MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL & MAIN OFFICE NEWS
Please see the attached flyer: March for Peace – Oct 2nd
PICTURE DAY: Tuesday, October 5th is picture day for our students. I have included a link with details and ordering information here: https://www.barksdalestorefront.com/shop/login/?ac=1001092IN
1st Annual Pumpkin Walk: Come and join us and help participate and make our 1st Annual Pumpkin Walk an amazing event!! Please see the attached flyer for all of the information:
First Annual Whittier Pumpkin walk
HAVERHILL PUBLIC SCHOOLS HANDBOOK (K-8): Please click on the link below to be connected to our up to date handbook for grades K-8: https://www.haverhill-ps.org/hps-student-handbook/
WATER BOTTLES: Please make sure that your student(s) are bringing a water bottle to school every day. We do have filling stations that you can use throughout the day. At this time we are out of cups due to the volume of students that are asking on a daily basis. It would be greatly appreciated if students brought in their own water bottles to make sure they remain hydrated throughout the day. Thank you.
MASKS: As we continue to adhere to the Massachusetts’s State Mandate that all people (students, staff, visitors) are required to wear a mask in the school building, we ask that you please send your student’s to school with a spare mask. Many students have been breaking their masks and need new one’s throughout the school day. We would appreciate families sending students with an extra mask each day. Thank you!
Chromebooks: PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR STUDENT IS COMING TO SCHOOL DAILY WITH THEIR CHROMEBOOKS FULLY CHARGED. THANK YOU!!
JGW Chromebook Policy
We understand that “things happen” and from time-to-time students will forget to charge their Chromebook or leave it at home. Unfortunately, this is becoming a habit for some students and is happening far too often overall. Students were made aware at the beginning of the school year that the expectation is for ALL students to bring their fully-charged Chromebook to school each day.
The supply of extra Chromebooks is limited. Because of this, we are implementing a borrowing policy here at JGW for Chromebooks and chargers. Students who forget their Chromebooks, bring them to school uncharged, or do not return a borrowed Chromebook the same day will be given consequences as follows:
First Offense: Student will be issued a warning
Second Offense: Parents/Guardians will be called
Third Offense or More: Student will be given after-school detention
**These consequences will reset for all students each trimester.
If a student loses or damages a Chromebook or charger and the student needs to be issued another device, the family will be charged a fee for the replacement. Typically, the Chromebook replacement fee will be $199.00 and the charger replacement fee will be $39.00.
It is very important for students to come to school with charged and functioning Chromebook. The devices are used in most, if not all classes; including music and art. We are asking families to be partners with the JGW in this, and remind your children to charge their Chromebooks and bring them to school every day.
School Start Time: Please be aware that the school day begins at 8:30am sharp. If you drop your students off to school please make sure that they are arriving by 8:25am to avoid being late. Feel free to begin dropping students off at any time after 8:05am. We appreciate your attention to this matter.
Attendance: A reminder to all families that if your student will be absent for the day, please make sure to call the main office (978-374-5782) to notify the school. Thank you.
Buses: All students must produce a bus pass in order to ride a regular bus. We are no longer taking attendance in the afternoon upon students getting on the bus. That makes it very important that students are paying attention in the afternoon for their buses to be called in order to not miss their bus.
Dress Code: We receive many questions about our school’s dress code. We would ask that all families please review the Haverhill Public Schools Dress Code Policy with their students in order to ensure that it is properly being followed. Thank you for your attention to this. Please find a copy of the HPS Dress Code Policy below:
PTO UPDATES
Our JGW PTO is launching our 2021-2022 cookie fundraiser with Adrenaline Fundraising from October 8th to October 25th. Please click the link below to see the prizes and stay tuned for more information:
_ JG Whittier Cookie Fundraiser Prizes 2021
2001-2022 PTO Meeting Dates · September 8th · October 13th · November 10th · December 8th · January 12th · February 9th · March 9th · April 14th · May 11th · June 8th
SPORTS:
SOCCER: The next soccer matches for both boys & girls are scheduled for Thursday, October 7th at Nettle
CROSS COUNTRY: Our season is now in full swing! Runners are working hard to build endurance, working together to improve at each practice. A meet schedule will be coming out soon!
CLUB NEWS:
DANCE TEAM: It’s finally here- our First Week of JGW’s first ever- Dance Team. Dance team practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays after school until 4pm. I am so incredibly excited to begin our dances and am thrilled at the interest for our Team.
