9/15 - Blake Student Council Info Meeting (see info below)
9/16 - Yom Kippur - No School
9/20 - Blake Picture Day (see info below)
9/22 - Blake Student Council
9/23 - DEI Task Force Meeting
9/26 - Yoga on the Turf (see details below)
9/29 - Blake Student Council
My Ascension Documentary Screening - 7 p.m. (see info below)
10/7 - School Committee Meeting
10/11 - No School
10/29 - Half-Day for Students
Professional Afternoon for Staff
Question of the Week
To encourage dialogue and reflection about the conditions and environment that foster and nurture learning, our question for the week is: What do you need to help you learn? Intentional Conditions for Learning (Week of 9/12/21) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
Blake Picture Day - 9/20
Blake students will received School Picture Day packets this week in advisory. School Picture Day is Monday, September 20th. If your child is absent on picture day, we will have a make up day in October. Payment options are clearly outlined on the order forms that students are bringing home.
1. Families have the option of prepaying online by going to www.grynnternet.com and entering code 6C6T3Z7. If you pay online, there is no need to submit anything to the school on picture day.
2. Families also have the option to order using the envelope attached to the order flyer going home. You can write a check to G&B Photography or pay with exact change/cash.
Please email [email protected] or [email protected] with any questions.
Back-to-School Resources from DESE
The Department has a new, family-friendly back-to-school page that answers basic questions about the 2021-2022 school year. Please share this link with your community. Other back-to-school resources from DESE include a letter from Commissioner Riley and a back-to-school public service announcement (in English and Spanish) that can be shared with staff, parents, and the community about the upcoming school year. The Department would like to thank Somerville Public Schools and particularly the staff and students of Albert F. Argenziano School for their help with the PSA!
Message from Medfield Nurses
The nurses are thrilled to welcome back our students! We just want to share a few updates from the spring.
*VERY IMPORTANT: Please complete the Student Emergency Health Form. This electronic form replaces the former blue paper emergency sheet.
The new protocols are attached but here are a few highlights:
1. The list of potential COVID 19 symptoms, which we ask that you assess your children for each day before sending them to school, now looks at combinations of symptoms requiring testing. For example, a sore throat alone no longer requires testing but a sore throat in combination with a stuffy nose or cough would require a test. There are also fewer symptoms that require a test if the individual is vaccinated.
2. Individuals who are fully vaccinated may still be identified as close contacts (defined as within 6' for greater than 15 minutes while indoors) to a person testing positive for COVID 19 so that they are aware to get a test if they develop symptoms but are not required to test or quarantine if asymptomatic.
3.Unvaccinated individuals who are identified as close contacts at school may continue to come to school as long as they wear a mask and test negative each school day for 5 days. Antigen Rapid Testing will be provided at school with parent permission. This Test and Stay Program does not apply to close contacts identified outside of school.
4. To adequately space students while they have their masks off while eating, students will be eating in additional areas besides the cafeteria, sometimes further away from the nurse and Epinephrine medications. We ask that parents continue to be mindful of not sending Nuts/Peanuts/Peanutbutter into school. Please let the school nurse know if that is an issue for your child.
5. If your child has an allergy to or is unable to use hand sanitizer, please let the school nurse know.
6. Consent for Pooled testing has been sent home to families.
COVID by the Numbers
Traffic Patterns and Safety Concerns
The safety and well-being of our students and families is of utmost importance. Some important notes and reminders...
- Please be mindful of all individuals (students, adults, bikers) when dropping off and picking up students.
- The driveway on the auditorium side of Medfield High School is for buses only from 7-8 a.m. and 2-3 p.m.
- All drivers need to drive slowly and carefully, adhering to proper speed limits.
- Please be sure to yield at crosswalks and come to a complete stop at the stop signs.
- For those families with students who are biking to and from school, please remind your students to wear helmets and to be mindful of both walkers and the traffic flow. Bikers should remain on sidewalks at all times while on campus - we have observed students biking through the traffic circles and the staff parking lots.
This is a reminder to all Blake families to email [email protected] in order to notify us of an early dismissal needed due to an appointment or other reasons. Your email will serve as written permission for your child to be dismissed. If you have a last minute dismissal that your student is not aware of, please call the main office in addition to providing the written notice in order to assure that we get it in time.
