The Gates Newsletter
Volume XIII, Issue 5 Charting the course for excellence November 20, 2009
Scituate Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation.
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Principal’s Corner
We live in a fast-paced and complicated world, a world in which misunderstandings can happen frequently. The best way I know to avoid escalation of any misunderstanding between two or more parties is good communication between them, should an issue arise (or even better, to head off any issue that could arise). For this reason, we at Gates encourage teachers and parents to regularly touch base about how students are progressing in school. Today, there are more ways to do this than ever, what with email, voicemail, text messaging and the like. If a student is struggling with school work, parents should know this well ahead of the end of a marking period. Similarly, if a parent is confused or upset with what they believe a teacher is doing or not doing in their child’s class, they should communicate this concern to the teacher in a timely way, so the teacher can address whatever the perceived issue is. This ‘early intervention’ process is proven to be very successful. Both parties benefit through a better understanding of the situation, and the student(s) benefit with a relatively quick ‘solution’. The time to ask for administrative intervention with a problem is after an attempt has been made by both the parent and teacher to resolve that problem. There are two good reasons for this ‘chain of command’ philosophy. In most cases, both parent and teacher generally know more about the details concerning a particular student situation than a building or system administrator. Also, there are instances when third party interventions, well-intentioned as they may be, actually interfere with good communications. Teachers sometimes feel resentful when a ‘superior’ is called in order to resolve a problem. On the other hand, parents may feel less secure in sharing useful and/or important information regarding their child or family situation if an administrator is present. If a parent or guardian feels the situation is unresolved after the building administrator has intervened, then he or she may ask for ‘Central Office’ or Superintendent support. Circumventing this process of initially addressing problems at the lowest level generates unnecessary ill will, and cannot problem-solve in any effective way. Most important, our students lose out when misunderstandings are blown out of proportion due to ill-conceived communication practices.
From the Literacy Corner
Check out the Literacy webpage: http://267msullivan.googlepages.com/home Happy Reading! ~Mrs. Sullivan
Foreign Language Corner:
On November 12 and 13, all ninety Latin students went to Boston to the Museum of Fine Arts. They were separated into small groups and each group had a private tour of the special exhibit by a museum docent (docent is a derivative of the Latin word doceo which means teach). The students had a chance to see in person the many things that they have studied about Egypt.
In 1915 archaeologists from the MFA uncovered a 30 ft deep burial shaft leading to the largest Middle Kingdom burial site ever discovered. The tomb was filled with the funerary equipment of a local governor and his wife. The objects from the tomb give an exceptional view of ancient Egyptian life and art in the period around 2000 BC, known as the Middle Kingdom. For the first time in 4,000 years, all the original objects are together.
Student Government News:
Yearbook: Yearbooks orders will be taken in homerooms until Thanksgiving. The cost for a yearbook is $25.00. All students received forms in school with details. Checks are to be made payable to: Town of ScituateGates. Very important-PLEASE DO NOT drop off orders in the office. All orders must be done in your child's homeroom or else they may not receive their yearbook. They will get a receipt in homeroom and they must hold onto the receipt until June. The best idea is to tape it inside their lockers in the far back. If you do not order one now, you will not be able to get one in June unless we have a few extras. The cost in June will be $35.00. No orders will be taken after Thanksgiving. Student Government: There is a Football Rumble dance this Friday from 7-9pm and the cost is $10.00. Wear a football shirt or school colors. Please review the dance rules in the Gates handbook with your child. Be reminded that if a student is not in school the day of a dance, he/she cannot attend. Dances are for Gates students only-not Scituate residents. Finally, if you need to pick up your child early, you must enter the gym and see an adult chaperone. You may not pickup another child along with your child unless it has been pre-approved. The cost for dances is $10.00. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, please contact a teacher of your child, a guidance counselor or Ms. Hendrickson and we will issue a free dance pass.
If you are interested in chaperoning a dance, you must contact Ms. Hendrickson prior to the dance to be sure more chaperones are needed. An assignment will be given to all chaperones by Ms. Hendrickson. All chaperones must have a CORY check prior to attending a dance. CORY forms are available in the Gates office.
Food/Coat Drive: Many thanks to all the families that contributed to our food and coat drive. Over 50 boxes of food will go to the Scituate Food Pantry and 200 coats to Anton's Cleaners for the homeless. Outstanding job by all. Winning Homerooms are Mrs. Hall, Mr. Culbert, Ms McLaughlin and Ms Morrissey. They will get ice cream sundaes this week! $200.00 will be donated to Susan Komen Foundation from our Halloween Hat Day ADL- the Anti Defamation League is a group of students who work and learn to teach their peers about prejudice, bullying, harassment, bias and related topics. Student involvement is a key factor in ADL. We meet weekly on Friday mornings as well as after school when we are preparing to present. Qualified students must be capable of setting a good example by their actions. They must be accepting of others and have had no issues of harassment. Grades are not a criteria but if you are failing any subjects you cannot join as training will take a few days out of class. A parental sheet will go home and need to be signed by all interested students.
