• Here is a list of the sporting events for this week
• School Lunch Menu - Click Here

This Week:

3/10 (M) Homework Club 2:30-3:30 Letter and Dates

3/13 (Th) Homework Club 2:30-3:30 Letter and Dates

3/13 (Th) JGMS Spring Social 6pm-8pm

3/14 (F) Staff PD: No School For Students

Next Week (So Far):

3/17 (M) MASCA Survey during Advisory (see #2)

3/17 (M) Homework Club 2:30-3:30 Letter and Dates

3/20 (Th) Homework Club 2:30-3:30 Letter and Dates

1) [NEW] Donations and Volunteers Needed for JGMS Social 3/13/2025

2) [NEW] MASCA Review Student Survey

3) [NEW] Important Update: Parental Consent for Google Additional Services

4) [NEW] Little Mermaid, Jr Tickets

5) [NEW] Save the Date Moving On Ceremony and Celebration

6) [NEW] 7th Graders SBIRT Screening

7) [NEW] Dollars For Scholars

8) [REMINDER] Middle School Math Parent/Caregiver Information Session

9) [REMINDER] American Cancer Society! Relay For Life

10) [REMINDER] JGMS March Social, Ticket Transfer, and Ticket Purchase

11) [REMINDER] Yearbook

12) [REMINDER] Strings Vertical Concert Date

13) [REMINDER] MCAS Dates

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0A4DA9AA23A1FF2-55532832-jgms

Please see below for the email sent to all families from our Assistant Superintendent of Student Services. Please note, we will administer the survey on Monday, 3/17 during advisory. For anyone who still wants to opt out please communicate with me and your child's advisory teacher.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen the 6-12 Counseling Department, we are working with the Massachusetts Association of School Counselors (MASCA) to conduct a comprehensive program evaluation. This process comes at a pivotal time as we prepare to hire a new 6-12 Counseling Program Administrator. Gathering feedback from students, staff, and administrators will help us assess what is working well and where improvements can be made. This will ensure the new administrator has the information needed to begin with a clear direction and effectively strengthen and enhance the department.

As part of this review, MASCA will be surveying students to gain their perspectives on their counseling experiences. This valuable input will help shape the future direction of our counseling services and support systems.

At this time, MASCA will not be seeking additional information from parents through a survey. However, we want to acknowledge the critical role parents have already played in this process. Your feedback during Superintendent Chuang’s entry process, along with recent parent focus groups at JGMS and BHS, has provided invaluable insights. This input will be shared with the MASCA team as part of the overall evaluation. If you have additional information to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out directly to me.

If you do not want your child to participate in the student survey, you may opt them out by contacting their school principal:

• JGMS – Principal Jonathan Hartunian (jonathan-hartunian@bedfordps.org)

Thank you for your continued support and engagement in shaping the best possible counseling services for our students. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

Best,

Dr. Marianne Vines

Assistant Superintendent of Student Services

Bedford Public Schools currently use and will continue to use Google Workspace for Education, which includes essential educational tools, such as Classroom, Docs, and Drive. We also provide access to some of Google’s Additional Services that enhance teaching and learning. Google now requires parental consent for students under 18 to independently use any of their Additional Services. There are eight of Google’s Additional Services that students have access to as they support differentiation, communication, collaboration and creativity while helping students to develop research, critical thinking, literacy, digital literacy and information literacy skills. These Additional Services are Google Translate, Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Arts and Culture, YouTube, Google News and Google’s Applied Digital Skills. These interactive engaging tools are independently used by students to support various learning styles and needs; supplement and/or expand upon lessons and prior knowledge; deepen understanding of content; make real-world connections to learning; and provide personalized self-paced learning opportunities.

Families must opt out in writing by Friday, March 14 by sending an email to their school principal if they do not want their child to independently access these eight Additional Services.

Students whose families opt out will lose independent access starting Friday, March 21. Teachers can continue to utilize these tools as part of their instruction and can provide students access to some content for educational purposes. For the 2025-2026 school year, parental consent will be included in the school handbook. Questions? Contact the Tech Department at tech_support@bedfordps.org.

