Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Dear Friends of Gateway:
Here is this week’s installment of Gateway’s weekly e-newsletter. As always, your feedback and suggestions are invited.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. If we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” – Anne Bradstreet
COMING EVENTS: A schedule of activities for the week ending March 30, 2007 is now posted. (Items for this calendar should be submitted at least two weeks ahead of time!)
UPCOMING MEETINGS: The next regular meeting of the Gateway Regional School Committee will be on March 28th at 7:30 p.m. in the Library Media Center of the Middle/High School complex. They are scheduled to see a presentation on the HS Advisory program and to continue 2007-08 budget discussions. The Friends of Gateway are now meeting the first Tuesday of every month. Their next meeting will be April 3 at 7 p.m. in the Superintendent’s Office. They are working on a fundraiser for the new education foundation. New members are needed and should feel welcome to attend. As always, the public is invited and encouraged to attend all meetings.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE ADOPTS 2007-08 BUDGET; TO CONSIDER FALLBACK PLANS IN APRIL: The Gateway Regional School Committee voted to adopt Version 1.1 of the 2007-08 budget, as recommended by Superintendent David Hopson. They will take up his second recommendation—to approve a fallback budget to bring to town meetings if the state does not improve our funding outlook, and to approve an emergency budget, should the fallback budget fail in 5 of the 7 towns. Please read the complete article to find important information of interest to all stakeholders: students, parents, staff and community members.
GATEWAY STUDENT TO BE FEATURED ON WGBY’S “TALENTED TEENS”: Senior Chris Robie will be featured in the season opener of WGBY’s “Making it Here: Teenstyle”, premiering Monday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. on the public television station. Chris is interning this year at Zing Recording Studios in Westfield, and plans to attend Berkley College of Music to become a recording engineer. The program will repeat on Saturday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m., and is also available ON DEMAND to Comcast and Time Warner digital cable subscribers.
GATEWAY MIDDLE SCHOOL SENDING 3 FINALISTS TO STATE CHALLENGE: After winning their classroom and grade-level contests, the three champions eligible to compete for a place in the Massachusetts Word Power Challenge all prevailed. They will go up against 97 other middle school students on March 27th. Read on for details.
“HOOPS FOR HEART” FUNDRAISER IS MARCH 30TH: Organizer Matt Collins reports that middle school students who raise at least $10 in donations to the American Heart Association will be rewarded with an afternoon of special activities on Friday, March 30th. But there will truly be “March Madness” at 4:30 that day, when everybody is invited to watch the game of the year: the annual student-faculty basketball game in the high school gym. Details are in the complete article.
HIGH SCHOOL HOSTS TALENT SHOW FUNDRAISER: The Class of 2008 and Yearbook are again hosting the annual High School Talent Show on Friday, March 23rd at 7 p.m. in the Gateway Performing Arts Center. All are welcome to attend. Admission will be $4 for students and senior citizens, and $6 for adults.
SAVE THE DATE FOR SPRING PLAYWRIGHT PERFORMANCES: The Chester Theatre Co. (CTC) and Gateway Middle School will present “Waiting”, an evening of one act plays written by our grade 6 playwrights. Plays will be performed by members of the CTC’s Gateway Acting Company on Fri and Sat, April 13 and 14, @7:00 PM in the Gateway Performing Arts Center. Admission is $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for students. This program is supported by Local Cultural Council grants from all seven Gateway towns.
MARCH HIGH SCHOOL FORUM ON 3/26: High School Principal Kathleen McSweeney and Assistant Principal Laurie Marvel will both be on hand to discuss school issues with parents and community members. Join them from 5 – 6 p.m. in the Principal’s Conference Room (high school office).
NEW SBHC STAFF: Gateway School-Based Health Center Director Martha Klaczak is pleased to introduce two new staff members. Rossie Feldman, LICSW will serve as a Behavioral Health Counselor on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Rachael Keim, Nutritionist will be at the SBHC on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Her nutrition services are free to Gateway students.
