Pembroke Community Middle School

SEPAC Parent & Caregiver Support Group Meetings for 2025 Announced

We’re excited to share the schedule for the SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) Parent & Caregiver Support Group Meetings for 2025. Thank you to all the families who provided feedback on preferred meeting times—your input helped shape this schedule.

All meetings will take place at the Pembroke Community Center

Here’s the schedule for the upcoming year:

March: Monday, March 10 | 9:00–10:30 AM
April: Wednesday, April 2 | 6:30–8:00 PM
May: Monday, May 12 | 9:00–10:30 AM
June: Wednesday, June 11 | 6:30–8:00 PM

We hope to see you at one or more of these meetings!

Scheduling is now open for parent-teacher conferences. Conferences for PCMS and PHS are March 12th. Elementary conferences are March 19th. We use an online scheduler called Pick A Time for conference scheduling.

Please Note - New This year: This year, Pick A Time has a new interface for parents. Please view the video tutorial and/or step by step instructions at the link below before scheduling your conferences. If you have any questions or difficulty, please contact your child’s school.

Also new this year: for elementary conferences, you will have the opportunity to select individual conferences with any student services staff who work with your child, like speech therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and reading specialists. If you would like to meet with student services staff, please be sure to select an appointment with them as well as with the classroom teacher(s).

Instructions for using Pick A Time are available at the link below. You will have the option to select either in-person or virtual conferences. Google Meet links for virtual conferences will be provided on your Pick A Time schedule once you have selected your conference times.

IMPORTANT Note for Virtual Conferences: For reasons of security and confidentiality of your child's information, you must use your first and last name in order to be admitted into a virtual conference with a teacher. If you have a Google account and you currently use a nickname instead of your first and last name, please change your name in your Google account before your conferences (a link to instructions is below). If you do not have a Google account, you will be asked to type in your first and last name before entering the meeting.

Click here to view the tutorial and begin scheduling your conferences.

Click here for instructions to change your name on your Google account.

Friday, March 28 6:30-8:30

Tickets are $10/pp and will be sold during lunches the week before.

PCMS is holding a Math March Madness Competition!

You can participate by completing skills on IXL. The winners of the contest will be the students who answer the most questions correctly. The top 10 winners on each team will be invited to a pizza party! And the top 3 winners on each team will also receive amazon gift cards. The contest will run throughout the month of March and then the winners will be announced. Work hard and good luck!

Official Rules:

• Skills in grades 7 and above will count towards your score.

• Questions you answer as part of classroom assignments DO count!

• Only questions answered correctly will count.

• Only questions answered while you are logged in will count!

• You may only complete a topic once. (If you do it more than once, the additional questions answered from that topic will not count).

• You do NOT need to get a particular smart score for the questions to count.

Some Suggestions!

• This is a great opportunity to study for quizzes! Find the skills that will be on your upcoming quizzes and get some extra practice in! (Hit control F to search for specific skills or enter them into the search bar!) I am also happy to suggest relevant topics related to what we are doing in class if you ask!

• Work on your number sense fluidity! (Integer Operations, Fractions, Decimals etc.)

The next meeting for the PCMS French club will be on Monday, March 10. They will be making crepes. Students traveling to Quebec City should plan on attending.

The music department is thrilled to share the news that 25 students have been accepted to the 2025 SEMSBA music festival based on their outstanding audition yesterday. PCMS students accepted to the Junior SEMSBA Festival are: Chorus Tenley Grey (alto), G8 Orchestra Declan Long (violin), G8 Violet Carson (violin) G8.

Please help us in congratulating the following Pembroke musicians who have been accepted to the 2025 Junior District Music Festival! The students were accepted based on their outstanding audition in a very competitive field.

Accepted to the Chorus: Violet Carson, soprano, G8 & Tenely Grey, alto, G8

Accepted to Jazz Band: Hunter Glass, drum set, (#1 Score!) G8

Accepted to Band: Ben Meehan, snare drum (#1 score!) G8, Beckett Hawkes, alto saxophone G8, & Landon Smith, Tuba (#1 score!) G9

Accepted to Orchestra: Luke Finch, violin, G9

The PCMS student council attended a disability awareness training on Thursday, March 6 from 12-2pm in the school library. The training is being provided by Understanding Our Differences and focused on autism. The student council requested training when we were discussing how best to be an inclusive, welcoming community. They believed greater knowledge on understanding some disabilities would support greater inclusivity.

