11/3 - Blake Student Council Meeting
11/8 - Blake Battles Bias Meeting
SEL Task Force Meeting (3:30 p.m.)
11/10 - MWAHS Administration (see details below)
Blake Student Council Meeting
11/11- Veterans Day (No School)
11/16 - Half-Day for Students
Professional Afternoon for Staff
11/17 - Blake Student Council Meeting
11/18 - School Committee Meeting
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
Question of the Week
To encourage dialogue and reflection about shifting our ‘ways of doing things’ and embracing an imaginative spirit through questions, our question for the week is: What problem(s) do you want to solve? Why? Shifting Our Thinking (Week of 10/31/21) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
Blake Battles Bias Update
Blake Battles Bias will meet next on Monday November 8th at 2:15 in Ms. Thress' room, Room 505. All interested 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are welcome.
Blake Theater Update
Blake Theater's production of Disney's The Descendants will take place November 19th (7pm), 20th (1pm and 7pm), and 21st (1pm). Ticket information coming soon.
MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey Info - 11/10/21
To make sure we are delivering the best possible education and services to students in Medfield, we want to learn about their attitudes and behaviors with regard to a variety of health issues. In order to accomplish this, students attending Blake Middle School are being asked to participate in a survey called the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey. Blake Middle School has been participating in this survey since 2006. The questions on the survey cover many topics including alcohol, tobacco and other drug use; violence and safety; nutrition and physical activity; online behaviors; and mental health. This project will help our district develop and enhance its health education and prevention programs. We will be giving this online survey to students in grades 6-8 during our Advisory block on November 10, 2021.
The survey is anonymous - your student will not be asked to provide their name and no one will know how they respond. There will be no identifying information collected on the survey, and there will be no way to link your child’s responses to their identity.
Completing this survey is voluntary, and has no connection to your student's grades. Your student can also decide to not take the survey, or may skip any question they do not wish to answer.
The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment is a Federal Law that requires us to notify you ahead of time about the survey and give you an opportunity to look at it if you so choose. If you would like to see the survey before it is administered, a copy will be available in the main office from November 3 through November 9th. Please email me to set up an appointment as drop-ins cannot be accomodated.
If you DO NOT want your student to take part in the survey, please email me by Tuesday, November 9th. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mary Fitzgerald at 508-359-2396.
Sincerely,
Mary Fitzgerald
Wellness Department Chair K-12
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
Education Now | Mental Health and Wellness at College Today
Wednesday, 11/3 at 3:00 p.m.
This episode will focus on higher education and the mental health and wellness challenges that colleges are facing — and what student support should look like now, as pandemic impacts continue.
Colleges and universities are facing a crisis in mental health today — with nearly 40 percent of college students experiencing depression, according to a 2020 study, 34 percent reporting anxiety, and 13 percent saying they had thought seriously about suicide in the last year. The pandemic exacerbated the crisis, but there are other factors driving the surge.
Join us as we talk with two experienced mental health leaders from large university campuses. We'll ask what they're seeing this year, what colleges are doing to manage the surge in demand for services, and what innovations they've embraced to meet students where they are. We'll explore what campuses can do to create environments that prioritize and sustain health and wellness — and how can they assemble the resources, staff, and administrative structure needed to make it happen.
Host: Francesca Purcell, Senior Lecturer on Education and Faculty Director, Higher Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Speakers:
- Ernesto Escoto, Director and Clinical Associate Professor, Counseling and Wellness Center, University of Florida (UF)
- Nicole Green, Ed.M.'99, Executive Director, Counselin
Nothing About Us Without Us: The Disability Rights Movement
Wednesday, 11/3 at 7:00 p.m.
Hosted by Spark Kindness
For high school students and educators, parents/caregivers and community members
Celebrated activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins will discuss the extraordinary efforts that led to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and her role in that history-making event. We invite educators, students, and community members to learn this important history of disability rights and how to be more involved.
ASL interpretation will be provided at this event.
About our Presenter
Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins is a passionate advocate and activist for disability rights.
She joined the disability rights movement at age six and at age eight she participated in the famous "Capitol Crawl" protest to support the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act. In 1990, she received the Americans With Disabilities Act Award from The Task Force on the Rights and Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities. Jennifer received her GED in 2002 and an Associate of Arts Degree in 2008 both from Arapahoe Community College before earning a B.S. in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University in 2017.
Today she’s an educator and a motivational speaker; and together with her new illustrated biography “All the Way to the Top: How one girl’s fight for Americans with disabilities changed everything," she does educational speaking presentations to teach children the importance of the ADA, the Capitol Crawl, and the disability rights movement in American history with a emphasis on education, advocacy, and empowerment. Jennifer is the subject of an art sculpture commemorating the 30th anniversary of the ADA, “All the Way to Freedom” by local artist Gina Klawitter that is currently on display at the Colorado History Center. Jennifer is the brand ambassador for Mobility of Denver and Vantage Mobility International. She is also owner of Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins LLC.
You can learn more at https://jkclegacy.com/ and can follow Jennifer on Twitter @JKClegacy and on Instagram @JKClegacy.
New Research from the Teaching Systems Lab on Equity-Based Simulations
Thursday, 11/4 at 2:30 p.m.
In a recently published study in AERA Open, researchers from the MIT Teaching Systems Lab studied how participants in the Becoming a More Equitable Educator online courses engaged with simulations about equity. The team analyzed over 13,000 simulation text responses using machine learning techniques to identify patterns within participants’ responses.
Join Justin Reich and the research team, Joshua Littenberg-Tobias and Elizabeth Borneman, for a conversation about the findings of the new paper, with implications for equity-based simulation research. This event is free and open to the public.
How to Have Difficult Conversations (with Kindness)
Tuesday, 11/16 at 7:00 p.m.
Hosted by Spark Kindness
For parents, caregivers, educators and community members of all ages
Though conflict is part of life, many of us struggle with how to communicate during challenging situations. In this program, Roxy Manning, PhD, psychologist and expert in Nonviolent Communication, will offer strategies to address conflict (and stand up for ourselves and others) with a compassionate approach.
ASL interpretation will be provided at this event.
About our Presenter
Roxy Manning’s life experience as an Afro-Caribbean immigrant to the US combined with her academic training and professional work as a licensed clinical psychologist and CNVC Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication have cultivated a deep passion in her for work that supports social change at the personal, interpersonal, and systemic levels. She is a collaborative Trainer with BayNVC, a Lead Consultant with the Center for Efficient Collaboration, and a member of the Educational Services Team with CNVC.
Roxy is delighted whenever she is helping opposing voices hear each other and see past individual hurt and struggles to the structures that contribute to those challenges. Visit roxannemanning.com to read Roxy’s articles or view several brief videos of her teaching.
Education Now | Early Education Challenges — and Innovations
Wednesday, 11/17 at 3:00 p.m.
The early learning landscape continues to shift under the weight of pandemic impacts. We’ll take a look at where things stand, where we’re headed, and how we can help our little ones adjust to constant change.
Host: Junlei Li, Saul Zaentz Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education and Co-Chair, Human Development and Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Speakers include:
Stephanie Jones, Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development, Harvard Graduate School of Education
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.