Good afternoon Groton Dunstable Regional Middle School Families. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful and restful vacation week with your students. The Friday snow day was fun. I like the snow and I’m glad it didn’t add a day to our school year.
If you are a 7th and 8th grade parent you should have received my email regarding our refresh and recalibrate assemblies that will be happening next week during our WIN blocks as well as our adjustment to our cell phone policy. The “off and away” policy is just not working for us with the older students. Mr. Fleming and I will talk about setting up refresh and recalibrate meetings with the 5th and 6th grade also.
POW Corner: Refresh, Recalibrate, Remind and Reinforce. These are all words that come straight from the Power of Our Words book. As we return from February vacation I really want to take the time to review expectations and remind students of what we would expect our school community to look, feel and sound like. Students will be asked to complete an exit ticket to see if we created any questions and to let us know what we still need to work on as a school community. We are very interested in their feedback. Doing assemblies in the manner of refreshing and recalibrating really takes the punitive nature out of the equation and lends itself to be a more collaborative approach to how we will address some of the issues we had prior to the break.
A+B+C+D=E Corner: Our message from this week's assemblies should align with ABCD=E. The point is for all students to feel accepted as part of the larger school community. When I look at the Yardsticks book, “13 year olds are… girls emotionally ready to focus on close friendships while boys are still engaged in jokey goofing around. 14 year olds want to do everything their way, to have freedom. Not always good at following directions, but great at inventing new ones.” Let’s see how we can work together toward a common understanding. Stay tuned!
COVID Update:
We should do our home tests on Sunday. Those that have been covid positive in the last 90 days MAY NOT participate in the at home testing and may not participate in pool testing. If your child does test positive on Sunday please let your building nurse.
New Topics to be aware of:
For 8th grade families:
If your student is planning to attend GDRHS next year it is almost time to start to think about schedules for their freshman year. The High School will be hosting an information night for all 8th grade families on Thursday March 24th from 6-7:30pm. High school counselors will also be at the middle school this week to have individual meetings with your students and they will follow up individually with all students prior to finalizing course selections for the incoming class of 2026.
Parent conferences will be held again on Friday afternoon March 18th. This will be a ½ day for your students. These conference slots will be used 1st, for teachers to invite parents in who teachers may have concerns about, 2nd these slots will be used for parents who did not get a slot in the fall. Please understand this is one 2.5 hour afternoon. There are not a lot of slots. We thank you ahead of time for your understanding and patience.
Notes from the Office
(A few reminders about attendance, from the GDRMS Student Handbook.)
If your student is going to be absent from school, please call the attendance line before 8:00 AM. 978-448-6155, option 5. While it is helpful to let your student’s teachers know of absences, the office is many times unaware and an automated call will go home as if we have not been notified.
If a student is absent; reports to school after 11:10 AM or is dismissed before 11:10 AM, they are not eligible to participate in any extracurricular activities that are scheduled for that day including clubs and athletics.
We understand it is difficult to schedule appointments after school hours. When early dismissal is unavoidable, students are required to bring a dismissal note to the main office prior to the beginning of their first period class. This written explanation must be signed by the parent or guardian and contain the date, time and reason for dismissal. Parent/guardians need to come to the office to sign out their student.
Please see the GDRMS Student Handbook for more information.
YRBS Survey
Through collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Emerson Hospital and selected surrounding communities, our district will be administering the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to students in Grades 6 and 8 on Wednesday, March 9th, and Grades 9 to 12 on Friday, March 11th.
This year’s survey should take less than 20 minutes to complete. All students will be taking the surveys on a secure website. The surveys are anonymous and voluntary.
The surveys collect information regarding at-risk behaviors. Data from the surveys will be compiled to assist the Groton Regional School District in planning future adolescent health and wellness initiatives. For parents/guardians interested in reviewing the survey, we will be sharing a link to a view only survey by March 1st.
Participation in this anonymous survey is voluntary. Parents/guardians may choose to exempt their student from participation, by March 1st we will be sharing a link to opt out form. Students may also choose to opt out of taking the survey or if taking the survey, they may choose not to answer specific questions.
For more information, please refer to the 2022 YRBS letter and frequently asked questions.
Spring athletics GDRMS Spring 2022 Athletics
Reminders:
Below is a link for the Middle school band concert. Enjoy. https://drive.google.com/file/...
A message from Dee Bus Service. They would like to remind parents that in order for the bus to get their children to school in a timely manner, students should be at their designated bus stop at least 5 min prior to their stop time - they also should NOT be waiting in their cars/houses (no matter the weather) and if they have any questions to please call Erica (978) 448-3322.
Athletics:
New from Athletics-
JOIN THE CRUSADERS YOUTH HOCKEY FAMILY!
Crusaders Youth Hockey is a non-profit, co-ed town hockey program. We proudly serve the communities of Ayer, Ashby, Dunstable, Groton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend and beyond. We offer programs from Learn to Skate/Play all the way to 18U hockey. For over 41 years, CYH has been dedicated to developing on-ice skills and off-ice friendships that last a lifetime!
Player evaluations start March 14th for next season.
Register now using the link below.
http://www.crusadersyouthhocke...
Want to learn more? Visit our Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/crusa...
See you on the ice!
There will be a Volleyball Clinic in March. This is the link for more information. GD Volleyball Clinic
Reminders:
If you wish to reach out to the middle school PTO their email is, gdrmspto17@gmail.com
Health Office update: Just a reminder to parents to please send a copy of your students completed vaccination card to your school nurse. You may scan and email it to them or drop off a copy at their office. Fully vaccinated individuals are exempt from quarantine and testing (test and stay) if they are identified as a close contact.
Sincerely, your Groton Dunstable Regional Middle School Principal Ms. Wendy Salvatore