Upcoming Events

Reconfiguration

Effective September, 2008 the Middle School will be reconfigured to a 5/6 and 7/8 model.  This decision was reached after conducting extensive research and holding informative meetings with all contingencies.

By eliciting feedback from our School Council, Faculty Council, staff, faculty and parents, the administration believes that the reconfiguration will be in the best interest for our staff and students. 

Our main reasons for considering this model are that:

• Grade 6 and 7 students would become part of a unified grade-level team
• Grade 6 and 7 teachers would be able to develop more collaborative teaching opportunities
• Less students would need to change buildings
• Unified grade levels would enhance the development of Professional Learning Communities
• Facilitates the implementation of the Turning Points 2000 Model would be facilitated
• Student feelings of cohesiveness would be increased
• Strengthens Learning Center and Co-Teaching Model (being in the same building) would be strengthened
• Transition from 5 to 6 and 7 to 8 would be much easier
• Fuel consumption (opening of doors in the winter) with less students traveling between buildings would be saved

This model would also provide more opportunities for interdisciplinary teaming, flexible scheduling, developing an advisor/advisee program and cross-teaming activities.

Special Olympics

On Thursday, May 1, 2008, eight students from the Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School STEP (Support, Teach, Educate, Promise) Program participated in the Special Olympics at Fitchburg State College.  After training hard for this huge annual event, Joyce Bennett, STEP Program Director, is happy to report that the GDRMS student representatives all had outstanding performances!

Congratulations to these students on their outstanding performances at this year’s Special Olympics!

From the Health Office

As the end of the school year approaches, many parents have questions about what will be needed for the next school year.  We hope the following will make it easier for parents to prepare for a healthy 2008-2009 school year.

Regulations for Immunizations and Physicals

All incoming 7th grade students must have:

• A current physical exam form on file
• A tetanus booster (Tdap or Td) within the past 5 years
• All other required age-appropriate immunizations for school

All physical exam forms are current for sports participation for 13 months from the date of the exam. 

Physical exam forms are encouraged for students of all grades.  They are helpful for emergency and health purposes and will be available for sports participation as well. 

 Students cannot be admitted to 7th grade without a current immunization record on file.  Parents will be called to pick up students on the first day of school if immunization records are not complete.

Medications, Inhalers and EpiPens

All medications must be picked up from the nurse’s office by a parent or guardian at the end of the school year.  Students cannot transport medications on the school bus.   Parents may choose to send a note requesting that the nurse discard the remaining medications.  EpiPens and inhalers are exceptions.  Parents of students with EpiPens or inhalers may contact the nurse to request that these particular medications go home with their students, but must give the nurse consent prior to the last day of school.

EpiPen and general medication forms for parent and physician consent are available in the nurse’s office.  You may stop by the nurse’s office at any time to pick up the forms for 2008-09.   Completed forms may be mailed to MS-South or MS-North during the summer or delivered on the first day of school.  Please note that the school nurses are only available at the Middle School during the school year.  Please contact your nurse as soon as possible for any special health issues you would like to discuss before the start of the new school year.  We look forward to working with you for a smooth transition.

MS-South              Barbara Closs, MSN, RN              978-448-6155 X1160

MS-North              Kay Stidsen, RN                         978-448-6155 X1800    

 

Professional Learning Communities

One of our main goals for next school year is to enhance the implementation of Professional Learning Communities.  Professional Learning Communities focus on teachers committing themselves to life-long learning and to support others in continual learning.  A learning community fosters ongoing, collaborative inquiry into teaching and learning.  Teachers get the opportunity to share the knowledge that is gained, the excitement and challenges that come with learning difficult materials, and the benefits their learning produces.

Professional Learning Communities model life-long learning and give teachers the opportunity to collaborate and learn from one another. This type of collaboration fosters an environment of collegiality focused on teaching and learning.  Students benefit from having teachers who support and participate in Professional Learning Communities.

One component of a Professional Learning Community is peer observations.  Peer observations occur when teachers visit other classrooms to observe how other teachers utilize various teaching models.  Teachers then have the opportunity to meet with each other to talk about the observed lesson.  This allows teachers to share “best teaching practices” with each other.  It is our hope that during the 08-09 school year, we will be able to offer more opportunities for teachers to engage in peer observations as a tool for professional growth.

