News and Notes for September 21

Well, an exciting week has come to a close! We were able to debrief after the gas leak from Thursday, which obviously put a wrinkle into many plans, both academically and extra-curricularly. We appreciate everyone's support, be it with supervising students on the tennis courts, moving to the football field, or just providing us with support during what was hectic, to say the least. As a positive, we were able to successfully evacuate more than 900 people and dismiss without a hitch, save for a few impatient students who tried to skedaddle before being called - it looked nothing like this! And who knew that 200 students expected to be on Bus 6?

We even made the news (must have been a slow day) - unfortunately, hard to tell who's who.
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/south/12008585362336/medway-hs-evacuated-due-to-gas-leak

Next time (if there is one), we absolutely have to figure out a way to spell something fun out (some ideas: "Send Food"; "We're Fine"; "Got Gas?"; "MEDWAY").

As for some of the details, the event underscored our absolute need for specific compliance with respect to procedure, why we have a signout log in the office, and the requirement for EVERYONE to be on the same page when outside. The check-in process at the tennis courts remains an ongoing work in progress, but remember to get outside, take attendance with your homeroom, turn in sheets, and continue to actively supervise the students. Obviously, over time, everyone gets a little more rambunctious, but if everyone does his/her part, as generally happened on Thursday, we have a smaller likelihood of problems. To the point of signing out, we had the attendance perfect within .1%, but would hate for the one person we're looking for to be a staff member - particularly if that staff member is being counted on for homeroom attendance on the courts. It helps us plan and respond accordingly, and we appreciate your follow-through to that end.

On to other updates:

A three-hour tour... a three-hour tour...

The Senior Class will be sponsoring a boat cruise in Boston on Saturday, October 6. Please contact Ms. Ryan or Ms. Aigler if you wish to chaperone!

This coming Tuesday, 9/25, will include department meetings. Please consult your department head for an agenda for that meeting.

A reminder that we do not have school on Wednesday, September 26, for the observance of Yom Kippur.

We're not expecting too many conferences to look like this, particularly because of the hat.

We will also be sending forth instructions and expectations for Parent-Teacher conferences, which will likely take place in late October. We appreciate all those who provided us with feedback and comments on making that evening as productive as possible.

The new procedures for the library, coupled with everyone's continued vigilance and consistency with respect to passes and attendance, have made for a very smooth couple of weeks, given the number of changes to study hall. We appreciate everyone's patience and support to that end.

Thanks to Mr. Hoek for organizing and keeping Good Friday breakfasts alive - we're excited for it next week!

A reminder that every Wednesday, we will publish The Medway Weekly, a compendium of online resources and ideas, some of which can adapt to your classrooms. The site draws from a number of blogs, articles, Twitter feeds, video sites, etc., and will hopefully provide some thought-provoking material. If you "subscribe," you will get an automatic email each week indicating that it's updated.

Video of the week Part I comes from PD360 and deals with the importance of setting objectives with students: http://www.pd360.com/index.cfm?ContentId=123

Video of the week Part II comes from the local high school soccer scene. Watch the video, and you will be amazed. 

Enjoy the weekend!