Principal’s Weekly Update (12/14-12/18)

Posted on December 11, 2020

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL & MAIN OFFICE NEWS

  • At this week’s School Committee meeting, the committee voted to continue in this reduced hybrid learning model through January 15th and returning to the original Hybrid model on January 19th.  Following are the specifics for JGW:
  • K-8 Cohort C Students will attend Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday – with remote learning on Wednesdays.  
  • K-8 Cohorts A and B will be fully remote Monday through Friday.

School Committee will review the situation again on January 14th to discuss learning models beyond January 15th.

Thank you for your understanding during this very difficult time.

  • Grades Close for Trimester 1 on Tuesday, December 15th.
  • Report Cards will be available via the Parent/Student Portal on the afternoon of Wednesday, December 23rd. Please note that physical copies of the report card will not be coming home with students or mailed home. Please follow these directions to gain access:
    • Click on Parent & Student Resources
    • Click on Parent & Student Portal Login
    • Click Log-in
    • Use your student’s username & password to login
    • Click on Student Portal (top of page)
    • Select Report Cards/Progress Reports
    • Click Download
  • Wednesday, December 23rd is a half day for students.
  • Winter break is from December 24th-January 3rd.

NEWS FROM OUR NURSES OFFICE (Nurse Cartwright): Please remember to send in a copy of your child’s influenza vaccine into the school nurse. The new state mandate requires that all students, regardless of remote or hybrid learning, receive an influenza vaccine for the current school year by December 31st. If you have any questions about exemptions or where how to send it paperwork, Nurse Kelsey can be reached at kelsey.cartwright@haverhill-ps.org

  • 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!
  • 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, 1/13 from 6:00-7:30pm via Zoom. We are always looking to welcome new members!

COOKIE FUNDRAISER: Please see the flyer below for cookie pick-up instructions.

CLUB NEWS:

NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY (NJHS): Thank you to all that participated in the meadow farms fundraiser!  Our next meeting will be Wednesday January 20 @3pm. 

MODEL UN NEWS: We are meeting this Tuesday at 3:15 on Google Meet to continue working on our position papers. Committees will work in breakout rooms to plan their fourth paragraphs and identify alliances. Our meeting will go until 4:15pm. Keep up all the hard work! We a little more than a month out from our conference!

JR VIP: Jr. VIP will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, December 15th at 3:00 remotely after school.  Our HHS Mentors will be there to present a workshop on leadership skills.  You don’t want to miss it!!

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

Please click on the link in order to be connected to some community resources which may prove helpful during this holiday season: https://www.haverhill-ps.org/haverhill-community-programs/

HYBRID MODEL

GRADE 5:

Mrs. Sanguedolce: In Math, we will finish up Topic 3, Fluently Multiply Multi-Digit Whole Numbers, and we will take the test. Then we will begin Topic 4, Use Models and Strategies to Multiply Decimals. In Social Studies, we will continue to explore Chapter 4, The Road to War. We will learn about the various conflicts between the English, French, and Native Americans in North America.

Ms. Delong: Science: We are turning our attention to Matter Cycles this week by studying decomposers and discussing composting. Our goal is for students to be able to explain the flow of matter through an ecosystem. This will wrap up our first bundle in Science. After break, we will be starting our bundle on Matter.  Ask your student about decomposers and to describe some of the examples we have talked about in class.

Science All Stars: Aubriella Corcoran (Yellow), Ellie Paris (Red), Thomas Colon (Orange)

Social Studies (Yellow): Our class has been working on a research project to show the differences between Pilgrims and Puritans. Groups have been formed and each student has a research role to investigate. It’s been nice to see the kids able to collaborate and work together even when not in the same room together. Ask your student about their role and what they have learned so far!

Social Studies All-Star: Julia Bourque

Mrs. LaCoste: We’re making a ton of progress in fifth grade ELA.  By the end of next week, we’ll complete our novel, How to Steal a Dog.  Most students have really enjoyed the story.  We’ve added adverbs to our list of parts of speech that we’ve identified and practiced writing.  After our winter holiday break, students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding of the parts of speech that we’ve covered.  This week, students practiced their friendly letter writing by writing a letter of advice to the main character in our novel.  They had some really interesting ideas to share with her!  After our novel completion, we will focus on writing for a few weeks as to provide some continuity with lessons.  

