the 2021-2022 school year. Our overarching goal remains to continue steadfast efforts to provide meaningful, actionable, learner-centered feedback for all of our learners.
Blake Affinity Groups
The purpose of an affinity group is to provide a forum of support for students who may feel a disconnection relative to identity to their larger school community. Such disconnections to identity may include, but not be limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, ability, and sexual orientation. An affinity group’s goal is to play a vital role in ensuring an inclusive environment where all are valued, included, and empowered to succeed.
An affinity group is open to students across every grade level. It is arranged for students in an affinity group to meet at least once a month during a mutually agreed upon time and the meetings are supervised by at least one staff member at Blake.
As the need for an affinity group may stem from a lack of or weaker connection to the larger Medfield community, efforts will be made to strengthen connections to the community. To this end, members of the community are welcome and at times will be invited to attend affinity group meetings.
For more information about starting or joining an affinity group at Blake, please contact Matt Marenghi, Guidance Counselor: [email protected] or 508-359-2445.
The MHS Theatre Society is hard at work preparing to perform A Wrinkle in Time on November 19-20. The play follows the story of a teenage girl named Meg Murry. In this staged retelling of Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved young adult novel, A Wrinkle in Time, Meg embarks on an extraordinary adventure through time and space. Along with her younger brother Charles Wallace, their friend Calvin, and the guidance of various mysterious celestial beings, Meg attempts to locate her father and, perhaps, to save the world from a force of darkness beyond recognition.
Below please find links to letters from the cluster teachers with mid-term messages along with the information about Term 1's Family Outreach Period. I am also re-sharing a link to Blake's 'Info Night' videos from the teachers...
2021-22 Blake Middle School PIN
If you have any questions about your student's progress, please contact their guidance counselor or teachers directly.
Grade 6 - Fall Family Outreach (Middle of Term 1)
Grade 7 - Fall Family Outreach (Middle of Term 1)
Grade 8 - Fall Family Outreach (Middle of Term 1)
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 Public Schools - Employment Opportunities and look under ‘Substitute Teaching’. Please contact Kelly Campbell at [email protected] with any questions.
Medfield Outreach
Medfield Outreach is available for consultation appointments. E-mail [email protected] to sign up for a free confidential specific time slot via telehealth.
Webinars of Interest
The Secret Lives of Teens and Tweens.
Tuesday, 11/30 and Tuesday, 12/7 at 7:00 p.m.
Presented by Natick's 180 coalition. Join Counselor Jon Mattleman for a fun and dynamic virtual program about what teens and tweens are really thinking, what they fear, why they do not share more, and how adults can effectively support them, especially during COVID-19. This presentation covers depression and anxiety, social media and technology, suicide, "acting out" behaviors, drug and alcohol use, and more. Participants will learn strategies they can implement now (Who has time to wait?!), including new ways of understanding teen/tween behavior, innovative techniques for engaging them, and specific language to better elicit productive conversations.
This 2-part series is for parents, caregivers, and community members caring for teens and tweens. Each session will be 60 minutes and a replay will be available to all registrants for four days after the webinar.
When you register (click below) you will be automatically registered for both sessions. The link to access each session will be sent via email and will be the same for both evenings.
From Burnout to Thriving with Sheryl Ziegler, Psy.D.
Thursday, 12/9 at 7:00 p.m.
Hosted by Spark Kindness
Do you feel tired and overwhelmed? Have you continually put off the things you need to do for yourself? This program is designed for parents, caregivers, and educators, who have been pandemic heroes (often at their own expense). Therapist and author Sheryl Ziegler, Psy.D., will offer practical, empowering, and proven solutions to promote self care and thriving.
MCPE - Update and Thank You!
Thanks to you, Fall Fest was a great success! We appreciate your support of our schools!
Next up, join MCPE for a virtual wreath making class just in time for winter. Tuesday, December 7th at 8:00 PM
MCPE has partnered with Pistil Floral Design, a local business owned and operated by Medfield mom Allyson Hart, to bring this private fundraising workshop to your home just in time for winter! Visit www.medfieldcoalition.org for details and to sign up for this exclusive virtual class. Tickets are $65 and we are limited to 100 tickets so sign up now.
Spirit Store Info - Blake PTO
Medfield K-8 PTO Announces A Year-Round MEDFIELD SPIRIT WEAR STORE! Thanks to local business Day St Sports, we have answered the question – where can I find Medfield Spirit Wear? Over 100 options currently listed, all proceeds will be donated to the individual school K-8 PTOs. Shipping takes about 3 weeks, so please plan ahead for the holiday season. Medfield Spirit Wear
Link (Hyperlink to https://ts020252.prospherefanshop.com/)
Medfield Music Association’s Annual Wreath & Amaryllis Sale
Order your winter décor and holiday hostess gifts and support the Medfield Music Program!
20” Mixed Greens Wreath - The noble fir wreath features incense cedar, juniper, and ponderosa cone accents. Made in Oregon, this high-quality wreath is known for excellent needle retention. The cost is $30 each.
Amaryllis Bulb Kit - The amaryllis flowers will bloom in one of six assorted colors – maroon, red, red/white, white, pink, or pink/white. Unfortunately, we are not able to control which color you get--so part of the fun will be waiting to see what appears! The cost is $15 each.
• Please place all orders online at: https://www.medfieldmusicassociation.com/shop
• Wreaths & bulb kits will be delivered to your home in Medfield the Saturday following Thanksgiving (Nov. 27, 2021).
Proceeds from our wreath and bulb sales will help the MMA support the Music Department’s needs across all five schools.