MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL & MAIN OFFICE NEWS

Trivia Night: Thank you to all of the families and staff that attended our 1^st virtual trivia night on Thursday, March 4^th. It was a huge success!! Congratulations to the 4 families who won Family Game Night themed baskets, and the 4 families who won gift cards for winning trivia rounds. Please stay tuned for another event like this later in the spring!

Spirit Week: March 8th-12th….

School Pictures: Picture retake day will be on Tuesday, March 23^rd (Cohort A) and Thursday, March 25^th (Cohort B). Any RLA students who want to have their pictures taken can come in between 3pm-4pm on either of those days.

NEWS FROM OUR NURSES OFFICE (Nurse Cartwright):

I want to encourage anyone who is interested to participate in covid-19 pool testing here at J. G. Whittier.  Each week, we continue with our covid-19 pool testing for any staff and student who are interested. For those who have turned in a consent form, Cohort A and C are pool tested every Tuesday morning and Cohort B is pool tested every Thursday morning. Pool testing is a tool to help detect any asymptomatic covid cases within our school. Students are able to self-swab in the lower portion of thier nose. So far, students are doing a great job of participating each week, and thanks to family and staff vigilance, we have not identified any positive cases. Should a pool of swab come back positive, students/staff would be retested with our covid antigen testing in the school to determine who in the pool was positive. If you have not completed a consent form but are interested in having your child tested, please fill out both consent forms below, and turn them in to Nurse Kelsey. If you have any questions, I can be reached via email at kelsey.cartwright@haverhill-ps.org

Consent form 1

Consent form 2

With April break approaching, please be advised of the Massachusetts travel guidelines if you plan on travelling outside of the state at all to a high risk state. All guidance can be found at https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order These guidelines are subject to change so please visit this link for the most up to date guidance 

COVID-19 Travel Order www.mass.gov

All visitors entering Massachusetts, including returning residents, who do not meet an exemption, are required to:

• Complete the Massachusetts travel form at the link below prior to arrival, unless you are visiting from a lower risk state designated by the Department of Public Health. As of right now, there are no lower risk states, but this is subject to change.
  • https://www.mass.gov/forms/massachusetts-travel-form

Massachusetts Travel Form | Mass.gov All individuals over the age of 18 and unaccompanied minors entering Massachusetts, who are not coming from a COVID lower-risk state and do not fall within certain, limited exemptions, must complete this form upon or prior to entry to the state … www.mass.gov

• Quarantine for 10 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts.

If your COVID-19 test result has not been received prior to arrival, visitors, and residents must quarantine until they receive a negative test result. If you have received a COVID-19 test result, please send results to the school nurse at kelsey.cartwright@haverhill-ps.org. It can also be faxed to 978-372-5999. 

ATTENDANCE:

CONTEST: JGW is running an Attendance Contest which began on Monday, March 1^st and will be running through Wednesday, March 31^st. The homeroom in each grade (5-8) with the highest attendance percentage for the month will win, and EACH student who has perfect attendance within that homeroom will win an individual prize from the Principal (ie: Large Pizza, Container of their favorite Ice-cream, box of donuts). For students who show major improvement in their attendance throughout the month of March, they can become eligible for prizes as well.

POSSIBLE STRATEGIES FOR GOOD ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

         Please review the list and choose strategies that fit your daily schedule.

• I will make attending and participating in school every day a priority.
• I will post my class schedule of classes and log-in information in a visible location near my desk or on the refrigerator.
• I will set alarms / alerts to remind myself to wake up on time and participate in classes.
• I will try to find a quiet place at home where I can participate in class and complete my school work. If I cannot, I will ask my school or community organization if they have a safe place where I can study and log into class.
• I will keep track of my attendance and absences.
• I will find a relative, friend or neighbor who can help me resolve a problem keeping me from attending or participating in school.
• If I am absent, I will contact my teachers to find out what I missed.
• I will keep healthy by wearing a mask, as needed, and getting a flu shot.
• I will set up non-sick medical and dental appointments for weekdays after school. If I must make a non-urgent medical appointment during the school day, I will try to attend school for the majority of the day.
• When I am struggling with a challenge that is keeping me from attending or participating in school I will confide in an adult at school and seek help.

• ATTENDANCE POLICY AND EXPECTATIONS: Here is a reminder of our attendance policy. In this new model of schooling where students are learning from both school and home, attendance and participation in all classes is one of our major concerns. Here are some things to know and we would greatly appreciate it if you reviewed all of these expectations and policies with your students:

• If you are absent for 10% of the school year, you are considered to be “chronically” absent. That means that if you have missed 4 or more days to this point.
• We have begun reaching out via mail with attendance letters for students that we are currently concerned are missing too much time.
• It is the expectation that all students are either present physically or signed on remotely at 8:30am each day.
• It is the requirement that students attend all of their classes for the duration of the class time. Leaving a meet/class early is equivalent to walking out of class without permission.
• In addition to sending home letters, we will also be setting up attendance meetings with students and families to address concerns and lend support, and in some cases we will be conducting home visits to do this as well.
• The first step toward school success is attendance. You cannot be successful in school if you are not showing up. Please reach out to us so that we can set up a plan to best support you and your student(s).
• Please note that while it is good practice to make your student’s homeroom teacher aware of any absences or appointments, it is most important that you are contacting the main office of the school each and any time that your student is going to be absent. Also, please make sure to forward all doctor’s notes and other absent notes to our main office. Thank you!
  • Please click the link here to be connected to an updated district attendance policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AWglC4E6i12t0XcDfnpZJtOtt-xb8V_RBq4djELxd5g/edit?usp=sharing

• Wi-Fi Issues: If you are having WiFi issues at home and your student cannot log onto a Google Meet at the moment, please email the teacher or call the school so an office staff member can pass the info onto the teacher. Teachers take attendance every period and when a student does not show up for class, they don’t necessarily know that the student is having a tech issue.

PTO UPDATES

Our next PTO meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 3/10 from 6:00-7:30pm via Zoom. We are always looking to welcome new members!

