January 21 - Subway Night for Blake
January 23 - Ski Club
January 24 - Blake Lip Sync Performances
January 30 - Ski Club
February 3 - Blake Site Council Mtg (3:15 p.m. in Blake LMC)
February 5 - Tri-County Interviews
February 7 - Teacher Professional Day (No School for Students)
February 11 - Royal Pizza Night for Blake
February 14 - Happy Valentine's Day
February 17-21 - Winter Vacation
February 18 - Subway Night for Blake
February 24 - School Resumes
February 26 - Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night (7 p.m.)
Topic/Question(s) for the Dinner Table
To help encourage conversations about the influence of school culture, our Topic/Questions for the Dinner Table this week is: The culture of the school benefits when the culture of the classroom does not stop at finding the answer, but continues on by asking "what is the next question".
Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend - No Homework Weekend for Blake
Thank you to all of the staff for their support and help in making our 'No Homework Weekend' for Blake this past weekend a reality. This effort was part of our continued work to provide down time for students, staff, and families.
MLK, Jr. Day of Service
Thank you to Cynthia McClelland for spearheading and organizing the 'Day of Service' at Blake. It was a wonderful scene at Blake Monday morning, as student and staff volunteers worked together, and we are thrilled that has become a tradition for our community.
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
As noted throughout the year, one of the goals for our students is to continually gain an understanding of the true meaning of perseverance. In addition to our 'Day of Service' on Monday, our students and staff took time over the last week to reflect upon the impact and efforts of Martin Luther King, Jr. Below please find a description of the efforts that took place. I encourage you to talk with your students about the discussions.
6th Grade: The sixth grade discussed Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Students shared their prior knowledge of the happenings during the 1960's. They also viewed a clip from the History Channel on King's March on Washington and watched a video link of "Pride in the Name of Love"as performed by U2 and discussed their reactions to the clip. In addition, the sixth graders discussed a quotation from MLK and viewed his "I have a dream" speech, which lead to discussions about Monday's 'Day On, not Off' service project.
7th Grade: In the seventh grade, students viewed two brief video presentations about Dr. King. Some background information about his life was also discussed. Several of Dr, King's quotes about service, courage, and perseverance were also shared and discussed. Several of the civil rights achievements during Dr. King's life were also highlighted in English classes in preparation for reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
8th Grade: Throughout the school day - Wednesday, January 22, eighth grade teachers will present audio excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.'s.'s August 28, 1963 "I Have A Dream" speech. Students will take time after hearing each excerpt to share their thoughts upon reflection; these reflections will be posted for others to view. If you would like to see the format in which the teachers will present the audios, with a brief introduction to each audio excerpt included, go to this link: http://hellerstory.weebly.com/mlk-speech.html
Second Annual Boxtops for education drive! Tuesday, January 21- Wednesday, February 26
Please have your child hand in boxtops to his/her advisor or label with advisor's name and put in the collection box located in the main office. The top advisory will be eligible for a special advisory activity such as open gym or extra outdoor recess!
Sign up on the Boxtops 4 Education Link and you can get printable coupons on certain box top products. You can earn box tops at over 400 online stores by choosing a store, clicking on its logo and ordering as you usually would but box tops will be credited to the school account with every qualified purchase. Please see Forms and Documents tab for participating providers.
School Survey
The Blake Site Council this year has taken time to review the data collected from last year's survey and an Executive Summary will be distributed to families in the coming week. Focus areas on the survey centered on the topics of school culture, academic workloads, stress, and habits. Our intent is to distribute the 2013-2014 survey in early February in the hopes of gathering the data by February vacation.
Term 2 Interim Reports
Next Friday students will be bringing home their interim reports for the second term. They will be spending time in their advisories reflecting upon the work they have accomplished thus far, and setting healthy/measured goals for the second half of the term. Our hope is that this communication tool will give you an update on the progress your child is making in school. 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.
Parent Information Nights - Mark Your Calendars!
The planning for the 2014-2015 school year has already begun, and our parent information nights have been scheduled. The nights are scheduled as follows...
2/26 - Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night at 7 p.m.
3/6 - Incoming 8th Grade Parent Night at 7 p.m.
3/13 - Incoming 7th Grade Parent Night at 7 p.m.
More details will be shared in the coming weeks.
Tilden Village - 8th Grade
With the anticipated weather for this afternoon and evening, we are going to 'play it safe' and postpone the Tilden Village dinner until a date to be determined. Once the date is rescheduled, we will be sure to let you know. We apologize for any inconvenience this change in plans may cause. Thank you for your understanding.
Photos for Yearbook - 8th Grade!
8th Graders!! We are collecting childhood or baby pictures for a special section in the Yearbook. Write your name on the back of the photo and hand it in to your Advisory teacher by Friday, January 31st. Remember that we DO NOT return the pictures.
Food Drive - 8th Grade
8th Grade is responsible to help replenish the Medfield Food Cupboard with donations for the month of January. Items in need include: Cookies, Applesauce Cups, Raisins, and Juice (Boxed and Canned).