The training was a 'train-the-trainer' model. The students will be going to the elementary schools at a later date to train the G6 student leaders (called Ambassadors). Students have sub-divided into 3 groups with the hope to present at their previous home elementary schools. We are also hoping to have the students present the training at a future SEPAC meeting.

Unified basketball is a sports program that combines athletes with and without disabilities on the same team. The goal of Unified Sports is to promote inclusion and understanding through sports. PCMS students, in collaboration with upper level HES students, will be practicing at our home schools and competing against other local middle schools. Below is the current schedule.

‘Fans in the stands’ is an important component of the unified school/Best Buddies model, so we encourage all students, parents and family members to attend the home (and away) games and cheer on the teams on both sides.

Monday, 3/3: Team practice @ PCMS 2:30 - 3:30pm.

Thursday, 3/13: Away game @ Duxbury Bus 2:30. Game 3:30pm.

Monday, 3/17: Home game vs. Hull @ 2:45pm.

Tuesday, 3/25: Home game vs. Hingham @ 2:45pm.

Mr. Bobby Flynn is the Unified BB coach and will be working with other middle schools in our division to schedule additional home and away games.

Several PCMS teachers took a group of students on a field trip to DH Smith and Sons LLC, a landscape supply and equipment store. This field trip was in support of our college/career initiative in helping expand student understanding of post secondary options. More information on this local business can be found at Smith and Sons Marshfield.

There was no cost for this field trip; it was being funded by the MyCAP grant. MyCap means My Career and Academic Plan. MyCap prepares students for college, career and civic readiness. The MyCAP process for PCMS students starts in grade 7 and continues through grade 8 and beyond.

The Smith & Sons field trip allowed students to learn more about running and growing a small business. Students got an overview of how the Smith’s started their business, the history of the business, how it is managed, how the different parts work together, all the different jobs at the facility, and other aspects of the business.

Here are some pictures from the day:

The PCMS drama club will be performing Frozen, Jr. on Friday, March 21 (@6:30pm) and Saturday, March 22 (@6:30pm). Both performances will be held in the PHS auditorium and tickets will be $10/pp at the door.

PCMS YEARBOOKS ORDERS

YEARBOOK ORDERS DUE BY: APRIL 8TH

2023/2024 yearbooks for sale at

www.coffeepond.com

password : pcms

$30.00

March is “Music In Our Schools Month”! The Pembroke Music Department will be presenting their annual All-Town concerts to help celebrate “Music In Our Schools Month”.

All-Choral Night, Monday, March 10th at 6:30 PM in the PHS Gym.

All-Band Night, Tuesday, March 11th at 6:30 PM in the PHS Gym. * Ticketed Event*

All-String Night, Wednesday, March 13th at 6:30 in the PHS Auditorium

The concerts feature students in grades 3-12 who sing in school chorus or play an instrument in the band or orchestra to perform on the same concert program together. It is a wonderful opportunity for the students and their caregivers to see and hear the breadth of the music program.

*SPECIAL NOTE: Due to audience size capacity in the PHS gym and the number of band students in the district, the All-Band Night concert is a ticketed event. Each band student in grades 5-12 will be given 2 free tickets to the concert for their caregivers. Only audience members presenting these free tickets will be allowed in to view the concert. Band students will be receiving their tickets from their band teacher in class next week to bring home. We apologize in advance that seating is limited for the All-Band Concert.

Tickets are not necessary for the All-Choral Concert or the All-String concert.

There are several upcoming events to support our PCMS G8 students to understand all of the wonderful options available to them at Pembroke High School. Additional events, including the Program of Studies night at PHS, will be shared as we get closer to that date.

