GMS Parent/Guardian Update - October 7, 2016 For Week of Tuesday, October 11 - Friday, October 14, 2016

Tues, Oct 11: Week A, Day 5 (Per 1-7) Wed, Oct 12: Week A, Day 6 (Per 1-7)

Thurs, Oct 13: Week B, Day 1 (Per 4-5-6-1-2-3-7) Fri, Oct 14: Week B, Day 2 (Per 4-5-6-1-2-3-7)

Dear GMS Families, Below you will find information on the following: Important Dates Gr 7 Open Hearts and Minds Walkathon Fundraiser and African Drumming Event SEEPAC Meeting Schedule National Honors Society Tutor Program Student After School Activities Mexican Yarn Artist Visit to Spanish Classrooms PowerSchool Parent Portal Early Student Dismissals/Visitors Saturday Academy GMS Social Media Grafton Lions Club Haunted Hayride Operation Friendship Halloween Dance GMS Mission Statement and Guiding Beliefs

Have a wonderful weekend! Roseanne Kurposka Principal

Important Dates Mon, Oct 10th Columbus Day - No School Fri, Oct 14th Coffee with the Principal, Main Office Conference Room, 9:00am Sat, Oct 15th Octoberfest 2016 - Volunteer Sign-up Forms are in the main office Fri, Oct 21st Blackstone Valley Technical High School Presentation Gr ⅞

Operation Friendship Halloween Dance 7:00pm - 10:00pm Municipal Center Wed, Oct 26th Gr 7 Open Hearts and Minds Walkathon Fundraiser and African Drumming Event Thurs, Oct 27th Picture Retake Day at 9:30am Fri, Oct 28th Blackstone Valley Technical High School Grade 8 Tour - Details will follow

Grafton Lions Club Haunted Hayride 6:30pm - 10:30pm Sat, Oct 29th Grafton Lions Club Haunted Hayride

Mon, Oct 31st Early Release Day for Students - Dismissal at 10:20am Fri, Nov 4th Spanish Students Event with Yarn Artist Cilau Valadez Tues, Nov 8th No School for Students - Full Day Professional Development Fri, Nov 11th No School for Students - Veteran’s Day Wed, Nov 23rd Early Release Day for Students - Dismissal at 10:20am Thurs, Nov 24th Happy Thanksgiving! No School for Students Fri, Nov 25th Thanksgiving Break Continues - No School for Students Thurs, Dec 1st Parent-Teacher Conferences - No School for Students

Parent Drop Off and Pick Up If you drop off and/or pick up your child, please pull all of the way up before letting your child get in or out of the car. Please help us to decrease the congestion of vehicles, in particular during drop off in the morning.

Eighth Grade Parent/Guardian Night at Grafton High School On Thursday, October 13th at 6:00p.m., parents of current 8th graders are invited to an informal meeting in the high school library with Mr. Pignataro, GHS principal and Ms. Rohan, Guidance Counselor to talk about the transition of students from the 8th to 9th grade. There will be a more formal meeting with high school department heads in February, as this meeting is to give an overview of the high school. Please email Mr. Pignataro if you are planning to attend.

Grafton Public Schools is pleased to announce this year’s

Parent Workshop Series! Please click here to view detailed information about the many workshops that are available.

Grade 7 Open Hearts and Minds Walkathon Fundraiser and African Drumming Event - Wed, October 26th

GMS Grade 7 Students, please wear comfortable shoes and clothing. Bring a water bottle too!

Grafton Lions Club Haunted Hayride

Nightmare on Brigham Hill Friday, October 28th

Saturday, October 29th

6:30pm - 10:30pm Adults - $10 Children under 10 - $5

For additional details please contact www.graftonlionsclub.org Click here for event flyer.

Halloween Dance - Sponsored by Operation Friendship! BOO! Join Operation Friendship of Grafton for our Halloween Dance on Friday, October 21st! All Grafton residents in 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade are invited to come from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Grafton Municipal Center. During the dance, we will have our optional "Haunted Hallway", costume contest with prizes for the winners and other spooky games and treats! As always, we will have our usual sale of snacks and refreshments., Costumes are encouraged!

As for parents—no need to worry! We will do our best to make sure you feel safe sending your kids to our dances, which are always chaperoned by certified crowd managers. If you’re a new parent, feel free to let us know about any concerns you may have at the door. We do want to remind parents and attendees that Operation Friendship maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding bullying and misconduct, and that we expect students to dress appropriately for the dances. Additionally, we will not let students leave our dances without a ride home—they cannot walk back from the dance. Should you have any additional questions, please contact Kim Edgren at kakoa5@gmail.com or 508-735-5820.

SEPAC 2016-2017 Meeting Schedule Grafton SEPAC has changed its meeting schedule to include both morning and evening times. All evening meetings will be held in the GHS Media Center. The location of morning meeting is TBD. We hope this helps accommodate the needs of more Grafton families and that we will see you soon! October 27th - 9am May (TBD - Everyday Hero Awards) November 17th - 7pm June 1 - 9am (final meeting) December 15th - 9am January 26th - 7pm February 16 - 9am March 30 - 7pm April 27 - 9am

National Honor Society Tutoring Program Over the past four years, GMS has partnered with the National Honor Society of Grafton HS to create and sustain a tutoring program. To learn more about the program, please contact Mr. Fauth (fautht@grafton.k12.ma.us). The tutoring program will officially begin the week of Oct. 17.