Arts in Education Week (9/12-9/18)
This week (9/12-9/18) is Arts in Education Week. I have shared this with our art and music departments.
National Arts in Education Week | Americans for the Arts
Blake Student Council
Attention all Blakers! There will be an informational meeting about Student Council on Wednesday September 15th in room 506 after school - Mrs. Ruminski's room in the 6th grade wing. If you think you may be interested in joining or want to see what Student Council is all about, then we hope to see you there! If you can't make the meeting but you still might be interested or have any questions, please contact Mrs. Ruminski or Mrs. Shaw. Hope to see you there
Blake Intramurals
Mr. Marenghi will be connecting with all Blake students this week to see what types of intramurals they are interested in - so far, a couple requests for Dungeons and Dragons. We hope to have the offering available the week of September 13th.
Message from the Blake LMC
The Blake Library is open! Check out our website for all info & resources
Blake’s Virtual Information Night
Similar to last year, our Information Nights will be structured and shared via a virtual, asynchronous format with recordings/videos of presentations from staff shared with families and posted on the Blake Website. Although it is certainly not the same as seeing Blake families in person, we hope that you find this information/format meaningful and helpful. Our hope is to have these videos/presentations available by the end of the month. Stay tuned for more information!
Theme of Imagination for 2021-2022
Our theme for the next academic year at Blake is one of Imagination. We believe that this theme will extend the work we have done over the last seven years with our themes of Community, Perseverance, Creativity, Acceptance, Collaboration, Empathy, Diversity, Happiness, Curiosity, and Imagination. As a staff we have begun brainstorming ideas and I encourage all families to join us in the brainstorming process as well. As ideas and thoughts come to mind, do not hesitate to e-mail me ([email protected]) or Kelly C. ([email protected]).
Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. - Albert Einstein
Creativity doesn’t happen without day dreaming. - Lin Manuel-Miranda
Demanding proof stalls creativity. New ideas need room to breathe, and a good imagination will always be ahead of the best evidence. - Adam Grant
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.
From Medfield’s Coalition for Suicide Prevention and Medfield Outreach
Wednesday, 9/29 at 7 p.m.
WHEN:
Wednesday, September 29, 2021, 7:00 pm
WHERE:
Medfield High School Auditorium
WHAT/WHY:
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. In order to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of talking about mental health and suicide, the Medfield Coalition for Suicide Prevention (MCSP), a Medfield Foundation initiative, is hosting a screening of the film "My Ascension", which documents the true story of a young woman who survived a suicide attempt. A panel discussion of mental health professionals will follow the film.
SYNOPSIS:
A suicide attempt left 16-year-old varsity cheerleader, Emma Benoit, paralyzed, but propelled her on a mission to use her painful experience to help others find hope and shine more light on the fact that 20 young people die every day by suicide in the in the United States. My Ascension is a feature-length documentary that chronicles Emma's inspiring journey and quest to walk again, as she works to bring Hope Squad, a school-based suicide prevention program, to Louisiana. The film also highlights the stories of two remarkable young people who tragically did not survive their attempts, and we learn first-hand from their families, friends, school
officials, and suicide prevention experts about the devastating effects of suicide and what can be done to prevent it.
COST:
We kindly request donations to MCSP (see donation links below) if resources permit. No one will be denied participation based on inability to donate.
Questions?
Contact Medfield Outreach at [email protected] or at (508) 359-7121
For more information about the event and the Medfield Coalition for Suicide Prevention, please visit https://www.medfieldcsp.org/
Yoga on the Turf
9/26 at 12 p.m.
When: Sunday, September 26, 12 pm to 1 pm
What: As part of Suicide Prevention Month, we are offering a FREE Yoga on the Turf class on Sunday, September 26th! Tracy Buckley from Medfield Yoga Studio will lead an hour-long class outside at the Medfield High School turf. Come join us and nurture your mental and physical health!
All ages and levels are welcome. Please bring your own yoga mat and towel.
