F.A. Day Middle School

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Days of the Cycle This Week

New Year's Day, Day 5, Day 6, Day 1, Day 2

Tues. January 2, 2024: - First day back from Winter Break

Wed. January 3, 2024: Calculus Project Information Session 7:00 p.m.

Monday, January 8, 2024: 7th Gr. Student Advisory Council

Wednesday, January 10, 2024: 6th Gr. Student Advisory Council

Friday, January 12, 2024: Principal Coffee and Tour of 7th Gr. Classrooms at 8:15 a.m.

Monday, January 15, 2024: No School-MLK Day

Tuesday, January 16, 2024: 8th Gr. Student Advisory Council

Monday, January 22, 2024: Day Winter Choral Concert at NNHS 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024: Day School Council at 3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024: Day Band Concert NNHS at 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 25, 2024: Day Orchestra Concert at NNHS at 7:00 p.m.

Friday, January 26, 2024 - Term 2 Ends

Monday, January 29, 2024: Term 3 Begins

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 - Superintendent and School Committee Coffee 8:30 a.m.

“Every year you make a resolution to change yourself. This year make a resolution to be yourself.” – Unknown

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Emerson

As we begin the new year, we are surrounded by messages about how to make resolutions to improve ourselves, become a better version, and achieve more. While self-improvement is always a praiseworthy goal, as adults in the lives of middle school children with all of their struggles and grappling around identity and desperate attempts to fit in, we might find a more appropriate type of resolution to model.

We should model for our children how to be more comfortable with who they are, celebrating their many strengths, while also creating agency for them in deciding who they want to be. So many of the messages our children, and quite frankly, all of us receive, are about how we need to be “fixed” or improved, instead of how to celebrate, be comfortable with and lift up who we are. If we or the children in our care have goals, then we need to create opportunities and foster agency to support individual and community growth, while also celebrating all the many wonderful things we already are.

My resolution this year, Day Family, is to find ways to celebrate who we are as individuals and as a community while also creating opportunities for growing the people and community we decide to become.

Happy New Year All! Looking forward to standing together in our celebrations, struggles, growth and achievements in the new year.

• Students Stay Home if Sick: We are in the middle of an uptick in flu, RSV and COVID cases, and given that many families traveled for the holidays, we ask that you keep your child home if they are sick and consider testing for COVID if your child has symptoms. Please reach out to Gayle Larson in our health office with any questions: larsong@newton.k12.ma.us or 617-559-9140.
• Yondr Pouch Exemptions: If your child is not brining a cell phone or Smart Watch with them to school, you MUST complete the Yondr Exemption Form linked below, otherwise we will ask your child to sign their name every morning and call home to verify that their device is at home.
• On Time for School: We have seen improvements in the number of students arriving on time to school. As we begin the new year, please remind your child that they MUST be in school by 7:50 a.m. and in advisory by 7:55 a.m. We will continue to send letters home for students who are chronically late to school.
• No Cars on Minot Place: As reminder, NO CARS are permitted down Minot Place during arrival and dismissal times. This poses a safety risk for students walking and interferes with the drop off and pick up with vans.
• Dress for Cold Weather: As part of our new team extension schedule, every grade will be outdoors for 30 minutes about three times every 6 days unless rain or unusually cold temperatures prohibits outdoor time. PLEASE ensure that your child wears clothes appropriate for the weather - hats, gloves, long pants, coats.
• Private School Recommendations: Teachers receive a large number of requests for private school recommendations this time of year. In order for us to effectively partner with you in this process, please follow the guidelines in the document linked below. Also it is important to remember that teachers need requests at least three school weeks weeks in advance of the deadline for application materials.

Special thanks to the many parents who attended Friday's Principal Coffee and Tour. We had a chance to walk through many 6th grade classrooms.

January's Coffee will feature the 7th grade on Friday, January 12th at 8:15 a.m.

COFFEE AND TOURS WITH THE PRINCIPAL

This school year I will be hosting a morning coffee accompanied by a walkthrough our school so caregivers can see our building in action. Each month we will feature a different subject and grade.

These events will be scheduled every other month on Friday mornings from 8:00 - 9:00 a.m.

Save the dates below:

SAVE THE DATE:

January 12, 2024- NEW TIME 8:15- 9:30 a.m.

March 15, 2024

May 17, 2024

At Day we are partnering with a program created by students at Boston College known as STEM for ALL Program. It is our hope to be able to offer an after school STEM club beginning in February. The club will likely meet once every other week after school from 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. The day of the week is yet to be determined.

The focus of the program is to expose students to various aspects of STEM and form connections between our students and college aged students around a shared interest in STEM fields. The STEM for All Program will explore topics from scientific process and engineering to coding and biology in order to expose students to the many topics covered in the STEM fields.