 

Recycling

Many Middle School teachers now have new recycling bins thanks to "The Green Team."  The after -school Recycling Club with help from Nancy Ohringer, Deb Gagne and Dorothy Dwyer distributed the bins donated by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.  Visit thegreenteam.com to learn more about this program.  The Recycling Club encourages the Middle School to recycle all paper, plastic, aluminum and glass.

Scholar Leader Dinner

Congratulations to Erin and Ben (Grade 8 students) for being chosen to represent Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School at the annual Massachusetts Scholar-Leader Dinner on Thursday, May 29 at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA.

Sponsored by Verizon and the Boston Globe, the Scholar-Leader Dinner recognizes the scholarship, leadership and community service contributions of middle-level students by honoring two students from each school as representatives of all of the good things that 10-14 year-olds accomplish every day.  The sponsors subsidize the student dinners and each student receives a plaque of recognition and a photo taken with the Commissioner of Education.  The students’ family, Principal, Assistant Principal and a teacher from the 8th grade team also attend this event.

 

Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School Council Parent Survey

In an effort to continue to better serve the educational needs of our students and families, the GDRMS School Council will be sending home its annual parental survey on Friday, May 30th.   Please set aside some time to complete this survey and return it with your son/daughter to the main office by Friday, June 13th.  When returning the survey, we encourage parents to put it in a sealed envelope.  Please write on the envelope, Parent Survey.

As a parent of a student at Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School, your assessment of the school program and its activities are very important.  The results of the survey will better help our School Council to formulate upcoming goals and objectives.  Results of the survey will be posted on the website.

Turning Points 2000

As the principal of GDRMS, I am very happy to inform you that starting next school year, our middle school will be working collaboratively with coaches from Turning Points.

“Turning Points is a comprehensive education reform model that focuses on improving student learning.  Recognizing the need to both strengthen the academic core of middle schools and establish caring, supportive environments that value all young adolescents, Turning Points helps middle schools undergo dramatic change.

By working with Turning Points, middle school teachers are coached in tested, effective instructional methods geared specifically for the middle-level learner. Students and teachers are organized in new ways.  Students are engaged in planning and managing their own learning. The school schedule may be redesigned.  Professional Development operates differently.  New partnerships between the school and the community are created.  All of these efforts are focused squarely on improving learning, teaching, and assessment.” (Turning Points, Transforming Middle Schools, Center for Collaborative Education).

Because GDRMS is a high performing school, Turning Point coaches will acknowledge our accomplishments and work with us to strengthen those areas that may need improvement.  In addition, they will examine our present teaching strategies/methodologies and give us constructive feedback.   They will also help us to continue to create “challenging, caring and equitable learning communities that meet the needs of young adolescents as they reach the “turning point” between childhood and adulthood.  Based on more than a decade of research and experience, this comprehensive school reform model seeks to create high-performing schools through teacher collaboration and data-based inquiry.”

Turning Points will also help us to examine other innovative programs/concepts such as the advisor/advisee model, analyzing student work, differentiated instruction, authentic assessment and challenging students at all ability levels. 

Since 1988, Turning Points has grown into a thriving national network of regional centers serving more than 80 schools in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Many of the schools who have implemented facets of Turning Points have shown significant gains (higher achievement scores) in their standardized test scores (i.e. MCAS).

Special thanks to the Groton-Dunstable Education Foundation for their generous approval of a $5500 grant.  This money will be used for staff professional development provided by Turning Points coaches.  On behalf of the staff and students, we thank you for supporting this great initiative!

Coming up!  Lyme Awareness and Prevention Week

June 8th through the 15th!

Groton and Dunstable are hot-zones for ticks!  Because of that, we’re also a hot-zone for the diseases that ticks carry, Lyme Disease.  Did you know that you don’t need a bulls-eye rash to still have Lyme Disease?  Or that deer ticks are prevalent all year long, even in the winter? Or that Lyme Disease can have serious long-term health issues if not caught early?  There’s much to learn about this disease, so during Lyme Awareness and Prevention Week there will be numerous opportunities to become more informed, so stayed tuned to your local papers for a full schedule of events happening around town that week.  There are a couple of planned activities that you might want to put on your calendar right away!  These include a LYME-AID Fair, featuring a bake sale, balloons, tick awareness information, lime-aid! This event will be held on the Middle school grounds June 10th from 11:30-3:00 pm and is a ½ day for our schools -  bring the kids, all are welcome!  Also, a Coffee Meet and Greet will be hosted by GDAY on June 9th at the Main Street café, 9:00 to 11:00 am.  Come meet the Nashoba Associated Board of Health and have a free coffee on GDAY while you learn more about prevention!  This is a very important health issue for our community and there’s much you can do to protect your families.  Come learn how!

