F.A. Day Middle School

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Days of the Cycle This Week

Day 6, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 , Day 4

Wed. December 20, 2023: PTO Day Staff Holiday Celebration (morning)

Wed. December 20, 2023: Day 2 Parent Conferences

Thurs. December 21, 2023: Day Band Perform at BC vs. Lehigh Mens’ Basketball Game

Mon. December 25, 2023 - Monday, January 1, 2024: Winter Break

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

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

“December is a month of enormous potential. It’s a time when we can all give and receive. A time when the spirit of humanity shines brightest." -– Michael Josephson

“December is the time for remembering the past and reaching toward the future.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

As we head into the last week before December vacation and the last two weeks of the month and the year, it certainly is a time to reflect and take stock. As I reflect on the first few months of the school year, I look with pride at the many ways members of our community have risen to center the needs of our children, embracing new ways to connect and innovative and creative ways to meet their learning needs.

Based upon staff, student and parent feedback, we have successfully launched new initiatives including the restructuring of team extension block to allow students more time with every teacher in addition to more time together outdoors, creating a cell phone free school environment with Yondr Pouches and embedding weekly social emotional check ins during advisory with the Sown To Grow, program, while also keeping some of the important Day traditions like spirit days, community days and community service and deepening our ongoing professional and community learning around culturally responsive practices.

Together we have continued to explore innovative ways to engage and support the children in our care, and as this calendar year comes to a close, I am grateful for the commitment and passion of the Day Staff and for the unwavering support of our parent and caregiver community. I look forward to our work together to reach even greater heights and fulfill our potential as a school community where everyone can thrive and grow together.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very peaceful and joyous holiday season and new year. Please join me in holding those who need extra support and care this holiday season closely in our hearts and minds. It is my privilege to be a part of this exceptional and caring community.

Join member of the F. A. Day Community in cheering on our talented Day Middle School Band and the B.C. Men's Basketball Team on Thursday, December 21st!

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit programming for the Day Middle School Band.

Date: Thursday, December 21, 2023

B.C. Mens' Basketball vs. Lehigh

Performance by our very own Day Middle School Band

Join this wonderful night out for the Day families and support Mr. Brown and the Day Middle School Band.

To purchase your tickets, click on the link below.

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.

Congratulations to the Cast and Crew of the Day Drama fall production of Mean Girls (the musical) jr. this past weekend!!

Special thanks to our amazingly gifted Drama Teacher, Jessica McGettrick, Music Director, Micheal Smith, and Staff Production Assistants Zack Barr and Choreographer, Hallie Armstrong!!

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

Sign up information available through the flier linked below:

As most of you have likely learned, the parking on Albemarle Road has now been shifted to the "Back in Angle" approach. Josh Ostroff, the Newton Director of Transportation, has asked that I share the visual model linked below to help better illustrate how members of the community should be safely parking on Albemarle Road using the "back in angle parking".

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.

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.

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

Authentic connections .....through field trips, clubs and drama...

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.

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