4/20/2016

Hope you are all enjoying a restful vacation. We have a busy week when we get back.

We will have a motivational speaker, Ray Lozano, the Monday we get back. Then we begin PARCC testing that Wednesday. 

Time seems to go very quickly at this time of the year and we have a lot going on. Here are some important dates:

4/25/16 - Motivational Speaker Ray Lozano during school time
4/27 - 5/10/16 - PARCC testing - teams will be testing on different days throughout this time
5/4/16 6:30 PM - May the Forth - Unified Theater Play
5/9/16 6:00 PM - 6th grade parent night (Tech information beginning at 5:00 PM)
5/15/16 3:00 PM - Spring Band Concert
5/20/16 - 6th grade students visit the Jr High
5/20/16 7:30 PM - Outdoor Movie Night
5/25/10 5:00 PM - Chorus Concert
5/27/16 - NO SCHOOL
5/30/16 - NO SCHOOL
6/16/16 9:30 AM - 8th grade move up ceremony
6/16/16 Last Day of School

#EWGRSD #EWGJRHS

4/15/2016

The weather is finally starting to cooperate and we are getting some pretty spring days. It is still cool, but that helps to keep us all focused on school. Only 2 more months until school is out. 

Students enjoyed the nice weather and made some bird feeders to put out in the new Stem park.

8th grade move up ceremony is on the last day of school, Thursday, June 16 at 9:30 AM in the Senior High School Gymnasium. We look forward to seeing you there.

We have a new club this year, Unified theater. They have been working hard for their upcoming play, "May the Forth Be With You: A War Between the Stars" 

The play will be on, of course, May 4th, at 6:30 PM in the auditorium. Be sure to come see the hard work students have been putting into the play. This play is an original work that the students have been writing. It is an entirely student run show and will be lots of fun.  

Thanks to so many of the parents who came Monday night to Student Led Conferences (SLC). They were very successful and students were very proud of themselves for being able to have such professional conversations with their parents about their grades. It was a huge success.

The local Hiandlo Fire Department is having a Chowder and Craft Fair event on April 25. Check out the flyer for more details. 

Here are some fun pictures from students taking notes on their iPads during a geography class.

#EWGRSD #EWGJRHS

4/7/2016

Happy Spring?!? Or is it. 
It sure has been a week of wild weather. I certainly did not anticipate having to reschedule our SLC because of snow. But the snow that fell Monday night had other plans. As a reminder, SLC are scheduled for Monday April 11 - same times.


Tonight is opening night for our Jr/ Sr Drama Production "The Little Mermaid." It will be a very exciting couple of days for the students who have put in a lot of hours of rehearsal. Come under the sea with us.

On March 24 the yearbook committee had the 8th grade picture taken out on the field. It was a windy day, but the picture came out great. Thanks to our ladder helpers that made sure our photographer was able to snap those photos. 





EWG hosted the RI Middle Level Band Festival March 31 and April 1. Our middle school band was 1.2 points shy of receiving a rating superior. We always think they are outstanding. Check out this snippet from the festival. 

Last Friday was no April fools joke that we had our Knights of the Month. Congratulations to all of the students who were recognized for their positive attitudes, hard work, and kindness shown to others.

8th grade students must be looking ahead to high school already since many of our teacher recognition awards this month was about how much teachers have helped them get prepared for the high school. Congratulations to Ms. Murray our math teacher who was selected as teacher Knight of the Month for March.

3/18/2016

Great job parents! We have over 70% of Student Led Conferences (SLC) scheduled. We are hoping to have as close to 100% as possible. Please contact Mrs. Hawley at the Jr High Office if you have not scheduled your SLC yet.

We have a guest post today from Ms. Winner our Jr/ Sr High School librarian and advisory for the Maker Space after school club. Check out the Maker Space page on the Library website to learn more about the program and see some videos from activities that students have done this year.

Guest Post by Mrs. Winner:
On Monday, March 14th, alumnus Haley Kenyon an architect/ interior designer working for Alex and Ani conducted a Sketchup Workshop for several of our Makerspace students. They learned how Haley had progressed in college through her desire to be an architect taking advantage of opportunities offered her, and how she expanded these ideas with online tools to combine technology and architecture, which led her to a great job and career. Students had the opportunity to engage in hands on designing and see demonstrations of what Haley does out in the working world. A relevant and positive experience for our students, current and past. Thank you Hayley, Mr Searle and Mrs. Borges. ~ Ms. Winner

   

3/10/2016

By now all parents should have received an invitation, either electronically or by paper, to select a time for Student Led Conferences. Please make every effort to select your conference time as soon as possible. Time slots are filling up.

