Jonas Clarke Middle
News and Notes September 2017
From the Principal
The school year has gotten off to a wonderfully smooth beginning despite some of the construction that is not quite finished. However, each week we are making more progress towards completion. Last week, we finally opened our front plaza which is a beautiful new space with capacity to hold many more students. Soon our new parking lot will be completed and the tennis courts will also be back! We are also working to finalize details with technology in the building such as interactive projectors, new chromebook carts and other devices for the classroom.
The 1:1 iPad program for 7th and 8th graders is off to a great beginning. All students have their devices and many teachers have begun to show students how it can be a useful tool for organization and learning. It is important to remember that technology is a tool that is used when it makes sense for learning. In addition, we met with all 7th and 8th graders to discuss appropriate use of the iPads using a red zone (no use allowed in the hallways or lunchroom), yellow zone (up to teacher discretion in the classroom) and green zone (they are off and working independently) metaphor. We would also like to remind students to ensure that it is charged every evening in a place where you won't likely forget it in the morning!
On October 4th and 5th we will hold our annual Middle School Back to School Night. Last year due to construction on site, we had a virtual experience for parents. This year we are pleased to offer an in person evening event (6:30 - 8:30pm). Due to the large number of students at Clarke, we are splitting it up into two evenings. Wednesday, October 4th will be for parents of 6th graders and Thursday, October 5th will be for parents of 7th and 8th graders. Stay tuned for more details on how the evening will be structured.
Finally, I would like to say another Thank you to our community for the amazing Hurricane Relief efforts. This week I had the pleasure of sending a check for $5,447 and an additional $450 in Walmart gift cards to the Fred Roberts Middle School in Houston. I have been in constant communication with Principal Jorly Thomas and he has let me know that we have truly made a difference in the lives of the middle school students and their families. Thank you Clarke Community for your generosity and willingness to help. I am just so proud!
I look forward to seeing many of you at upcoming events. It is wonderful to be back to school and back to working with and getting to know your children.
Bringing on the BARK at Clarke
On August 29th, sixth grade students from various elementary schools walked through the doors of Jonas Clarke Middle School. They met school mascot Jonas Bark and became Clarke Bulldogs. Over the course of the first weeks of school, they have learned what being a positive member of the Clarke community and a Clarke Bulldog is all about. Clarke’s core values can be summed up with the acronym BARK.
Balance
Acceptance
Responsibility
Kindness
All members of the Clarke community strive to live out these core values each and every day by “Bringing on our BARK!” However, the school will have activities that highlight one of the core values of Clarke’s BARK each quarter. The focus of the first quarter is Balance.
Balance can be described as evenly distributing weight so that an object can stay upright and steady. An object that has too much weight on one side will either topple over or eventually break down. When objects are balanced, they are stable and strong.
Just like physical objects, people need to have balance to be strong in body and mind. Here are some aspects of middle school life where students try to strike a balance.
Academic Tasks/Outside of School Activities/Sleep
New Friends/Old Friends
Friends/Family
Being Social/Staying Focused on Academics
Asking for Help/Being Independent
Obligations and Responsibilities/Want To’s
Getting Good Grades/Having Outside Interests
When helping your children to manage the middle school balancing act, it’s important to check in with them about how they are balancing all the responsibilities and opportunities which present themselves in middle school. Some questions that can help guide the discussion include the following:
What aspects of your life are you currently trying to balance?
How do you know when you are out of balance? What are the signs?
How much free time do you have?
How much can you handle right now?
What supports do you have?
What are your priorities?
What makes you happy?
Is there anything extra that you might want to take on? Is there anything you might need to put off for right now?
Discussing those questions with your child can lead to some great conversations as your child figures out how to have balance during this new school year and continuously work to “Bring on their BARK!”
News from the 6th Grade!
Team Atlantis
Atlantis Team students are off to a great start. Coming from a number of different elementary schools, we are learning about each other and quickly becoming a team. We have learned to navigate our way around the building, use the correct stairs, read our schedules, and we can open our lockers (most of the time).
We are planning our Annual Team Breakfast for students, which is a wonderful opportunity for getting together with old friends and making new friends. After breakfast, the team will go outside for some team building activities.
The Atlantis Team Homework Club will start in October. All students are welcome to come and work on homework in room 367. There will be LHS students earning community service hours serving as peer tutors for our middle school students. Homework Club runs every Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:00. Students need to make arrangements for rides home.
The Atlantis Team is taking advantage of the fall weather by enjoying outdoor recess whenever we can. We have an awesome recess bag, full of great equipment. Any donations to our recess bag this year are welcome.
We look forward to an exciting year.
Team Columbia
The Columbia Team has had an exciting start to the year!
In Maths we have been focusing on having a growth mindset, working in groups collaboratively, working on being active listeners and being able to ask and answer questions to further our understanding of concepts. For example, we will be working on being convincers, defenders and skeptics of mathematics.
Questions parents might ask their children at home:
Is there more you could do? Could you solve it in a different way? Could you show this using a visual representation? Why does your answer make sense? Can you prove your answer?
In our humanities classes (English and Ancient Civilizations) we have been working on establishing routines for success and taking stock of our reading strategies. We have jumped right into making claims, supporting them with evidence, and explaining our reasoning (using context and analysis) as part of our Archaeology Unit. Moreover, we have been engaging in Writer’s Workshop, brainstorming story ideas, and starting to examine literary themes and plot structures for our Personal Narrative Unit.