Beginning at the end of January, the 8th graders will attend a series of grade level assemblies during Titan Time. The schedule and focus area(s) of these assemblies are listed below:

The final G8 Titan Time Tuesday presentation was held this week. Mrs. Gates and a group of PHS students (Lauren Tracy, Gavin Campbell, Hanleigh Powers, Lilly Curran, Amelia Doyle, Sidney Sullivan, Ryan Kanya, and Grace Rejewski) presented on the Engineering and Biomed pathways. Engineering & Biomed Pathway Slides for PCMS

On Tuesday, February 25, Mrs. Chapman presented an overview of the Visual and Performing Arts offerings. You can access the presentation with this link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NlhkfkrkimKQZQPZ3Fl510yCngletY2PJT0Xlv3CCvY/edit?usp=sharing

On Tuesday, February 11, G8 students attended an assembly on the Digital Arts and Global Citizenship pathways and course offerings. Our thanks to Mrs. Gates, Ms. Lazarus and PHS students Jack Gill, Luke Santoro, Ruth Dannison and Cole Candido for an informative presentation.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1liHx0azWXxM6VGR5RoZLqtmg5oRTOERovyydEKZGS-k/edit?usp=sharing

On Tuesday, February 4, G8 students were presented with an overview of Computer Science, Information Technology and the Business pathways. The presentations can be accessed here:https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YVHTjdnNdsX2U_WbpU2Y3xXFXBu4igUA/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108650209588222707462&rtpof=true&sd=true

Our thanks to Mrs. Gates, Ms. Leeper and PHS students (Mia Antonelli, Jack Eva, Jason DiBella & Coby Draves).

The PHS School Counselors completed their first round of visits this week. They will be back for a second visit (March 21-March 28) when students will register for their PHS G9 courses. Class of 2029 (G8): PHS Course & Scheduling overview

PHS Counselor Assignments by Last Name:

Ms. Conathan: A-F
Mr. Shannon: G-O
Ms. Lydon: P-Z

PCMS Clubs are free clubs that meet after school for an hour. See below for a list of clubs, their descriptions and start dates. More clubs may be added as teachers sign up to host them.

Students attending after school clubs may be picked up by parents/caregivers or if they have a bus pass, they could take the late bus home. See the details on how late buses work below the clubs.

Students in the drama club will participate in the school musical, which will meet after school in the auditorium from November until March. We will be performing Frozen Jr. this year. Students will learn to read music, sing, and dance on stage in full costume. Auditions will be held in November in the PCMS auditorium. During production week mid March, rehearsals and performances will be at PHS.

• Advisor Mr. Hovey
• Mondays & Thursdays (November-March). Audition Day- Thursday, November 21st
• Auditorium

GSA is a safe place for all students to talk about gender and sexual identity. The club will have fun activities twice a month and will serve as a space for communication and discussion. The GSA welcomes all students regardless of gender, sexual identity, or sexual orientation.

• Advisor Mrs. Larson
• Meets the 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the month
• Compass Room

Jazz Band is for instrumental music students who want to learn how to play jazz and rock music. Students will practice, improvise, and record songs that will be shared with the group. Each week, students will listen to famous artists of jazz and rock music.

• Advisor Mr. Hovey
• Tuesdays- starts September 17th
• Band room

This year the club will focus on introducing basic robotics using Hummingbird kits. This club will also allow students to have the opportunity to dive deeper into any of the materials used in class. Such as 3D printing, Microbit, Makey- Makey, Snap Circuits, and App Creator.

• Advisor Mrs. DeBellis
• Tuesdays- starts Tuesday, September 17
• Stem Lab 8 room

PHS/PCMS 2024-2025 ~ 3 Late Bus Routes ~ North, Center, South

Start Date: Monday, 9/16/24

Bus Passes are required and must be presented to driver upon boarding

Late Buses Run Monday,Tuesday, and Thursday only

Routes are general, stops depend on ridership, students should let the drivers know where they are on the route.

• North Late Bus route
• South Late Bus route
• Center Late Bus route

Please note all stops are group stops. There is no door-to-door service with late buses. Stops can be up to one mile from home. Parents/caregivers may want to make arrangements to meet their child at the designated group stop.

Please join us for the first PTO meeting of the year on Monday, September 9- 6pm in our library!

President: Karen Laffey

kballant1999@yahoo.com

Vice President Brandie Seavey

bseavey627@gmail.com

Hospitality Melissa Archambault

melanthoney2@gmail.com

Secretary Kathryn Jarrett

Kathrynilean@gmail.com

7th grade 21st century skills classes will be focusing on helping students become responsible digital citizens. The use of technology and social media continue to rise, and therefore, it is important for students to think about how to use the internet and social media safely. Students will have time to reflect on their online presence and how their “digital footprint” can impact their future.

