September 19 - SIPS Mtg - 2:15 p.m. in Mr. Gow's room
September 19-20 - Charles River/Russian Icon Museum field trip for Stars cluster
September 20 - Grade 6 PIN
Band/Chorus/Orchestra Info Mtg for 6th Grade Parents (6:30 p.m.)
September 21, 25 - Charles River/Russian Icon Museum field trip for Eagles cluster
September 24 - Blake Site Council Mtg - 3:15 p.m. in Blake LMC
September 26 - Yom Kippur; No School
September 28 - Picture Day
October 2-3 - Charles River/Russian Icon Museum field trip for Stripes cluster
October 5 - Teacher Day; No School for Students
October 8 - Columbus Day; No School
October 9-12 - 7th Grade to Nature's Classroom
October 17 - CSA Mtg - 7:30 p.m. in Blake LMC
Parent Information Night
Our sixth grade Parent Information Night (PIN) will take place on Thursday, September 20 at 7:00 p.m. This night will provide you with an opportunity to visit your student's classrooms and hear about the curriculum and exciting programs that will take place throughout the year. Sixth grade chorus, band, and orchestra parents are invited to informational meetings at 6:30 p.m. on September 20, prior to PIN.
Online Homework Posting System
This year we are implementing a new system for posting the homework on our website. The information will be posted through 'googledocs', and it can be found through the website. To access the information, students and parents should follow these steps:
- Go to www.medfield.net/blake
- Go to 'Academics' and 'Select Grade'
- The homework information (arranged by cluster) will be to the left of the teachers' names
The primary mode for students' understanding and recording of the homework for the given night is from the teacher and the posted homework in the classroom. The information that will be on the website is intended to serve as a 'back-up' resource. Due to the inherent challenges of technology that arise from time to time (servers, e-mail, etc.), we can not always guarantee that the website will be 100% accurate and reliable. However, we hope that it will help students and parents as an additional source of information.
Request for Recess Donations
As you know, this year we are continuing with recess as part of our Advisory structure. There has been a great deal of research and evidence that shows students are more productive and intellectually engaged when a physical and or mental 'break' is provided in the middle of the day. We are looking for donations from families to provide options for students during this time: frisbees, wiffle balls/bats, kickballs, tennis balls, single and double jump ropes, volleyballs, foam footballs, soccer balls, and hula hoops. If you have done some 'fall cleaning' and have extra items that could be donated, have students drop them off in the main office. Thank you in advance for your help.
Summer Reading Culmination- from Jon Haycock
Blake Summer Reading Week culminated today with grade-level presentations by former Blake and High School social studies teacher, Richard DeSorgher. Richard spoke of his student days at Medfield High in the late 1960’s where a strict dress code was enforced – no blue jeans for anyone and girls having to wear a dress or skirt at all times, even on cold winter days. Meanwhile, In Des Moines Iowa, three high school students had filed a lawsuit against their school for refusing to allow them to wear black armbands protesting the war in Viet Nam. The suit went all the way to the Supreme Court, who ruled in favor of the students. They were free to wear what they wanted to school as long as it didn’t interfere with teaching. Richard then had all students in the audience who were wearing jeans or shorts stand up and said they could thank those Iowa students for enabling them to do so. Richard said that Hope, the protagonist of our summer reading book, Hope Was Here, performed a similar task by supporting the candidacy of her diner boss, G.T. Stoop against a corrupt incumbent. Despite being threatened, Hope rallied her friends to support G.T., eventually paving his way to victory. Richard stressed the importance of doing the right thing as opposed to the popular thing – especially when you risk being teased or perceived as not being “cool”. A special thank you to Richard DeSorgher for his continuing service to the youth of Medfield!
Site Council
The Blake Site Council will be meeting on a monthly basis. The function of the council is to adopt educational goals for the school, identify educational needs of students attending the school, review the annual school building budget, and formulate a school improvement plan. Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered to be on the Site Council. The grade level representatives for the council are: TBD (Grade 6), Tammy Tauscher (Grade 7), and Dana Ravech (Grade 8). All meetings are open to the public.
Helmets and Student Safety
We have been noticing an increasing number of students coming to school on their skateboards and bicycles without helmets. Massachusetts law states that everyone under the age of 16 must wear a helmet when using a bicycle or skateboard. Please make sure that your children are wearing helmets when they leave the house in the morning, and we will do the same on our end. Student safety and well-being is our chief concern and we all need to be mindful of the necessary precautions to prevent injuries.