Curriculum Highlights - English and Music
This week's curriculum updates come from the English (Gail Duffy, Content Specialist) and music (Doug Olsen, Content Specialist) departments...
English
Grade 6:
The sixth grade is just finishing up a grammar unit on verbs! We've learned about mental action verbs, jumped into physical action verbs, meditated on linking verbs, searched for verb phrases and are creating verb based poetry. Our next unit is a historical fiction unit based on the book, Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson.
Grade 7:
Before the break, students in the seventh grade thoroughly enjoyed seeing a performance of A Christmas Carol at the North Shore Music Theater. As they do every year, the actors did a wonderful job of bringing Charles Dickens words to life for our students.
Currently in the seventh grade, students are working on their second multi-paragraph essay of the school year. We have shifted to writing persuasively about a piece of technology that students find has either a positive or negative effect on their daily lives. After we complete the essay, we will begin reading our next novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Grade 8:
After completing their Crucible essays prior to the December vacation, Grade 8 students used classroom discussions on science fiction and censorship as pre-launch activities for reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Students will also incorporate an up-close-and analytical look at figurative language and how its inclusion in Bradbury's novel deepens the text's wisdom.
Music
Chorus students are enjoying learning new pieces of music and are in the process of choosing a choice song which they vote on as a class. The 6th Grade Chorus had a very successful concert this past Tuesday night along with the Dale Street singers and instrumentalists. General music students at Blake are working on guitar, learning about Classical music composers, and playing a game of name that tune.
Pajama Collection - 7th Grade
The seventh grade will be collecting new pajamas for Cradles to Crayons starting Feb 3rd and continuing until the 14th. Students should give pajamas to their advisory teachers. Blake was in the top 3 schools for pajama donations last year. We'd love to continue this trend!! Thank you.
Early College Planning Information Night
Mark your calendars! Blake Middle School will be hosting MEFA's Early College Planning Seminar for Parents on Wednesday, May 14th at 7:00pm in the auditorium. Seminar topics include:
- How can I best support my student to make good choices in middle school and high school.
- What is important to understand about admissions and financial aid now?
- How much should we save for college and when is a good time to start saving?
- Will savings affect financial aid?
- If we can't save enough, should we bother saving at all?
Please feel free to contact Matt Marenghi ([email protected]) with any questions.
Blake Ski Club Update
If your son/daughter lost something or may have taken something that is not theirs please check the new "Lost and Found" tab on the Ski Club website. In addition, be sure all belongings are labeled with first and last name, including tablets. Securing the tablets in the main office has been successful. To ensure all students receive the correct tablet upon return from Nashoba please be sure iPads and Androids are labeled clearly with first and last name, with an adhesive label.
Winter Intramurals
Intramural programs start this week. Sign-ups will continue through the start of each program, so if you did not sign-up yet, there is still time.
Theater Update
Rehearsals have started for both Aladdin and Hounds. Please consult the announcements and the theater webpage for any changes or updates. All commitment letters, activity fees, and clothing measurements (for performers) should be in to Mrs. Caprio and Ms. Allen. You may already have received an email if any of the items are missing. Please let Mrs. Caprio and Ms. Allen know if there are any questions or concerns.
Lip Sync Reminders
The 15th Annual Lip Sync is on January 24, 2014. Lip Sync tickets are on sale for the public and are $5 each. No tickets will be sold at the door. Doors will open for seating at 6:45 and the show begins at 7:00 and should end between 8:30-9:00 p.m.
Music at Blake - Guess the Blake Pandora Jockey!
We have a new Blake DJ this week. This past week's DJ was Amanda Santucci and the student winner was Caroline Davenport. The direct link to the form is: Blake Pandora Jockey Form Encourage your students to participate!
Basketball Updates
This past Thursday Medfield Boys played Melican middle school. The game was extremely close. The score was tied in the first quarter. Melican opened up a 16 point lead midway into the 3rd quarter. Medfield came storming back taking the lead by 2 points with 15 seconds remaining off of Andrew Cook's 2 made free throws. Melican then scored with 5 seconds remaining to bring the game into overtime. Melican won in a back and forth overtime by 2 points 72-70. Andrew Cook had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Jake Dubbs also had 21 points to go along with 8 rebounds. Michael Marie also added a season high 12 assists. Medfield Boys are 2-3 and play Bellingham on Tuesday at Bellingham.
CSA News
Please support Blake middle school and dine at Subway tonight (1/21/14)! Thank you Subway for donating 20% of tonight's profit to Blake middle school.
Did you know that the Blake Middle School participates in the Box Tops For Education fundraiser? Well, it's true. Even better, this fundraiser requires no check writing on your part. Simply clip the boxtop off of participating General Foods products and send them in to the school. The collection box is located in the main office. You would be surprised at how many of your everyday products have these stamps on their packaging. Cheerios, Chex, Yoplait, Hefty, Ziplock,Scott, Betty Crocker and Land of Lakes are just a few participating brands. Don't throw the Boxtops out, send them in to Blake!!! Your trash is Blake's cash. Those dimes add up quickly. You can also log onto BTFE.com. For your convenience, a complete listing of BoxTops products can be found on the Blake website.