Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Dear Friends of Gateway:
Here is this week’s installment of Gateway’s weekly e-newsletter. As always, your feedback and suggestions are welcome.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “A Student is the most important person ever in this school...in person, on the telephone, or by mail. A Student is not dependent on us...we are dependent on the Student. A Student is not an interruption of our work...the Student is the purpose of it. We are not doing a favor by serving the Student...the Student is doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so. A Student is a person who brings us his or her desire to learn. It is our job to handle each Student in a manner which is beneficial to the Student and ourselves.” – from William W. Purkey’s, “What is a Student?” Adapted from an L.L. Bean Co. poster: "What is a customer?" by J. M. Eaten
COMING EVENTS: A schedule of activities for the week ending September 21, 2007 is now posted. (Items for this calendar should be submitted at least two weeks ahead of time!) Please note the early release day on September 18th (remember, we no longer have late-start days for staff professional development).
UPCOMING MEETINGS: The next meeting of the Gateway Regional School Committee will be on September 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the HS/MS Library Media Center (2nd floor). The first half-hour of all School Committee meetings this year will be dedicated to planning for the future. The Friends of Gateway will meet on October 9th at 7 p.m. in the Superintendent’s Office. The public is invited and encouraged to attend all meetings.
GATEWAY SCHOOLS ENJOY SMOOTH OPENING DAY: Gateway Assistant Principal Laurie Marvel reported having “one of the smoothest” opening days of her career, as the 2007-2008 school year kicked off on September 6th. Click here for more impressions about opening day.
GATEWAY SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CENTER OPENS DOORS FOR 10TH YEAR: The Gateway School-Based Health Center opened its doors for the 10th time when school started last week. Click here for information on hours, staff and services.
PHONE DIRECTORY FUNDRAISER: Tired of dealing with automated phone systems? If you are a Gateway parent, the Friends of Gateway can help a little—with an affordable directory of telephone numbers for every staff member in the district! For just $3.00 a copy, you can own this time-saving reference and save your cell phone minutes for other calls! If publishing goes according to schedule, the directories will be on sale at all seven Open Houses. Full details in the complete article.
K-6 PARENTS - SAVE THE DATE!: A special workshop entitled "Your Child and Reading" will be offered free of charge to all parents of Gateway students in grades K - 6. The event will take place on Tuesday, October 3rd, from 7 - 8 pm in the Gateway Performing Arts Center (MS/HS complex). This event will help kick-off Gateway's new reading program. More information to come. Click here for a flyer.
GATEWAY “SOCIAL NORMS” PROJECT PRESENTED AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE: Monica Moran, Coordinator of the Southern Hilltowns Domestic Violence Task Force, presented a workshop at the National Conference on the Social Norms Approach in July. Her presentation was entitled, “Using the Social Norms Approach to Prevent Dating Violence and Promote Healthy Relationships at Gateway High School.” Read more about Moran’s workshop and her work at GHS in the complete article.
MIDDLE SCHOOL AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM/LATE BUSES TO START SEPTEMBER 24: The afterschool program at Gateway Regional Middle School is scheduled to open on Monday, September 24, 2007. This program, sponsored by the Hampshire Educational Collaborative, brings fun and educational programs to students in grades 5 – 8 after school. Activities include homework help, cheerleading, baseball/softball, MS Newspaper, dance, art club, Blue and Gold Committee and a series of “Wilderness Rocks!” field trips and workshops. Late buses are provided two days a week, although the bus stops differ from the regular bus runs. Click here for more information.
VOLUNTEERS - SAVE THE DATE! This year’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner will be held on February 8, 2008 from 5 – 7 p.m. in the Gateway MS/HS cafeteria. The volunteer dinner is free to anyone who volunteers in a Gateway school by chaperoning field trips, working in a parent center or library, sponsoring student interns, serving on PTO’s, school councils or other committees, or working on fundraisers/special events—to name just a few examples. The dinner is sponsored by the Friends of Gateway. More details to come!
LITTLEVILLE PTO SEEKS RAFFLE ITEMS: Littleville’s PTO has announced that they will again hold their annual Basket Raffle at Open House on September 20th. They have asked that parents send in an item with their child based on the following themes: PreK/K – rainy day fun; Grades 1 & 2: Girl time/Boy time; Grades 3 & 4: Movie Night. Anyone willing to donate an item for one of these baskets should get it to the school as soon as possible.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF COLLEGE FAIR: Western New England College is hosting a College Fair on Monday, September 17th from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. in the Alumni Healthful Living Center. Visit www.neacac.org/cf_fall.cfm to see a list of the colleges attending.
SEPTEMBER IS FOOD SAFETY MONTH: Four tips to live by to prevent illness caused by food-borne pathogens (e.g. "food poisoning"): clean, separate, cook and chill to keep food safe from harmful bacteria. The National Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has tips and details for families on how to keep food safe for your family.
REMINDERS:
- WELLNESS POLICY REMINDER: The district Wellness Policy went into effect last year. The entire policy is posted on the district website. There are also links to other valuable resources, including ideas for classroom and school celebrations that are in accordance with the policy.
- DISTRICT NOTIFCATION OF ANNUAL YEARLY PROGRESS: As required under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the district must provide annual notification of our performance on the most recent Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam, taken each year by students in grades 3 – 10. You may recall that the NCLB Act requires that all public schools have 100% of students passing their state exam (MCAS for us) by the year 2013. The Department of Education took the starting scores of each public school in 2003 and set target goals for each year thereafter that would result in 100% passing by 2013. Schools that increase scores each year to meet the set goals make “Annual Yearly Progress”. Schools that do not increase their scores earn an improvement status. Click here for more information on the 2007 AYP status for Gateway Schools.
- HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS SCHEDULE ON THE WEB: The fall sports schedule for Gateway Regional High School can be found on the web
- GATEWAY CONTINUES SCHOOL SAFETY HOTLINE: As part of Gateway’s School Safety Plan, the school safety hotline (685-1050) will remain in place for the coming school year. Monitored by the district’s Security Monitor, the hotline is a voice mailbox that can be used to report harassment, drug or alcohol concerns, vandalism, and school safety issues. The purpose of the hotline is to help keep Gateway schools safe for all students. Click here for additional details.
IN CLOSING, the Superintendent’s Corner for this week is attached. This week, Dr. Hopson discusses the issue of homework, comparing some of the comments from our Expanded Learning Time surveys against current national research. Read the column for complete details.
Have a great week!
Wendy V. Long, Editor
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