Seventh Grade Trip to Nature's Classroom
Thank you for promptly sending in outstanding materials for Nature's Classroom. You will be contacted if there is anything more you need to turn in. A packing list was sent home with your child last week and it it has been posted on the school website. All medications for the trip must be turned in by September 21st. Please be sure to contact Mrs. Silva, [email protected], with any general questions and Mrs. Williams, [email protected], with any health related concerns. Get ready for the early morning departure on October 9th! Parents of 7th graders with identified food allergies should have received an email from Kelly Campbell this week regarding a meeting with Kelly and Tricia Williams this Friday at 2:15. Please contact Kelly Campbell if you have not been contacted.
Eighth Grade
Eighth grade students should be sure to turn in their swim test forms for our Charles River Community Awareness field trip this September. Completed forms should be dropped off at the main office at Blake. A copy of the form can be found on the Forms and Documents tab of this blog.
Substitute Nurses
As with our teaching positions, from time to time our nurse, Tricia Williams, will be out of the building and we need a substitute nurse for these days. We are fortunate that we have several substitute nurses in the district who are able to work on those days. If you are a registered nurse and have an interest in potentially serving as a substitute throughout the year, please let us know. You can contact me ([email protected]) or Tricia Williams ([email protected]). By the same token, if you have friends in the area who would have an interest in serving as a substitute, please let them know that they can contact us as well. The safety and well-being of our students is always our top priority, and we would appreciate your interest in one of these roles.
Sustained Silent Reading and Book Donations
As part of our Advisory program at Blake, two to three times per week students have a required Sustained Silent Reading period. During this time frame, all students and staff enjoy take time to independently read in the hopes of establishing reading as a lifelong hobby and skill. To help keep our classroom libraries current and full, we welcome donations of adolescent books from families. Thank you in advance for your contributions and support.
Student Council
The Blake Middle School Student Council will be holding elections for the 2012-2013 school year on Friday, September 21, 2012. Information regarding the election process will be disseminated in student advisories. Student Council will be meeting Wednesdays after school this year.
Blake Intramurals
Fall intramurals at Blake will begin the week of October 1, 2012. Look for signup information on the intramural page of the website the week of September 24. Parents/guardians are welcome to run intramurals as well. If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions, please contact Brian Gavaghan ([email protected]).
Vietnam Memorial Project
Donations for this project can be made out to 'Medfield Foundation' with 'Veterans Plaque Fund' noted on the check or enclosure. These donations can be dropped off at the Blake Main Office or at Lord's. Thank you in advance for your support.
- Middle School Field Hockey
- The Middle School Field Hockey Teams Opens their season this week - today (9/18) vs Westwood and Thursday, 9/20 vs Wellesley. Both games are at Dale Street School at 3:30 p.m. The Field Hockey Program welcomes Coach Burnham ( current Dale Street Teacher) to the Coaching Staff.
MCPE News
MCPE is celebrating 25 years! Check outour flyer in the Thursday packet for more information about what is happeningthis year to mark this very special anniversary.
CSA News
Meadow Farms Fundraiser
Our Meadow Farms Fundraiser is under way! Packets were handed out on Friday to all 6th, 7th and 8th graders. All information regarding ordering and prizes is included in the packet.
The fundraiser will run until Friday, September 21st. Don't forget, there are multiple benefits to this fundraiser ... it's a great opportunity to get your holiday shopping started early and if you order on-line, it gets delivered right to your door. This is one of our biggest fundraisers helping raise funds for our school activities such as theatre performances, scholarships, author visits, socials, etc. and, it provides our 8th graders with an opportunity to earn money towards their Washington DC trip account. It's a win-win-win situation!
As a bonus for the students, for every 6 items sold, 1 raffle ticket will be entered in the student’s name for a chance to win one of three prizes – an Apple IPAD, IPod Touch or Ipod Nano.
Thank you for supporting Blake and our students.
Scrip
Scrip will be for sale prior to the 6th grade PIN.
Volunteers are needed to assist with the 8 th grade trip to Washington, DC--2 purchasers needed to help key quantities on 2 alternating Fridays in Oct. Please email [email protected] if you can help.