Principal’s Weekly Update (3/29-4/2)

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL & MAIN OFFICE NEWS

  • NO SCHOOL FRIDAY APRIL 2ND: GOOD FRIDAY
  • ATTENTION NEW JGW APPARELL STORE: Whittier will be starting an on-line school store!  It will open on Friday, April 2nd and will only be open for 2 weeks.  You can order t-shirts, shorts, hoodies, sweat pants and light fleece pull overs in gray or Whittier green with JGWs logo. Keep an eye out for the link in next week’s Principal’s Update!
  • Report Cards are available via the Parent/Student Portal starting on the afternoon of Thursday, April 1st. 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:
  • Go to HPS main page: https://www.haverhill-ps.org/
    • 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
  • Teachers will be emailing home an electronic form acknowledging that parents have reviewed their student’s report card. Could you please make sure to fill that form out and submit it by Friday, 4/23/2021 at the latest.
  • Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled to be held remotely on the evening of Tuesday, 4/6/2021. Staff will be sending detailed information to families in regard to signing up for meetings. Please stay tuned…

RETURN TO SCHOOL: At this time we are planning to have all 5th & 6th grade students back on Monday, April 12th and 7th & 8th grade students back on Monday, April 26th (Please see the district calendar attached below):

      
 Monday, April 5Tuesday, April 6Wednesday, April 7Thursday, April 8Friday, April 9
            Phase 1All K and Grade 1 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs  – In Person   Cohort C – In Person   Cohort A Grades 2-12 In Person   Cohort B Grades 2-12 Remote   Moody – Continues with their two day programAll K and Grade 1 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs – In Person   Cohort C – In Person   Cohort A Grades 2-12 In Person   Cohort B Grades 2-12 Remote   Moody – Continues with their two day programAll K and Grade 1 Full In Person   Remote Day – Grades 2-12All K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs – In Person   Cohort C – In Person   Cohort B Grades 5-12 In Person   Cohort A Grades 5-12 Remote   Moody – Continues with their two day programAll K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs – In Person   Cohort C – In Person   Cohort B Grades 5-12 In Person   Cohort A Grades 5-12 Remote   Moody – Continues with their two day program
      
 Monday, April 12Tuesday, April 13Wednesday, April 14Thursday, April 15Friday, April 16
          Phase 2              All K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and All Grades 5, 6 and 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C – In Person   Cohort A Grades 7-11 In Person   Cohort B Grades 7-11 Remote   Moody – Continues with their two day programAll K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and Grades 5, 6 and 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C – In Person   Cohort A Grades 7-11 In Person   Cohort B Grades 7-11 Remote   Moody – Continues with their two day programAll K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and Grades 5, 6 and 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C -K-6 & 12 In Person    7-11 Remote   Cohort A Grades 7-11 Remote   Cohort B Grades 7-11 – Remote   Moody – Continues with their two day program  All K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and Grades 5, 6 and 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C – In Person   Cohort B Grades 7-11 In Person   Cohort A Grades 7-11 Remote   Moody – Continues with their two day program  All K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and Grades 5, 6 and 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C – In Person   Cohort B Grades 7-11 In Person   Cohort A Grades 7-11 Remote   Moody – Continues with their two day program  
      
 Monday, April 19Tuesday, April 20Wednesday, April 21Thursday, April 22Friday, April 23
   V  A  C  A  T  I  O  N  V  A  C  A  T  I  O  N  V  A  C  A  T  I  O  N  V  A  C  A  T  I  O  N  V  A  C  A  T  I  O  N  
      
 Monday, April 26Tuesday, April 27Wednesday, April 28Thursday, April 29Friday, April 30
            Phase      3All K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C – K-12 In Person   Moody – Continues with their two day programAll K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C – K-12 In Person   Moody – Continues with their two day programAll K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C – K-12 In Person   Moody – Continues with their two day program  All K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C – K-12 In Person   Moody – Continues with their two day programAll K, Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Full In Person   Greenleaf Academy and T.E.A.C.H. Programs Full In Person   Cohort C – K-12 In Person   Moody – Continues with their two day program

APRIL VACATION ACADEMY:

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 is running an Attendance Contest which began on Monday, March 1st and will be running through Wednesday, March 31st. 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 (i.e.: 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!
  • 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, 4/14 from 6:00-7:30pm via Zoom. We are always looking to welcome new members!

