The Bulldog's Woof

This Two-fer Tuesday, South Middle brings you one BIG celebration, and something to spice up your day tomorrow! FOND FAREWELL Today, we congratulate Mrs. Sullivan, who is retiring from teaching after a long career in the Braintree Public Schools. Anyone who has had Mrs. Sullivan as your teacher, or as your child's teacher--or as a colleague!--knows the commitment and passion she brings to helping each child in her class grow over the course of the school year. She always keeps in mind the individual in every child and considers what they will need to be successful in life. Recognizing her care and concern for them, along with her high expectations to bring out their best, Mrs. Sullivan's students dedicated a display board in her honor during Teacher Appreciation Week. Exemplifying her humble service to her students, she is departing without any fanfare today, ending the school year a bit earlier than planned to take care of some medical necessities. All the South Bulldogs are ...

  (1.) Reminder: May meeting for South PTO is tonight at 7pm. Come find out about end-of-year activities and hear how our recent fundraisers did! (2.) One Week From TODAY! May's Dine-Out is WEDNESDAY MAY 20 at Dave's Hot Chicken . Mark your calendars! (3.) Thank you for all the support throughout Teacher Appreciation Week last week. The South staff felt well loved being treated by everyone with baked goods, sweet treats, savory snacks, and special occasions! The Student Council used their proceeds from Boston Sports Day to keep the love going this Monday, laying out a Trail Mix Bar in the Teachers' Room!

  The PTO meeting scheduled for this week has been rescheduled to next Wednesday, 5/13, at 7:00 PM in the South Media Center.  We hope apologize for any inconvenience and hope to see you then! Today is the beginning of Teacher Appreciation Week and your South PTO started off strong, providing a true Breakfast of Champions for the South staff with coffee and breakfast items donated from Dunkin by the Andrade family! How can you join in the fun to show your appreciation? Send in a baked good  tomorrow, Tuesday, 5/5,   to keep the warm fuzzies going all week. Home-baked or store-bought, sweet or savory, the staff will appreciate every family's effort to recognize their hard work all year!  Baked goods & other donations can be sent in all week to help keep the Staff Dining Room well-stocked with treats! Make a Venmo donation (@SouthMiddlePTO) for staff treats or to purchase gift cards for a teacher raffle Send a notecard or email with an example of how a teacher...

This morning, we discovered a litter of six fox kits in front of the school building. We contacted Braintree's Animal Control officer, who reassured us that their behavior is perfectly normal for this time of year. I am alerting families because it is important to speak with your kids about leaving wildlife alone.  Do not feed the kits or they may not leave the den as they are naturally supposed to do. Do not try to pick up or touch a wild animal! Stay aware of your surroundings, especially if waiting before or after school. If an animal approaches, it is probably just curious, and a loud noise should be enough to scare it off. Stay on the marked walkways and sidewalks. These kits are  incredibly  cute, but we need all members of the community to cut them a wide berth. About 8 weeks old now, they are starting to emerge from the den and explore on their own. Within days, they will leave the den and establish their own territories, probably in the many wooded areas around t...

We hope all our Bulldogs enjoyed the April Break and found opportunities for fun as well as some refreshing relaxation! We have a long week ahead of us, but it's hard to believe that Friday will already be May! This Thursday, April 30, is an early dismissal day for students. Middle schools will dismiss at 11:45 AM.  Student Council is holding a Boston Sports Spirit Day to raise money for students to show their staff appreciation next week during Teacher Appreciation Week!  South PTO is holding a dine-out fundraiser to support the PTO mission at Jake N Joe's this Thursday, 4/30.  On early dismissal days, lunch is not served in school, but students can still access a complimentary lunch by ordering a Grab-N-Go bagged lunch in advance. Don't forget to pick up your lunch at dismissal!

Did you know... You can set up your Aspen account to alert you when your child has a low grade posted in any class? Set up Notifications in your Aspen account settings and never have to worry about a surprise on the report card again! Follow the instructions below to set up email notifications for your parent account on Aspen. It is recommended to set the grade threshold to 60% to alert you to any failing grades.  You may also choose to set the grade threshold to 70% for 7th/8th graders and to 75% for 5th/6th graders, so you will know if your child has received a poor grade or may be eligible to improve their score by completing a retake or submitting corrections.  See below for guidance on setting up Aspen email notifications (from the  BPS Tech Department Aspen FAQ site ).  If you have any questions about your child's academic progress, don't hesitate to contact their Guidance Counselor or the Main Office.  It's always best to reach out directly to their teach...