Little Mermaid Jr. tickets are now officially on sale! You can purchase them at the links below. Shows are

Thursday April 3rd at 7pm,

Friday April 4th at 7pm, (with Livestream)

Saturday April 5th at 2pm, and

Saturday April 5th at 7pm.

We are also live streaming Friday evening's show if you would prefer to watch from the comfort of your couch.

Link to Live Shows at JGMS: https://cur8.com/23538/project/128712

Link to Friday Livestream: https://cur8.com/23538/project/128716

Thanks and hope to see some of you there!

Now that we have a clear picture of our end of the year dates, we have landed on dates for the 8th grade Moving Ceremony and Celebration.

Moving On Ceremony and Celebration: Evening of Monday, June 16, 2025

Canobie Lake Park Trip: Tuesday, June 17, 2025

For 7th Grade families. Please see the reminder below about SBIRT screenings this week

As required by Massachusetts law, starting March 10th, our school nurses and counselors will begin the health screening called SBIRT. SBIRT stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment. SBIRT is used to screen for alcohol, nicotine, tobacco, and other drug use. This health screening is required by Massachusetts law.

Students in grade 7 will take part in this screening which takes about 5-10 minutes. School nurses and counselors will have one-on-one conversations with students. They will ask students about alcohol, nicotine, tobacco, or other drug use over the past year. Staff will then talk with each student about how to support their overall health, safety, and success in school. If the student needs more assessment or support, health staff may work with the student and/or their parent/guardian.

The questions asked during this screening are listed in the attached CRAFFT Screening Tool. Please read this tool, which has been approved by the Department of Public Health.

Please note:

• Screening results are recorded. No information that could identify a student is kept (for example, name or date of birth).

• Screening results will not go into the student’s school record.

• The information disclosed by students during the verbal substance use screening is confidential. However, if the student shared information where there was a concern for an immediate medical emergency, then the person screening the student will communicate with the parent/guardian.

As with any school health screening, you can opt your child out of this process. If you do not want your child to participate in this screening or you have questions, contact Tracy Fernald, our school nurse (Tracy_Fernald@bedfordps.org). Students themselves may also choose not to take part and will be asked if they want to participate during the introduction to the process.

Parents and guardians can help their children make healthy choices. One important way to prevent alcohol and drug use is to talk with them about your thoughts and expectations. Some resources that can help these discussions include:

· https://drugfree.org

· https://helplinema.org

· https://handholdma.org

Please see below

Intended Audience: Rising 6th grade parents (Current 5th grade students). All are welcome.

On Monday, March 31st, from 7:00-8:00 p.m. at JGMS math teachers, the math program administrator, the JGMS principal, and the Superintendent invite Lane School and JGMS parents and caregivers to a math information session. We will be presenting proposed changes to our math course structure for the 2025-2026 school year for 6th grade. These changes are part of Bedford’s strategic plan.

This session is intended for parents and caregivers only. There will be a hands-on session and we ask, for our planning purposes, you RSVP.

The JGMS Student council is working with Bedford High School students to raise money for Relay for Life, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society! Relay For Life events have raised nearly $5 billion to this date to help cancer patients. Last year, Bedford teams donated over $25,000!

From February 24th to March 28th, JGMS students can contribute to this fundraiser and are encouraged to bring monetary donations (cash or coins) to their advisories. Our school’s goal is to donate $1000!

At the end of this event, the winning team (Orange, Yellow, Purple, Navy, Red, Green) will receive a prize. With all your help, the money collected will be used to support cancer research and help those impacted by cancer get back on track financially.

Every donation matters, whether it’s one penny or ten dollar bills. You can learn more about how Bedford is taking part in Relay for Life here: https://secure.acsevents.org/site/STR?pg=entry&fr_id=109644

The spring JGMS SOCIAL will be on Thursday March 13th. Why a Thursday you ask? Because is a no school for students Friday.

