BUCCANEER NEWS Vol. #38/39

JGMS Community Members Show

HEART

Honor Empathy Acceptance Responsibility Tenacity

• BPS 2023-2024 District Calendar
• Here is a list of the sporting events for this week
  
• Buccaneer News Archive
• Looking Ahead/Save the Date Calendar Items

Week of May 27, 2024:

Tuesday, May 28, 2024 8th Grade Washington DC trip and Alternate Trips

Tuesday, May 28, 2024 B Block 6th Band Auditorium Rehearsal Schedule

Tuesday, May 28, 2024 E Block 6th Orchestra (with Beginners) Auditorium Rehearsal Schedule

Wednesday, May 29, 2024 8th Grade Washington DC trip and Alternate Trips

Wednesday, May 29, 2024 B Block 6th Orchestra (with Beginners) Auditorium Rehearsal Schedule

Thursday May 30, 2024 8th Grade Washington DC trip and Alternate Trips

Friday, May 31, 2024 8th Grade Washington DC trip and Alternate Trips

Next Week (So Far):

Monday, June 3, 2024 F Block 7th/8th Orch (8th comes to 7th’s class) Auditorium Rehearsal Schedule

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 A Block 7th/8th Orch (7th comes to 8th’s class) 8th Grade Chorus also attending Auditorium Rehearsal Schedule

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 F Block 7th/8th Chorus (8th comes to 7th’s class) Auditorium Rehearsal Schedule

Wednesday, June 5, 2024 F Block 7th/8th Band 8th comes to 7th LGI

Wednesday, June 5, 2024 Teacher Day

Wednesday, June 5, 2024 7:00 PM JGMS Grade 7 & 8 Concert @ BHS

1) [NEW] Rising 6th-8th Grade Parent Input Forms

2) [REMINDER] Moving On Ceremony and Celebration

3) [NEW] Washington, DC Trip Review

Please note - We now have a Buccaneer News Archive page which will also be linked to our website. Please consider bookmarking this link to have access to the Buccaneer News without having to scroll to an old email.

Regular Reminders

[REMINDER] Homework Club Family Letter

[REMINDER] JGMS Extra Curricular Activities Updated

[REMINDER] Important Information for JGMS Caregivers from the MSPA (Middle School Parents Association)

[REMINDER] JGMS Attendance Policy and Reporting Attendance

[REMINDER] Student Drop Off and Pick Up

In case you missed the email that went home or just put off reading it, please see information below to provide input for next school year.

We are so excited to transition your 6th or 7th grader (and if you have a 5th grader too!) to the next grade level at JGMS! Throughout the spring, our staff at JGMS will be collaborating about students and how we can best meet their needs. Since you know your 6th or 7th grader the best, we are also hoping to learn from you as well.

Please take a moment to read this Parent/Guardian Student Input Form letter and the applicable survey that is linked within.

John Glenn Middle School staff and the Middle School Parents Association (MSPA) are thrilled to present the 8th Grade Moving On ceremony and events. The JGMS staff will organize the ceremony, while the MSPA will plan a celebration for our 8th grade students as they transition to high school.

The ceremony will be held at Sabourin Field in Bedford at 5:00 pm on Thursday, June 13, 2024. Parents and extended family are invited to attend. Following the ceremony, there will be an 8th Grade Student-Only Celebration in the rear parking lot and fields of JGMS from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. The event, chaperoned by JGMS staff, will include a cookout dinner, yard games, a DJ, a photo booth, a bounce house, and more.

The Moving On events will have a “tropical summer” theme, and we encourage everyone to dress in festive attire. Parents are welcome to bring a blanket to sit on during the ceremony on the field. Please note that chairs, high heels, and pets (the exception is service animals) are not allowed on the turf field. In case of inclement weather, the ceremony and party will be held inside at BHS, with limited capacity for the ceremony.

Before getting to the Washington, DC trip summary I want to say thank you to Ms. Tracy Fernald and our nursing staff for supporting the trip and all the medical needs of our students. Preparing for the trips was a huge undertaking which was done in addition to their daily responsibilities. We are so fortunate to have the support and caring health care professionals who care so much about our students.