CLUB NEWS:

NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY (NJHS): The NJHS is holding a Popcorn Fundraiser from now until March 16th. Please see the link below, so you can sign yourself up, and help us reach the goal of $1,000. If we reach the goal, The National Junior Honor Society will give the whole school FREE slush at lunch. Also the top 3 sellers will win a $50, $25, or $10 visa gift card. The orders will be delivered on April 5th. If you have any questions before, please email Mrs. MacKinnon. Here is the link where you would register your son/daughter: https://your.mcmfundraising.com/signup/VDF5 

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Haverhill Community Resources Updated March 2021

HYBRID MODEL

GRADE 5:

Mrs. Sanguedolce: In math, we will finish Topic 6 (Use Models and Strategies to Divide Decimals) and have our test.  In social studies, we will finish Chapter 6 (Forming a New Government). We will play some Kahoot games to review for the test.

Ms. Delong: Science – Students are wrapping up their study on Changes to Matter and will be tested on the topic this week. In class, we have completed 2 labs identifying the Law of Conservation of Matter, simply, that matter cannot be created or destroyed. We observed substances in their solid and liquid forms and proved that the weight does not change when phases change. We also mixed matter together to show that weight of a solution is the sum of the individual ingredient’s weights. As a test prep, ask your student about the labs we completed and have them explain what they learned and the process!

Science All-Stars: Aubriella Corcoran (Yellow), Callie McLain (Red), Lillian DesOrmeaux

Social Studies – Yellow Group is doing a phenomenal job working with primary sources and analyzing them like historians! Their attention to detail is impressive and demonstrates their love for history. As we work through the Revolution and Constitution, students are being tasked with making connections to present-day America. We are targeting higher order thinking skills within this unit.

Social Studies All-Star: Hunter Dyment (Yellow)

Mrs. LaCoste: Fifth grade ELA students began our biography studies this week.  We began with the Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses II.  Students identified elements of biography, such as timelines, dates, and important events that took place in the person’s life.  Monday, they’ll be quizzed on important vocabulary, basic facts from the story, and elements of biography.  After studying our next person, we’ll work to compare the two people and their accomplishments.  

In Orange Social Studies, we completed our studies of the Revolutionary War.  Over the next week, we’ll review important people, battles, events, and people involved in the war.  We’ll have a test (on chapter 5) next Thursday or Friday.  

Ms. Lees: Miss Kelly and Miss Lees hope a fifth grade homeroom wins the attendance contest! Students who have been given a LexiaCore5 log-in should be working at least 45 minutes a week in the program. Parents- iReady Math and Reading are also terrific programs use in free time. Remember that Ms. Lees posts on Classroom Pages when she and Ms. Kelly are in a google classroom to help complete assignments and clarify lessons on remote Wednesdays. Please join! Before and after school time is available too – remember to ask! Happy almost Spring!

GRADE 6:

Mrs. Hamel: SCIENCE: We will be starting a new area within our scope of Body Functions: THE CELL! We will be diving into this basic unit of structure of all living things and wondering about the CELL THEORY- explaining the relationship between CELLS and living organisms. We may even create our own CELLS out of yummy things we find at home. Be wary of students raiding your kitchen cabinets!!!

SOCIAL STUDIES: We continue our journey through Southern Africa. We will continue to learn about the people and the history of this wonderous area. As we continue to watch videos and read, we will see the beauty of the wildlife of Africa and notice why people save their money to someday take a Safari through this magnificent part of our World.

Mr. Taylor: Things we hope to accomplish, but as we know, plans can always change. 
We finished our book, Ghost, this week. Onto different things! We will be working on some grammar and starting some persuasive essays. 

Ms. Sargent: We are working on solving simple algebraic equations using multiplication and division. I have also added a Math Antics link to our meets.  This program has amazing videos, practice problems, and answer keys with video explanations.  Students can use this link if they are confused on a topic, or just need some extra practice.  

Mrs. Guisti: Mrs. Guisti and Mrs. Cronin’s students continue to sharpen math and reading skills using iReady, Lexia, and Read Live.  Please make sure your student is doing 45 minutes online for each: reading and for math each week.  In ELA, we finished reading Ghost and are comparing characters in writing.  Small group discussions about the novel have been amazing!  We love hearing our students’ perspectives. In math, we have working on isolating a variable to find the value of the unknown number.  Students are reminded that they are to be working on weekly computation packets for homework.  These packets should be handed in after one week of working on them.  Keep up the good work and we love seeing you attend our 12:05 small group google meet!

GRADE 7:

Mrs. Berthiaume: In ELA, we celebrated our 100th day of school by writing our own personal newsletters, describing what we’d do with $100 and how we would look at age 100 (among other “100” themes).  So much fun!  In Social Studies, we celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday by reading/watching “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” and creating suitcases in Google Drawing, showing where we would like to visit, what we would pack, and why we would want to visit that destination.  An overwhelming amount of us chose warmer climates, of course, since the weather has been so cold!

Mrs. Trombly: Mrs. Trombly’s math classes are finishing up topic 5.  We will be jumping to geometry Topic 8 and concentrating on our priority standards for the year.  Science Classes will be working on Natural disasters.  

Mr. Yanoff: ​Hello to my red and yellow phenomenal groups!  The great news is that teachers are eligible to be vaccinated.  What does that mean for you?  Soon our school and classrooms may begin to look normal.  

Our groups are working on adding and subtracting like terms.  Time to make a huge push to the finish line! We are almost there. Get your notebooks up to date because they will soon be graded.  Work with someone to make sure they are complete. And…remember, I-READY!!!!!

Mrs. MacKinnon/Mrs. Lane: Math: The students are still working on Topic 3.  They have moved onto Lesson 3-2 – Connect Percent and Proportion. They will Solve and Discuss how percent and proportion work together. They will use a proportion to find a percent, the part and the whole.  

