TFHS/GFMS Community Newsletter

-Senior Sunrise

-Turners Loft Apparel Sale & GFMS Student Planner Distribution

-News from Assistant Principal Tom Gaffigan

-GMRSD School Calendar 2020-2021

-Half Day/Day Off for October

-Upcoming TFHS/GFMS PTO Meeting

-GMRSD Meals Served

-Student Emails

-Jamboard Lessons

-GMRSD Family Technology Resource Page

-Disclosure Statement Read Prior to Each Class

-News from the TFHS Guidance Office

-Acceptable Use Policy

-Care Bags at Staples

-Academic Calendar 2020-2021

-Sports Update

-First Field Hockey Practice

-TFHS Bell Schedule

-Whole School Meetings

-Nurse Notes from TFHS/GFMS

-Procedures if Need to Come to School Office

-GMRSD Face Mask Policy

-Upcoming Dates

We posted our rescheduled Senior Sunrise on the Positively Gill-Montague site this past Thursday via FaceBook Live. Check it out!

On Wednesday, September 30th, both Mr. Gaffigan and Mrs. Menard will be outside the front of school for a Turners Loft Apparel Sale and GFMS Student Planner Distribution (first one is free for each student) from 9:00-11:00 a.m. and 12:00-2:00 p.m. The apparel is first come, first serve on sizes and cash only please.

Attendance: Should be taken everyday and submitted to the office as if students were actually here. If there are attendance issues in classes you should contact the grade level Deans; Mike Duprey mike.duprey@gmrsd.org (grades 7,9 and 11,) and Rebel McKinley rebel.mckinley@gmrsd.org (grades 6,8,10, and 12) Please cc myself thomas.gaffigan@gmrsd.org on all attendance issues as both Mike and Rebel are also teaching an RA. We want to engage any student that is missing classes as soon as possible. I believe each teacher would benefit from reaching out first to the family but to eliminate numerous calls after a couple tries please email us and we will take it from there. Mr. Gaffigan and the Deans have started doing community outreach for any students who may need help during remote learning, this can be for attendance issues, behavior issues, emotional issues and technology aid. To eliminate students leaving class after signing in we would like teachers to take attendance at the end of class as well as the beginning to make sure students are still in attendance. Instead of saying students names we suggest that they have an exit question or a check in so students do not realize we are actually taking attendance as well. Eliminating students from just showing back up at the end of class.

Discipline

All school rules apply during remote learning as if we are physically here. We are adding additional rules for remote learning as well.

- Students have the option to not show themselves but should if possible show their face or work at all times.

- If a student is constantly disrupting class, making gestures, showing inappropriate things, not using mute when asked, constantly talking out of turn, you may take away their visual and audio if needed and they can use the comment section to speak in class. If this happens regularly please let the appropriate Dean know and we will have a conversation with home.

- Suspensions can still happen if the offense is warranted. Suspension hearings would be scheduled through the office and held either personally in the conference room or remotely.

- If a parent or outside resource needs to schedule a meeting with any school personnelle, that too will be in the conference room or held remotely.

-Students should not be showing their class code to anyone outside of a particular class. This will keep your classes confidential and with no disturbances from outside influences.

CRA’s

I am continually working with the courts on monitoring our high risk students and that includes students who had a CRA filed on them last school year. When we meet it is now over the phone or in Zoom. This has worked well thus far over the last few weeks.

Hybrid Safety Plan/Full Return Safety Plan

Mr. Gaffigan has started to work on a safety plan for the school such as access to building, dismissal from buildings, one way hallways, mask protocols, hallway monitors etc. There will be no after school responsibilities while in Hybrid since there will be no late bus. Remote after school help can continue however.

Students who could not pick up Chromebooks

For those students still in need of a Chromebook, and are unable to come to school to pick-up, Dean of Students Mike Duprey and Mr. Gaffigan will distribute the Chromebooks to their homes. Please contact the office if in need. We will contact the families the day before arriving.

Our October half day will be on Wednesday, October 7th. All students will be dismissed from their remote classes at 11:00 a.m.

On Monday, October 12th will be observe the holiday, so there is NO SCHOOL at all.

I will hold a virtual Principal Chat on Thursday, October 8th from 2:30-3:30 p.m. If you are interested in discussing this school year or school activities, please email me at joanne.menard@gmrsd.org prior to the date, so I can send you a link.

If you are interested in serving on this year's School Council, please email me no later than Monday, October 12th expressing your desire to be on this committee.

You are invited to join the new GFMS/TFHS PTO group! We will meeting virtually at 2:45 on Friday, October 2nd. Our mission is to support the amazing students and hardworking staff of our two schools and to increase family communication and engagement. If you would like to attend our first meeting, please email Jen Cadran for a meeting link: cadran.jennifer@yahoo.com

The district has turned on GMail as a Google app for our MS and HS students. This means that through their @gmrsd.us Google accounts, students are able to get into GMail and receive email messages. Email messages received and sent out will be limited to only within the domain; and only with their teachers. Presently, we will not be allowing them to email each other until we determine that it is appropriate to do so.