From the Gates Physical Education Staff: We will provide the monthly be active activities outlined in the Teen Food and Fitness brochure provided by Resources for Educators, a division of Aspen Publishers Be Active!
Keep moving year-round! Teenagers are more likely to stay active when they see their parents getting fit, too. So gather everyone together for activities that will build muscles, get hearts pumping, and increase flexibility-month by month.
November:
You’re on camera!! Stay fit indoors as the weather cools off by filming your own family exercise video. If you don’t have a video camera, borrow one from a relative or neighbor. Start with a warm-up of slow stretches, and cool down at the end with more stretches (for ideas, borrow a workout video from the library). In between taping, have each family member choose a favorite aerobic exercise. Your son might do a drill he learned in football practice, or your daughter might have picked up a new move from dance class. Each person can teach the exercise to the rest of the family. After practicing a few times together, you’re ready to tape. You’ll get plenty of exercise just preparing! Once the video is made, the whole family can use it to work out.
Guidance Corner:
Interested in an Organization and Study Skills course for your 7th or 8th grader? Great program offered Wednesday afternoons at Gates. Session begins October 21. If interested, please contact Jen Fiske or visit www.corsefoundation.org South Shore Vocational Technical School: There is an open house at South Shore Vo-Tech on December 10 from 6:00-8:30pm. If you have any questions, please contact Jen Fiske. Thanks!
From the Nurse:
Please donate tissues, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer, we appreciate your help in keeping Gates a healthy place! Scituate Public Schools: Community Matters Please be advised that we are seeing an increase in the numbers of absenteeism in our school buildings this week. We are making every effort to track reporting of "InfluenzaLike- Illness". We continue to closely monitor updates from the CDC and MA Department of Public Health and will place these updates on our web site. We are promoting guidelines in order to minimize the impact of seasonal and H1N1 Flu on our entire school community. The preventive methods of hand washing and cough etiquette cannot be overemphasized. Please be advised that children who exhibit signs of illness are being evaluated in our health offices and sent home. It is important for you monitor the health of your children as well. As such, please do not send children to school if they are exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Per Scituate Public
Schools Health and Safety Protocol, if you keep your child home you must call the school to report the reason for the absence. We are asking that you be specific in reporting "flu-like symptoms", which are defined as a fever greater than 100.4 and either a persistent cough or sore throat. The average duration of these symptoms is three to five days. Children must be kept home until they are symptom-free and they have been fever-free for 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing medication. Fever-reducing medication is medication containing acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) should not be given to children or teenagers who have influenza, as this can cause a rare but serious illness called Reye's syndrome. It is important to realize that individuals with the flu can be contagious before symptoms appear. Therefore, as reports of the flu are on the rise, it may be prudent to limit social activities, such as sleepovers. We cannot avoid clustering of students in a school setting, however encouraging social distancing after school and on the weekends may prove helpful in decreasing the spread of the flu. There continues to be a shortage of both seasonal and H1N1 vaccine. Our planned clinics at the Gates School and Scituate High School have been postponed until we have an adequate supply of vaccine. We remain in constant contact with Jennifer Sullivan, Scituate's director of public health and Dr. Stephen Lane, our school physician, with regard to any and all updates and protocols. This continues to be an evolving health issue and we will make every attempt to keep you informed. Please check our school web site for seasonal an H1N1 Flu updates. Smile Dr. Stephen Hoff, a Scituate dentist, is offering a wonderful opportunity for people who are in need of dental care and have no dental insurance. Dr. Hoff will make appointments for individuals who meet the following criteria: 1) Needs to be a Scituate resident 2) Has no dental insurance 3) Experiencing financial hardship Dr. Hoff has set aside November 24th and 25th for these appointments. If you are in need of dental care and meet the criteria, please call Dr. Hoff's office at 781-545-3703 Dr. Hoff suggests that if financially possible, in return of this dental care, the individual make a $25 donation to one of the following: The Scituate Food Pantry, The Scituate Animal Shelter or Scituate Community Christmas. Thank you Dr. Hoff for this generous offer.
Friendly reminders:
No locker decorating for birthdays! First Friday of every month: Students who bring in antibacterial wipes may wear a school-appropriate hat. The students may come into the office with their wipes and receive a sticker to wear on their hats.
Gates Dates:
November 20 Dance November 25 Early Dismissal November 26-27 Thanksgiving Recess December 3 Early Dismissal December 7 Faculty Meeting December 11 Term I Report Cards December 22 Winter Concert, Gym December 23 In-School Winter concert December 24-January 1 Winter Recess January 4 Faculty Meeting January 19 Professional Development, no school January 22 Dance January 26 Early Release Day January 27 Winter Open Mic Night January 29 Term II Progress Reports