News from the Middle

Our sixth grade students are having a wonderful time at Nature’s Classroom. The weather has been beautiful, and all reports from Camp Cody have been positive. We are excited to welcome our students home on Friday. On Friday, families will receive a text message and email alert with an updated estimated pick-up time.

This trip would not be possible without the generosity of the Medway Foundation for Education, who served as a sponsor of this adventure. We also extend our gratitude to the Medway Education Parent Teacher Association and to all of our sixth grade families for supporting the fundraising efforts that made this trip possible.

Finally, a special thank you goes to the faculty and staff who spent a week away from their own families to make this experience possible for our students: Megan Morrison, Cindy Droesek, Temma Downing, Eric Hanke, Marc Davidson, Shiva Pabbathi, Doug Herbst, Patrick Sullivan, Christine Moyer, MaryJane Summers, and Kristen Haddad.

During the week of September 22-26, Medway Middle School students will take the first of three Panorama surveys given throughout the school year. The survey asks students to reflect on their social-emotional learning, school climate, and school satisfaction.

These survey results are important in targeting both student intervention as well as overall improvements in our school culture to promote connectedness and engagement at school. For example, last Spring's results indicated that our student's emotional regulation skills were an area of relative strength that continued to grow, but that we could expand our work around self efficacy and self management.

A copy of the survey for our school will be available in the Middle School front office beginning Wednesday, September 17th. For questions about the survey, please contact Amanda Weeman, PK-12 School Counseling Coordinator at aweeman@medwayschools.org.

We are looking for parents to join the School Council. Ideally we need one more member. Council members are responsible for assisting the principal in four major areas: establishing goals for the school, identifying the educational needs of students, reviewing the budget and formulating a school improvement plan. Additionally, the council will be asked to provide general feedback to the principal.

Due to the role of the council in guiding our school, members are asked to make a two year commitment and be available to attend all council meetings. Meetings are held on Tuesdays starting at 3:30pm and last approximately one hour. Dates for the 2025-2026 council meetings are as follows: 10/21, 12/9, 2/10, 3/31,4/28 & 5/12

State guidelines specify that the number of parent representatives must be equal to the number of teachers who serve on the council. State law also requires that if the number of parents interested in serving on the Council is more than the number of spots we have open, we will hold an election.

Parents interested in serving on the Council or learning more about this role are asked to email Amanda Luizzi before the close of the school day on Friday, September 19th. Please include “School Council” in the subject line.

We are excited to partner this year with Tim Rice Photography for our school picture day on October 10th. Mr. Rice brings years of experience working with students and families in Medway and surrounding schools.

To help ensure an organized and smooth experience for all students, we are looking for four volunteers at each school. Volunteers may choose either a morning shift (7:30 -10:45) or an afternoon shift (10:45-2).

If you are interested in volunteering, please complete the attached form by the end of the school day on Monday, September 29th. To keep the process fair, volunteers will be randomly selected using a number generator. School offices will will confirm with selected volunteers.

If you have any questions please reach out to your school's main office. Thank you for your continued partnership and support!

Parent Volunteer Form

Friday Night Done Right is a free monthly program for all Medway students and residents in grades 5-8. Our events take place one Friday out of each month, and the goal is to foster an environment where youth build friendships, connect with adult role models, and discover new interests with our rotating activities. We have had local partners facilitate exciting team building exercises, break dance lessons from dance groups, inflatable obstacle courses and more. Our September event will be extra special as for the first time, we will welcome MMS parents and guardians to attend a brief, pre-event social. This will be a great time to connect, grab refreshments and see what is ahead for our programs FNDR and HYPE (our middle school student group) in this upcoming school year. Youth attending FNDR are welcome to come too. Sign up for our September event here. For more information on our programs visit: Youth Programs - SUP Medway

The Medway Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is sponsoring a Sensory Friendly Hayride on September 21, 2025 at 9am at Tangrini Farm. Information about the event as well as sign up information can be found at this link:

2025 MSEPAC Sensory friendly Hayride Sign up

The SEPAC is also sponsoring a Trunk or Treat on October 17, 2025 at 4:30pm at the Burke Memorial School. Information about the event as well as sign up information can be found at this link:

2025 MSEPAC Trunk or Treat sign up

Annual Information Review - Available Now! - It is mandatory that all families review the information on file and acknowledge the school's policies, procedures, and student responsibilities as outlined in the Student Handbook annually. To make this process flow as quickly and easily as possible, we encourage all families to utilize the Parent Portal to complete the review. Please log in to the Parent Portal and choose More > Registrations > and choose Start in the Existing section for the 2025-26 Student Registration. Review all the information listed within the tabs, pleats, and submit when complete.

Included in the Annual Information Review, families are required to acknowledge that they have read and understand our policies, procedures, and student responsibilities. For more information regarding this process and all of these documents, please visit our website here. Both parents and students must review these guidelines and understand the expectations.

Optional Insurance - We are changing our optional Chromebook insurance program in 2026. Currently, families pay $30/year to Worth Ave Group, but with few claims filed, most of the premiums ($19,000) do not benefit our students. To better support students and streamline repairs, we plan to offer an optional in-house insurance program.

Key Benefits Include:

• $29/year in-house plan, or $87 for 4 years (for 5th and 9th grade).

• Faster repairs – 48 hours vs. 8+ weeks with external insurance.

• Funds stay in Medway, helping cover repair costs, device replacements, and tech staff support.

Families without insurance will pay full repair costs, but can opt in for future coverage. If you already have Worth Ave Group Coverage… No problem. Your device will remain covered until the policy ends, and our IT team will continue to send those repairs out per the current process.

To purchase insurance now for the 2025-26 school year, click here.

September 19- Grade 6 Students Return from Nature's Classroom

September 23- School Closed- Rosh Hashanah

October 2- School Closed- Yom Kippur

October 10- School Picture Day

October 13- School Closed Indigenous People's Day

October 14- School Council Meeting 3:15pm

October 22- Early Release-Day 11:02 am- Teacher Professional Development