Tickets will be on sale in the coming days. Additionally, anyone who has purchased a ticket of any kind for the staff vs. students basketball game will have the option for a full refund or their payment can be applied towards a social ticket. Students may check in with Mr. McGrath and Ms. Naylor during lunch outside the cafeteria.

There is still time to order your child a 2024-2025 yearbook. Please go to: yearbookordercenter.com, use the code 4008" if you have any questions or concerns please contact libbey_beinert@bedfordps.org or karen_santos@bedfordps.org.

We've noticed that the String Vertical Concert is listed on certain calendars as being on Wednesday 3/19. This is in error. This concert is actually scheduled for Tuesday, March 18th.

We are correcting the dates and want to be sure we share the change as well.

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.

Tips to Managing Our Children's Phone

Please note, social media apps have minimum ages, most often the age of 13. Do not provide consent for your child to create an account when they are below the minimum age. Each social media platform has methods to report accounts of children under the age of 13.

Below is a note I have shared since 2022-2023 school year in an effort to support each other and our children's phone use. My children are now 10,8, and 7 and the struggle around devices is as real now as it was then. Personally, I believe I am doing ok and mainly because I have not provided a phone. I only have given a watch to my two oldest and I am dreading the day one of their friends gets a phone because then I know it's the beginning of a real challenge.

When I am not acting as the principal at JGMS, I am the father of three daughters of 3, 6, and 8 years old. I admit, I use my phone to keep my children busy at times and unfortunately, they became aware of how to find things I thought I was preventing. I noticed they kept finding their way into YouTube or games I thought deleted numerous times. Turns out I would "Remove" the App (removing isn't deleting apparently), just to find out it was in the Library. Then I would delete the app, just to find out they could download a previously purchased app without a password. My kids were taking control of their electronic usage and I couldn't keep up. After hearing from families about their concerns with phone and social media use, and also managing it at school, I felt compelled to post this note and includes tricks to blocking certain privileges or basic monitoring clues. I am proud to say that I was successful in navigating the technology, I deleted and prevented apps from coming back, the 6 and 8 year old accepted their fate rather quickly, and my wife and I survived the meltdown of my 3 year old.

Now many of you have likely figured out how to permanently delete apps, block privileges, and limit time on devices and you don't need the help of a novice like me. I do wonder however if some could use a bit of advice from each other. So in the spirit of a partnership, I created a document with tips to gaining control over our children's device. I have given anyone access to read and/or edit the document. This way we all can view the advice and also can add ideas that may be helpful. I am an iPhone user and I started the document with 3 seemingly basic iPhone suggestions. Please feel free to add any tip you found helpful in navigating technology with your children's phone. Together I would like to think we can support all children to be model citizens in both the physical and digital world.

For students who want to compete in sports at JGMS, please visit this site to sign up.

JGMS has a variety of clubs and sports that meet outside of school hours. The list of clubs and the times they will meet have been finalized and are posted.

CLUBS

Please see this Link for a list of clubs and activities.

SPORTS

Sports Opportunities at JGMS: Students have a variety of options. Here is a list of sports that we offer at JGMS throughout the year.

Coaching Staff: JGMS offers four sports in the fall. Please contact the JGMS coach with questions. Please contact your child's coach via email for information regarding games, practices, or changes to schedules. Sports schedules can be found each week at the link at the top of bulletin listed as "This week's sports schedule - Click "view Schedules" on right to find Middle School schedules. Practice/Tryout information for sports are listed below.

GENERAL:

JGMS Athletic Coordinator: Ken Norling

FALL:

JGMS Cross Country: Ken Norling

JGMS Boys Soccer: Vincent McGrath

JGMS Girls Soccer: Paul Harrington

JGMS Field Hockey: Lisa Gocht

JGMS Football: Joe Curran

*Email not set up yet. Please reach out to Ken Norling with questions

WINTER:

JGMS Boys Basketball: Vinnie McGrath

JGMS Girls Basketball: Greg Hinz

SPRING:

JGMS Boys Baseball: Eric Driscoll

JGMS Girls Softball: TBD

JGMS Co-Ed Outdoor Track: Ken Norling

Please see the following message from some ambitious and helpful high school students.

