Hi Everyone,
Though still several weeks away, I wanted to highlight an event on November 5 that I'd encourage you to attend. Dr. Sharon Maxwell will be presenting "Who's Raising Our Kids? Nurturing Human Values in a Digital World" and the impact that "digital saturation" is having on how our children think about themselves, and is changing the way children socialize and communicate. This districtwide event will be held in the RJ Grey Auditorium
from 7:00 to 9:00pm and is open to all members of the A-B community. While I myself haven't met Dr. Maxwell, members of our Edtech Department have engaged with her and are convinced that her guidance can be useful to our community. I am looking forward to the event, both as an educator and as a parent who knows this topic is a "thing" but doesn't always have the resolve to be firm in expectations and guidelines for use of technology within my own family - for the kids and for me. Throughout previous editions of Grey Matters, I have confessed that this is one of the areas where Melisa and I struggle the most in terms of our efforts as parents to be proactive, consistent, and prepared to make decisions that are not only unpopular amongst the children living in our home, but would likely demand a bit more parental effort and elbow grease on my part. As I admitted to families last year, I've taken advantage of how technology and screen time soften the edges of different parenting challenges in terms of "boredom." While I intellectually know that "boredom" can in fact be an opportunity and not a problem, that nugget of truth was conveniently ignored this past summer as we made plans for our family trip to London and Paris and didn't think twice when packing a multitude of devices that would keep the kids occupied during plane rides, train rides, and other moments of down time (using the term "occupied" is a gentle way of describing our goal of keeping the kids from fighting and complaining). These devices also allow us the ability to reach out to kids with greater ease, and communicate a change in plans or confirming this, that, or the other thing. Instant, if not superficial, relief for frazzled parents. Additionally, the "psychological and neurological fallout" that might be developing doesn't occur within a short time span. Instead the impact is more gradual and akin to a slow boil where the effects aren't as apparent in the moment, and so it offers someone like me the ability to ignore the issue and continually push off hard decisions or shifts on our kids' access to screen time. There are always plenty of other immediate problems or dilemmas that demand our attention. If any of the above feels familiar to you, consider attending the event on November 5 - I don't know exactly what will be discussed or suggested, but I'm sure there will at least be some meaningful food for thought.
The above messaging notwithstanding, it would also be a mistake and oversimplification of things to position technology and screen time as the primary culprit of all the challenges that we're witnessing amongst adolescents today, including and especially the increase in anxiety and depression.
 That's why I read with great interest a piece in the New York Times, "Taking Away the Phones Won't Solve Our Teenagers' Problems" which included the following message to for us to consider: "Digital technology is designed to grab our attention, so it exhausts us, distracts us and detracts from our ability to nurture fulfilling relationships. With that in mind, teenagers should reduce their reliance on smartphones...at the same time, if smartphone addition is a reflection of adolescent anxiety, cutting screen time may not solve the broader problems that drive teenagers to their screens. Just blaming the machines is a cop-out..." For these and other reasons, I am glad that our District continues to remain committed to our Challenge Success initiative, now entering its third full year. Challenge Success is an organization based out of Stanford University, and we partner with them to coordinate many of our efforts already underway to champion strategies that encourage the healthy self-development of our students. As a District we share the concerns that many have expressed about the increasingly competitive, pressured, and hyper-focused environment in which we seem to find ourselves. The emphasis on encouraging a student to do one's best has often been overtaken by messages about needing to actually be the best. As a result, there exists an intensity of expectations--on behalf of many parents/guardians and educators alike--that have emerged because of perceived risks if our kids do not pursue an increasingly narrow definition of success. Our ongoing work around homework practices at each of our schools, and our recent shift in school start times, are just a few examples of our attention to this arena of our work.
I want to highlight two resources that are focused on outreach to the parent/guardian community on these topics. First is the AB Wellness website which serves as a clearinghouse of information and resources on topics related to our Challenge Success work. The second is our annual Family Learning Series which partners with several community organizations to schedule workshops and seminars throughout the year on child development and learning. We continue to focus this year on developing resilience in children, and the next Family Learning Series event will be with Dr. Rana Chudnofsky who returns to Acton-Boxborough on October 3 and October 10, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at West Acton Villageworks, to work with families on helping their children develop resiliency building skills. I know and can sympathize with the busy schedules that many of our families are juggling, especially during the school year - and I hope that if any or all of the above topics are of interest to you, that you'll be able to carve out time to attend.
A couple of important scheduling reminders for the next week or two:
Picture Day is next Monday, September 24. Students will be receiving an order form this week to bring home to their parent/guardian. Students who plan to order photos should bring the order form (and payment) on the 24th. Regardless of whether students order a package of photos, all students will have their photos taken so they can be included in the yearbook. If you have any questions, please contact David Lawrence at [email protected].
There is no school this Wednesday as it is Yom Kippur. Wishes for an easy fast to those of you who observe that holiday. There will be no homework or assessments scheduled for the following day (Thursday).
