The Woof

  (1.) 7th grade Earth models adorn our hallways year-round! (2.) We're looking forward to the return of Trivia Night at South this evening! For those who have signed up, please  arrive at 6:00pm.  Trivia Night is expected to be  over at 8:15pm  (a slight adjustment from the previously-mentioned 8:45) for anyone carpooling.  Wear costumes and bring your vast knowledge! (3.)  The next PTO meeting will be on Tuesday, 5/3, at 7:00 PM. Agenda to follow. (4.)  Check out the April drone footage showing progress of the construction of the new South Middle School! (5.)  In 1 week, take a night off from cooking and Dine Out at the Chateau to support South PTO!   On Wednesday, 5/4, visit  the  Chateau  in Braintree   for lunch, dinner, or take-out.  Let your server (or phone representative) know that you are participating in the fundraiser and to  “FLAG YOUR CHECK.” For online orders:   Add item “Fundraiser” to your cart and enter "South Middle School PTO" as a Special Instruction

There is a lot of discussion about "the kids these days" in our media and daily discussions. No matter your political leanings or whether you're generally an optimist or a pessimist, it seems the message is always bad. It's enough to make you really fearful of how the pandemic has affected this entire generation. Yet these rants & hand-wringing don't often ring true with what we're seeing in the hallways and classrooms here at South. Last month, I read a  New York Times  article examining the social and intellectual lives of teens after 2 years of pandemic living through a focus group that actually asked kids about  their  experiences and thoughts, and it opened up several ideas that I keep coming back to. ( Click here to read the article directly. ) Some takeaways: Kids are very relieved with every opportunity to return to "normal."  Bear in mind though, their lives are changing so quickly that their sense of  normal  is extremely limited by the

We've got a lot of events coming up at South, so families have been asking to get dates on their calendars. Details for some of these events will follow in the next few weeks, but pencil in any that apply to your children! Thu 4/28 - Trivia Night @ 6pm Sat 4/30 - Student Council Clean Up @ Sunset Lake, 12-1pm ( Sign up here! ) Wed 5/4 - PTO Dine Out @ The Chateau fundraiser Fri 5/6 - Gr. 6 Math MCAS Mon 5/9 - Gr. 6 Math MCAS Tue 5/10 - Gr. 7 Math MCAS; Gr. 8 Team Day/Field Trip Wed 5/11 - Gr. 7 Math MCAS; Gr. 8 Team Day/Field Trip Thu 5/12 - Gr. 8 Math MCAS; Gr. 7 Team Day/Field Trip Fri 5/13 - Gr. 8 Math MCAS; Gr. 7 Team Day/Field Trip Tue 5/17 - Early Release @ 11:45am Thu 5/19 - Midterm 4 Mon 5/23 - Gr. 8 Science MCAS; Gr. 6 Team Day/Field Trip Tue 5/24 - Gr. 8 Science MCAS; Gr. 6 Team Day/Field Trip Wed 5/25 - Instrumental Concert @ 7pm Thu 5/26 - Gr. 7 & 8 Choral Concert @ 7:30pm Fri 5/27 - Memorial Day Assembly @ 1pm Mon 5/30 - No School - Memorial Day Thu 6/2 - Gr. 6 Cho

It was great to see everyone back at South today! We've got a busy week ahead of us before we turn to the last full month of the school year. (1.) Community Service Club's Spring Food Drive wraps up this week.  Donate non-perishable food items, paper goods, laundry detergent, sponges, dishwasher detergent, and other household supplies to support the Braintree Food Pantry. The homeroom that collects the most items will win a prize! (2.)  Jigsaw Puzzle Club  starts this week! Open to all interested students, meet in  rooms 98 & 99  after school on  Wednesdays  this spring. (3.)  South Spring Musical Tech Crew Informational Meeting  will be held immediately after school on  Wednesday, 4/27,   in room 208.  All students interested in working on the Stage Crew, Props Crew, Costumes, Admissions, and more, come on by! (4.)  Trivia Night  will be held at South on  Thursday, 4/28, starting at 6:00pm.  With a number of teams registered for each grade, we're looking forward to som