JG Whittier PTO is now listed as a charity on AmazonSmile.  What does this mean?  You shop. Amazon gives. Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service. Support your charitable organization by starting your shopping at smile.amazon.com. Please support JG Whittier PTO by using the following link when you shop,  https://smile.amazon.com/ch/90-0135139 or by selecting John Greenleaf Whittier PTO as your charity of choice.

AmazonSmile customers can now support John Greenleaf Whittier Middle School PTO in the Amazon shopping app on iOS and Android mobile phones! Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile and start generating donations.

  1. Open the Amazon Shopping app on your device
  2. Go into the main menu of the Amazon Shopping app and tap into ‘Settings’
  3. Tap ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process

If you do not have the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app, update your app. Click here for instructions.

To see the impact of your marketing, visit the AmazonSmile Metrics Dashboard for John Greenleaf Whittier Middle School PTO. Simply log in at org.amazon.com and click the “View metrics” button.

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION INFORMATION: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13zdBbJSDGzowCHcyW_SWjq20-jVdUoqrt1Vm8IQLRLo/edit?usp=sharing

CLUB NEWS:

NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY (NJHS): Thank you to all that participated in the popcorn fundraiser it was a huge success! The school made over their anticipated goal, which means EVEYONE will enjoy a free slush at lunch time on the National Junior Honor Society.  Please stay tuned for more details.  I also want to congratulate our top 3 sellers:   Taylor LaRoche, Gavin Gaetano, and our top seller Alyssa Giarrusso great job and stay tuned for your prize!  Our next meeting is Wednesday March 31st at 3 pm.  

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

HYBRID MODEL

GRADE 5:

Mrs. Sanguedolce: In math, we will continue to work on Topic 7:  Use Equivalent Fractions to Add and Subtract Fractions. In social studies, we will continue to explore Chapter 7:  A Growing Nation.

Ms. Delong: Science – Next week we will be starting a brand-new topic that is very relevant to today’s world in science: human impact! First, we will be completing a unit on the Water Cycle to give us some context for an upcoming engineering design project. I want to stress the importance of having students attend all science classes when they are remote as we do a lot of labs that are difficult to recreate at home, and typically there is a writing piece associated with the lab.

Social Studies – We are investigating the problems of the Articles of Confederation and will be discovering the improvements made in the Constitution. It was not an easy process! Students will need to answer our essential question: how does the Constitution help us understand what it means to be an American?

Mrs. LaCoste: This week in grade 5 ELA students have been writing biographies on a person of their choice.  They researched that person’s life, took notes on important events, created a timeline, and have begun their essay writing.  The expectation is they’ll complete the essay mid-week, next week. 

In Orange Social Studies, the students have been working hard on understanding what happened to our country after the Revolutionary War.  We learned why government wasn’t successful under the Articles of Confederation and what went into creating the Constitution.  Students are also learning the basics about the 3 branches of government.  Ask them what they’ve learned!  

Ms. Lees: In ELA Orange group students will finish their biography writing piece. In Math, we continue with fractions – onto mixed numbers. For Social Studies they will continue to learn about building a new government and country. In Science – there will be a test on Unit 8. 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 to 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: Science: We continue our journey into the life of a Cell. This week we focus on the Anatomy of a Cell. Students have been given the task of creating a 3-D cell labeled cell!! There are cupcakes at stake, so you may see some of their best work yet!! Ask your students about the famous Amoeba Sister Videos- they have become a crowd favorite.

As we wrapped up our Cell City projects last week, I want to congratulate this group of 6th Grade Scientists on some truly remarkable work… KEEP IT UP as we enter trimester 3!

Social Studies: This past week we are wrapping up our work in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands. We’ve learned so much about this rich in history area and discovered so many things we never knew about the history of the Aztecs and the Mayans. We even took some time to research the history of the Day of the Dead and made some cool masks!

We will now head south into South America and our first stop is Brazil- the world’s 5th largest country! We will focus on how the Amazon River, their abundant forests and tropical climate, as well as their diverse population. We will even take some time to watch some “football” (soccer) games as Brazil’s national team is recognized as one of the best in the world ~Seleção Brasileira de Futebo​l

Mr. Taylor: Things we hope to accomplish, but as we know, plans can always change. 
Onto similar things! We will continue to be working on grammar and finishing up our persuasive essays. We may start our entry into mythology to practice other skills while reading some interesting stories.