In Orange Social Studies, students are completing their studies on the original 13 colonies.  Their unit test will be on Monday, December 14.  Remember, grades close on December 15, so remind your students to check in their Google Classrooms for missing work and notes from me regarding assignments!

Ms. Lees: Ms. Kelly and Ms. Lees are with Orange and Red groups reading “How to Steal a Dog” and wondering how Georgina’s plan is going to unfold. Students have moved on in parts of speech to adjectives – so important in making writing interesting. Those students who have been given LexiaCore5 log-in with instructions how to use should be working at least 45 minutes a week in the program. In Math – We will continue and increase fluency and following the steps with multi digit multiplication. Please remember that Ms. Lees posts on Stream Pages and announces in our subject classroom meets when she and Ms. Kelly are in a google classroom to help with assignments and clarify lessons on remote Wednesdays. Please join! Before and after school time is available too.

GRADE 6:

Mrs. Hamel: Science: Our grade 6 scientists continue their journey to understanding Thermal Energy. We have been discussing the difference between endothermic and exothermic reactions while watching experiments and coming up with our own examples. Next stop: build a snowman and see what happens as he absorbs energy from the sun on a warmer day. Perhaps he will need a magic hat to come back!!!

Social Studies: Grade 6 explorers have moved into Northern Africa and stopping in Egypt. We are discovering the advances the Egyptians made as a civilization and how those advances have impacted our world today.

Next week, we will take a break from our text book and begin a holiday project. Students will be given a “Celebration from Around the World” to research and present their findings to the class. We will be learning all about Ramadan, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Diwali, Christmas, & Chinese New Year. We are excited to see how others celebrate important days and compare and contrast those to the ones we each celebrate. Should be an Enlightening Week!

Mr. Taylor: We will continue our great work on our narrative writing piece using all the resources we have discussed. The material to refer to is always in the Google Classroom. 

Ms. Sargent: Hello!  In Math, Grade 6 is finishing up on LCM and GCF.  Your child has been provided with many different strategies on how to find the least common multiple or greatest common factor of a group of numbers.  The beauty of math is  whatever strategy works for them, that is the one they choose.  There are always many different ways to solve the same problem.  Next week we will begin writing and evaluating numeric expressions and equations.  This should look familiar to many as we have been practicing this exact topic on our weekly packets.  As always, a quiet space with the least amount of distractions is the best learning environment for all!  Thanks again for all your help with keeping cameras on during instruction.

Mrs. Guisti: Students who work with Mrs. Guisti and Mrs. Cronin have been working on “word work” (decoding skills) as well as narrative writing with adding dialogue, sensory details, and transitions during the drafting process.  In math we continue to work on LCM and GCF and identifying the processes of how to get to the correct one (Multiples – more/ Factors – few).  Please note that the 12:05 online support class is a great way to get extra help especially during this time where we have been fully remote.  

GRADE 7:

Mrs. Berthiaume: In ELA, we continue to study Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.  Students wrote about whom THEY would like to meet from the past, present, and future. (Scrooge didn’t have a choice!) In Social Studies, students are learning about East Asia and enjoyed a BrainPop activity involving Lunar New Year celebrations and festivities!

Mrs. Trombly: Mrs. Trombly’s math class is finishing up topic three we will be jumping into topic four, expressions next week. Science classes are finishing up relationships in ecosystems. Please make sure all work is in as grades close next week. 

Mr. Yanoff: ​The red and yellow classes have been working on a variety of strategies to solve proportions. From using enVisions, to watching videos.  We are working with real-life problems and the importance of statisticians. Classes start off with students completing tasks on I-Ready.  We are incorporating positive working habits into quiz grades. Students that complete over 120 minutes of assignments per week, earn a bonus quiz grade. We are looking forward to the second trimester now that we all know what to expect. 