 

Middle School Science

1) GDSTEM will be selling Summerskills Workbooks.  These workbooks are an excellent way to practice Math and Language skills over the Summer months.  More information and order forms are going home in the beginning of May.

2)  Scholorship forms for UMASS Lowell Design camp are available for 7th and 8th grade girls.  The deadline for applying is May 9, 2008.  Please see your science teacher for an application.

3) GDSTEM is hosting two lectures in May.   Information for one is listed below:

Radio Telescope Array in the Australian Outback

Dr. Roger Cappallo, MIT Haystack Observatory

29 May 2008, Middle School North (Old High School) Library

Refreshments at 6:30pm, feature presentation at 7:00-9:00pm.

Dr. Cappallo will talk about the Murchison Widefield Array project (MWA), an international effort which MIT Haystack is leading.  The project is building a low frequency radio astronomy array in the Australian Outback. Dr. Cappallo will cover background on radio astronomy, capturing radio signals from the universe, and the science goals of the project.  The three main goals of the MWA are searching for transient radio sources, studying ejections from the sun that collide with earth, and observing the earliest objects from the "dark ages" of the universe before stars shone.

The talk is aimed at high school and late middle school students, and is free and open to the general public.  Dr. Cappallo will also mention career opportunities and career paths in his field, and there will be ample time for open discussion.

Dr. Roger Cappallo attended MIT as both an undergraduate and graduate student.  Since 1980 he has been on the staff at MIT Haystack Observatory doing radio astronomy, with a special emphasis on developing advanced instrumentation for recording and processing the signals.  Currently he is the System Engineer for the Murchison Widefield Array, as well as serving as Coordinator of the Transient Science Collaboration for the array.

The Weather station on top of the Middle School North building is up and running.  Community members can view live data from it by going to http://weatherbug.com.  Students can access the station by visiting http://achieve.weatherbug.com.  The installation of the Weather Station was funded by a generous GDEF grant written by Chris Tucker and Dorothy Dwyer.  The installation is a result of combined efforts of the GDRSD Maintenance Staff and Gary Babin, Leslie Grove, Daphne Gowland, and Gary Hoglund.  Thanks to everyone for giving their time and effort to get the station online again for students and teachers to use.  Please contact Dorothy Dwyer, (978-448-9583 ext 2010), with any questions or comments.

Dress Code

With Spring upon us it is necessary to reiterate our dress code policy at the middle school.  As stated in the Student/Parent Handbook, students’ clothing should be in good taste and not disrupt from the educational process.  Items of clothing should not present a health or safety problem, or violate the rules of decency.  This includes but is not limited to clothing that contains profane language, offensive gestures/pictures, gang symbols, and/or tobacco/alcohol advertisements.  The use or display of any drug, gang, or cult related jewelry or clothing may not be worn in school or at school sponsored activities. 

During warm weather, comfortable clothing may be worn.  However, any type of revealing, low-cut, or see through clothing that exposes any part of a student’s body such as stomach and/or chest areas is prohibited.  Front, back, and sides must be covered at all times.  No bare midriffs, halter tops, tank tops (with spaghetti straps), sleepwear, beachwear or sunglasses are allowed.  Undergarments must be covered at all times.  Boys are not allowed to wear sleeveless sport jerseys unless they have a shirt underneath. Shorts, dresses and skirts must be of a decent length and should not extend one inch above one’s fingertips (with arm hanging straight).

All footwear must have secure straps.  Beach flip flops are also prohibited due to safety reasons.

The Principal/Assistant Principal is the final authority in determining appropriate attire.  Students who are inappropriately dressed will be removed from class until proper attire has been provided.

MYSPACE.COM

As you are aware, the website MYSPACE.COM can be a very dangerous site to visit.  Parents are asked to take some time to discuss with their child(ren) the seriousness of chatting with strangers (or posting pictures of themselves) on this website.  I am enclosing an article that was printed in The Press-Tribune two years ago.  It may help parents better understand the potential risks that students could encounter while being on this site.