In addition to our nurses, this trip does not occur without the careful planning of our trip coordinator, Joe Casey. Mr. Casey and his colleagues put in months of work to prepare this trip for our students. We are grateful for his effort to make the trip safe and special for all who attended.

Finally, the chaperones who volunteer their time to make the trip special deserve a big thanks! Thank you to:

Joe Casey

Vanessa Mangini,

Ms. Andrea - Nurse

Ms. Stewart

This is the 46th year the trip to Washington, DC has run at JGMS and it has become a beloved end-of-the-year experience for our 8th-graders. Highlights of the trip included visiting many memorials in and around DC including the Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, MLK Memorial, National Museum of U.S. Army, National Archives, National Cathedral, Natural History Museum, 9/11 Memorial @ Pentagon Building, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Memorial, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Library of Congress, U.S. Air Force Memorial, and Iwo Jima Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery including the Kennedy Gravesite, and the Tomb of Unknown Soldier which included a viewing of The Changing of the Guard.

At Arlington National Cemetery, Abrianna Muramira, Ansel Chiou, Hannah Sandler, Ryan Venuti

participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of former JGMS/ Bedford alum John Hart who was killed in Iraq in 2003. To learn more about John please navigate to The Military Times John Hart of Bedford, MA.

Please take some time to review with your child the importance of treating their Chromebook care. We have been observing some mishandling of the Chromebooks which include sliding it on the ground to tossing it as if it was a pile of textbooks. The Chromebook policy is on pages 27-31 in the JGMS Student Handbook.

In addition to caring for their Chromebook, please encourage your child to charge their device each night. We know how vigilant students with cell phones are to charge up their phone at night. So if they can bring that same energy (pun intended) to charging their Chromebook, we can ensure students will have a functioning device each day.

If you need to purchase a new charger, please reach out totech_support@bedfordps.org and they can facilitate a purchase.

If you want to purchase insurance which will fully cover the Chromebook, please use this link.

Here is where to buy the charger?

Parents and students can be helpful in creating a memorable yearbook and the yearbook staff is looking for more photos for this years yearbook. Please use the link below to submit photos. Thank you!

Photo Submissions - https://forms.gle/VqFMrmFfmw1LAVuB8

To order a yearbook please go to Yearbookordercenter.com and enter the code 4008 for JGMS

Visit the John Glenn Middle School Parents Association (MSPA) at www.bedfordpco.org.

The 2023-24 FREE Online Student Directory for caregivers of students at JGMS & BHS is LIVE on the MSPA/BHSPA's joint website: https://www.bedfordpco.org/directory.

Only those who have an account, and are signed-in will be able to view the Directory.

It's NOT TOO LATE to add your student's information? Visit us at: http://bedfordpco.org/, where you will be prompted to login. If you already have a Membership Toolkit account login with another organization, you can use the same log-in on our site.

• Go to: https://www.bedfordpco.org/
• Click the Register/Login button.
• If you already have an account with another organization that uses Membership Toolkit you can use the same email and password to login. You can then proceed to the numbered steps below. If not,
• Select "Create Account" and fill in the name, email, and password information.
• Click "verify my email" and then check your email for a link to complete the process. The link expires in 2 hours. If you do not receive the email, check your spam or junk folders.
• Once you have verified your email address, log back in and finish the registration process.

1. Complete the Parent/Family and Student Information.
2. Complete the Directory/Publish Preferences.

Once the Primary Account is set up, the Primary User can add other email addresses to their account, which will allows a Secondary User to have their own login information, with access to the family account.

Questions? - Please don't hesitate to contact us at jgmsparents@gmail.com

We received even more new tips for managing our children's phone! Keep them coming. Thank you all for adding some helpful hints!