Science: The students are working on natural hazards and predictions. For example, the geological events include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and landslides. These examples of this data are typically analyzed and can include the locations, magnitudes, and frequencies of the natural hazard. The students will study which countries are most predisposed to natural disasters, and what extra precautions they can take ahead of time to try and prevent destruction. They will learn how to inference locations while categorizing hazards. 

Ms. DiGloria: This week in Green and Blue English Language Arts, we will. continue with our poem – The Highwayman. We will be focusing on analyzing the poem for its story and poetic elements. In Social Studies, students will be learning about Greek government, including the rise and spread of democracy. Grades close on March 25th, so keep an eye on the Parent/Student portal and check the status of your student’s missing work. 

Ms. Bilmazes: Students have been working diligently in their classes. Make sure to keep up on assignments and ask for help. Yellow group will begin MCAS practice, in preparation for upcoming testing   Green group is completing the annotation of The Highwayman in preparation for a quiz next week.

GRADE 8:

Mr. Lewis: In ELA, we’ve been practicing iReady as well as creative writing. We have been crafting our own stories and have primarily been focusing on perspective and adding relevant detail to make our stories come to life.

In Civics, the students continue to learn about their first amendment rights, specifically freedom of speech. They are completing a small project in which they are expressing their voices appropriately about whether or not they agree with school uniforms.

Ms. Deblasis: In Math, we will be completing our unit on Analyzing and Solving Linear Equations.  The next unit we will be learning is Using Functions to Model Relationships.

In Science, we will be continuing our unit on Structure of Matter.  Specifically, learning about atoms, elements, molecules, and compounds more deeply.  As well as, beginning to study mixtures and pure substances. 

Mr. Blaustein: Green and Blue Civics: We just completed the CH 3 Lesson 1 Our Country’s First Governments in their online text. So, in the coming week we will complete the accompanying Guided Reading as well as take the Quiz. our next Lesson is “Creating a New Constitution”.

Green and Blue ELA: We have begun to read Toni Cade Bambara’s “Raymond’s Run”. We are focusing on using our Claims/Evidence/ Reasoning format for our literary analysis. Remember to check to see if your student is completing their 55 minutes of iReady work each week to be successful in ELA!

Ms. Sullivan: In Math, we will be completing our unit on Analyzing and Solving Linear Equations.  The next unit we will be learning is Using Functions to Model Relationships.

In Science, we will be continuing our unit on Structure of Matter.  Specifically, learning about atoms, elements, molecules, and compounds more deeply.  As well as, beginning to study mixtures and pure substances. 

Ms. Senior: NO UPDATE PROVIDED

SPECIALISTS:

Physical Education: (Mr. Demarais): We will be transitioning from racket skills to volleyball beginning next week.  We will be working on the bump, set, overhand and underhand serve, and overhead hit.  We will also continue to log mileage for our calendars.

Art (Ms. Boulger): NO UPDATE PROVIDED

Health (Mrs. Reynolds):

5th grade – nutrition lessons continue with My Plate activities

6th grade – Tobacco and Vape Unit with a focus on Vape Education

7th grade- Cyberbullying Laws

8th grade – Teen Suicide Prevention

Music (Mr. Gariepy): Hello JGW Friends and Families!! We are just wrapping up watching musicals in all of our classes, and we will be moving on to review games and a final project over the next few weeks. As trimester 2 comes to a close, please remind your child that specials are equally important as all of their other classes. Have a great weekend!!

REMOTE LEARNING ACADEMY

GRADE 5:

Ms. MacDonald: In science this week, students will finish up their topic on changing states of matter. Students will complete their CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) assessment for this topic at the end of the week. 

In social studies, students will take their test on chapter 4. We will review on Tuesday and take our test on Thursday. Please encourage your student to use their assignments, notes, and resources on Google Classroom to study. 

Ms. Duquette: Reading: We are wrapping up our reading of the novel, Hatchet, and will be preparing for the end of novel test.  Students will be provided with a review activity before the test.  We have also been listening to some short stories to celebrate diversity and Women’s History month.

Writing: Students have used their two column notes to write a response to reading essay for the novel.  Students were asked to think about what they had learned about the mistakes that the character, Brian, had made in the novel, that would help them to have a better chance at surviving in the wilderness.  Students are also being challenged to use vocabulary terms that we discuss in class in their writing.

Grammar: We continue to spiral through all of the parts of speech that we have already covered this year.  We will be talking about homophones this week.

Please make sure students are keeping up with their independent work assignments and that they are turning them in. Simple reminders about this at home can help! Also, all students should be putting time into independent reading daily. 

Ms. Spadaro: This week, students reviewed Topic 8 and completed the Topic 8 Assessment. Students were able to complete the assessment over two days and use any notes and resources from our google classroom on the assessment. Scores can be found under “view my work” on google classroom.

Next week, students will continue studying fractions and how they are related to division. Please check in with your child to make sure that they have completed this week’s assignments and that they have posted their notes and work to their virtual notebook. If you child is missing any notes from class, they are also posted on the stream for them to copy!

GRADE 6:

Ms. Consolazio: In social studies class, we will begin a new chapter on early humans and the agricultural revolution.   The first lesson is about hunter-gatherers.  Reminder, to access the textbook please go into ClassLink.  The textbook is red and labeled McGraw Hill. 

In science class, we will continue learning about cells.  Student are learning about stem cells in humans and animals and how to sort organisms based on the types of cells living things contain.  Just a reminder, participation and attendance are very important to be successful in class.  

Mrs. Simes: In math, students continue to work within Topic 4.  This week we will be writing and solving equations that involve fractions, decimals, and mixed numbers, as well as understand and write inequalities.  All students should continue to access their i-Ready individualized paths on Monday and Thursday during Success Block.  Intervention groups continue to meet during the week.  In science, students proudly presented their edible animal cell project. They did a wonderful job!  We have begun to explore our body systems and learn how they work together to maintain homeostasis.  After school help will be on Monday and Thursday from 2:45 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at michele.simes@haverhill-ps.org.  

Ms. Riley: In ELA next week we will continue to work on argument/persuasive writing. We have worked on some different prompts this past week. In a couple of weeks, we will move into a biography unit. 