NO dance experience is necessary to be on team- so come to Room 9 after school on October 5th to hear what we are all about!! I promise you will not only learn the art of dance, but you will create lifelong memories!! See you all soon~ Mrs. Hamel
DISCOVERY CLUB: Discovery Club Flyer 2021-2022
NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY: We will be having our first meeting this Wednesday October 6th in room 11 from 2:45-3:45. This is our first meeting of the year so please make every effort to attend.
JR VIP: There will be a Jr. VIP meeting after school on Tuesday October 5 from 2:45 to 3:45 pm. We will meet our HHS mentors and talk about all our upcoming fall events.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CLUB: DnD club will be meeting next tuesday, 10/5, in room 13. This week our focus is character creation!
Willy Wonka Jr.: Mr. Gariepy is still looking for Oompa Loompas and ensemble cast members to join the cast. If you’re interested, please see Mr. Gariepy in the Cafeteria at school or email him at robert.gariepy@haverhill-ps.org
NEWS FROM OUR NURSES OFFICE:
The nurse would like to continue encouraging students to bring a water bottle to school for hydration; they can use our water fill-up stations throughout the day! Also, like always, please do not send your student to school with any cold-like symptoms. If you have any questions about specifics, please feel free to call me!
MEDICATIONS/INHALERS: A reminder to all parents that students cannot self carry medication of any kind without physician orders and an active administration plan in place developed with the school nurse. Please reach out to our nurse’s office with any questions.
CLASSROOM NEWS:
GRADE 5:
Ms. Simes: Grade 5 Math/Science (Blue/Purple Group) In math, students showed their understanding of Topic 1. This week, we will use our knowledge of this topic to add and subtract decimals. Also, in science, students showed their understanding of Unit 1, Scope 1. Students have begun to wonder and are exploring, “how do plants keep growing bigger?” After school help will be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday this week from 2:50 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at michele.simes@haverhill-ps.org. Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms. Marciano: ELA: We will continue reading “Fish in a Tree”. Students were learning about homonyms, homographs, and homophones last week. The kids are really enjoying the story line of this book, and we are having great discussions about growth mindset and learning how to embrace our differences. We are close to finishing the book and will have a culmination project coming up!
SS: We will continue with Unit 2 and learn about why the Spanish explored the Americas. Students have also been analyzing primary sources from Christopher Columbus.
Ms. Hogan: This week in social studies, we learned about how the European explorers impacted the lives of the Native Americans. We talked about the Columbian Exchange and the Spanish conquistadors. We were amazed to learn about all of the products and ideas that did not exist in the Americas until the Columbian Exchange! Next week, we will continue to investigate the Spanish conquistadors, and we will begin to discuss explorers who came from other European countries.
Ms. LaCoste: Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green ELA students have been busy this week focusing on “Reading is Thinking” skills. Students practiced some of the most important thinking skills including predicting, questioning, inferring, summarizing, connecting, and visualizing while reading How to Steal a Dog chapters 7-9. On Friday, they’ll have completed their third quiz covering the content of these chapters, important vocabulary, and the previously mentioned “reading is thinking” skills. Next week, as we continue to practice these skills and continue reading our novel, students will work to make appropriate independent book choices across all genres. They’ll independently practice their “reading is thinking” with their chosen books by jotting down their thoughts on sticky notes to share with small groups. As always, please feel free to reach out with any and all questions.
Ms. Consolazio: In science, Friday we took our first quiz on Energy Transfer. Next week, we will continue learning about how to write a CER. (claim, evidence, reasoning) Students will be given graphic organizers to help write their CER. We will continue learning about matter and energy in plants.
Mr. Kelly: We are finishing up our first Unit of Math next week. This Unit covered Place Value and Adding and Subtracting with Decimals. The students will be working on student choice activities next week to hone their skills. On Friday, they will have a test on those skills. Please have students bring their chromebook charged to school.
Ms. Lees: In fifth grade ELA the Orange and Green groups will continue to read How to Steal a Dog using
Reading is Thinking strategies – Summarizing, Connecting, Visualizing, Inferring, Predicting, and
questioning. Math students will delve deeper to understand Place Value and decimals with
rounding and estimating; adding and subtracting. Work on individual goals inclusive.
Ms. Blanchette: Students in grade 5 just finished topic 1 and completed the math topic 1 assessment. We will be moving onto topic 2 next week which involves adding and subtracting decimals. In ELA students will be finishing the novel “Fish in a Tree” and we will be exploring figurative language. Please reach out with any questions. Reminder extra help after school with Ms. Blanchette on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
GRADE 6:
GRADE 6 Social Studies:
We are traveling to the Continent of ASIA. We will study the 15 countries that make up Southwestern Asia; the are once known as Mesopotamia and now referred to as the Middle East. Concentrating on the physical geography and climate of this part of the world. We will also travel back in time to take a deeper look into the early civilizations of Southwest Asia and how their people influenced life today. Get yourself ready to travel through the Fertile Crescent into Asia today!