School EMail

It has been brought to my attention, that some of our incoming emails get blocked (for security purposes), thus some teachers may not have access to some emails sent by parents.

Please understand that our teachers make every attempt to respond to parental emails within a twenty-four hour time period.  If you do not hear from your child’s teachers within an adequate amount of time, it could be that your email was blocked.  If this occurs, I would suggest that you send a note in with your child or call the school.   

We appreciation your cooperation in this matter and want to assure you that we are working with our Technology Specialist to rectify this situation.

Student Absences

Parents are reminded to call the school when their child will be absent from school.  Only a parent/guardian may call a child in absent.  Parents are asked to please call in no later than 8:00 AM in order that our office staff can generate an accurate absentee list.  The school phone number is 978-448-6155.  Thank you for your cooperation.

School Dismissal

A reminder to all parents: If your child is going to be dismissed during the regular school day, it is very important that you send a note into school with your child on the day of the dismissal.  Please ask your child to bring the note to the office as he/she arrives for school and receive an official dismissal note from one of the secretaries.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Revised Dates for Grading Periods (Due to Snow Days)

Midterm Progress Report Friday, March 7

Third Quarter Grades Close on Wednesday, April 9

Third Quarter Report Cards mailed on Thursday, April 17

Midterm Progress Report Friday, May 16

Mark Your Calendars

8th Grade Promotion Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, June 24 at 7 PM in the PAC. in the Performing Arts Center (pending no other snow days).  Please note that if there is an additional snow day, the ceremony will be held on June 25 at 7 PM in the Performing Arts Center.

 

GDSTEM 2008

Groton-Dunstable Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (GDSTEM) is a volunteer organization of parents, educators, and community partners promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education. Our goal is to enhance the support of, and participation in, all STEM educational activities within the Groton-Dunstable grade K-12 community. We are committed to a comprehensive STEM program that is an integral part of the educational experience and encourages students to continue in these career fields. Please visit our website at http://gdstem.org .

Anyone who is interested is invited.

Note: All meeting dates fall on a Wednesday and will take place at Middle School North, Room 201, beginning at 7 p.m.

January 16

February 13

March 19

April 16

May 14

June 11

 

Procedure for Private School Applications

Private and Technical schools often require teacher and guidance counselor recommendations for prospective students.  Our school has created the following procedure to help simplify this process.

Click here for a pdf document that outlines this process, or visit this guidance web page.

Please Keep Us Updated!

If any parent(s) has moved or changed their phone number(s), please forward this information to the NORTH office.   In the case of an emergency, it is very important that we have this updated information.  Thank you for your cooperation.

A Message from the North/South Office

Messages and deliveries from home will be left in the office.  Student names will be put on a board in the front of the cafeteria.  Students will be called out of class only in an emergency.  This will minimize classroom interruptions.If a message is not retrieved by the end of the day, the student will be called down to the office at the end of the day.

Updated Middle School Mathematics Website

Want some information about your child's middle school mathematics curriculum?

Be sure to check out the math website (located on the home page of the middle school website) for information regarding:

1. Recent topics in mathematics

2. Placement information

3. Information on Connected Mathematics Program (Grades 6-8)

4. Information on Investigations Program (Grade 5)

5. Resources for extending students' mathematics learning

Any questions please contact Karen Gartland, Mathematics Coordinator.

Guidance

There can be some confusion over which counselor has which grades.  Please see the attached for clarification.

June Grove – Extension 1920	Grade 7
	Grade 5 – Homerooms (Mr. Cronin, Mr. Klock, Ms. Kieda)
Pagie Leone – Extension 1473	Grade 6
	Grade 5 - Homerooms (Ms. Cragg, Ms.  Heckley, Ms. Barton, Ms. Cragg)
Cara Zwicker – Extension 1475	Grade 8
	Grade 5 - Homerooms (Ms. Kilroy, Ms. Polaski, Ms. Stone)
Carolyn Jakubiak – Extension 1474

Food - Bus Safety

As a friendly reminder it is important for parents to remember that absolutely no eating or sharing of food is allowed on the bus.  Working with parents and staff, we have been successful in keeping our classrooms and cafeteria safe for children with allergies.  It is important that since students begin and end their day on the bus that parents are vigilant in this effort to keep children safe when traveling to and from school as well as in school.  Please review this rule with your children.