Hello Middle School families. I hope you have or had, depending on when you read this, a fun vacation week.
MCAS, we got through the ELA MCAS this week. Thank you so much for having your students here and on time. That is a huge help to us administering the test. MCAS is a team lift and we appreciate your support.
Parents there will be a cheer stunts clinic for students grades 4-11 at the high school. Here is a link to sign up. Check out the flyer for more information.
District Arts Festival
May 18 - SU 3/4 grade, FR 4 grade, HS chamber choir combined concert
May 19 -Our MS student showcase is coming up on May 19th at 7pm! Students can sign up here to perform or be a part of the crew. It is first come, first serve for both (13 performances, 6 crew members). All are welcome to attend as audience members!
May 21 - HS Music and Senior Art Show
Art from students PreK-12 will be hung in the Middle School throughout the week!
April Showers: Managing Stress and Growing Together
April is Stress Awareness Month. Stress, if left unmanaged, can negatively affect nearly every system of our bodies and undermine our overall health and happiness. The sooner we spot the signs of stress, the sooner we can take action and provide support. Signs of stress in middle school students often include sudden changes in behavior, emotional instability, and physical complaints, such as irritability, withdrawal, sleep disturbances, headaches, stomach aches, and declining academic performance. If these signs persist, please contact your student’s school counselor or connect with a mental health professional through Care Solace.
We can think about our stress as water in a bucket. We all have our own bucket, which is our capacity to handle stress. When it overflows, is when we feel overwhelmed and out of control. Some things add water to our buckets, like intrapersonal stressors, interpersonal stressors, work/school stress, environmental stress, or life events.
What is important is that we have things to help take stress out of our bucket, such as problem-focused coping skills (e.g., to-do lists, delegating tasks, asking for help ect) and emotion-based coping skills (e.g., mindfulness, deep breathing, exercise ect).
Here are some ideas below to help relieve stress and take water out of your and your student’s stress buckets:
Engage in a healthy coping skill and model it for your student; practice deep breathing, exercising, journaling, or listening to your favorite music.
Involve your student in planning when dealing with transitions (eg. bed times, homework time, screen time ending, ect.) to help them feel in control rather than pressured.
Use curiosity and a non-judgmental approach by asking open-ended questions to help facilitate engagement and support students in managing their stress.
GDMS PTO DAY AT FENWAY - ORDER YOUR TICKETS NOW!
What better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than with a Red Sox baseball game! GDMS PTO is excited to share this opportunity to enjoy an afternoon at the ballpark while supporting our mission! Join GDMS PTO on May 3 and be sure to get in early to take advantage of the discounted prices through April 17! Ticket sales will close April 30. Find all the details for how to buy tickets here.
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SQUADLOCKER SCHOOL SPIRIT GEAR SPRING SALE!
Don't miss out on this spring sale! Be sure to get all your customized GDRMS merch at discounted rates! Head to SquadLocker and receive a 10% coupon with code: GrotonDunstable10 from April 17 to April 30.
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QUICK CHAT
Join us for our final session of GDMS PTO "Quick Chats"! We look forward to hearing the good, the bad, and the ugly of transitioning to middle school with Mr. Day (Assistant Principal for 5th and 6th grade). Sign up now to receive the link for May 12 at 7p via Google Meet.
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PARENT WORKSHOP: STRESS & ANXIETY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
Join us as we discuss stress and anxiety as it presents in middle school. Sign up now to receive the joining information for May 21 at 6:30p.
Reminders:End of Year Activities field trips:
Grade 5 information
Field Day - Friday June 11
Grade 6 information
Museum of Illusions - WACO Team, Monday June 8 and NoPuMiMo, Thursday June 10th.
Grade 7 information
Team Works - Friday May 29th
Grade 8 information:
The Moving Up ceremony will be Monday night June 15th.
Post Ceremony Celebration at the Groton Country Club will be June 15th after the ceremony.
Washington DC and stay home trips June 2-5.
MCAS dates
Science 5/12 & 5/13 (grades 5 & 8)
Math 5/19 & 5/20 (all grades)
Civic 5/27 (grade 8) back to back if we can (TBD)
Core Values: We are our new Core Values for the Middle School. Teachers and staff worked on these together last year. We will have students help us design posters over the course of the school year.
Ownership, Own your space, Own your learning, Own your behavior.
Awareness, Be aware of yourself and others, Be aware of your surroundings, and Be aware of your impact.
Kindness, Be kind to yourself, Be kind to others, and Be kind to your surroundings.
Dates to remember:
Teachers should be updating SchoolBrains on 4/17, 5/8, 5/22, 6/5
April 20-24 Spring vacation
Friday May 1st ½ day
May 8th grades 5&6 Dance - 2:45-4:30
Science MCAS May 12&13 Grades 5 & 8
May 19&20 Math MCAS
May 25th No school Memorial Day
May 27th Civics MCAS grade 8
May 26-29 Human Growth and Development lessons Grade 5
Sincerely your Groton Dunstable Regional Middle School Principal
Wendy Salvatore