Ms. Hamel: We just finished up our tests on chapters 4-6 in The Lightning Thief and are taking a short break from our chapter book. We are working on a short story “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros and taking a close look at the elements of a story. We are going to focus on “Point of View” and students will be making POV Posters in small groups. Students will have a Spelling/Definition Packet to take home for weekly homework- this packet will focus on the Latin prefixes Bi and Tri/ homework packets are due on Friday. We will have our spelling and definition test on Friday.
HAPPY OCTOBER!!!
Ms. Silveira: In science next week we will be doing activities that allow us to see the effects of mass on the gravitational force between interacting objects.
In math, we will be working with fractions. Multiplying and dividing fractions while changing improper fractions to mixed numbers.
Please check School Brains weekly for your child’s grades!
Mr. Taylor: We just finished up our tests on chapters 4-6 in The Lightning Thief and are taking a short break from our chapter book. We are working on a short story “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros and taking a close look at the elements of a story. We are going to focus on “Point of View” and students will be making POV Posters in small groups. Students will have a Spelling/Definition Packet to take home for weekly homework- this packet will focus on the Latin prefixes Bi and Tri/ homework packets are due on Friday. We will have our spelling and definition test on Friday.
Mr. LeGrand: We are continuing with our review of basic computations. This week we will focus primarily on division. Students will learn to divide multi-digit whole numbers and decimals.
Ms. Lane: The students finished up the first Unit about Earth’s place in the universe with “Earth, Sun and Moon Systems” and they had a Unit Test, Tuesday 9/28.
Their next mission will be Gravity and Planets. They are going to begin a new journey studying the relationships between Earth, the Sun and the Moon, between the solar system and the Milky Way Galaxy, and of the gravity between them all.
Ms. Tarbox: During Success Block, students who have math or ELA goals who require pull-out support are receiving services at this time. This block is focused on making progress toward individual goals. Additionally, students are receiving support within the general education classroom from myself and Ms. Jarvis. Yellow and Orange groups have been so engaged while learning about Percy’s adventure and Rachel’s 11th birthday experience! We are going to be focusing on character traits. In Math, Orange and Yellow groups will continue strengthening previously learned skills in conjunction with wrapping up multiplication and division of decimals.
GRADE 7:
Mrs. Berthiaume: I am SO impressed with the South Indian Kolam designs everyone created in Social Studies class! (They are hanging on the bulletin board in Room 12!) In ELA, we just started the next section of our unit (“The Big Idea”). Please make sure the Chromebook is charged nightly and brought to school daily. Don’t forget to bring a pen or pencil to class. (We still use them! Thanks!)
Mrs. Trombly: Mrs. Trombly’s email strombly@haverhill-ps.org
Please email me or use the remind app to contact me with any concerns or questions.
We continue our work with integers and now operations with Rational Numbers.
Mrs. MacKinnon: We have begun our first unit on competition within ecosystems. The kids did an activity where they made their own dice and had competitions between organisms and the factors they rely or compete with. The students really enjoyed the activity and seemed to understand the main concept. Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Ms. DiGloria: In Grade 7 Blue and Green groups, students in English will be continuing our theme of conflicts and clashes. We will discuss individuality and read an excerpt from Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli. Then, we will begin our longest text yet – Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. This is a drama that we will read “theater in the round” style and focus on over the next few weeks. In Social Studies, students will learn about an important Ancient Indian leader – Ashoka – and discuss leadership qualities. We will end the week by completing a short writing response. Progress reports come out soon. Please reach out with questions about your student’s progress.
Mr. Auger: Hello everyone! This week in 7th grade science we began our new unit, competition in ecosystems. Students have been learning about the different parts and relationships commonly seen in ecosystems. We have been learning about the difference between native species and invasive species and have been discussing different factors that affect ecosystems. Next week we will build our knowledge on this topic. In my 7th grade social studies class, we finished up the region of South Asia this week. Next week, we will be discussing the region of Central Asia and Siberian Russia.
Mr. Harris: Students have been hard at work learning their rules for doing all four operations with positive and negative numbers. We have extended this into rational numbers (fractions and decimals). Students will be taking a quiz on adding and subtracting with rational numbers, and then we will move into working on multiplying and dividing rational numbers. This is a foundational unit for the next few years of math!