Ms. Sargent: Grade 6 Math:  This week we worked on independent and dependent variables.  Independent variables “cause” the dependent variable to change.  We will be moving on to looking for patterns using input/output tables and writing a rule that applies to the table.  Students have been enjoying the nice weather.  I can’t wait to be able to have some learning time outside in the sunshine!!!

Mrs. Guisti: Mrs. Guisti’s and Mrs. Cronin’s students have been adding details to their multi-paragraph writing and editing their paragraphs for sentence structure and organization for our ELA persuasive essays.  In math, we have continued to build on basic skills while working on weekly computation packets.  We began identifying dependent and independent variables in math word problems and the kids have had some great ideas when discussing the examples.  Let’s keep up the good work and start quarter 4 on a positive note!

GRADE 7:

Mrs. Berthiaume: In ELA and Social Studies, we are studying ancient Greece.  We are reading and writing myths in ELA, while learning the geographical and historical aspects in Social Studies.  Don’t forget the April 1st deadline for the Northern Essex Community College Peace Poetry Contest.  If you need the information again, please ask me.  Keep up the great attendance, Room 12! We have a shot at winning the homeroom attendance contest!  

Mrs. Trombly: Mrs. Trombly‘s math class is continuing their work in their geometry unit. We are working on constructing triangles and learning about angles.  Science classes started a new unit on the water cycle and will be working on this unit for the next two weeks.  

Mr. Yanoff: ​Grades are closed!  What would you do differently this last trimester to improve yourself?  It is never too late or too earlier to make a plan. Did you take notes?  Have god attendance?  Ask questions?  Complete your assignments?

Yellow and Red groups have just completed Solving Inequalities and are beginning “Drawing Inferences About Populations”.  Students will decide how math plays a part in decision-making using World Problems.

Mrs. MacKinnon/Mrs. Lane: Math: Grades are getting ready to close.  Please ask your students if they have completed all of their work? The students will move onto Topic 4-2 and learn how to generate equivalent expressions. .  

 Science:  Grades are getting ready to close.  Please ask your students if they have completed all of their work? The students have moved onto the water cycle.  They will discover why the Earth is called the Blue Planet!

Ms. DiGloria: This week in Blue and Green ELA, we will be continuing our work with informational texts. We will be practicing identifying text structure and different features of informational texts. In Social Studies, students will finish their Athens/Sparta brochure project and we will move on to learning about the Persian Wars. Now that we are in Trimester 3, the slate is fresh and students should work on keeping up to date so they do not fall behind. 

Ms. Bilmazes: Grades have officially come to a close. Start off trimester 3 by keeping up with assignments, working diligently and asking for help.  Yellow group is continuing to work on MCAS practice, consisting of multiple choice and essays, in preparation for upcoming testing   Green group is working on nonfiction. 

GRADE 8:

Mr. Lewis: In English, we have finished our essay and have begun reading John Steinbeck’s The Pearl. Unfortunately, the book cannot be taken home with each student, but there is an online version available on our Google Classroom. Please check the stream. There will be multiple quizzes assigned with each reading, which we will complete mainly together.

In Civics, we have started the basic research on our projects. The goal of this project is for students to pick an area/topic in government in which they are interested in and write about how government can either fix it or improve upon it. Final projects will include a letter and a Google slide presentation.

Ms. Deblasis: In Math, we are continuing to study our unit on Using Functions to Model Relationships. Specifically, this week, we will construct functions to model linear relationships.

In Science, we are continuing our unit on Structure of Matter.  We are studying the physical and chemical properties of matter. 

Mr. Blaustein: Green & Blue ELA: We begin term 3 by reading and analyzing “Mark Twain’s Cub Pilot on the Mississippi”. This story is a vehicle for discussing bullying and fairness in the workplace as well as literary analysis.

Green & Blue Civics: We will take the last quiz [4] in Ch 3 The Constitution. We will be spending most of the week reviewing vocabulary , an exercise in primary sources and a Chapter summary as well as other assignments in preparation for our Chapter test.

The Chapter test will be the following week. We will then turn our attention to the District required Document based essay.

Ms. Sullivan: In Math, we are continuing to study our unit on Using Functions to Model Relationships. Specifically, this week, we will construct functions to model linear relationships.

In Science, we are continuing our unit on Structure of Matter.  We are studying the physical and chemical properties of matter. 

Ms. Senior: Happy end of Term 2.  ELA students are finishing “Raymond’s Run” and picking up Steinbeck’s “The Pearl”.  Mathematics students are working on linear and non-linear equations and comparing terms.

