5/20 - 8th Grade Dance (7-9 p.m.)
5/23 - Blake Battles Bias
DEI Task Force Meeting
5/24 - Grade 8 Science MCAS
5/25 - Grade 8 Science MCAS
Safe and Inclusive Learning Environment Presentation - 6:30 p.m.
(see info below)
5/31 - Blake Spring Band Concert
6/1 - Blake Spring Chorus/Orchestra Concert
6/3 - Great East Music Festival
6/6 - DEI Task Force Meeting
6/15 - 8th Grade Closing Ceremony - 6 p.m.
6/16 - 8th Grade Field Trip
6/17 - Transition Day
6/20 - No School
6/21 - Last Day for Students and Staff
Half-Day of School
Blake’s Question of the Week
To encourage dialogue and reflection about learning with a focus on progress and moving forward, our question of the week is: What skills do you see as your strengths? What skills would you like to improve? Learning Forward (Week of 5/15/22) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
Term 3 Family Outreach Period - 5/16-5/20
This week (5/16-5/20) is the Term 3 Family Outreach week for Blake Middle School. During this week, teachers will send an e-mail to families to notify them if their student is consistently not meeting the standard in an area OR if they do not have sufficient data to assess their student at that point in the term due to absence or missing work. If students are meeting the standards, families will not receive an e-mail from teachers. Please know that you may reach out to teachers or your child's guidance counselor if you have questions or concerns about their progress.
Blake’s Feedback Sessions - Follow Up Information
As a follow-up to last week's Feedback Information Session, below please find links to relevant information, including the feedback website, webinar recordings, and a copy of the slide deck. On Tuesday, May 17 we will be holding grade level assemblies with our students to share information about the adaptations taking place for the Term 3 report cards.
Blake's Student Feedback and Family Information Portal
A dedicated website has been created to provide families with information about our feedback system and provide additional resources including a FAQ document, relevant research, recordings/slide decks, and more.
Webinar Presentation Recordings
There are two links below (Part 1 and Part 2) for the recordings...
Part 1…
https://medfield-net.zoom.us/rec/share/gjwCLCnWyCKxvXjfIop9QpJo5H40HHaJ3R7PXuMe4G8ruzf9LAImnoerPPSvHeAs.qXz-mpSs6q2VYntQ
Passcode: Y0wT!rM3
Part 2...
https://medfield-net.zoom.us/rec/share/vSBgdYoN5GNDdGLK2lFNzHtcPojbZ2fKMWPzM9ZFVNpZqpTkHvpozzbsLxqqVs_4.sLBc8FW_yzGjtEjj?startTime=1652309864000
Passcode: ^89?N6ml
Blake's Feedback Information Session Presentation (5/11/22)
Memorial Day Weekend - No Homework Weekend for Blake
In a continued effort to provide down time for students, staff, and families, Memorial Day Weekend will be a 'No Homework Weekend' for all of Blake. No work will be due on Tuesday, May 31 and tests, quizzes, and projects will not be due or given on Tuesday, May 31. Thank you to all of the staff for their support and help in making this happen. If you have any questions or concerns, let us know.
Career Day Thanks
Our 8th Grade Career Day was a great success. Thanks to all of our guest speakers for our students: Alex Richardson, Kurt Hudson, Chelle Manganello, Kim Brennan, Bassim Ibrahim, Hannah Doctoroff, Gayle Manning, Jodi Bills, Krista Becker, Meaghan Cloutman, Kerry Gibson, Hugh Devlin, Kristin George, and Alec Stevens. Special thanks to Matt Marenghi and Debbie Avery for their creative planning and providing a meaningful experience for our students!
Fostering A Safe and Inclusive Learning Environment for Our Students and Community - Wednesday, May 25 at 6:30 p.m.
Please join us for an introductory parent/community presentation and discussion with Colby Swettberg, Landon Callahan, and Blake educators as we continue to discuss how to best foster a safe learning environment for our community. As outlined below, this event will help lay the foundation for the upcoming work we will be doing with our students, staff, and the greater community to assure an inclusive atmosphere of respect, acceptance, and understanding. It is an opportunity for parents and community members to learn more about this endeavor and get answers to questions that exist. The evening will include:
- Sharing of vocabulary, terminology, and legal updates/implications for schools
- Panel discussion of educators, parents, and mental health providers
- Outline future programming for Blake students (see timeline below)
- Question and answer forum
5/24 - Blake Staff Meeting - Workshop with Colby Swettberg and Landon Callahan
5/25 - Parent/Guardian/Caregiver Presentation via Zoom (see outline above)
** Families will be able to access the information via a Zoom webinar format (details will be sent in advance of the session to all who sign up via the Google Form).
5/31, 6/1, 6/2 - Work and Presentations with Blake students in Cluster and Advisories focused on fostering a safe and inclusive learning environment for all of our students at Blake
We are continually striving towards a culture of acceptance and inclusivity, regardless of one's race, color, gender identity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, national origin, or ethnicity. As such, we continue to live by these three principles that reflect our core values:
- Every individual at Blake (students, staff, parents, and the greater community) matters, is cared for, and is an important piece of the Blake fabric.