Student After School Activities

Students should listen to the morning announcements for activities offered. Other clubs may be offered throughout the fall and year as well. Clubs are held from 2:00pm-3:00pm. Anime Club - Ms. Fitzgerald - Thursdays, Rm M110 Book Club - Mrs. Athanas and Mrs. Warner on Wednesdays (Once Per Month), Rm 227 Chess Club - Mr. Osadsa - Tuesdays in Library 100 Mile Cross Country Club - FALL Season: Mr. Ouellette - Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Rm 115 Film Academy Club - Mr. Koss - Thursdays, Rm 209 Gaming Club - Ms. Fitzgerald - Tuesdays, Rm M110 GMS Cares - Mrs. Deschenes - Wednesdays, Rm 214 History Club - Mr. Ouellette - Wednesdays, Rm 115 Homework Club - Mrs. Flynn, Mrs. Fillers and Mrs. Terrill - Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays in Library Knitting Club - Mrs. Barkin - Tuesdays, Thursdays - Rm 201 Memory Book - Ms. Gamble - Wednesdays, Rm 126 Mural Club - Ms. Fitzgerald - Wednesdays, Rm M110 Photography Club - Mrs. Warner - Thursdays, Rm 216 Role-playing Game Club - Mr. Donohoe - Thursdays, Rm 207 Select Chorus - Ms. Desmarais - Thursdays, Rm M201 Track & Field Club - SPRING SEASON: Mr. Ouellette - Tuesdays, Thursdays, Rm 115 Volleyball Club - Mr. Donohoe - Tuesdays and Wednesdays (excluding basketball season) in Gym World Language Club - Ms. Loughlin - Tuesdays, Rm 206

Mexican Yarn Artist Visit to Spanish Classes On November 4th, our Spanish students will have the pleasure of meeting Cilau Valadez, a renowned Yarn Artist from Santiago Ixcuintla Nayarit, Mexico. Cilau, the Huichol (pronounced “wee-chol”) Yarn Artist, will demonstrate his indigenous craft to the students. Yarn Painting is an intricate and ancient art originally practiced by an indigenous tribe in western Mexico. Students will also engage in discussions with the artist and learn about other cultural facts surrounding this art form. There will be items for sale, if students wish to bring in with them some money.

Thank you to GMS’s Spanish Teacher Ms. Loughlin for bringing this event to our school!

Early Student Dismissals/Visitors For safety/security purposes, all parents/guardians who are dismissing students early from school must enter the school building through the GMS Main Office Entrance and check in with the secretary, who will contact your child’s teacher. If you are visiting GMS to help within our school or to attend an event, please also first check in at the Main Office. You will be given a visitor’s badge to wear. Thank you for understanding.

PowerSchool Parent Portal

Please go into PowerSchool Parent Portal and update the demographic information for your child. By updating the demographics, you are giving the school the most up to date contact information. This is especially important in the case of an emergency. The update also allows you to opt in to text messaging announcements for school closings and update your email address. It is extremely important that all families visit PowerSchool and update their information as soon as possible. If you have any issues creating a new account or updating your demographic information, please contact the GMS main office. Thank you in advance for taking a few minutes to update your child’s demographic page. Get regular updates on grades, attendance and bulletins! As a busy parent myself, it is challenging to remember on a regular basis to check my child’s online grades, etc. This is a great solution...Go on to PowerSchool and sign up for regularly scheduled email updates on your child’s grades, attendance and the latest bulletin updates.

Saturday Academy Each and every Saturday, the library at GMS is open for students to work on missing assignments, get extra help, and work on current assignments from 8:00am-11:00am and is staffed by a middle school teacher. Feel free to contact your child’s teacher or the main office for more information about Saturday Academy.

Box Tops for Education Please collect and bring to school your Box Tops for Education. Box Tops may be dropped off in the office.

GMS is connected! Keep current with the latest news!

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Grafton Middle School

Mission Statement and Guiding Beliefs

Mission Statement The mission of Grafton Middle School is to prepare all students to be life-long learners and responsible citizens. Guiding Beliefs We believe education is the shared responsibility of students, school, home and community. We believe investing in the education of our children benefits the community. We believe all students love to learn and are capable of life-long learning. We believe a balanced education develops a student intellectually, socially, physically, emotionally and creatively. We believe all students are entitled to instructional excellence. We believe students learn best in a safe, healthy, and supportive environment. We believe students learn best when the are actively engaged in their own learning.

We believe mutual respect, personal dignity, and social responsibility are essential. We believe education is key to responsible global citizenship.

Final Word Sharing a strategy used in school. This same strategy may be used at home!

Have a great weekend! Best regards, Roseanne Kurposka, Principal

Poster designed by Joanne Baldwin, GMS Instructional Assistant!