Please continue to stress to your child the importance of accessing i-Ready every week. The participation with it has been improving! This is a great program and an intricate part of ELA. Class time is also given for the students to work on it to meet the weekly requirement. 

GRADE 7:

Ms. Marciano: ELA: We are finishing our POETRY unit and will have an assessment mid-week. We will be moving into our next unit, NON-FICTION, at the end of the week!

SCIENCE: We are moving into the final unit of Earth and Space Science: Natural Hazards. Students will learn which countries are most predisposed to natural disasters, and what extra precautions they can take ahead of time. 

Mr. LeGrand: Math:  Students will use properties of operations to write equivalent expressions.  They will also learn to combine like terms with integer and rational coefficients. 

Social Studies: We are studying the history of South East Asia.  Students will explore the role trade has played in South East Asia’s history and the impact European colonization has had on the development of South East Asia? 

GRADE 8:

Mr. Harris: Math – We are continuing our dive into linear and non-linear functions.  We are looking at what a function is, and how to tell if you have a function through various representations (tables, graphs, etc).  We will be having a test on Functions at the end of the week of March 8th-March 12th.

Science – We have begun looking at our unit on Human Interaction and Climate Change.  Students are getting a background on Climate Change from everyone’s favorite scientists, Bill Nye!  Students will be able to dive into data to see the effects of climate change on the Earth.

Mr. Marinella: ELA– ELA has been pulling double duty, splitting our focus on two very important things. First, we are still reading “Flowers for Algernon”. Charlie has started to make some growth that we are tracking, but we are also thinking about how he is being treated by others. This week we have also started to look at a new style of writing, Argumentative writing. This is all about making a claim, providing a reason, and supporting that with evidence. We started by thinking about things we are passionate about and arguing for or against an issue. We will continue by looking at how to create a strong argument, how to pick the best evidence, and how to package it up into a great piece of writing. 

Civics– Civics is currently looking at the new additions to the Constitution. The US Constitution is a living document, things are being added/changed/removed all the time. We are focusing on several Amendments that were added to the Constitution that extended rights to many of the different people in the country. Starting with the Amendments that grew from the Civil War, and others that came from the Civil Rights movements. Both groups sought to help give rights to people who needed them, but they also had some unintended consequences that we will be exploring, as well. 

Ms. Blanchette: Students are hard at work learning grade level content. Please note that grades for trimester 2 are closing on March 25. Reach out to a teacher if you have any questions regarding your student’s assignments and grades this trimester. As a reminder, I have extra help sessions throughout the week. You can find more information on my google classroom including extra help session times and schedules. Students should be attending all their google meet classes and completing online assignments. I look forward to another great week in the Remote Learning Academy!

ART: NO UPDATE PROVIDED

Health:

RLA 7th grade – Cyberbullying Unit begins

RLA 8th grade – Violence Prevention Unit begins

SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF

Guidance (Mrs. Vlahos): I am so happy the weather seems to be getting a little more tolerable and it is staying lighter later in the day; I hope you all have been able to get outside each day for some sunshine and vitamin D.  This week is Kindness Week at JG Whittier – what acts of kindness can you share to show your spirit each day?  I continue to be available to connect with and support all students and families throughout the school week via Google Meet, by email and by phone.  If desired, please email me to connect and request a check in and I will coordinate a meeting with you.  I look forward to working with you all in supporting you in having a healthy, safe, and successful school year! 

Student Support Coordinator (Mr. Newell): I am available for help with chrome books, attendance concerns and everything in general. Please contact me at jonathan.newell@haverhill-ps.org

Student Adjustment Counselor (Mrs. Midolo): Next week topic will be on “Conflict Resolution”.

 Whether it’s with friends, siblings, classmates or adults, sometimes when you disagree with someone, you can feel angry, or frustrated and the disagreement can turn ugly and hurtful very quickly. 

Next week’s lesson will cover true-to-life, age- appropriate scenarios, demonstrating five ways to disagree and be respectful: Stay calm, don’t make it personal, be considerate of other’s feelings and ideas and communicate by using I-statements and good listening skills.

Have a great weekend!

Middle School Support Program (Mrs. Leydon & Mr. Diffin): Hard to believe that we have already passed 100 days of school! As always please keep checking Google Classrooms for all classes to ensure all work is being completed and to continue coming to our MSSP groups! We are continuing to talk about the importance of going to classes on time and leaving classes on time while working remotely. Google has timers that can be set from the Chromebook to set between classes as a prompt. Please reach out with any questions or concerns!

Parent Liaison (Ms. Arias-Reyes): Quiero dejarles saber que continúo estando disponible para ayudar a las familias de JGW. Si tienen alguna pregunta o preocupación no duden en contactarme.  Mi número de teléfono es (781) 666-4085 y la dirección de correo electrónico es maria.ariasreyes@haverhill-ps.org. 

Student Support Center (Mrs. Greenwood): We had another busy week here in the SSC. Students are utilizing the supports and we love to see it! The SSC is available for both in school and remote learning days. Please log on the classroom page for more details. Have a great weekend!

Reading Coach/Interventionist (Mrs. Guthrie): Welcome back!! We are so excited to welcome back Mrs. Leslie Hecht as our Title 1 Reading teacher. Leslie is a veteran teacher from JG Whittier who decided to come out of retirement. She is working with the students in ELA and Social Studies on their writing and comprehension skills. She is a wonderful addition to our school.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18Mlquwu3MhXKEdL7eFeNtZdjD-mmdRQY/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12TEeiRirwV7VfQAS6e3-fm10XAYTbwdL/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QGogouz6HFSvRd5xiuNGEbuKmj-i1Aht/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BukFadgPIwSt_5rdrwYJjI8MIS8ZQQeR/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HR0BGO92yjtllQT9Jh-LR8HDUiNXYqbq/view?usp=sharing

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL & MAIN OFFICE NEWS

JGW’s 1st VIRTUAL FAMILY TRIVIA/GAME NIGHT: JGW will be hosting a virtual trivia night via zoom on Thursday, March 4th from 7-8pm. Please see the attached flyer for details and sign up to participate on the following link (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc9J3NQyNDwySXjhYzR7ABRYYqSIAVZtlbXM8YPakDYhsyItw/viewform?usp=sf_link) We hope to see everyone there!