Are you struggling with math? Join our math tutoring! We are high school tutors who want to help! Get personalized support from high school student tutors and conquer any tough problem with confidence. Say hello to success! We will tutor students Tuesday after school while under the supervision of a JGMS math teacher. Reserve time today, by filling out this form:

https://forms.gle/MAxarnqn15s3gCbm7

Looking forward to seeing your child there!

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.

Welcome to the new school year! Below are a few quick items of interest.

1. Please contact me via phone call or email to report any changes in your child’s health status. It is important for us to have the most up-to-date information to ensure we can provide the best care and support for your child’s well-being at school.

1. Permission for your student to be able to receive acetaminophen and or ibuprofen during the school day may be granted by completing the 2024-2025 JGMS Parent/Guardian Consent for Tylenol/Ibuprofen. Please take a moment to do this now, before your student has a need. Please note this is required for each school year.

1. Please provide medications and the required medication permission form signed by both provider and parent, to the nurse's office asap. This includes scheduled daily medications as well as, inhalers, seizure rescue, diabetes medications.

1. For students with life-threatening allergies and have an epinephrine device, please send in the device along with the updated allergy action plan asap at the start of the school year. The Allergy Anaphylaxis plan is required to be completed each year.

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. The direct line to the nurses office is 781-275-3165.

Ms. Cormier and Ms. Danielson are happy to ensure your child has what they need to be successful each day. In order to support their efforts we ask you use our cubby system for all items that are not electronic.

When you enter the main door at JGMS you will see a large wooden cubby where we ask families to leave student belongings. Chromebooks or other electronics have their own process however the process begins at the cubby. There are forms that parents can fill out along with instructions. Below are pictures so you will know what to expect.

You will see we ask parents to email their child that an item has been dropped off. Our priority is that our students get what they need in a timely manner and the process is efficient. To ensure the system works as planned, we will teach the students about this system, we will periodically check the cubby for items that need to be picked up, and also ask that you remind your child to check their email periodically during the day (especially if they know you may drop off their item) and check the cubby on their way to lunch.

Attendance Policy: Getting to school on time each day is a way for your child to show they are responsible. We will be working with your child and reminding them to give themselves enough time to get ready and to get to school on time. It is important that students are making a strong effort to come to school on time each and every day.

Please see our attendance policy.

Reporting Attendance: Email is how we prefer families report attendance or dismissals. The email address is available to all office staff and is checked each morning for attendance. Please let us know when your child will be absent, late, or dismissed by emailing JGMS_Attendance@bedfordps.org. If for a dismissal, please indicate a time as well. When we know of dismissals ahead of time we will have your child ready when you arrive.

Please note, the phone number that was previously used for absences is no longer being checked and the voicemail will ask you not to leave a message and instead, prompt you to send an email to report attendance. Additionally, you can also send a note with your child which should be dropped off in the main office prior to going to class. We expect this system will be more efficient for not only you, it will allow us to be more efficient in reporting attendance each day.

Attendance: Please let us know when your child will be absent, late, or dismissed by emailing JGMS_Attendance@bedfordps.org. If for a dismissal, please indicate a time as well. You can also send a note with your child to be dropped off in the main office prior to going to class. If we know of a dismissal ahead of time we will attempt to have your child ready when you arrive.

Religious Holidays: Please follow the directions explained here.

Tech Support: If your child is having technical trouble throughout the school year please send an email to tech_support@bedfordps.org.

Taking the Bus: Please see the guidance on the district’s transportation website. Please review the transportation guidelines with your children as we hope families will choose to ride the bus again.

Sports schedules: Please visit the sports section of the website to access the schedules of the upcoming seasons. You can click on “view schedules” under the calendar on the right. You should look for “middle school” teams when searching for your child’s sport.