The vast majority of our after school clubs and activities are up and running. A few more will have their first meetings in the next week or so. You can view an updated list of this year's clubs and activities on the RJ Grey website (or by clicking here). Please encourage your students to listen carefully during morning announcements for reminders about meeting times and locations.
RJ Grey is holding its first-ever book fair this week - September 18th, 20th, and 21st. The fair features over 600 titles that are selected to appeal specifically to a junior high audience. The book fair will sell both paperback and hardcover books with the average cost being $10. Students will have an opportunity to purchase a book (if interested) when their English class visits the fair at scheduled times and each day of the fair after school until 3pm. The book fair will accept cash, checks, and credit/debit cards. As with any program at RJ Grey that may involve a cost to families, we are happy to support any students for whom the cost of these books may present a hardship and will ensure that any interested students can select some books that may interest them. Students and parents/guardians can address any questions they may have to their English teacher or to our Librarian Ms. Charpentier ([email protected]).
Later this week RJ Grey families will be receiving an email from me about our upcoming plans for students and staff to participate in a practice drill of our ALICE protocol. Given the nature of the protocol I want to make sure families have an understanding of the scope and goal of the exercise. That letter will likely be sent towards the end of this week. When you receive that letter I would appreciate you taking a few moments to review our plans for that drill.
Another reminder that RJ Grey's Back to School Night will be on Wednesday, September 26th, starting at 7:00pm. For those of you with children who participate in the Band, String Ensemble or Chorus programs, there is an optional meeting at 6:35pm where you can learn more about those programs. Rest assured that schedules for that evening will be coming home. We will also have a copy of your child's schedule available at the school in case the copy that your child is supposed to give you somehow gets lost in transit. On that evening, we also ask parents to vote for two 7th grade parent/guardian representatives who will serve on this year's School Council. The role of the School Council is to review and discuss various aspects of the school's activities and goals, and offer advice and guidance about different topics that may emerge during the year. The Council will meet seven times this year, on Monday evenings at 6:30pm (the first will be October 16). We are still looking for 7th grade parents who are interested in serving on the Council. If you have any interest, please submit a short (4-6 sentence max) paragraph about yourself by this Friday, September 21st for the ballot. Write-ups can be sent to me at [email protected].
As many of you know, Massachusetts passed a comprehensive law in 2010 to address incidents of bullying and harassment in schools. Among other aspects of the law, it called for every school to implement a research-based curriculum that addressed bullying prevention and prosocial behavior. This year, we are continuing our use of a curriculum created by the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC), an organization based at Bridgewater State that has been heavily involved in the state's recent efforts to address bullying and harassment in school. This curriculum will be delivered through our RJ Grey Discussion Group meetings, the first of which is scheduled for next Tuesday the 25th. These groups are used to introduce our ongoing goals of having conversations with students about healthy communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution.
Similar to previous years, we will also continue to incorporate speakers and presentations that we feel can complement and expand our work in this area. For 7th grade students, we have again scheduled a great presentation by MARC specifically on cyberbullying and internet safety. The presentation by MARC will take place for 7th grade students on December 7th and will again be led by Meghan McCoy (from MARC) who has worked with our school for several years, and is very familiar with our student audience.
Our Fall sports programs are now in full swing. For families of students participating in our athletic programs: for away games and meets, students should expect to travel to and from those events using school transportation. There are times that families will need to take their children immediately after the event. For those situations, parents and guardians need to complete and submit an Athletic Transportation Use of Private Vehicles form. Your student should submit the form to the Main Office in the morning and pick it up later in the day, as it needs to be handed to the coach of the team. Please note that we're only allowed to release students to a parent or guardian, and can not allow another individual (friend, neighbor, etc.) to serve that role. We know that there may be times when that option may be helpful, but we're not permitted to accommodate those requests.
Finally, I want to make sure families in Acton and Boxborough are aware of a service that focuses on mental health services, and through a partnership between the school district and several local organizations, is available to everyone in our two communities. William James Interface is a local initiative in Massachusetts intending to maintain an extensive, frequently updated website listing of available mental health resources by geography and type, and provides a free, confidential mental health and wellness referral line Monday through Friday, 9 am-5 pm, at 888-244-6843. Callers are matched with licensed mental health providers that meet the location, insurance, and specialty needs of the caller. Each referral is provided with follow-up assistance. For more information, you can visit the Interface website here.
Have a great week, everyone.
Cheers,
- Grey Matters, October 25, 2020; Volume 9, Number 3
- Grey Matters, October 4, 2020; Volume 9, Number 2
- Grey Matters, September 20, 2020; Volume 9, Number 1
- Grey Matters, March 9, 2020; Volume 8, Number 27
- Grey Matters, March 2, 2020; Volume 8, Number 26
- Grey Matters, February 24, 2020; Volume 8, Number 25
- Grey Matters, February 10, 2020; Volume 8, Number 24
- Grey Matters, January 1, 2020
- Grey Matters, December 16, 2019; Volume 8, Number 16
- Grey Matters, December 2, 2019; Volume 8, Number 15
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