TFHS/GFMS Community Newsletter

• Community Thanksgiving Dinner
• Donation of Meals from TFHS
• Dodgeball Tournament
• School Committee Meeting
• Matilda Rehearsals
• GFMS Health Class
• GFMS Optional Quiet Lunch
• Advanced Graphic Arts Lesson
• Late Bus Route
  
• Late Bus Sign Up
• Remaining November Half Days & No School Days
• Pop-Up TFHS Art Show
• March 14th SAT Test
• Student Council Fall Leadership Conference
• Deans' Grade Assignments
• 7th Grade Reading Lesson
• Resource Fair for GMRSD Families
• Drop-In Times for Parents/Families with Family Engagement Coordinator
• TFHS Art Lesson
• Monte's March
• Monte's Marchers Getting Ready
• 8th Grade Fundraiser
• GFMS Honor Roll
• 2019-2020 School Calendar
• TFHS Yearbook 2020
• MIAA Sportsmanship Summit
• GFMS Yearbook 2020
• GFMS Food Drive
• Academic Calendar
• Secondary School Improvement Plan (SIP)
• Where Art Meets Chemistry
• Community Health Care Center of Franklin County Mobile Dental Service
• GFMS' Students of the Week
• FoodSource Hotline
• WIC Offers Families
• TFHS Eagle Scout
• TFHS Bell Schedule
• TFHS Math Lesson
• Gill-Montague Education Fund 2020 Annual Gala
• Update on Student Activity Accounts & Fundraising Protocols
  
• Box Tops for Education
• Upcoming Dates at TFHS/GFMS

Through some very generous organizations and staff, fifteen turkey day meals were handed out to some of our very own families. Thanks so much to Mr. Graves, Officer Miner, and Ms. Richardson for working on this very important project!

On Friday, November 22nd, our Rise Up students, along with their teacher Ms. Klumb, ran a Dodgeball Tournament that was held in the TFHS/GFMS gym. Both adult and student teams signed up for this engaging event. All proceeds will go to a community project that the Rise Up class organizes and implements. The funds raised from the concession stand go into the Rise Up Student Activity Account.

Thanks to all that supported this event!

The next GMRSD School Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 26th beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Matilda rehearsals begin December 2nd after school.

These sixth grade health students, under the direction of teacher Ms. Wozniak, chose how to show their learning on their Smoking unit - student voice and choice in action!. The projects were terrific and varied widely - displays, puppet shows, self created books, computer slide shows, shadow boxes, tri-folds etc. This class used the carousel method to display work and students critiqued each other's projects!

A quiet GFMS lunch is available to middle school students on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays in Mrs. Krems office (M211). All a student needs to do is ask Ms. Rebel for a pass in the lunch room that day. Twenty students will be accommodated during each available lunch.

Quiet activities include: board/card games, drawing, reading, working on homework, and socializing with friends. If you think your middle school students could benefit from a quiet lunch, please encourage them to obtain a pass.

Under the direction of their teacher Ms. Charles, students created a dileline and an original cereal box design, taking advantage of all sides. Using color, composition, contract and space, they included their own make up company, cereal name, and cereal type. Students' final projects were printed, cut out, and folded into dimensional cereal boxes.

The protocol to sign up for the late bus for the day is for a student to sign a form in the cafeteria. Students should be asking a teacher for a pass as well.

Please note that the late bus runs Monday-Thursdays, but not on any half days.

Wednesday, November 27th: Half Day due to Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 28th: NO SCHOOL - THANKSGIVING

Friday, November 29th: NO SCHOOL - THANKSGIVING BREAK

On Friday, November 22nd, TFHS Art teacher Ms. Schmidt set up a pop-up art show in the front lobby. As you can see, we have some very talented students here at TFHS!

Any Junior/Senior interested in taking the March 14th SAT, please sign up online by February 14th at collegeboard.org

TFHS Student Council members attended the Student Council Fall Leadership Conference that was held at Greenfield High School on Friday, October 15th. All of these students attended two leadership workshops and listened to a motivational speaker.

New skills to help our continue to move forward in a positive direction!

With the new administrative team, we have redefined roles for this year.

Dean Rebel McKinley (rebel.mckinley@gmrsd.org) is working with all grade 7, 9, and 11 students and families.

Dean Mike Duprey (mike.duprey@gmrsd.org) is working with all grade 6, 8, 10, and 12 students and families.

Please reach out to them with any attendance or disciplinary concerns.

During a read aloud with Ms. Turner grade 7 students used their active listening skills to note character traits in the book Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. After reading, students created a character web. They inferred character traits from the text and cited the text to support their choices. Students identified and discussed theme and lessons in the text.

Parents and caregivers of middle and high school students are invited to come to a weekly drop-in time with the district's Family Engagement Coordinator - Stacey Langknecht. She will be in the high school conference room Monday mornings 9:00-9:45 a.m.

Ms. Schmidt's art students out in the school hallways studying perspective and line with their charcoal drawings of the school's interiors.

Ms. Luciano and Ms. Vachula-Curtis are coordinating Monte’s March teams from GFMS and TFHS again this year. We’d love to beat last year’s fundraising amount of $3,000 and would love support! As of 11/22/19, TFHS and GFMS are each about $300 away from our goals!