School Pictures: Picture retake day will be on Tuesday, March 23^rd (Cohort A) and Thursday, March 25^th (Cohort B). Any RLA students who want to have their pictures taken can come in between 3pm-4pm on either of those days.

NEWS FROM OUR NURSES OFFICE (Nurse Cartwright):

I want to encourage anyone who is interested to participate in covid-19 pool testing here at J. G. Whittier.  Each week, we continue with our covid-19 pool testing for any staff and student who are interested. For those who have turned in a consent form, Cohort A and C are pool tested every Tuesday morning and Cohort B is pool tested every Thursday morning. Pool testing is a tool to help detect any asymptomatic covid cases within our school. Students are able to self-swab in the lower portion of thier nose. So far, students are doing a great job of participating each week, and thanks to family and staff vigilance, we have not identified any positive cases. Should a pool of swab come back positive, students/staff would be retested with our covid antigen testing in the school to determine who in the pool was positive. If you have not completed a consent form but are interested in having your child tested, please fill out both consent forms below, and turn them in to Nurse Kelsey. If you have any questions, I can be reached via email at kelsey.cartwright@haverhill-ps.org

Consent form 1

Consent form 2

ATTENDANCE:

CONTEST: JGW will be running an Attendance Contest beginning on Monday, March 1^st and running through Wednesday, March 31^st. The homeroom in each grade (5-8) with the highest attendance percentage for the month will win, and EACH student who has perfect attendance within that homeroom will win an individual prize from the Principal (ie: Large Pizza, Container of their favorite Ice-cream, box of donuts). For students who show major improvement in their attendance throughout the month of March, they can become eligible for prizes as well.

POSSIBLE STRATEGIES FOR GOOD ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

         Please review the list and choose strategies that fit your daily schedule.

• I will make attending and participating in school every day a priority.
• I will post my class schedule of classes and log-in information in a visible location near my desk or on the refrigerator.
• I will set alarms / alerts to remind myself to wake up on time and participate in classes.
• I will try to find a quiet place at home where I can participate in class and complete my school work. If I cannot, I will ask my school or community organization if they have a safe place where I can study and log into class.
• I will keep track of my attendance and absences.
• I will find a relative, friend or neighbor who can help me resolve a problem keeping me from attending or participating in school.
• If I am absent, I will contact my teachers to find out what I missed.
• I will keep healthy by wearing a mask, as needed, and getting a flu shot.
• I will set up non-sick medical and dental appointments for weekdays after school. If I must make a non-urgent medical appointment during the school day, I will try to attend school for the majority of the day.
• When I am struggling with a challenge that is keeping me from attending or participating in school I will confide in an adult at school and seek help.

• ATTENDANCE POLICY AND EXPECTATIONS: Here is a reminder of our attendance policy. In this new model of schooling where students are learning from both school and home, attendance and participation in all classes is one of our major concerns. Here are some things to know and we would greatly appreciate it if you reviewed all of these expectations and policies with your students:

• If you are absent for 10% of the school year, you are considered to be “chronically” absent. That means that if you have missed 4 or more days to this point.
• We have begun reaching out via mail with attendance letters for students that we are currently concerned are missing too much time.
• It is the expectation that all students are either present physically or signed on remotely at 8:30am each day.
• It is the requirement that students attend all of their classes for the duration of the class time. Leaving a meet/class early is equivalent to walking out of class without permission.
• In addition to sending home letters, we will also be setting up attendance meetings with students and families to address concerns and lend support, and in some cases we will be conducting home visits to do this as well.
• The first step toward school success is attendance. You cannot be successful in school if you are not showing up. Please reach out to us so that we can set up a plan to best support you and your student(s).
• Please note that while it is good practice to make your student’s homeroom teacher aware of any absences or appointments, it is most important that you are contacting the main office of the school each and any time that your student is going to be absent. Also, please make sure to forward all doctor’s notes and other absent notes to our main office. Thank you!
  • Please click the link here to be connected to an updated district attendance policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AWglC4E6i12t0XcDfnpZJtOtt-xb8V_RBq4djELxd5g/edit?usp=sharing

• Wi-Fi Issues: If you are having WiFi issues at home and your student cannot log onto a Google Meet at the moment, please email the teacher or call the school so an office staff member can pass the info onto the teacher. Teachers take attendance every period and when a student does not show up for class, they don’t necessarily know that the student is having a tech issue.

PTO UPDATES

Our next PTO meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 3/10 from 6:00-7:30pm via Zoom. We are always looking to welcome new members!

CLUB NEWS:

NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY (NJHS): The NJHS is putting on a school fundraiser selling popcorn.  If we reach our goal school-wide, the NJHS would love to provide free slush to all students at lunch time in May.  Here is the link where you would register your son/daughter https://your.mcmfundraising.com/signup/VDF5  If you have any questions, please contact me at lmackinnon@haverhill-ps.org and I can help you get set up.  

Thank you for your help! Our next meeting will be Wednesday March 3 at 3 pm. 

JR VIP: With our HHS Mentors, we are studying Diversity and Equity in school and society.

JGW CHORUS CLUB: Chorus meets every Wednesday after school from 3:00pm to 3:45pm on Mr. Gariepy’s Google Classroom. If your child is interested in joining Chorus please email him at robert.gariepy@haverhill-ps.org so he can add them to the Google Classroom.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Haverhill Community Resources Updated January 2021

HYBRID MODEL

GRADE 5:

Mrs. Sanguedolce: In math, we will continue Topic 6: Use Models and Strategies to Divide Decimals. In social studies, we will continue Chapter 6: Forming a New Government. We will learn about life in the late 1700s after the Revolutionary War.