SPECIALISTS:

Physical Education: (Mr. Demarais): We are transitioning to outdoor activities for our final trimester.  Please dress for the weather and be prepared to walk a mile to start each class.

Art (Ms. Boulger): The art teachers of HPS is collecting artwork created by students, either at school or at home to put together a virtual art exhibit. If you have any artwork that you would like to submit any artwork please send photographs to Ms.Boulger at emily.boulger@haverhill-ps.org    

Artwork by Pablo B

Health (Mrs. Reynolds): beginning new units with an intro to Health lesson for all with class expectations.

Music (Mr. Gariepy): Hello JGW Friends and Families!! Thank you ALL so much for your continued support in recognizing that Specialist classes are just as important as every other class in the building. FUN FACT: studying the arts at a young age can help reduce disciplinary infractions, improve scores in standardized testing, improve overall empathy for others, increase students’ drive to be successful, and so much more (https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2019/02/12/new-evidence-of-the-benefits-of-arts-education/). 

Please continue to support the arts by making sure that your child realizes the importance of our classes. The past trimester was especially rough in terms of getting assignments in on time. With students returning to a 5-day-a-week schedule, remind them that they are expected by all of us adults to do the work, on time, when it’s assigned to them. We want to make sure that everyone is on the same page in terms of realizing that music, art, etc. are equally as important to succeed in as math, science, etc. Have a great weekend!!

REMOTE LEARNING ACADEMY

GRADE 5:

Ms. MacDonald: We are coming to the end of our lesson about Mixtures which means we have made it through another unit! Students will begin reviewing for our Physical Science Unit test this week. I have no doubt our students will do well because they have absolutely loved this unit! We will take our unit test on Monday, April 5th. 

In social studies, students will be doing Reader’s Theatre this week to learn about the Declaration of Independence. Your child could be Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Frankling, or George Washington! We will analyze the Declaration of Independence to understand why this document is still so meaningful to us today! 

Ms. Duquette: Students will be continuing their work with studying biographies.  We will be reading, A Crafty Escape.  It is the story of William and Ellen Craft, a married couple who disguised themselves to escape slavery.  Students will work on identifying elements of a biography as well as summarizing to understand the text.  Some of our key content vocabulary for this book are abolitionist, bounty hunters, complicated, conductor, disguised, flee, fugitive, segregated, and vouched.  Students will be using these words in their discussions and writing about this book. We will also continue with our daily grammar practice.  Students have been identifying and applying their knowledge of the many parts of speech and how they work together to form complete, detailed sentences.

Just a reminder:  All students should be reading independently for at least 20 minutes each day.  This is critical to their development as readers.

Ms. Spadaro: This week, students completed Topic 11 and took the Topic 11 Assessment. Students worked cooperatively in groups to find the volume of solids made up of rectangular prisms.  It was critical for students to know their math facts to complete these problems. They can practice their facts each day using Reflex Math! 

GRADE 6:

Ms. Consolazio: In social studies class, we are starting a new chapter on Western Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.  We will begin with Western Asia.  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 all the different body systems.   Just a reminder, participation and attendance are very important to be successful in class.  

Mrs. Simes: In math, students will complete Topic 4 this week, by analyzing the relationships between dependent and independent variables.  They will show their understanding of the various lessons within this topic by completing an assessment on Thursday.  All students should continue to access their i-Ready individualized paths on Monday and Thursday during Success Block.  Also, intervention groups continue to meet during the week.  In science, students demonstrated, “how our hand moves” with an activity.  This week, we will explore, “how the circulatory, muscular, and respiratory systems work together to allow us to breathe.”  After school help will be 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.  Have a nice weekend.

Ms. Riley: Happy Spring! As you are aware, grades closed yesterday and report cards will be issued next week.  We will continue to work on biographies through next week. As a reminder, it is important that your child be on time to each google meet. It is expected that they stay on the meet for the whole class. Participation is needed on a constant basis as well. This is especially important in the remote learning academy. We are on the downslope now going into the third term! Where did this crazy year go?

GRADE 7:

Ms. Marciano: ELA: Students will be choosing a topic for their short persuasive essay, where citing text evidence will be the focus. 

SCIENCE: We will be starting Unit 10: The Water Cycle. Students will be building upon previously learned information (from 5th and 6th grade) and dive deeper into what happens in the atmosphere during the water cycle.