Mrs. MacKinnon: In math this week we will be dividing complex fractions and using unit rates to simplify.  This will all be found in topic 2.2.  Students can begin to use calculators again if they have them at home.  

In Science, we are on our second to last unit in ecosystems.  The students will be learning about both natural and man-made disasters and how they impact Earth both negatively and positively.  We will be discussing oil spills, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc… along with deforestation and the impact of wildfires it can have on the planet.

Ms. DiGloria: Coming up on Week 14! This week, students in Green and Blue ELA will be writing our first long essay. This will be about A Christmas Carol, and students will work on this all week. It will be due Friday, and the grade will go on Trimester 2. For Social Studies, students will start the week by working on a mini project about Chinese inventions, and will close the week by picking a topic (from a list) to focus on for a short writing assignment. We will finish that in Week 15. As always, please get in touch if you have any concerns. 

Ms. Bilmazes: Despite the remote setting, students are continuing to strive to attend meets and complete assignments. Good job! Students should continue to work on making up missing assignments, as grades are closing in a few short weeks.  Students in the yellow group have begun reading The Christmas Carol,  and the students in the green and blue groups are finishing up the story.  Reach out for help. We are here!!!  Have a great weekend.

GRADE 8:

Mr. Lewis: In English, students have learned the basics techniques of persuasion and relevant vocabulary. We have analyzed movie clips and advertisements to identify the basic principles of persuasion. We now begin a persuasive essay, “The Problem With Television”.

Civics class has spent time learning about the ancient cultures responsible for influencing early American government. In addition, students are learning about the unique characteristics of each regional colony (northern, middle, southern) and the specific reasons that caused the relationship between the colonies and England to deteriorate. 

Ms. Deblasis: Math: This week we will be continuing our lesson with operations in scientific notation.  This will complete our unit on real numbers. Please be sure to check School Brains, the term ends Tuesday.

Science: This week we will be starting our unit on Earth’s Materials.  We will start the unit by learning about plate tectonics. Please be sure to check School Brains, the term ends Tuesday.

Mr. Blaustein: Green & Blue ELA: We are studying the relationship between fiction and nonfiction. We are finishing up “The Baker Heater League” notes and comprehension questions, our nonfiction piece. We will then read and analyze “The 11:59” as our companion fictional piece.

Green & Blue Civics: We have completed all four lessons in Chapter One as well as the Guided Readings and Quizzes in our online Line McGraw-Hill textbook. We have begun the Chapter One Inquiry Journal which will serve as our “recap” as we prepare for the Chapter One Test.

Ms. Sullivan: Math: This week we will be continuing our lesson with operations in scientific notation.  This will complete our unit on real numbers. Please be sure to check School Brains, the term ends Tuesday.

Science: This week we will be starting our unit on Earth’s Materials.  We will start the unit by learning about plate tectonics. Please be sure to check School Brains, the term ends Tuesday.

Ms. Senior: It’s lonely here without the majority of the students… In ELA exciting things are happening: students are being exposed to how advertising tries to persuade consumers to buy, buy, buy!  Other ELA news: Baker Heater League is giving students perfect practice in reading comprehension via note-taking and organizing their thoughts. Exponents still rule in Mathematics as students convert decimals into scientific notation and back again. Instruction is live online and short videos round out the lessons to help cement the concepts for students to use.

SPECIALISTS:

Physical Education: (Mr. Demarais): Hopefully, we will be back in the hybrid model next week.  If so, we will be continuing with our hockey unit as well as playing some outdoor field games.  Please dress for the weather as we will continue to be going outside as much as possible.  

Students working remotely should be doing the workouts and challenges as well as logging workouts in their calendars.

RLA students should be getting in touch with me using the turned in section in the classroom assignment tab.

Art (Ms. Boulger): For the first half of this week, we are finishing up projects of trimester one and students are also learning about clay/ pottery techniques. Starting Wednesday we are starting trimester two with a new group of students. All students will be meeting for art online. Even though they are home, they are still required to attend art class. 