This week, PHS counselors visited students during 21st Century Skills classes to share course offerings and the course registration process.

PCMS is continuing a focus on college and career planning, referred to as MyCAP (My Career and Academic Plan). MyCAP is designed to provide students with ongoing and school-wide opportunities to plan for their academic, personal/social and career success in high school and beyond. Through the MyCAP process, students will explore their individual interests and skills to help them discover careers that may be a good match. This will help students make connections between their current and future coursework and their postsecondary goals.

Throughout this school year, 21st century skills classes will utilize MyCAP to further support students in their journey to plan for academic, personal/social and career success in high school and beyond. There will be a strong focus on transportable skills such as problem solving, critical and creative thinking, collaboration, communication, and ethical reasoning and mindset, which are all important for future success regardless of a student’s chosen college and/or career path. In addition to the ongoing focus on college and career readiness in 21st century skills, each PCMS department is also planning a lesson with a focus on college and career readiness to help students understand how course material may align with their future career goals.

Small Business Graphing Inequalities Problem

Students looked at a small business that involved creating and selling water tumblers and sweatshirts.

Students worked on the transportable skills of problem solving, critical and creative thinking and collaboration by exploring a small business opportunity. It involved calculating costs and profits within given parameters. Students had to write algebraic inequalities and then create a graph to show the solutions for possible outcomes. They had to work together to find various profit amounts based on different combinations of products. Finally they had to try to calculate the maximum amount of money that they small business owner could make over the course of a month. Students looked at examples of small businesses and the importance of them to our community.

PCMS buses drop off/pick up students using the front parking lot. (green line) No cars should enter that area during arrival and dismissal times.

When dropping off/picking up seventh grade students, families should line up around the circular driveway. (blue line)

Eighth graders should be dropped off/picked up near the basketball courts/gym. Families should drive around back of the building on the fire road. (yellow line)

Thank you.

PowerSchool and Google Classroom are the two primary programs that are used at PCMS. Below are two brief descriptions of the differences between the two.

PowerSchool is our student information system. This program has increased functionality once a student enters 7th grade. Through this program, parents and students can access attendance information, schedule information, current grades and forecasted assignments. If you hit on the cumulative grade within a specific class, a different screen will open that will provide more detailed information on the grade breakdown. Parents can also set up their account preferences to receive automatic reports (e.g., daily/weekly/monthly) emailed to them. Here is the Parent PowerSchool login link: Technology / PowerSchool Login Instructions

Google Classroom: This software has more course-specific information. Assignments, instructions and other class-based announcements are posted here. There are no grades. Most parents are probably already very familiar with Google Classroom from the last few years. Most teachers will have already sent invites out to parents, using the primary email you have listed in PowerSchool. If you haven’t yet been invited to join your child’s classrooms, just send the teachers an email.

PCMS runs a 6-day, 7 period schedule. We start the year on a ‘Day 1’ and then the days move consecutively from there. Here is a link to the schedule of PCMS Days: 24.25 PCMS DAY SCHEDULE

Mrs. Alicia Clancy is our front office secretary. She can be reached at alicia.clancy@pembrokek12.org

Mrs. Tracey Smith is our special education/guidance secretary. She can be reached at tracey.smith@pembrokek12.org

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

Secure your spot for the 2025 Titans Football & Cheer season by registering today! Click here to sign up: https://www.titansfootballandcheer.com/register

Football: Register by May 1st to avoid a late fee!
Cheer: Registration closes May 15th. A brief re-opening will follow tryouts for sideline-only (Grades K-2).

SAVE THE DATES!
OPEN HOUSE: April 26th | 5:30-7 PM | Pembroke High School
CHEER TRYOUTS: May 21st & 22nd | Pembroke Middle School

Flexible Payment Plans & Scholarships Available
We believe finances should never be a barrier to participation. Payment plans are available, and scholarships are offered to families experiencing financial hardship. To apply, please email ptfc02359@gmail.com.

Family Discount: Families registering 3+ athletes, please contact us before registering for a special discount code!

Our messenger is open! Reach out with any questions—we’re happy to help!

Email: donna.mcgarrigle@pembrokek12.org
Website: www.pembrokek12.org
Location: 559 School Street, Pembroke, MA, USA
Phone: 781-293-8627
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PembrokeCommunityMiddleSchool
Twitter: @PemSch_news