Ms. Delong: Science – Students have been exploring the impact that changes to matter have on weight. They are also applying the law of conservation of matter through demonstrations.

All-Stars: Hunter Dyment (Yellow),  Deanny Veloz (Red), Jonzel Contreras (Orange)

Social Studies – One theme this year has been the bias that is shown in political realm. We have looked at current biases with news outlets and are applying those skills to judge primary sources used by Patriots and Loyalists. Students are doing a great job in their deep dive into materials created in the late 1700s!

All-Star: Saige DeJesus (Yellow)

Mrs. LaCoste: Your fifth-grade writers have been working diligently on their informative writing pieces over the past two weeks.  They’ve researched, organized, drafted, and done their best to perfect their 5 paragraph essays.  Ask them about what they wrote about!  They should be able to tell you at least 3 subtopics for their chosen topic.  Most students will complete the assignment by the end of the week, but some may need to fine tune theirs into next week.  Once complete, we’ll move on to study biographies.  I did my best to include some mini-biographies this week to celebrate Black History month- but we’ll dive in deeper next week!

Orange Social Studies:  We’ve been studying the foundation of our country and how it became the United States in 1776, during the Revolutionary War.  The students have studied different battles and important figures in this historical time. Ask your student if the “Declaration of Independence” is still important today.  Also- ask them where it was signed!

Don’t forget to sign up for Trivia night!  We’re hoping to see many families participate!  

Ms. Lees: Miss Kelly and Miss Lees are excited to see which fifth grade homeroom wins the attendance contest! Students who have been given a LexiaCore5 log-in should be working at least 45 minutes a week in the program. Parents- iReady Math and Reading are also terrific programs use in free time. Remember that Ms. Lees posts on Classroom Pages when she and Ms. Kelly are in a google classroom to help complete assignments and clarify lessons on remote Wednesdays. Please join! Before and after school time is available too – remember to ask!

GRADE 6:

Mrs. Hamel: SS: We are now traveling down to South Africa where we will learn about blood diamonds, poaching and apartheid. We will look at the beautiful geography of this area and how it affects the lives of the people living in these countries. We will even travel over to the beautiful island of Madagascar and hopefully see some funny clips from the movie!!!

Science: We are continuing to take a deeper look into Body Systems; cells, tissues, organs and organ systems. We are investigating the question of  “Why can you not function properly without one of your body systems?”  It has been very interesting to see the ins and outs of the body and how truly amazing we really are!

Mr. Taylor: Things we hope to accomplish, but as we know, plans can always change. 

We will finish our book, Ghost, this week. We will also be working on some grammar and hopefully starting some persuasive essays. 

Ms. Sargent: We have been learning about variables, coefficients, and constants.  We have also been using the distributive property of multiplication to solve algebraic equations.  I’m sure if you ask, your child might have a great song to sing about constants!!!

Mrs. Guisti: Mrs. Guisti and Mrs. Cronin’s small group continues to receive support online when at home at 12:05.  Please encourage your child to attend!  This week we have worked on math concepts such as the distributive property.  In ELA we continue to work on analyzing characters in the novel Ghost.  Our small group continues to practice reading skills when applying decoding rules and using online reading programs.  Students, remember to do your 45 minutes of online reading and 45 minutes of online math iReady each week.

GRADE 7:

Mrs. Berthiaume: In ELA, students read the novel Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. In-person students had the book in hand, while remote students had access to it online.  The story, written in free verse, is about a boy who gains a new appreciation for poetry (the unit we’re currently working on).  Tuesday, March 2, is the 100th day of school, so we will be doing a special activity for this occasion. It is also Dr. Seuss’s birthday on Tuesday, so there will be something interesting to do in Social Studies class!  

Mr. Yanoff: ​The return from vacation can be a huge letdown, but Spring is approaching quickly! Red and Yellow groups are trying to shed the rust as we continue our work on the Distributive Property and complete the 7th Grade Benchmark.  You people have shown a lot of resiliency and many of you are putting in 110% effort.

Mrs. MacKinnon/Mrs. Lane: Math: The students will be finishing topic 3-2.  They will be analyzing percents as numbers. Students will be able to represent percents as ratios. They will be using bar diagrams to represent percent situations and use equivalent ratios to find percents. Students will also work with percents greater than 100 and less than 1.

Science: The students will be finishing up geoscience processes and moving into natural hazards predictions.  The kids like this topic a lot because they can relate to it and the lessons are in real time.  In this unit children will be making predictions into which countries are most predisposed to natural disasters, and what extra precautions can they take ahead of time?  We will be watching videos about natural disasters and how they could be prevented, or how people could evacuate and lessen the death rate toll when they happen.

Thank you, Mrs. MacKinnon and Mrs. Lane

Ms. DiGloria: This week, students in Blue and Green ELA will be reading The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, a narrative poem. We will be practicing our annotation and analysis skills through this poem over the course of the week. In Social Studies, we will be focusing on a broad overview of Greek history, starting with working on timeline skills and then diving into the lives of the early Greeks. 

Ms. Bilmazes: Students have transitioned back from vacation mode to school mode. Make sure to keep up on assignments and ask for help. Yellow group will be continuing to work on poetry and begin MCAS practice, in preparation for upcoming testing   Green group has completed poetry and is beginning nonfiction. 

GRADE 8:

Mr. Lewis: In English, we have started reading To Build A Fire by Jack London. In this story, an inexperienced traveler braves the wilds of the Yukon Territory. We have been practicing the top-down chart, a graphic organizer that becomes increasingly more detailed as we complete it. In addition, our focus for this story is studying conflict, primarily character vs. nature and character vs. self. 

In Civics, we are beginning the chapter on our Bill of Rights. This week’s focus is on the first amendment, in which we will be specifically looking at freedom of religion and speech. When we are finished with reading the chapter, we will read a Supreme Court case in which they interpret our freedoms.

Ms. Deblasis: In Math, we will be continuing our work on analyzing and solving linear equations. Specifically, we will be working on understanding the y-intercept of a line.