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

artwork created by Savanna Gauron and Elodie Bonfigioli

Health (Mrs. Reynolds): Health classes will be finishing up their units next week with unit review games and activities.  Please make sure all of your assignments are completed in google classroom for Health classes. both in the RLA and in the Hybrid program.

Music (Mr. Gariepy): NO UPDATE PROVIDED

REMOTE LEARNING ACADEMY

GRADE 5:

Ms. MacDonald: This coming week we’ll be working on finishing up some topics in both science and social studies. Make sure to check in with your kiddo to make sure they are not missing any work as grades come to a close. If you have any questions be sure to email me! 

Ms. Duquette: We will continue to work on our focus of informational text.  This week’s objectives include:

  • Visualizing to understand text
  • Understanding and identifying cause and effect relationships
  • Describing information provided by photographs (text feature)
  • Recognizing and using adjectives
  • Understanding and using content vocabulary

The book that our lessons will be centered around is titled, Temperate Deciduous Forests.  This informational text will provide students with some background knowledge that is needed before we start our next class novel, after the holiday break.

As a reminder, please encourage your child to be in their class meets on time and that they are working in a place that limits distractions.  I have noticed a dip in participation from some students and it is important to stay on track in order to not fall behind.  Many students have also needed consistent reminders about completing work.  There will be an update to my missing work policy after the holiday break in an effort to improve student responsibility and work completion.

Ms. Spadaro: This week, students continued to practice division of 4-digit dividends by 1-digit divisors.  Students learned a division dance to help them remember the steps of long division. Next week, students will divide 4-digit dividends by 2-digit divisors. Students have also had extra time to work on missing assignments. All missing assignments from Trimester 1 should be submitted by December 11th for credit.

GRADE 6:

Ms. Consolazio: In social studies class, we will continue working on chapter 3 planet Earth.  We will also review and  work on document based questions. 

In science class, we will continue thermal energy.  Students have been learning about exothermic and endothermic reactions.   

Mrs. Simes: In math, we will be completing Topic 2, as they find the perimeter of polygons on a coordinate plane.  Students will complete the assessment for the topic this coming week.  In science, students have begun Unit 4 – Thermal Energy in Chemical Reactions. Students are learning about how chemical reactions result in processes that release energy or absorb energy utilizing demonstrations and videos.  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, please do not hesitate to contact me at michele.simes@haverhill-ps.org.  Have a great weekend.

Ms. Riley: In ELA we will continue to work on analyzing the craft of illustrators and authors.  We just completed books that were written and illustrated by S.D. Nelson. We will continue to focus on theme and mood though our readings. Next, we will be studying the author Cynthia Rylant. In addition, I have been working diligently with the literacy coach. This has been a great experience for myself as well as the students. Students have also been working on i-Ready reading and Learning A-Z. Both of these on-line programs are excellent for the children to grow as readers. 

GRADE 7:

Ms. Marciano: ELA: We have started reading Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. Students will focus on elements of drama, tone, and recalling details from the drama. As we complete “A Christmas Carol”, students will write a short essay about the lessons Scrooge learns from each ghost. This assignment will have students focus on citing text evidence.

Science: We have started Unit 4 and students just completed a drawing of a food web. This week, we will complete the Hook, take notes using a Power Point about the flow of energy in ecosystems, and watch the content connections video.

Mr. LeGrand: Math:  We are wrapping up our study on ratios, rates, unit rates and proportional relationships.  .  Please encourage your student to complete all their assignments on time, and to make up any missing assignments.   

Social Studies:  We are continuing our study of East Asia.  Students will be able to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate information about East Asia. 

GRADE 8:

Mr. Harris: Math – we are continuing our dive into solving equations.  We are finishing up multi-step equations which use the distributive property and will then focus on equations that have none, one, or multiple solutions.

Science – we have started looking at our unit on Predicting the Weather.  We will take a look at meteorologists, the effect that landforms can have on weather, and more.

Please make every effort to support your child in this environment.  Many students are beginning to skip out on classes or on their work.  While this is a difficult time for all, attendance and participation are the pillars upon which success is built.