Mr. LeGrand: Math:  Students will know how to find common factors of linear expressions using the Distributive Property and recognize factoring is the opposite of expanding expressions. 

Social Studies:  We are wrapping up our study on Southeast Asia.  Students will be assessed on their knowledge of the physical geography, history, and life in Southeast Asia.  Please encourage your child to attend all his/her classes regularly.     

GRADE 8:

Mr. Harris: Math – We are continuing our function work.  We have been focused on Modeling Linear Functions, and will have our quiz on that topic early in the week.  After that we move into Intervals of Increase and Decrease, where we will have functions that move in multiple directions.

Science – We have just finished up our unit on Climate Change.  We are moving into our unit on Chemical Reactions, where students will learn some of the basics of Chemistry, starting with how matter is structured.

Mr. Marinella: ELA– ELA is finishing up our latest story, “Flowers for Algernon”. We have a few more sections left before we finish and get into our next text. We have also completed writing a long essay, many students created a great piece of argumentative writing that they should be proud of! We have one term left, let’s keep up the great work and get off on the right foot for Term 3!! 

Civics– Civics has just started a big assignment, The Civics Project! Students will find and research an issue that they are passionate about. Over the next few weeks, we will be researching, creating a slide show, finding solutions, and making change in our community. Check in and what your student is working on. This project is dense and falling behind can get you in a deep hole. Stay focused and find something you care enough about to keep that focus! 

Ms. Blanchette: Students continue to engage in appropriate grade level curriculum. Trimester 3 begins next week. Please ensure your student is attending their google meets and is working on their online assignments. As a reminder, please check my google classroom for information on extra help sessions. Please reach out with any questions or concerns. Have a great week!

ART: The art teachers of HPS is collecting artwork created by students, either at school or at home to put together a virtual art exhibit. If you have any artwork that you would like to submit any artwork please send photographs to Ms.Boulger at emily.boulger@haverhill-ps.org     

Artwork by  Parker B.

Health: RLA grade 7 – Cyberbullying Prevention lesson

RLA grade 8 – Violence Prevention lesson #2

SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF

Guidance (Mrs. Vlahos): 8th grade students and families, 

During the week of 3/29 Mrs. Vlahos will be meeting with 8th grade students to explain the course registration process for Haverhill High School. Your child will receive the grade 9 student course request information to be completed by 4/9. All 8th grade students are expected to complete the course registration form even if they do not plan to attend Haverhill High School if high school plans change. 

For any parents /guardians of 8th grade students that have questions or want to connect about the Haverhill High School course registration process, feel free to join Mrs. Vlahos for an optional drop in Q&A session:

Thursday,  4/1 from 12-1pm (link to join): https://meet.google.com/iry-bthf-opd?hs=122&authuser=0

There will be a second drop in Q&A session offered on 4/6 during Parent Teacher Conferences, the time and join link will be forthcoming.  


Also, please do not hesitate to reach out to me via email. I continue to be available to connect with and support all students and families throughout the school week via Google Meet, 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 continued work with you in support of 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 we will focus on the meaning of Assumptions and how we can misinterpret other’s intentions. The lesson introduces a simple ethical framework of the 4 Awesome Questions: Is it true?  Is it fair? Will it build better friendships and community? Will it be helpful to those involved?   This lesson provides audio that is paced with the text and follows up with open-ended questions to promote Social Emotional Learning and Critical Thinking.

Please continue to encourage your child to attend our weekly social groups. The link and times to “google meets” can be found on our google classroom page. 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me @ tmidolo@haverhill-ps.org.

Stay safe and be well!

Middle School Support Program (Mrs. Leydon & Mr. Diffin): Great to see all the students putting great effort into getting all their assignments passed in before grades closed! As always, please remind your child to check their Google Classrooms and we look forward to seeing them for our daily/weekly group time in the MSSP! 

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): The time is approaching fast for students to all return to school! We are so excited to have you all back.Until then, please continue to access SSC support and ask Ms Greenwood and Ms Christine for whatever you need to continue being successful. Grades closed today so Monday is fresh start for everyone! Have a great weekend 

Reading Coach/Interventionist (Mrs. Guthrie): Literacy News

5th grade intervention students have been working on fluency. Check out the Flipgrid they made! They are making great progress. 

The 6th grade classes have been working on persuasive writing, focusing on the differences between revising and proofreading. 

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. Have a great week.