In Science, we will be continuing our unit on Structure of Matter looking at atoms, elements, molecules, and compounds more in depth. 

Mr. Blaustein: Green & Blue ELA: I anticipate we will be taking our “A Retrieved Reformation” test on Wednesday, March 3. So, we will reschedule our iReady session for Thursday.

We begin our next story “Raymond’s Run”, on Friday, March 5. 22021.

Green & Blue Civics: We will take the Chapter 2 Test this Friday 2/26. We will begin [Chapter 3] our formal study of The Constitution Monday, March 1, 2021.

Ms. Sullivan: In Math, we will be continuing our work on analyzing and solving linear equations. Specifically, we will be working on understanding the y-intercept of a line.

In Science, we will be continuing our unit on Structure of Matter looking at atoms, elements, molecules, and compounds more in depth. 

Ms. Senior: The final week of February brought with it Slope Intercept Formula and finding the Y axis in Mathematics.  In ELA, the Jack London work “To Build A Fire” was still on the burner as grade 8 students sharpened their skills to support claims with evidence.

SPECIALISTS:

Physical Education: (Mr. Demarais): We will be continuing with our racket skills unit followed by a volleyball unit. Please continue to dress for the weather as we will continue to begin each class with a one mile walk outside. 

Art (Ms. Boulger): Red Grades 5/6/7/8   

ART classes Orange 5/6, Blue 7/8, Green 7/8    

The students are working on individual art projects based off of written proposals and pieces are coming out amazing! If your child needs supplies such as paper, watercolors, crayons, markers, please contact her and she will arrange to have art supplies available.  Please remind students to bring in completed Home assignments to put on display.   

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ms.Boulger at emily.boulger@haverhill-ps.org

Artwork by Ashley Garcia

Health (Mrs. Reynolds):

grade 5- We are beginning a new Unit on Nutrition that will cover my plate and the 5 food groups for the first 2 classes this week.

grade 6 – We are beginning a new unit on Smoking and Vaping and the dangers of both.

grade 7 – We are beginning a new unit on Cyber Safety, Cyber Bullying and Internet Smarts for Teens

grade 8 – We are continuing on in our Mental Health Unit, with a focus on Teen Depression warning signs, risk factors and symptoms.

Music (Mr. Gariepy): Hi JGW Friends & Families!! I hope everyone had a great vacation. Over the next few music classes we are wrapping up the musicals we are watching in class. Please make sure that your child is answering the questions and finishing the assignments to the corresponding musicals that they are watching in class. They should also be attending class when they are at home during their normal class times. If anyone has any questions, feel free to email me at robert.gariepy@haverhill-ps.org

Techonology (Ms. Boulger): Yellow Grades 7/8    

Students are currently learning about safety and technology as well as working on technical skills. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ms. Boulger at emily.boulger@haverhill-ps.org    

REMOTE LEARNING ACADEMY

GRADE 5:

Ms. MacDonald: Science- We have exciting stuff going on in science this week! Students are learning how matter changes. After seeing how matter can physically change, students will also get to see how matter can chemically change. I will be mixing certain substances on camera for the students so that they can see chemical reactions. I love this topic because it is a lot of fun for students! If students are interested in re-creating any of my labs from this week and last week at home, please reach out to me via email and I can explain the procedures! 

Social studies- Students have transformed into jurors in our class. They are sifting through various types of evidence (articles, testimonials, and pictures) to understand both sides of the Boston Massacre. Students will decide this week if the British Soldiers are guilty or not guilty!

** Please remember that a daily work checklist is posted each day in the stream section of all your child’s Google Classroom pages. Please go over this each day with your student. 

Ms. Duquette: Reading: We are coming to the end of the novel, Hatchet. Students have been doing a wonderful job with working on story vocabulary and application of reading skills through our class discussions. Our current focus is on the cause and effect relationship as we analyze this section of the novel.

Writing: Students have started to fill in a two column notes organizer to gather information that will be used to answer an essay question after we finish reading the novel.

Grammar: We continue to spiral through all of the parts of speech that we have already covered this year and this week we added conjunctions.

Please make sure students are keeping up with their independent work assignments and that they are turning them in. Simple reminders about this at home can help! Also, all students should be putting time into independent reading daily. 

Ms. Spadaro: This week, students have reviewed multiplying fractions by whole numbers, fractions, and mixed numbers in preparation for the Topic 8 Assessment next week. Students have been given extra time in class to complete missing assignments. Please check in with your child to make they have completed any missing work. 

Students have access to Reflex Math, which is a fun game-based platform to practice math fact fluency.  It is critical for students to know their facts as concepts are becoming more complex. Please encourage your child to use this platform both in and out of class!

GRADE 6:

Ms. Consolazio: In social studies class, we will be finishing chapter 3 lesson 3.  Students will have an assessment on chapter 3 lessons 1-3 next week.  I will do a review on Quizizz the day before the assessment.  Reminder, to access the textbook please go into ClassLink.  The textbook is red and labeled McGraw Hill. 

In science class, we will continue learning about cells.  Students will learn about plant and animal cells and the differences between unicellular and multicellular organisms.  Just a reminder, participation and attendance are very important to be successful in class.

Mrs. Simes: I hope that everyone enjoyed their February Vacation!  

In math, students have completed the district’s math benchmark for Grade 6. We continue to work within Topic 4 and will begin to write and solve one-variable equations.  All students should continue to access their i-Ready individualized paths on Monday and Thursday during Success Block.  Intervention groups continue to meet during the week.  In science, students will be presenting their edible animal cell project.  Then, they will begin to explore our body systems and how they work together to maintain homeostasis.  After school help continues on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 2:45 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at michele.simes@haverhill-ps.org.  

Ms. Riley: In ELA next week, we will work on argument writing. This will last for approximately two weeks or so. After that, we will move into biographies. We did finish working on our character unit. The students did a great job!  We will touch base upon all topics covered at the end of the year. Please continue to ensure your child is accessing i-Ready. In addition, please have your child contact me if they are missing assignments so we can make arrangements to complete them. Not all assignments are on Google Classroom, so it would be appreciated if you could access SchoolBrains as well. 