Mr. Marinella: ELA– This week, as we wind down the term, we are finishing our first long-form essay. This essay is the result of multiple classes, students were writing one part per day so this was a manageable writing assignment, but the due is Friday 12/11. This essay is about how the main character of our novel has changed throughout the book. Ask your student about their evidence or to show you some of their writing! 

Civics– The class is moving into understanding the different pieces of our government, starting with the 3 Branches. This week focused mostly on the Legislative and Executive Branches! 

Reminder: the term is coming to an end quickly. I encourage all parents and students to be checking SchoolBrains for accurate and up-to-date grade info and missing assignments. SchoolBrains is the better option, compared to Google Classroom, for grade and assignment info.

Ms. Blanchette: Students in the Remote Learning Academy are engaged in learning grade level curriculum. Grades will be closing for trimester 1 next week, please ensure your student is completing their assignments and attending google meets. Students should also be checking “Ms. Blanchette’s Online Google Classroom” for updates, extra help sessions and schedules for small group google meets. Please reach out with any questions or concerns. I look forward to another great week in the Remote Academy!

ART:

Grades 5, 6  

Art 6 Purple RLA is scheduled meet with their art teacher Ms. Bailey every Tuesday 4th period from 12:10- 12:55  

Art 5 Purple RLA is scheduled to meet with their art teacher Ms. Bailey every Wednesday 4th period from 12:10- 12:55  

For more information about 5 and 6th RLA art classes you can email Ms. Bailey at Marguerite.bailey@haverhill-ps.org  

Grades 7, 8  

RLA Art classes 7/8 Orange, 7/8 Purple   

Orange 7/8 and Purple 7/8 RLA art meet every Friday at 12:15 on Google Meets.  We are currently working on master projects created, designed and implemented by each student individually in multi media. 

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

Artwork created by Parker Bowman Nadeau and Jose Vasquez Ortiz 

SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF

Guidance (Mrs. Vlahos): Haverhill High School sent out information in the mail to all 8th grade families this week.  The applications for Classical Academy, Biomedical Science, and the Career Technical Education (CTE) Program will be available on the HHS website and are due January 15th, 2021.  If your child is planning on applying to Whittier Tech or Essex Tech, please apply online by December 21st if possible.  Any 8th grade student applying to private schools should contact me as soon as possible.  If you have any questions, please let me know.  I continue to be available to check in with all students through 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.  Email contact: jvlahos@haverhill-ps.org

Student Adjustment Counselor (Mrs. Midolo): Next weeks topic will focus on “Sympathy vs Empathy”. Please be sure to have your child check our google Classroom Page and Look for assignments and updates on Social Groups, which are held on Wednesdays. Please make sure that your child attends in order to receive the proper credit.  Have a great weekend.

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

Middle School Support Program (Mrs. Leydon & Mr. Diffin): Thank you for everyone who checked in and participated in group! Please make sure to check all Google Classrooms for missing assignments to get them in before grades close on the 15th. We are very proud of how hard everyone has been working! As always, please reach out to us if you need any help or have any questions.

Parent Liaison (Ms. Arias-Reyes): Sí necesitan a alguien que hable español para que los ayude a comunicarse con el personal y los profesores de sus hijos. Pueden contactarme directamente al 781-666-4085 o enviarme un correo electrónico a maria.ariasreyes@haverhill-ps.org. Estoy aquí para ayudarlos siempre.

Student Support Center (Mrs. Greenwood): The SSC will be touching base with student homes over the next few weeks to check in and make sure you guys are all getting what you need. We miss everybody so much and can’t wait to see you all in person as soon as we can! Send us emails to let us know how you’re doing, we love to hear from you. Have a good weekend and be ready to finish up all of your assignments as grades are closing soon. We will talk with you soon, have a great weekend!

Reading Coach/Interventionist (Mrs. Guthrie): Literacy News: Next week our intervention groups will start. I will be coming into rooms to help with students in all grades. Don’t forget that extra help sessions are available for all students 5-8 via Zoom Monday, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Your students just need to email me before the end of the day so I can send them the google meet link. Have a great weekend.