SPAGHETTI SUPPER AT CONWELL ON MARCH 30TH: The R. H. Conwell PTO is hosting a spaghetti dinner fundraiser at the school on March 30, 2007 with dinner served from 6 – 7:30 p.m. The menu includes spaghetti, meatballs, tossed salad, rolls and dessert. Admission is $7.00 for adults, $4.00 for children, and youngsters 3 and under are free. The PTO is looking for items for the Chinese Raffle; raffle proceeds will be used to fund a new shed. FUNDRAISERS NET $5,000 FOR PTOS: Blandford and Chester elementary schools had wonderful turnouts and strong community support for their weekend of Spaghetti Dinners. Blandford Elementary School reports that over 200 dinners were served, and they raised about $4,000—that’s $1,000 more than their goal of $3k for new shades in the gym. Click here for complete details on the Chester dinner.
EATING AND LEARNING: Are Gateway kids eating a good breakfast? Research is showing strong links between eating breakfast and increased academic performance. Hunger is not conducive to learning, as reported by the Food Research and Action Center, who say that children who miss breakfast make more errors, are slower with memory, have lower math scores, and have more behavioral, emotional and academic problems overall. Breakfast is available in all Gateway schools before school starts. Also, are Gateway kids eating lunch? For some reason, many 7th and 8th grade students are not this year. Follow-up with your student(s) and help get them on track for academic success!
REMINDERS:
- CHANGES TO MARCH AND MAY STUDENT SCHEDULES: Parent-teacher conferences will be held on March 26, 2007, a difference from the calendar in student handbooks. Students will have school on March 19, but students will not attend on March 26. In related news, high school students in grades 9, 11, and 12 will again have 5 delayed-start days this spring so that 10th graders can take their MCAS exam without interruption. Please read the complete article for important information on bus schedules on those dates.
- PRESCHOOL SCREENING FOR 3 AND 4 YEAR-OLDS: Gateway is offering a developmental screening for all 3 and 4 year old children in the Gateway towns. This screening is conducted to identify where children are in their developmental growth, as well as look at any concerns or questions parents may have. Parents must call by March 30th to schedule an appointment for a screening Please click here for more information.
- SPRING SPORTS SCHEDULE ON THE INTERNET: The spring sports season begins with golf, softball and baseball tryouts starting March 19th. Click here for details on finding the spring sports schedule and other items of interest to athletes, their families and fans.
- BLOOD PRESSURE CLINIC SCHEDULED AT SBHC: As a service to Gateway staff and community members, the Gateway School-Based Health Center will be holding free blood pressure clinics once a month. The next clinic will be on Wednesday, March 21st from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Visitors may park in the visitors lot in front of the school and enter through the main entrance. The SBHC is off of the main foyer of the school.
- NEW AEROBICS & YOGA CLASSES UNDERWAY: A new session of yoga and aerobics classes, offered by the Gateway Wellness Center, is about to begin. Aerobic Classes will run for 7 weeks and will begin March 20th. Yoga classes will also run for 7 weeks, but will begin March 14th. Fees are reduced for members of the Gateway Wellness Center, but classes are open to non-members as well. Click here for more information.
- GATEWAY SCHOOL COMMITTEE COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU: The Gateway Regional School Committee has announced that it will again hold meetings in all seven district towns during this school year, so that town officials and area residents will have greater access to those meetings. The next “town” meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 14th at Littleville Elementary School. Read the complete article for details.
- DISTRICT SAFETY HOTLINE: A reminder that the Gateway Regional School District has a confidential Safety Hotline in place, for students and community members to share their concerns. Just call 685-1050 and leave a message.
IN CLOSING, the Superintendent’s Corner for this week is attached. This week, Dr. Hopson outlines some of the new items that will be funded in the 2007-08 budget that was adopted by the School Committee last week, and the impact each could have on student achievement. But they all rest on the state improving the funding forecast for Gateway before town meetings. Read the entire column for details.
Have a great week!
Wendy V. Long, Editor
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