Weekly News
May 30, 2021
Congratulations to the Class of 2021
Upcoming Schedule
Underclassman Exam Schedule
June 9th - -A Block Final 7:30- 8:46am.
June 10th - B (9:25-10:41)and D(12:30-1:50) Block Finals
June 11th - C Block Final - 7:30- 8:46am.
June 14th - Make-Up Finals
Students of the Month
Each month our staff nominates students for this honor based on display of one of our four core values....Integrity, Respect, Perseverance and/or Balance.
Award Winner; Current School Year; Core Value observed; Nominating Staff Member
Landen Kane; Freshman; Perseverance; Mrs Potter
Danielle Alldredge; Junior; Perseverance; Mr. Brown
Hayley Smith; Junior; Perseverance; Mrs. Gounis
Andrew DiCesare; Senior; Perseverance; Mrs. Reid
Declan Tardif; Senior; Perseverance; Mrs.Reid
Kayla McCormick; Sophomore; Perseverance; Mrs. Reid
Natalie Cote; Senior; Perseverance; Ms.Foye
Morgan Kimball; Senior; Integrity; Ms. Cook
Hannah Ketelhohn; Senior; Integrity; Ms. Cook and Perseverance by Ms. Reid
Sammy Passmore; Freshman; Perseverance; Mr. Pizzi
Madelyn Kelly; Junior; Perseverance; Mr.MacDonald
Brianna Sullivan; Senior; Balance; Ms. McCracken
Cameron Barlow; Freshman; Integrity; Ms. Pfenninger
GDRHS Weekly Covid Update
From Ms. Shea...
COVID-19 New Student Cases this week: ZERO (this is the third consecutive week)
Pooled COVID Testing: Week #11
- Senior Class completed 3 weeks of testing with all negative results!
- This week's regular testing was postponed due to MCAS.
- We will resume weekly pooled testing on Tuesday, June 1, 2021
COVID-19 Vaccine Update:
- 145 GDRHS students have received vaccinations for COVID-19
- Please send in a copy of your student's COVID vaccine record once completed. (email cshea@gdrsd.org or have your student stop by the health office and I will make a copy)
- 51.7% of Massachusetts residents are fully vaccinated as of 5/27/2021
In general, people are considered fully vaccinated:
- 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2 dose series of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
- 2 weeks after a single dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine)
https://www.mass.gov/guidance/guidance-for-people-who-are-fully-vaccinated-against-covid-19
GD Athletics Schedule
GD Athletics Schedule
Monday, 5/31
Varsity Baseball vs St.Bernard’s 4:00 PM
Softball vs St. Bernard’s 12:00 PM
Varsity Boys Lacrosse @ Shrewsbury 1:00 PM
(to complete game from 5/26)
Tuesday, 6/1
MS Softball vs. Ayer/Shirley 4:00 PM
JV Baseball vs NM 4:00 PM
Varsity Girls Lacrosse vs. Algonquin 4:00 PM
JV Girls Lacrosse vs. Algonquin 5:30 PM
Varsity Boys Lacrosse @ Algonquin 4:00 PM
JV Boys Lacrosse @ Algonquin 5:30
Varsity Softball @ NM 4:00 PM
Wednesday, 6/2
Varsity Baseball @ Fitchburg 5:00 PM
Varsity Softball @ Fitchburg 5:00 PM
JV Baseball vs Fitchburg 5:00 PM
Girls Track and Field vs Westborough 4:00 PM
Boys Track and Field @ Westborough 4:00 PM
Thursday, 6/3
MS Track @ Lunenburg 3:30 PM
MS Softball vs Clinton 4:99 PM
Varsity Baseball @ Westborough 4:00 PM
Varsity Softball @ Westborough 4:00 PM
JV Baseball vs Westborough 4:00 PM
Varsity Girls Lacrosse vs Wachusett 4:00 PM
JV Girls Lacrosse vs. Wachusett 5:30 PM
Varsity Boys Lacrosse @ Wachusett 4:00 PM
JV Boys Lacrosse @ Wachusett 5:30 PM
Girls Tennis @ Nashoba Reg. 4:00 PM
Boys Tennis vs. Nashoba Reg. 4:00 PM
Friday, 6/4
JV Baseball vs, Parker Charter 3:30 PM
Groton-Dunstable Students Dominate Fitchburg State Math Competition!
The following students received the highest marks in the competition:
Grade 10 – 1st place: Oliver Erz (Groton-Dunstable); 2nd place: Ro Dudevoir (Groton-Dunstable); 3rd place: Arushi Chaudhary (Groton-Dunstable). Honorable mentions were awarded to Emma Milano (Groton-Dunstable) and Prachi Hemmige (Groton-Dunstable).
Grade 11 – 1st place: Tiana Jiang (Bromfield); 2nd place: Sylvia Han (Groton-Dunstable); 3rd place: Declan Muir (Groton-Dunstable). Honorable mentions were awarded to Ethan Kritzer (Groton-Dunstable), Jason Huang (Groton-Dunstable), Thomas Onishi (Groton-Dunstable); Matthew Hughes (Narragansett); and Olivia Ren (Bromfield).
Grade 12 – 1st place: Nicholas Thornton (Bromfield), who with a perfect score of 30 points was the overall winner of the 2021 contest, and was also the top scorer in the 2019 competition; 2nd place: Ben Furman (Groton-Dunstable); 3rd place: Olivier Bradley (Bromfield).