Ms. Bilmazes & Ms. Holmes: Mrs. Holmes and I have been meeting, during the success block, with those students who have pull-out support in Math and ELA. In addition, students are receiving support in the classroom from myself, Mrs. Holmes, and/or Ms. Credit. In ELA, students have finished reading the story Nimona and are wrapping up character profiles in regards to the story. In Math, students are working on subtracting positive and negative fractions. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions. Have a wonderful weekend!
GRADE 8:
Mr. Lewis: English class has almost finished Flowers For Algernon. We have been discussing protagonist Charlie Gordon’s development as a character and also the different metaphors that have been emerging throughout the story. Students are practicing organizing notes, answering reading questions, and having great discussions about intelligence and empathy.
Ms. Deblasis: We will be continuing our Topic 1: Real Numbers. This week we will focus on simplifying negative exponents and begin our lessons on scientific notation.
Mr. Marinella: ELA– Hello! ELA is in the midst of wrapping up our first unit!!! We will focus all of our new knowledge into an essay that will teach readers about elements of mystery that we have seen! Each unit wrap will include a written assignment. This piece of writing will be created using information from texts we have read, our own background knowledge, and ideas we have shared as a class. Writing is a slow process and we will take our time to get something students can be proud of.
Civics– Civics has been trying to answer on question recently; why did we need our independence from Great Britain? Looking at primary and secondary sources will help us solve this mystery. Students will read, watch, and discuss important events in our nations political history to identify how we got here, and how we got free!
Ms. Sullivan: This week in science we will continue our unit on “Motion of Planets.” We will be focusing on the moon and tides. There will be a test Thursday. Please email me anytime with questions csullivan@haverhill-ps.org.
Mr. Harris: Students will be taking their quiz on the exponent rules we have been working on in class this past week. Then we will be rolling into how to apply these rules to Scientific Notation, as we learn how to write it, as well as add, subtract, multiply, and divide in Scientific Notation
Ms. MacKinnon: We are continuing on planet motion and how everything is kept in orbit by the sun. The students have had great conversations about space and they really seemed to enjoy the conversations. We talked about asteroids, meteors and comets. There were lots of pictures and real life videos on these. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Ms. Senior: Excellent exposure and exploration of exponents: that’s what’s happening in Math, including Product of Powers rule, Power of a Power rule, Power of a Quotient rule and more. Students are building on previous knowledge as they learn new concepts. In ELA, it’s a whole-class experience of “Flowers For Algernon” as students dig into writing about the various changes Charlie Gordon goes through (and some are quite jarring). The classes are truly enjoying this diary-written story.
Ms. Blanchette: In grade 8 students will be reviewing material and taking their topic 1 assessment on real numbers next week before moving on to the next math unit. Students are gathering evidence and brainstorming ideas for their first essay of the year in ELA. Students will be responding to a prompt discussing the elements that make a story a mystery. Please reach out with any questions. Reminder extra help after school with Ms. Blanchette on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
SPECIALISTS:
Physical Education: (Mr. Demarais): We are currently working on a Lacrosse/Floor Hockey unit. We are also continuing to begin each class with a half mile warm up walk. Please make sure all students are bringing water bottles and proper clothing for our outside walk.
Art (Ms. Boulger): The students in 5,6,7,8 red and green groups have been working on a variety of assignments ranging from flip book drawings to murals. The art department is looking for some used and or unused jars to store mixed paint as well as frames.
Health (Ms. Reynolds): Grade 5 – We are beginning our unit on Bullying and how to be a better bystander
grade 6 – Our First Aid Unit begins. We will learn how to perform basic first aid skills and learn about recognizing Heart Attack and Stroke Symptoms
grade 7 – We will be finishing our unit on Anger and Conflict and begin to learn about Values and Empathy
grade 8 – Our Substance Abuse slideshows are due as we complete the Drug Awareness Unit. Next up, Mental Health and Stress
Music (Mr. Gariepy): JGW BOWLING NIGHT FUNDRAISER
Join Mr. Gariepy and a bunch of your friends for a fun afternoon of bowling and prizes!! On Friday, October 15th, $15 (or $20 for parents/immediate family members only) will get any participant a game of bowling (with shoes), 4 arcade tokens, a slice of pizza, a drink, and an afternoon of fun and games!! For every spare earned, the person who scores will receive 2 arcade tokens. For every strike, the person who scores will receive a raffle ticket for the gift cards that are being raffled off. There will also be concessions like chips, cookies, brownies, and extra pizza for sale. Whoever earns 1st place on Friday, October 15th will win a $25 Vanilla Visa gift card!!