Your child(ren) will not have to do anything different from logging into their Google accounts. They will receive emails, and can access their email messages, by going into the "waffle" and selecting GMail.

Seniors will be in a more open domain to allow them to work with their college applications. We will work with Guidance to set this up. The students' @gmrsd.org accounts will be able reach them directly from any college. Anything sent to from a college to a @gmrsd.us account is directly forwarded to the student's @gmrsd.org account.

Please note that the GMRSD Acceptable Use Policy does apply to student emails. The policy is below.

Many of our TFHS/GFMS teachers have gotten very creative with their remote lessons. Here are two examples of teachers utilizing a tool called Jamboard.

In GFMS Mrs. Helgerson, our 8th grade math teacher, has been using Jamboard to review math vocabulary. She had supplied sections for students to add definitions, sections for drawing, and sections for matching/voting in a recent lesson. Please see below.

Ms Vachula-Curtis, TFHS teacher, is using Jamboard in her English class to allow students to collaborate and brainstorm ideas for discussion. Here is a Jamboard where students chose favorite lines after listening to the song “Alexander Hamilton”, then discussed why those specific lines were significant or meaningful. Jamboard is a great tool to collect feedback or responses from students in a quick way which can be shared by the group!

The GMRSD Family Technology Resource Page is available on our district website: www.gmrsd.org. This resource page is the place to visit if you have questions about your students' remote learning environment and to access the GMRSD Family HelpDesk contact link.

This statement is read by a teacher at the beginning of each class in order to protect both the teachers' and students' privacy:

It is important that we follow our school rules when we meet through the computer. We will be respectful of each other's words and ideas. Students and their families may not save, record, share or post this session or any photos from this session. If students or families do not agree with these requirements, please disconnect from this meeting. Families may contact me for a different learning plan.

CHROMEBOOK ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY:

• School issued Chromebooks should be used for educational purposes and students are to adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy at all times. Chromebook devices are enrolled under the gmrsd.us domain making it inapplicable for any other use.

• GMRSD’s administrative staff and faculty retain the right to collect and/or inspect Chromebooks at any time, including via electronic remote access, and to alter, add or delete installed software or hardware.

• Inappropriate media may not be used for Chromebook backgrounds or themes. No images or graphics containing people can ever be used as a background or theme. The presence of guns, weapons, pornographic materials, inappropriate language, alcohol, drug, gang-related symbols or pictures will result in disciplinary consequences.

• Manufacturer and school barcode tags and name labels shall not be removed, covered or marked upon.

• Teachers, school administrators, and the Technology Services staff use monitoring software that allows them to view the screens and activity on student assigned Chromebooks.

• The school district uses an Internet content filter that is in compliance with the federally mandated Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). All Chromebooks, regardless of physical location (in and out of school), will have Internet activity protected and monitored by teachers, school administrators, and the technology staff. If an educationally valuable site is blocked, students should contact their teachers to request the site be unblocked. Such requests will be given consideration following administrative review.

Please note that at the Greenfield Staples, there are boxes both for TFHS and GFMS to donate Care Bags for students. Next time you are there, please think about donating.

Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the athletic seasons have been changed to allow the best opportunity for all sports to be played with traditional rules. Due to this, TFHS/GFMS will be competing in 4 sport seasons. In fall, we will offer Golf and Field Hockey. Schedules will be limited and competition will only take place within Franklin County to create a "bubble" type league. This season will end in late October. Volleyball, Competitive cheer, and Football will now compete in a "new" season that will be called Fall 2. This season will start in late February and end in mid-April. More guidance on Winter sports will come out from the state in mid to late October with modifications for those sports. I will continue to update everyone as more information is learned.

Submitted by Adam Graves, TFHS/GFMS Athletic Director

Middle School Whole School Meetings will be held on Mondays and Fridays from 7:45-8:00 a.m. Their grade's Team Leader has a link to these meetings on the whole grade Google Classroom.

High School Whole School Meetings will be held on Tuesdays beginning at 9:10 a.m. Principal Menard or Mr. Gaffigan will be sending out the link for all high school teachers to share with students on the Monday prior to each meeting.

If a parent/guardian/student needs to come to the main office for any reason, we respectfully ask everyone to stay outside the office window to conduct all business. This is to maintain the safety of our office staff and administrators. We appreciate you attention to this very important manner.

Wednesday, September 30th - 9-11 & 12-2 p.m. - GFMS Student Planner Pick-Up & Turners Loft Apparel Sale

Friday, October 2nd - GFMS Morning Meeting 7:45-8:00 a.m.; 2:45 p.m. Virtual PTO Meeting

Monday, October 5th - GFMS Morning Meeting, 7:45-8:00 a.m.

Tuesday, October 6th - TFHS Morning Meeting, 9:10-9:38 a.m.

Wednesday, October 7th - Half Day for Students, 11:00 a.m. dismissal

Thursday, October 8th - Principals Chat (virtual), 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Friday, October 9th - GFMS Morning Meeting, 7:45-8:00 a.m., Community Newsletter published

Turners Falls High School

Great Falls Middle School

222 Turnpike Road

Montague, Massachusetts 01351

413-863-7200