A Message from Mark Lawrence Photography
Dear Groton-Dunstable High Parents:
We at Mark Lawrence are pleased to have been selected as the official photographers for the
Groton-Dunstable High Class of 2022 yearbook. We will be working throughout the school year
capturing the memories that your student will cherish for years to come.
Probably the most anticipated yearbook section is the senior section which features an individual portrait of each members of the Class of 2022. We will be doing these portraits at our Nashua studio during the summer months of June, July and August. The basic sitting fee at Mark Lawrence, which includes a retouched photograph for the yearbook is $30. We also offer other sessions for additional cost - which include more time in the studio, extra poses, outfit changes, different backgrounds as well as outdoor poses. The outdoor poses are very popular with the seniors. All sessions confirmed by June 30th and in which the senior is photographed prior to August 15th will receive a discount on the session fee.
Please follow the link below to see samples of our work, get ideas for clothing, and different
ways to make your portraits more personal and unique to you.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JopqbwVrA1P2kR9y7TZcuTeaBGnk29sp/view
To schedule an appointment, or for further information – please call us at 603.882.0116.
Vote for Mrs. Freitas!!!!!
We need your vote! Norwegian is running a contest for teachers and one of our teachers, Nicole Freitas, is currently #2 in MA and #24 in the US out of 3300+ submissions, which means she's in the running to win $25,000, $15,000 or $10,000 for our school plus a free cruise! With your support, $10,000 for the high school is actually in reach! If you could take a moment to vote here (and perhaps share with some friends & family), she would greatly appreciate your help.
Details- You may vote once per email address. Also, if multiple votes are going through the same location at the same time, you will get a message saying that the IP address has already been used. Just wait a few minutes and try again.
GD Volunteers Club News
The GD Volunteers Club wants to thank everyone for their contribution to our fundraiser for Rise Against Hunger and the book drive for Up With Books! Collectively GD donated 1,686 books to help kids and local families. Through our raffle and balloon-a-grams fundraiser we raised enough money to put together and package 10,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger with Lawrence Academy. We wanted to thank everyone for their support and help with this. We also wanted to thank the teachers and staff for all of their donations and contributions to our raffle!
Thank you!
The GD Volunteer’s Club
GDRHS Music Program Has First Live Concert in Over a Year
Thanks to Julia Thompson for this submission....
A couple weeks after the success of their open mic night, the music program at GDRHS was able to continue yet another beloved tradition-their annual spring concert. In January, students performed in a socially-distanced concert that was live-streamed to friends and family. With the change in weather and decrease in COVID cases, however, they were finally able to welcome a Iive audience. Normally, the concert would have been hosted in the Groton-Dunstable Performing Arts Center. Due to COVID restrictions, however, the concert followed a similar format to their open mic night: students performed in front of the school while friends and family set up chairs and blankets in the parking lot. Like the winter concert, however, this concert took place for two nights: choir students performed on Wednesday, May 19 while band students performed on Thursday, May 20. “[It’s] still not the same...” music director Tim Savoy told his students the following day. “...but [it was] still better than it could have been.”
Despite the unusual concert format, students were glad to finally perform together in front of an in-person audience. “As a senior, my last year in band feels like it came to a beautiful end with the live concert” says Jill Suchecki, one of many music students set to graduate from GDRHS this week. As this rather unusual school year comes to a close, fellow senior Henry Vandermillen says he is “incredibly grateful to have had a group of passionate musicians as my friends all throughout high school.”
Photo credit: Jennifer Petersen
Student Absences From In-Person Learning
Should a student's absence be a result of Covid-19, because they are a close contact, or another health related concern, this could be an opportunity to access class as a remote student but only with permission. Any such exception will need to go through our Health Office. Should this occur, we ask parents/students to please email or call Ms. Shea or Ms. Caruso in our Health Office.
Hate Crime Prevention Grant and Partnership with the Anti-Defamation League
In January, the district received $38,822 of funding from DESE’s Hate Crime Prevention Grant. This grant allowed the district to explore curriculum and professional development to help prevent incidents of hate and bias-motivated incidents in our schools. The district recently secured a multiyear partnership with the Anti-Defamation League to guide this work. The ADL will be running three hours of on site education at each school during the 21/22 school year. The ADL will also be running trainings for district and building leadership.
We are excited to share that the high school will also be starting the ADL Peer Training Program. This program aims to provide students with the skills to be leaders, role models, and social activists against prejudice and discrimination in their schools. The first year of this program will involve training for our mentors and students with two additional years of support from the ADL to ensure the Peer Training Program positively impacts the entire culture and climate at GDRHS. There will also be on site training next year from ADL staff to support the roll out of the Peer Training Program.
This is an exciting opportunity for our students and staff. More information will be provided in the months ahead.
GD MASKS ARE STILL AVAILABLE
The G-D Athletic Booster Club is offering GD logo masks to our students and families. They are available in a pack of 6 masks for $30 or 2 for $15. You will receive 3 black and 3 grey masks (or 1/1) that are customized with a full color GD logo. These masks are made of a high quality, multiple layer fabric. They are adjustable, reusable and washable.
In order to minimize contact, orders will be received through our Venmo account. Groton-Dunstable Athletic Booster Club @GDABC (If prompted for last 4 phone digits enter 0770) We ask that you include your/student name, team (if an athlete), school (if faculty or staff), group (if you are part of a student/adult group) in the Venmo memo area. Your masks will be delivered based upon this information you provide. Thank you for supporting the G-D Athletic Boosters.
Student Parking
If you need information or paperwork regarding parking, students should check in to the main office.