- We are a community of learners who must 'practice what we preach'.
- We must always be present and continue to be here for one another.
Safe and Inclusive Learning Environment Parent/Community Evening (5/25/22)
Colby Swettberg's Bio...
Colby Swettberg (they/them) earned a Masters degree in Education at Harvard's Graduate School of Education with a focus on LGBTQ issues. Colby is a former high school English teacher who started the first gay-straight alliance in the district where Swettberg taught. Colby later went on to help start Waltham House, the first co-ed group home for LGBTQ youth in the country. The Massachusetts Department of Children & Families hired Colby and a team of trainers to conduct LGBTQ sensitivity training for over two thousand social workers in the Commonwealth. This training initiative set a national precedent which Colby has helped other states to replicate. As Colby’s professional focus gravitated toward child welfare, Swettberg returned to graduate school to complete a Master of Social Work and has continued to work with systems involving young people for nearly 20 years.
Landon Callahan's Bio...
Landon Callahan graduated from Fitchburg State University in 2021 with a BS in professional communications and a minor in political science. He is a public speaker and advocate for transgender rights. His public speaking experiences include guest lecturing at Harvard Law School and Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has been involved in creating guidance and policy at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as it relates to transgender student rights. He has also helped develop model curriculum units for History, English, and Health classes at the elementary, middle, and high school level.
Working Warriors - Towel Drive!
We are the Working Warriors and are doing a community service project for the New Life Furniture Bank, a non- profit organization that offers gently used furniture and household items to people who are coming out of homelessness.
New Life is in desperate need of towels, so we are holding a Towel Drive for two weeks. We are asking if you could please donate gently used towels to our cause. The towels can be washcloths, hand towels, or bath towels that are NOT stained or torn. Unfortunately, we cannot take beach towels.
There will be a bin outside of the main entrance of the school to put the towels. Thank you! We appreciate your help!
MCAS Dates for Blake Students - Spring 2022
5/24 - Grade 8 Science MCAS
5/25 - Grade 8 Science MCAS
Medfield Moves for Mental Health
Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month? Register for the Medfield Moves for Mental Health initiative, a virtual campaign to promote movement and wellness during the month of May. Register here: buff.ly/3rUnjir
This year's ANGP takes place on Sunday night, June 5th at 9:00 p.m. and goes until Monday morning, June 6th at 5:00 a.m.
It takes a village to make this night a success. We need almost 200 volunteers throughout the course of the night. As you know, family members of the Medfield Class of 2022 students cannot volunteer. That is why we are reaching out to the entire Medfield community to help. It is a fun experience you won’t want to miss.
Please sign up for shifts below. We will send you an email one week prior to the ANGP with all the details that you will need.
Please post or pass this sign-up along to friends.
ANGP Chaperone & Volunteer Sign-Up Genius
If a student will be absent from school, please call Blake's absence line at (508) 242-8501. If a student needs to be dismissed from school before 2:07 p.m.,an email must be sent by the parent/guardian to [email protected]. Please include the following information:
- Date
- Time of dismissal
- Student name
- Reason for dismissal
- Person picking up
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 Nat Vaughn at [email protected] with any questions.
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.
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
Supporting Social-Emotional Regulation at the End of the Year
Monday, 5/23 10:30-12:00 p.m.
Supporting social-emotional regulation requires balancing consistency and predictability with flexibility and adaptability. As the end of the school year approaches, educators can and should plan proactively to support students’ social-emotional regulation through the predictable moments of dysregulation that the end of the school year brings. This free 90-minute virtual workshop will support leaders to reflect on predictable and consistent structures and systems that are already in place across the school or district, while also exploring opportunities for flexible and adaptive interventions. These strategies are compatible with any social-emotional curricula and for any grade level. Come prepared to participate and:
- Learn about the importance of balancing consistent and predictable interventions with flexibility and adaptability to student needs, particularly as the end of the school year approaches;
- Explore intervention strategies, both proactive and responsive, to add to your toolkit/menu of options;
- Learn with and from peers; and,
- Leave with an actionable next step.
Facilitated by:
Lindsey Minder, MS, CCLS, works with educators, school leaders, and partner organizations to create holistic educational experiences at the classroom, school, and system level. After over a decade in the classroom, she has deep experience and expertise in supporting students’ holistic growth, as well as, a strong commitment to the social-emotional development and well-being of educators. She currently collaborates with school leaders across the country seeking trauma-informed, equitable and inclusive ways to integrate social-emotional learning into all elements of their school models. Lindsey is dual certified in Elementary and Special Education, holds a BA in Psychology from Marist College, a Masters Degree in Child and Family Studies from Wheelock College and is trained as a yoga and mindfulness teacher. Most recently Lindsey was a Lead Partner at Transforming Education. Prior to that she was a founding teacher and later became the Director of Social Emotional Learning at Codman Academy. She also taught at Dorchester Collegiate Academy and The Fayerweather Street School and was a Certified Child Life Specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Albany Medical Center. Lindsey currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
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. Medfield Spirit Wear
Link (Hyperlink to https://ts020252.prospherefanshop.com/)