GRADE 7:

Ms. Marciano: ELA: We will wrap up our poetry unit by reading and analyzing “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou. Students will be able to discuss the rhyme scheme, similes, metaphors, and theme of the poem.

SCIENCE: We have started Unit 8: Geoscience Processes. Students will discuss and learn how the Earth has changed over time.

Mr. LeGrand: Math:  This week, we will continue our focus on writing and evaluating algebraic expressions and using algebraic expressions to represent real-world and mathematical situations.  Please encourage your student to spend a minimum of 45 minutes per week working on i-Ready. 

Social Studies:  Last week, we started our study of the physical geography of Southeast Asia.  This week, we will take a closer look at the individual countries that make up the subcontinent of Southeast Asia.   

GRADE 8:

Mr. Harris: Math – We have begun our unit on Functions!  Students are focusing on learning what a function is and how to identify it, along with the different ways to represent them (tables, graphs, equations)

Science – We are finishing up our unit on Earth Materials, and will be moving into our study on Natural Resources and Earth Systems.  This unit has a strong focus on our climate and climate change, and will involve a project (done in class).

Mr. Marinella: ELA– ELA has been pulling double duty, splitting our focus on two very important things. First, we are still reading “Flowers for Algernon”. Charlie has started to make some growth that we are tracking, but we are also thinking about how he is being treated by others. This week we have also started to look at a new style of writing, Argumentative writing. This is all about making a claim, providing a reason, and supporting that with evidence. We started by thinking about things we are passionate about and arguing for or against an issue. We will continue by looking at how to create a strong argument, how to pick the best evidence, and how to package it up into a great piece of writing. 

Civics– Civics is currently looking at the new additions to the Constitution. The US Constitution is a living document, things are being added/changed/removed all the time. We are focusing on several Amendments that were added to the Constitution that extended rights to many of the different people in the country. Starting with the Amendments that grew from the Civil War, and others that came from the Civil Rights movements. Both groups sought to help give rights to people who needed them, but they also had some unintended consequences that we will be exploring, as well. 

Ms. Blanchette: Middle schoolers are continuing to learn grade level curriculum. Students should continue to attend google meet classes and complete their online assignments. Extra help sessions are offered daily to assist students with completing their assignments. Check my google classroom for more information. Please reach out with any questions or concerns. I look forward to another great week in the Remote Learning Academy!

ART: Orange and Purple Grades 7/8   

The students are working on individual art projects based off written proposals and pieces are coming out amazing! If your child needs supplies such as paper, watercolors, crayons, markers, please contact her and she will arrange to have art supplies available.   If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ms.Boulger at emily.boulger@haverhill-ps.org 

Artwork created by Halie Purington 

Health: grade 7- Beginning a unit on Cyber Safety, Cyber Bullying and Internet Smarts for Teens

grade 8 – Starting a unit on Violence Prevention

SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF

Guidance (Mrs. Vlahos): The virtual interviews for high schools continue and I am so proud of all the 8th grade applicants that have interviewed so far!  Essex Tech interviews are March 4th Haverhill High School CTE interviews are Tuesday March 2nd.  All applicants scheduled to interview have been given their interview appointment times and join links. We have been doing lots of practice and I am confident any 8th grade student interviewing will do well- Best of luck!  Any questions regarding interviews please contact me by email at jvlahos@haverhill-ps.org.

I continue to be available to connect with and support all middle school students and families.  Please do not hesitate to reach out via email at jvlahos@haverhill-ps.org.  I look forward to continued work with all students in support of having a healthy, safe, and successful school year! 

Student Support Coordinator (Mr. Newell): I am available for help with chrome books, attendance concerns and everything in general. Please contact me at jonathan.newell@haverhill-ps.org

Student Adjustment Counselor (Mrs. Midolo): Great job to my student leaders this week who ran our social groups like the SUPERSTARS that they are. 

Next week we will focus on “Setting Boundaries”.   

To most students, boundaries are the lines drawn between states or nations. Your child will also learn that boundaries also pertain to relationships—rules that tell us what we can and can’t do. We will discuss how boundaries apply in families, school, and society. 

We will also talk about the types of rules pertaining to boundaries, for example—rigid (hard-and-fast), clear (firm but appropriate), and fuzzy (inconsistent or nonexistent). 

As always, if you have any questions/concerns, please feel free to reach out @ tmidolo@haverhill-ps.org

Middle School Support Program (Mrs. Leydon & Mr. Diffin): Hope everyone had a good week back after vacation! Please remind your children to continue to check all their Google Classrooms including their MSSP one daily for any and all updates. We have been talking in groups about time management and how arriving to class on time and leaving on time are very important. If they need a short break in between classes/meets to please remind them to set a timer on their chromebooks. Reach out to us with any questions or concerns.

Parent Liaison (Ms. Arias-Reyes): Quiero dejarles saber que continúo estando disponible para ayudar a las familias de JGW. Si tienen alguna pregunta o preocupación no duden en contactarme.  Mi número de teléfono es (781) 666-4085 y la dirección de correo electrónico es maria.ariasreyes@haverhill-ps.org. 

Student Support Center (Mrs. Greenwood): We had a busy week in the SSC. Students are utilizing the supports and we love to see it! The SSC is available for both in school and remote learning days. Please log on the classroom page for more details. Have a great weekend!

Reading Coach/Interventionist (Mrs. Guthrie): It has been a pleasure to view the accomplishments of the students in intervention classes. I am thrilled to see the amount of participation and involvement the students are showing! Starting this week, we have a new “Donut Ding-dong Ditch” competition! Ask your student about it!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OYYFkxuNnCvSOn9pBGNAxQIhSVE5mudX/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K_XIa3yw3C35fRUclcFsZGprnM1jrq3I/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CZ5nEmaqY9fxjQkS6srZnw_E_dGoJFLd/view?usp=sharing