To donate to the TFHS team: https://www.pledgereg.com/3278/Team/12776

To donate to the GFMS team: https://www.pledgereg.com/3278/Team/12779

High School's Monte's March team pictured below in a November 21, 2019 article in The Montague Reporter by one of our very own!

Hello Parents and Guardians-

The 8th grade is starting their annual fudge fundraiser through Mo’s Fudge Factor. Please help your child sell fudge, we only have until November 26th. They got the forms this morning. If you have family far away or family/friends that would just rather order online, that is great. The website is: http://www.mosfudgefactor.com/fundraising.html. THEN, go to the drop down menu at the top of the page, it will say Great Falls Middle school 8th grade.

The money the students earn will go toward a field trip and field day events and treats at the end of the school year.

REMEMBER forms are due right before Thanksgiving break and the fudge will be in around December 13th (before the holiday break).

Thank you for your support and happy selling!

-The 8th grade teachers

We are so proud of the following students, as they were recognized in front of their peers and staff for making Honor Roll. The honor roll is based on a simple Grade Point Average (G.P.A.). A student who earns at least a 3.0 G.P.A.. or B average, with no grade below a C, shall be eligible to be on the honor roll. Students receiving an incomplete in any graded course is not eligible for the honor roll.

The simple G.P.A. is arrived at by adding the numeric equivalents and dividing by the number of grades. The honor roll is:

First Honors: 3.7-4.0

Second Honors: 3.4-3.699

Third Honors: 3.0-3.399

Congratulations to all!

On Friday, November 22nd, these senior student athletes, and Athletic Director Adam Graves, attended the 26th Annual Sportsmanship Summit that was held at Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA. The students were able to attend the following breakout sessions: "Teaming Up to Make a Difference"; and "Officials, Coaches, Student Athletes & Fans: A Mutual Respect".

Middle school students presented to their classmates details regarding the middle school upcoming food drive.

We have been hard at work on our Secondary School Improvement Plan (SIP) at the administrative level. After it was presented, feedback was given by our Curriculum Coordinators and staff and then appropriate adjustments were made to the plan. I then presented it to the School Committee.

Here is the link to the PowerPoint presentation I made to the School Committee.

Teachers Ms. Martineau and Mr. Chappell worked together on a project merger in chemistry class to demonstrate where art meet chemistry. They life-cast a student's full face using silicone, plaster, and ultra-cal 30 (which is a cement that looks like plaster). Special FX makeup industry standard stuff!

At our recent middle school Morning Meetings, four students were recognized with the honor of Student of the Week for each week. Congratulations to all! We are proud of your hard work and good choices!

(Sorry that this platform cuts off some of the teachers! I figured we would all want to see the students though!)

We are proud to announce that one of our very own students recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout! He also plays golf and tennis for TFHS.

High school students in math class, under the direction of Ms. Fowler, created snowflakes from different shaped pasta to demonstrate their understanding of rotational symmetry. One student can be seen measuring the degrees of the rotation.

With the new TFHS/GFMS administration, all student activity leaders are being required to attend a training with both Joanne Blier (Director of Business & Operations) and Cynthia Caporaso (Treasurer) to ensure common understanding of both district and state requirements around student activity accounts.

Another step that we will be taking is that our fundraising request forms will be reviewed with all TFHS Student Council officers after the Thanksgiving Break. We will go through the steps of creating a fundraiser: student group must first propose their idea to their advisor and get their approval, next the Student Council will either approve or deny their request, and then finally if the Student Council approves the fundraiser then the form goes to Principal Menard for the final approval. Each of these steps must be followed for all GFMS/TFHS fundraisers prior to any fundraising takes place.

Monday, November 25th:

7:45 a.m. - GFMS Morning Meeting

Field Trip for Larson's and Smith's classes (some of the students)

Tuesday, November 26th:

Monte' March

6:30 p.m. - GMRSD School Committee meeting

Wednesday, November 27th:

Half Day for students and staff - Thanksgiving Break

Thursday, November 28th:

Thanksgiving - NO SCHOOL

Friday, November 29th:

Thanksgiving Break - NO SCHOOL

Staff Newsletter will be published on December 2nd due to holiday

Monday, December 2nd:

Staff Newsletter published due to Thanksgiving Break

7:45 a.m. - GFMS Morning Meeting

2:30 p.m. - Admin Chat - Staff Lounge

Tuesday, December 3rd:

9:10 a.m. - TFHS Morning Meeting

2:30 p.m. - Team Leader meeting - HS Conference Room

Wednesday, December 4th:

Half Day for students

12:00-2:30 p.m. - Professional Development

Thursday, December 5th:

2:30 p.m. - Curriculum Coordinator meeting - HS Conference room

5:30 p.m. - Resource Fair for GMRSD families

Friday, December 6th:

Community and Staff Newsletters Published

7:45 a.m. - GFMS Morning Meeting

Turners Falls High School

Great Falls Middle School

222 Turnpike Road

Montague, Massachusetts 01351

413-863-7200