In Science class we have been working on expectations are of both the students and of Mr. Murray. We have also been working on what makes a Scientist different than everyone else. Mr. Murray even took a day to explain whether or not the great Bigfoot was real or just another myth. We are currently working on what measurement is, how to find mass, volume and density of an object. After that we are going to to be tackling geology and looking at all the rocks that we collected over the summer!
Tips on How to be a Successful Clarke Middle School Student:
1.) Write your homework in your agenda book.
2.) Have all your materials for all your classes.
3.) Organization is the key! Keep your binder organized. ALL papers need to be put away by subject. Try scheduling time for this once a week at home.
4.) You should have an assignment folder labeled “To Do” and “Done” to keep current on your assignments.
5.) At home set up a successful homework area.
6.) Have a growth mindset attitude.
7.) Support each other.
8.) Have fun!
Team Quest
The Quest Team has had an amazing start to the new school year. The students have been flexible with organizing their materials and lockers, planning their days and visits to their lockers, and adjusting to the middle school atmosphere. The team teachers have noticed that our students are becoming wonderful active listeners. More importantly, they are working collaboratively so all students meet with success and feel part of our team.
This term we will have a team breakfast on October 5th in order to strengthen our relationships and get to know each other. We will also begin our WIN blocks soon, which will enable students to make good decisions based on what they need each week.
Students: This term’s goals for becoming a successful middle schooler are :
Write in your agenda book every day.
Double check to make sure you have all of your materials for class and home.
Set up a homework area and routine at home.
Parents/Guardians: Here are some suggested questions you can ask at home.
English: “What are you noticing/thinking about what you are reading?
Science: “What are you learning about what scientists do?
Math: “What patterns are you noticing?
Social Studies: “How does the past impact us today?”
Team Voyager
Voyager is off to a strong start as we continue to build team spirit. In Ancient Civilizations we have kicked off our archaeological unit and will be answering lifelong questions such as: what exactly does an archeologist do, what are the steps of an archeological dig, how does one date artifacts, and who exactly was Otzi the “Ice Man” (with apologies to George Gervin).
Voyager English students are off to a strong start this year learning about active reading strategies, annotating texts, and the purpose of imagery in narrative writing. Students are currently engaged in a visualization project, where they closely read a passage from Mildred Taylor’s Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry and analyzed the use of imagery, sensory language and figurative language. From there, they used their active reading strategies to recreate a picture of the scene Taylor so expertly crafted. The final stage of this assignment is for students to use the best evidence possible from the text to support their images. I’m so impressed with the independence, resourcefulness and effort the students have displayed! Next up for the Voyager students is a writing assignment that will challenge them to create their own “imagery snapshots” using what they’ve learned about descriptive language.
Voyager science has had a great start to the year! We have refined our observation skills so that we can use them throughout the course. Students have been working collaboratively to discover how scientists work together to achieve a common goal. We will be move into our measurement unit and students will explore mass, volume and density through engaging experiments. As a class we have enjoyed rich conversations as students share their personal experiences, cultures, and interests. This has created a wonderful community of learners. I am looking forward to a great year in Voyager science.
Voyager math students started out the school year with a fun unit on number sense. We're becoming more automatic with breaking down numbers into their most basic, prime factorization. We're getting stronger at recognizing when divisibility rules are useful. Perhaps most challenging, though, is the application of greatest common factor and least common multiple to real world problems!
Upcoming Dates
Wednesday October 4 | Walk and Roll to School
We invite you to walk / roll or carpool to school day! Festivities will be outside in the morning!
Wednesday October 4| Back To School Night
6:30 - 8:30 PM 6th Grade (This is a parent only event)
Thursday October 5 | PTO Meeting
8:30AM in the cafeteria
Thursday October 5| Back To School Night
6:30 - 8:30 PM 7th / 8th Grade (This is a parent only event)
Monday October 9| No School
Columbus Day
Friday October 13| 6th and 7th Grade Socials
3:00 - 5:00 PM 6th Grade Social
6:30 - 8:30 PM 7th Grade Social
Lexpress News for September
Get around Town on Lexpress, Lexington’s own public transit system!
Upcoming Events
- Free Friday: September 22 | Free rides all day long in honor of World Car Free Day
- Free Special Saturday Service: September 23 | A great weekend opportunity to try Lexpress as a family. Buses will operate 9:30AM – 3:30PM
General Information
Monday through Friday, our community bus service is available wherever you want to go in our service area - just hop on and off. Unlike the MBTA, there are no designated stops. Instead, board by standing on the side of the road the bus is traveling and waving down the bus. We have bike racks on all buses, so take your bike with you too!
Visit our website for specific directions to/from your school via Lexpress
Where’s my bus? There’s an app for that! http://tracker.lexpress.us
Bus Fare Options
- Using the school bus? Add a $50 Flexpass to your annual school bus pass and receive unlimited rides on Lexpress after 3:30PM on school days. You can add this on on anytime by calling the School Transportation Department 781-861-2580 x 2
- Buy a Lexpress Pass for unlimited rides
- Buy books of tickets: $20 for 14 tickets (sold at Community Center, LHS, or Michelson’s Shoes)
- Pay cash on board: $1.75/student