November 21 - No School
November 22 - Happy Thanksgiving!
November 23 - No School
November 27 - MCAS Presentation/Discussion (7 p.m.) - see details below
Subway Night for Blake
November 29 - Student Council Mtg at 2:15 p.m.
Internet Safety Presentation for all Blake Parents/Guardians (7 p.m.)
December 3-7 - Scholastic Book Fair
December 3 - Blake Site Council (3:15 p.m. in Blake LMC)
December 4-11 - Book Drive for Cradles to Crayons - see details below
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 12-January 11 - Coats for Kids Drive - see details below
December 13 - Grades 7-8 Chorus/Orchestra Concert
December 14 - CSA Mtg (9:30 a.m. in Blake LMC)
December 20 - Grade 7 to A Christmas Carol
December 24-January 1 - Holiday Vacation
MCAS Information Session for Parents/Guardians - Night Meeting
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 Tuesday, November 27 at 7 p.m. at Blake. 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.
Internet Safety Night for Parents/Guardians
We will be having an Internet Safety night for all Blake parents on Thursday, November 29 (see flyer on Forms and Documents tab of this blog). As a follow-up to the cybersafety parent information night on Thursday, November 29th, the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council will be presenting grade level assemblies for all Blake students around the important topic of Cybersafety on Friday, November 30th during the school day. The goal is to raise student awareness about online safety issues, including essential tools to reduce safety risks to middle school children while engaging in activities on the Internet. Our hope is that this will continue our parent outreach as well as inform students in a thoughtful manner, prior to the holidays.
Having Fun with Pyramids and Pharaohs
Seventh grade students were treated to a special presentation entitled "Having Fun with Pyramids and Pharaohs" by Egyptologist, Paulette Morin. The interactive program was designed specifically for middle school students to enrich the seventh grade curriculum unit on Ancient Egypt. Students learned about the gods, pharaohs, the process of mummification, and viewed replicas of many artifacts on display. In addition, students were able to model Egyptian Jewelry and dance to Egyptian music. Thank you to the CSA for their funding of this wonderful presentation.
Higgins Armory Presentation
On Friday, November 16th the 8th grade enjoyed a presentation from the Higgins armory museum in the auditorium. The presentation offered students an opportunity to interact with samples of the armory's extensive collection of Medieval armor. The Higgins armory in Worcester has one of the largest collections of armor in North America and the museum presenter, Neal Borbeau, interacted with a number of student volunteers during demonstrations. The 8th grade Social Studies teachers would like to thank CSA for their continued support of this engaging educational opportunity for our students.
Book Drive for Cradles to Crayons
From December 4th to 11th seventh grade students will be collecting children's books to donate to Cradles to Crayons and later in the winter they will be organizing a pajama and clothing drive. Cradles to Crayons provides clothing, books and school supplies to low income children in Boston from birth to age 12.
Coats for Kids
SIPS is running its annual coat drive sponsored by Anton's Cleaners. Over the past 8 years, SIPS has collected nearly 800 coats which have helped needy families across neighborhoods of Massachusetts. Parents and students are encouraged to donate "gently used" coats from Wednesday, 12/12 until Friday, 1/11. A donation box will be located at the main entrance of the school. Thank you in advance.
Winter Dance Information from Student Council
The next dance for 7th and 8th grade students is Friday, December 7 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. The cost to enter is $5.00. Attire for this dance is 'dressy optional' - we recognize that some students do desire to dress up for this dance, but this is NOT a requirement and the dance is NOT a semi-formal. For ALL of our dances, students are expected to abide by the guidelines of decency, cleanliness, and safety at all times. We recognize that the dance is a social event outside of the classroom, and as such, rules for attire are more flexible than during the school day. Strapless dresses or spaghetti straps will be permitted with appropriate undergarments and adequate coverage. If, however, a student's clothing is deemed inappropriate, the students' parents/guardians will be contacted. The use of mobile phones is prohibited, except in the designated 'Cell-Phone Use' zone. If a student has not yet turned in a dance contract for the 2012/2013 academic year, he/she should see Ms. Dengos or Ms. Hurley before Friday, December 7th.
We at Blake also recognize that the December 7th dance coincides with Medfield's Midnight Madness. As always, families should plan accordingly to pick students up at 9:00 p.m. The school encourages that students are greeted by adults, rather than walk uptown unsupervised at night.
Lip Sync Contest
The 14th Annual Blake Lip Sync will take place on January 25 and 26th. The Lip Sync is a great Blake tradition that allows all students the opportunity to put together a dance routine and lip sync to their favorite (school appropriate) song. Any interested performers MUST attend a pre meeting on November 15th at 2:15. Other important dates include...
November 28th-All song lyrics must be handed into Mrs. Dondero in the guidance office
December 5th - Meeting to go over songs from 2:15-3
January 4th- Final music must be submitted on a CD to Mrs. Dondero in the guidance office. Late music will not be accepted. Music must be on a CD not a flash drive or MP3 player/ipod.
January 16th and 17th- Dress Rehearsal from approximately 215-530
January 25th and 26th- Performances
Students MUST be available for both nights of the dress rehearsal and performance. Please contact Jen Dondero at [email protected] with any questions.
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
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 (http://www.medfield.net/blake/overview.html)
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.
Nashoba Valley Ski/Snowboard Club
Nashoba Valley Ski Area offers a winter ski and snowboard program. This will be Blake Middle School's 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 25th anniversary appeal is underway! You may have noticed the blue bows popping up around town. A blue bow attached to a mailbox is a show of support and represents a donation to the appeal. To donate or for more information about how you can support continued enrichment programs at Blake please visit www.medfield.coalition.org.
CSA News
Meadow Farms Orders - Pick Up and Prize Information
The remaining orders are located in the back left corner of the Library on top of the book shelves. The orders are alphabetical by student's last name. If you placed an online order, the gifts your child earned can be picked up in the school office. If you have any questions or problems with your order, please contact Kim Lipsy at [email protected] or 508 359 2349. The winners of the raffle will be announced next week. Thank you all for your support throughout this fundraiser - your generosity is greatly appreciated.
Subway Night is next Tuesday, November 27th.
The Blake CSA wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving!!