When I am not acting as the principal at JGMS, I am the father of three daughters of 4, 7, and 9 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 some families about their concerns with phone and social media use, I felt compelled to repost a note from a previous year which includes tricks to blocking certain privileges from my own phone. I am proud to say that I was successful last year in navigating the technology, I deleted and prevented apps from coming back, the then 6 and 8 year old accepted their fate rather quickly, and my wife and I survived the meltdown of my then 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.

Tips to Managing Our Children's Phone

The Homework Club is set to start on October 16 and meets Mondays and Thursdays. Please review the letter and email any questions to Amanda Raboin ~ Homework Club Advisor ~ Amanda_Raboin@bedfordps.org.

Homework Club Family Letter

Por favor, haga clic para obtener una carta familiar traducida del club de tareas.

Por favor, clique para obter uma carta familiar traduzida do clube de tarefas.

Tanpri klike pou yon lèt fanmi tradui nan klib travay kay.

请点击以获取翻译的家庭作业俱乐部信函。

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 the active clubs in the JGMS Student Activities Summary document.

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: Christine Lennox

JGMS Girls Soccer: Paul Harrington

JGMS Field Hockey: Indigo FoxTree

JGMS Football: Goeff Chase

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

Welcome to the 2023-24 school year. We are excited to announce that the MSPA will be using Membership Tool Kit (MTK) this year. The BEST/PTO successfully launched use of MTK last year, so families with younger students may already be familiar with the name.

The Middle School Parents Association (MSPA) and the Bedford High School Parents Association (BHSPA) are coming together to provide a one-stop information center for caregivers of both John Glenn Middle School (JGMS) and Bedford High School (BHS) students. Caregivers will be able to stay in-the-know with school-specific communications, a combined JGMS & BHS Student Directory (later in the fall), and much more, please register at our new site.

We invite you to visit us at: https://www.bedfordpco.org/, where you will be prompted to login and then create an account. If you already have a Membership Toolkit account login with another organization, you can use the same log-in on our site.

Register Today!

1. Go to: https://www.bedfordpco.org/
2. Click the Register/Login button.
3. If you already have an account with another organization that uses Membership Toolkit you can use the same email and password to login. Then proceed to steps 7 & 8 below. If not,
4. If you do not have an account with another organization that uses Membership Toolkit, select "Create Account" and fill in the name, email, and password information.
5. Click "verify my email" and then check your email for a link to complete the process. The link expires in 2 hours. If you do not receive the email, check your spam or junk folders.
6. Once you have verified your email address, log back in and finish the registration process.
7. Complete the Parent/Family and Student Information.; once done, click the "Save" button.
8. Complete the Directory/Publish Preferences; once done, click the "Save" button.

Once the Primary Account is set up, the Primary User can add other email addresses to their account, which will allow a Secondary User to have their own login information, with access to the family account.

Please note that our site is active, but under construction. While under construction, both parent associations' websites will continue to be up and running separately.

Questions? - Please don't hesitate to contact us at jgmsparents@gmail.com.

Attendance Policy: Getting to school on time each day is a way for your child to show they understand the RESPONSIBILITY part of HEART at John Glenn Middle School. 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: 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. The phone number to call is (781) 275-3201 ext 4799 or you can 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.

Please be aware and follow the drop off and pick up routines designed to provide a safe environment for entry and exit of students.

DROP OFF: Please see the drop off routines below

Students who:

• walk/bike to school may enter in the front by the School Administration wing or the parking lot door

• ride the bus to school should enter in the front by the School Administration wing

• ride in a car to school should enter in the back parking lot. Caretakers should follow the traffic pattern laid out below in the morning

PICK UP: Please see the pick up routines below

Student who:

• walk/bike from school may exit any door that is most convenient.

• ride the bus from school may exit may exit any door that is most convenient. These students will walk to Bedford High School to pick up the bus. Dismissal at JGMS is at 2:16 and the dismissal at BHS is at 2:24. Busses will depart from Bedford High School at 2:28.

• ride in a car from school should exit the school by the parking lot. Caretakers should follow the traffic pattern laid out below in the afternoon.

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. The phone number to call is (781) 275-3201 ext 4799 or you can 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.