I am a little bit behind in my Knight of the Month updates, so we will be catching up on both January and February in this blog post.

Each month when we recognize our students and staff, we provide them with goodie bags. The kids really like these treats but our supplies are running low and we still have 4 months of school left. If you have any goodies you can donate that would be much appreciated. We have a few parents who donate on a monthly basis - which is amazing - and other parents who have sent in a bunch of goodies at once. We recognize 8 students and 1 staff person each both. Any treats are much appreciated.

Knights of the month for January

Student Knights of the Month

Staff Knights of the Month

Even though she was not here on the day of the ceremony, 

Deb DeMattio was recognized as staff knight of the month.

Knights of the month for February

Student Knights of the Month

Staff Knight of the month - ELA teacher Michelle Livsey

2/26/2016

We are gearing up for Student Led Conferences (SLC) here at the Junior High. On Monday, April 4th EWG Junior High School will be holding student-led portfolio-based parent conferences.  These conferences will provide an opportunity for students to reflect upon pieces of work from each core subject area and specials classes.  

Students will present his/her strengths, acknowledge their weaknesses, and with parents in attendance, plan for their continued academic and personal growth.  It is important to note that these are student-led conferences and the teachers will be attending as observers, and only actively participate at the request of the student.
This is what you can expect when you attend the student-led parent conference:

• Your child will greet you and welcome you to the conference

• In 30 minutes, your child will present his/her portfolio to you

• You and your child will discuss your child’s strengths and areas that need work - your child will have guided reflection sheets to facilitate this discussion

• You will have the opportunity to respond to his/her work

• You and your child will each independently fill out an evaluation of the conference itself

• Your child will take home their portfolio after the conference for you to keep

It’s important that your child have an opportunity to make this presentation. Each child will be working on their portfolio during advisory. In addition to this being an excellent opportunity for you and your child to discuss how his/her academics are progressing, presenting his/her portfolio also helps students with presentation skills. This is good practice for giving class presentations, oral speaking skills and senior project presentation.

A sign up form will be coming soon. Conferences will be 30 minutes in length. Parents who have multiple students in the Junior High will have to sign up for one conference time for each child.

If you are unable to attend and would like to send a representative such as a grandparent, please do so. If you cannot attend and do not send a representative, then your child will conference with a faculty representative at a later date.  

We are partnering with the National Honor Society (NHS) at the high school to offer a homework club after school in the library on Mondays and Wednesdays until 2:45 PM. NHS students will be available for homework help and support. Students must be signed up before 12:00 PM on the day they are planning to stay. A link to the sign up form is located on the Junior High webpage. 

Unified theater is still running their art auction. Check out all of beautiful artwork available and make a bid on some of the art work. All proceeds help the unified theater program. 

Art work for our students is currently being displayed at the Hera Gallery at 10 High Street in Wakefield, RI. Come see some of the amazing works of art our students have created.

2/12/2016

Happy Friday! 

It has been a busy and full week this week. It is definitely the time of year for inclement weather, so be sure you have signed up on the Rhode Island Broadcasters Association for school closing or delay announcements.

On Wednesday this week we have a fantastic "Speak Out to Reach Out" presentation. There was a panel of 4 presenters who spoke to us about the importance of being the change you want to see in yourself and being the best YOU that you can be. 



The first presenter who spoke is the founder of the Michael Walton Foundation and world class sprinter, Michael Walton.

Next we had a man who is more than just an athlete, former NBA player, author and motivational speaker Etan Thomas.
Etan did a poetry reading of the poem Haters from his book, More Than An Athlete. He signed 2 copies of his book for our library.



We also had X-Factor season 1 finalist, and Epic Recording artist, Marcus Canty. Marcus had the whole auditorium chanting with him "I know I can ... Be what I want to be ... If I work hard at it ... I'll be where I want to be."

And finally we heard from 2009 Miss Virginia and 2010 Miss American Caressa Cameron. She even brought her crown with her, explaining to us how her crown was her ticket to do some amazing things such as sing for the president and attend the super bowl. 



At the flower show during vacation week there will be a STEM Park Garden Model that our students created. If you are at the flower show be sure to check it out. Here are some pictures of the model. 

Check out these pictures and video of the battle bots the students in the robotics club created. 




Unified theater is having an art auction. Check out the incredible art work and help support our Unified Theater program.


Cailin Healy is a senior at the high school and for her senior project she will be running a drawing class for Junior High School students. Space is limited so please sign up soon.