RAFFLE PRIZES
Raffle tickets will be sold at the event for $10 and $25 gift cards to various places as well. Tickets will be sold for 1 for $1, 3 for $2, and 8 for $5. Prizes will be drawn around 5:15pm.
BEAT MR. G
Throughout the event, students will have the chance to “Beat Mr. G” by bowling “2 boxes” or 6 bowling balls against him. If they win, they will earn a raffle ticket for the gift cards and will also earn the opportunity to throw a whipped cream pie at Mr. G’s face at the end of the event.
RSVP
To participate, students must return the RSVP form NO LATER than Friday, October 8th.Payment is due upon turning in the form. Students can get the form from Mr. G at school.
RULES
Masks will be required by all attendees, regardless of vaccination status, or if they’re an adult or a child. School rules apply at this event, and anyone who is not in compliance with the school rules will be asked to leave the event without a refund.
Library (Ms. Michitson): Hello JG Whittier families. This week we worked more with the local newspaper reviewing headlines, housing, employment opportunities as well as activities for families over the weekend.
We are continuing with the reading contests and will announce the winning teams the first week in November. Please reach out if you have any questions.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Technology (Mr. Gordon): All grades will be finishing up Digital Citizenship this week. The students did great and now have a better understanding about what it means to be an upstanding person in the digital world.
SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF
Guidance (Ms. Vlahos): I continue to be available to connect with and support all students and families throughout the school week. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at jvlahos@haverhill-ps.org. I look forward to our continued work in support of a healthy, safe, and successful school year!
Student Support Coordinator (Mr. Newell): I am available to help support students and their families in any way possible. Please email me with any questions, thank you.
Student Adjustment Counselor (Ms. Midolo): Great job to my student leaders this week who ran our social groups like the SUPER STARS 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
Student Adjustment Counselor (Ms. White): Mental Health Awareness is at the forefront of our minds constantly. But this week, please join us on Friday October 1st to continue to raise awareness by wearing GREEN. We all need reminders to focus on taking care of ourselves. We will continue to work on coping strategies and skills!
Please reach out with any concerns or questions you may have- shelby.white@haverhill-ps.org
Middle School Support Program (Mrs. Leydon & Mr. Diffin): Now that we are a month into school, classes are moving along quickly. We are working on trying to stay organized and working together as a group. As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns.
Parent Liaison (Ms. Arias-Reyes): Si tienen una pregunta o preocupación y necesitan un intérprete no duden en contactarme. Estaré más que feliz de poder ayudarlos a comunicarse con los maestros de sus hijos y el personal de la escuela. Mi horario es de 8:30am a 3:30 pm y mi número es 781-666-4085 y mi correo electrónico es maria.ariasreyes@haverhill-ps.org, me pueden llamar, mandar un mensaje de texto o enviarme un correo electrónico. También tienen la opción de llamar a la escuela directamente para contactarme o usar la aplicación Remind, esta aplicación manda los mensajes directamente a mi computadora. ¡Que tengan un lindo fin de semana!
ELL (Ms. Khakali & Pepicelli-Raposo): From the ELL Classroom: This week Mrs. Khakali will be working on the verb “to have”. They will also be working with emotions/feelings vocabulary. Ms. Pepicelli will be introducing “Writing with Colors” with her students. It’s a great visual for the student’s writing and a helpful organizational tool. As always all of the classes will have engaging and meaningful conversations.
Student Support Center (Mrs. Greenwood): SSC had a great week. The kids are adjusting to the school rules and working on making good choices. SSC is working with the teachers from every grade level to best support our students at JGW. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you, Mrs. Greenwood and Miss House.
Reading Intervention Team (Ms. Guthrie, Ms. Carney, Ms. Trovato): Literacy Team
Grades 6-8 are beginning to use Studysynch in their ELA classes. This is a new reading program that addresses the needs of our middle schoolers. It is being implemented throughout the district.
Grade 5 is beginning to use the Fountas and Pinnell Literacy system. Students will be listening to read alouds and delving into lessons around various literacy structures.
This is an exciting time to be a middle schooler at JGW!
Math Coach (Mr. Stelzer): I have started pulling small groups from each grade for math interventions. We’re working on fractions, emphasizing conceptual thinking and visual models (including Singapore bar models) as well as operations. One group from each grade meets with me in the library on days 1, 2 and 3 and a different group from each grade on days 4, 5 and 6. This intervention cycle will last for six weeks, then will switch to a different academic focus and different groups of students.