6) [NEW] Book Drive
A group of high school AP Spanish students in Bedford are collecting books to give them to an underprivileged school in Waltham. Lightly used or new books at the K-5 level are welcome. A box is located in the main office to accept all donations. This is for their AP with WE project dedicated to helping break the cycle between lack of education and poverty. Thank you for your support!
11) [REMINDER] MCAS Dates
As you may know, the Massachusetts voted to change the MCAS graduation requirement. While there are adjustments the state will make as it relates MCAS, the test remains a requirement for students in Massachusetts. Although MCAS scores do not impact middle school advancement, at JGMS, we use MCAS scores and other data sources to identify areas for improvement for individual students as well as make curricular and scheduling adjustments that impact all students.
After careful deliberation we have finalized the MCAS dates for 2025. When scheduling MCAS this year we did our best to navigate a variety of possible schedule conflicts. We scheduled testing in a way that honors the priorities below to the best of our ability. When scheduling, we:
tried to avoid the very beginning of the MCAS testing window. This prevents us from falling victim to the testing website malfunction and gives us more time to prepare students and ourselves for testing days.
tried to avoid the end of the MCAS testing window. This gives us ample time to administer make ups.
tried to avoid testing on days leading up to a vacation.
avoided Wednesdays as they are shorter days.
we prioritized Tuesdays and Thursdays so that there can be breaks between testing sessions
worked around school events and trips that have been scheduled.
did our best to avoid holidays when we could
Throughout the year and especially around the test dates, please help your child by continuing to prioritize attendance on testing days, support your child in getting a good night of sleep, and eating breakfast on the morning of the test. Thank you for supporting your child's education and participation in MCAS testing. Please make notes of the dates and our effort to minimize conflicts. Although we do our best to avoid religious holidays, we were unable to avoid all of them. If there is a test scheduled during a holiday that your child recognizes or your child will be out for any reason, please let us know and we can plan to schedule the test session for your child during our make up window.
The MCAS dates have been confirmed and as promised, are posted in the picture in the right hand corner.
[REMINDER] Cell Phone and Smart Watch Policy
Please click on the picture for consequences that we impose for students who are caught with phones. At this time, we are being lenient on the use of smart watches. We are taking time to remind students that they cannot be worn and asking them to put them in their locker at their next locker visit. Come November we will treat smart watches as we have been treating cell phones.