Challenge Success Update
Challenge Success Medfield Parent Group is working on identifying initiatives for the 2021-2022 school year across all grade levels (PreK-12). If you have an idea or you are interested in being on one of the planning or implementation committees, please reach out to Eric Baacke (HS), Kristen Careau (MS and upper elementary), and Nicole Hall (lower elementary). Challenge Success is always open to new ideas and new faces!
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
Healing, Community, and Humanity: How Students and Teachers Want to Reinvent Schools After the Pandemic
Thursday, 9/16 at 3 p.m.
Join Justin Reich, Jal Mehta, and Neema Avashia for the release of a new report about pandemic schooling: Healing, Community, and Humanity: How Students and Teachers Want to Reinvent Schools After the Pandemic (https://edarxiv.org/nd52b/)
Understanding the experiences of students and teachers during pandemic schooling is vital to educational recovery and building back better. In the spring of 2021, we conducted three research exercises: 1) we invited 200 teachers to interview their students about the past year and share their findings, 2) we interviewed 50 classroom teachers, and 3) we conducted ten multistakeholder design charrettes with students, teachers, school leaders, and family members to begin planning for the 2021-2022 recovery year. Together our findings form a "view from the ground" during pandemic schooling.
The primary themes in our interviews, focus groups, and design charrettes were an emphasis on healing, community, and humane reinvention. Students and teachers told us that the best things about the pandemic year were when it created opportunities to slow down and build real relationships between teachers and students and their families and when students were given more independence to be in charge of their learning, their bodies, and their development. When we asked them about what problems they hoped policymakers would address about schooling next year, students and teachers talked less about COVID and more about long-standing problems with schools: buildings and classrooms that are uncomfortable to learn in, overstuffed curriculum that limited opportunities for human connection and interest-based exploration, overzealous policing of bodies and behavior, early start times that are out of sync with adolescent biology, and more.
Education Now | Back to School: Moving Forward from Here
Wednesday, 9/22 at 4 p.m.
For the third consecutive school year, the rhythms of our schools are being disrupted by a global pandemic — a pandemic that has laid bare existing inequities across almost every relevant metric. Let’s look at what the pandemic revealed, and how we move every learner forward from here. We’ll surface some key challenges — and offer concrete ideas for addressing them.
Speakers include:
-- Andrew Ho, Charles William Eliot Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
-- Paul Reville, Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration, and Director, Education Redesign Lab, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Gender Equity in Education
Tuesday, 9/28 at 3 p.m.
Addressing gender equity in today's schools is crucial in preparing students for the next iteration of the workforce. Broaching the topic of gender equity in schools today helps to ensure that workplaces foster more gender diversity in their settings tomorrow, regardless of career field. Equity focuses on the opportunity and fairness that exists in environments. When we talk about gender equity in schools, we're talking about empowering our students to find and pursue their interests, even if those interests lie in fields where their gender has been marginalized. A simple look at the current workforce trends in sectors such as technology, finance, and medicine provides us with some insight into the gender equity issues in those fields.
Equity is about more than just representation. In this webinar, we take it one step deeper to investigate ways to move from representation to actual gender inclusion in our learning environments. Are we ensuring that our girls are empowered to explore industries and subjects that have traditionally been led by males? Are we honoring our nonbinary students?
How to Navigate Re-entry Stress
Hosted by SPARK Kindness
Wednesday, 10/20 at 7 p.m.
During the pandemic, many families delighted in a slower, more intentional way of life and are now overwhelmed by the demands and pressures of re-entry. Author (Minimalist Parenting) + podcaster (Edit Your Life) Christine Koh will share practical advice for how to navigate re-entry stress, including tactics to manage calendar creep, maintain boundaries, protect time for yourself and with your family, and continue to tap into the things you and your family truly care about.
About our Presenter
Christine Koh is a music and brain scientist turned multimedia creative. She is a fierce believer in the power of humans, small moments and actions, and vulnerable, authentic storytelling. She communicates on these beliefs through her work as a writer (she is a regular contributor at the Washington Post, Boston Globe Magazine, and CNN; co-author of Minimalist Parenting; and founder of the award-winning blog Boston Mamas), podcaster (Edit Your Life, Hello Relationships), designer (Brave New World Designs), and creative director (Geben Communication). You can find her at @drchristinekoh on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.