Below is a description of the program from the student leaders overseeing its implementation:

The STEM For All Program is a biweekly, after-school Science program for kids in elementary and middle school. Each program is run by a team of 2 college students who attend Boston College. Each program we introduce a sub-discipline of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) through an engaging presentation and a related activity. After asking many current students at BC why they’re pursuing a career in STEM, we noticed that most of them were influenced from a young age by either family members or other adults. However, not all students have these influences in their lives to explore Science as a possible interest and career path, and we have made it our mission to expose more students to the possibilities of STEM and hopefully inspire them to pursue a career in STEM

We are using this survey to just gauge interest in the program. If you believe your child might be interested, please complete this very brief form. This is NOT a formal registration. This is just to determine general interest for planning purposes.

This program is ONLY for Day Middle School Students.

The NNHS Guadeloupe Exchange is looking for 10 families to host students and teachers from Guadeloupe from 3/28/2024-4/9/2024.

We would ask that you either live within walking distance from NNHS or that you can provide transportation to and from school each day. Also, we would like you to provide three meals a day for your student.

This is an incredible opportunity to connect with students and teachers from a beautiful island and a top rated high school in the Antilles. You do not need to speak French to host!

If you are interested, please contact Sarah Bilodeau (bilodeaus@newton.k12.ma.us) or Alieu Jobe (jobea@newton.k12.ma.us).

The 2023-2024 Parent Conferences begin this Wednesday, December 13th.

For your conference, please click on the Google Meet link provided to you at your designated conference time. If you are not let into the conference at exactly the time of the conference please know that often conferences run a little bit behind schedule. The teachers will admit you to the conference once they are available.

If you are having difficulty logging in for your conference, please call Jennifer Murphy at : 617-559-9142 or call the front office at Day: 617-559-9100. If you have a question that is not urgent, please email her at the address below:

Jennifer Murphy at murphyj@newton.k12.ma.us

We have added one more conference day to accommodate parent requests, Parents on the waiting list have already been notified and schedule.

Day Parent Conferences will be held on Wednesdays from 1:50 - 3:05 p.m.

December 13, 2023

December 20, 2023

January 3, 2024

January 10, 2024

January 17, 2024

January 24, 2024

Important Things to Note:

• If you need to reschedule your conference to another time, you must email Jennifer Murphy directly at the email above.
• We will be temporarily suspending all conference sign-ups on Monday, December 11th in order to allow teachers to receive finalized schedules for the first conferences on 12/14. Sign-ups will again be opened on 12/15 for the remaining conference dates.
• Your partnership in the progress of your children is greatly valued. Every parent requesting a conference will receive one.

On Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 8:30 we will host Superintendent Nolin and some members of the the Newton School Committee. The PTO will host this coffee. Please come to hear from them and bring questions of your own.

Authentic connections, joy and community in action...

Coming out of the COVID Pandemic, we launched a new tradition at Day known as sharing our "bright sides". Inspired by the work of Coaching for Equity author, Elena Aquilar, I provided staff with "bright side jars" to fill each week with a brief note about the positive and inspirational moments. It comes out of the research around our brain's "negative bias" that says that we can internalize negative events or interactions in just a few seconds, while we have to intentionally focus on the positive moments to remember them and capture their feelings.

Although we are not all wonderful in taking a moment to fill our jars with positive notes, every week I do hear from the Day staff about inspiring moments in their week. I thought given all of the challenges in the world around us, you could all benefit from a few bright sides as well. Enjoy this week's Day Bright Sides.

Linked below is an updated version of the after school clubs at Day.

Winter Lacrosse Clinic through Newton Community Education for grades 5 and up.

Sign up information available through the flier linked below:

We hope you will consider joining the Day PTO. This is a wonderful way to get involved in supporting your child at the middle level. There are volunteer opportunities from being a Team Parent to sponsoring Teacher Appreciation Events to chaperoning the Fall Fest Dances.

Please reach out to the Day PTO a the contact information below.

FADayDragons@gmail.com

https://www.daypto.org

Music instruction helps children with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness. You can help enhance the program by donating today.

Your contribution will help Day Middle School Performing Arts Programs such as Chorus, Orchestra and Band. The QR Code below will lead you to the site where you can make a donation to our programs.

Please join us for our Winter Concerts hosted this year at Newton North High School:

Monday, January 22, 2024: Day Winter Choral Concert at NNHS 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024: Day Band Concert NNHS at 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 25, 2024: Day Orchestra Concert at NNHS at 7:00 p.m.

Linked below is an important list of common questions that families often ask about our school. Included is information about the first day of school as well as information about who to call with specific questions. This is a great reference guide that will support your family throughout the school year.

Email: mannj@newton.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.newton.k12.ma.us/day
Location: F. A. Day Middle School, Minot Place, Newtonville, MA, USA
Phone: 617-559-9100
Twitter: @JMannNPS

School Office Hours are:

7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

617-559-9100