Spring Break starts tomorrow and continues all next week. We wish a happy Easter on Sunday to all our Bulldogs who are celebrating! And for any Orthodox observers--including our Ukrainian brothers & sisters--we wish a happy Easter on Sunday, 4/24, in the Eastern Orthodox calendar. On Saturday, April 30th from 12:00-1:00pm, Student Council will be hosting the second annual Beach Day Clean Up at Sunset Lake in Braintree. Sign up using this google form link -  https://forms.gle/3FTBwji2PE6mT9ti6  by Thursday April 28th. All grades are welcome, but maximum participation is 50 students. All cleaning materials will be provided. Email Ms.  Burch  ( micaela. burch @braintreeschools.org ) or Ms. Motta ( stephanie.motta@braintreeschools.org ) with any questions. Check out this timelapse video of the South construction project over the past few weeks! We've made even more progress in the last week, and can't wait to see the changes by the time school reopens on 4/25!

We hear a lot about technology and screen time and how it's affecting kids (and adults!). Twitter and TikTok are destroying kids' attention spans and  Instagram is targeting girls' self-esteem . Screen time is destroying social skills, and even the blue light from screens is physically bad for our eyes. It's hopeless! But wait... Social media is called "social" for a reason.  We adults don't like to see kids with their faces buried in their phones, but for some kids their "friends" on social media are where they can find community. Adolescence is a critical time for forming your own identity, and kids' opportunities to explore their interests were very limited over the past 2+ years due to the pandemic shutdowns. Exploring their interests online is a good way to find out more about hobbies or interest areas. A teen may create an account to explore an interest in anime or chess or bird-watching, and keep that totally off their "real"

  (1.) Check out these creative 7th grade sculptures from Art class! (2.) Construction on the new South building is happening quickly. Foundations around the classroom wing have been going up all month, and three sides of the courtyard have been formed. The first fire wall went up today! (3.)  All term 3 work is due by the end of this week , and report cards will be issued on Monday, 4/25 after the break. See your teacher  this week  about any makeup work or retakes! (4.) Congratulations to the Larivees and the Auclairs, winners of the first 2 PTO Calendar Raffle drawings this week! We're just over halfway through the prize drawings, if you can believe that. Just as much fun is yet to come!  Buy your tickets and get them to our Main Office ASAP! (5.)  Looking for something to do during April Break?  The  Harvard Undergraduate Studies in Education (HUSE)  program, a premiere undergraduate organization dedicated to promoting education as a career field, hosts an annual program called

  (1.)  South Middle School: The Musical Revue 2022  needs a tech crew!   If you are interested in being in charge of lights, sound, curtains, costumes, props, programs, snacks, and more, please come to an informational Tech Crew meeting after school on Wednesday, April 27th in room 208 until 3:30.  Join the South Theatre Google Classroom for more information, and  see Mr. Puglisi  with any questions. (2.) This week is your last opportunity to register for  South's Trivia Night on 4/28!  Register a team, or individual competitor and Mr. Sturtevant will help you find a team to compete on.  Contact Mr. Sturtevant  with any questions! (3.) Optional at-home COVID testing will continue this week and after the Break. If you are participating in the program but would like to withdraw, email  me  or  Nursing Director Kristin Houlihan  to confidentially request you be removed from the program. If you would like to opt  in , please  email us  with that request. (4.) MCAS testing continues in

  (1.) Looking for some entertainment this weekend? Check out the BHS Theatre Guild production of  Something Rotten  at BHS this weekend! (2.) Raid your cabinets for donations to the Spring Canned Food Drive! Community Service Club is collecting non-perishable food items and household cleaning products for the Braintree Food Pantry throughout the month of April. The homeroom that donates the most items will win a prize. (3.) Braintree is holding an Electronic Waste Day at 74 Pond St.  this  Saturday, 4/9! No hazardous waste will be collected this Saturday; that collection date is 4/30. (4.) With several field trips coming up this spring, please make sure to submit permission slips and health information by the deadlines. Financial aid is available to ensure every student can participate; don't hesitate to contact Mr. Rainie, your child's teacher, or their guidance counselor for a confidential conversation about financial aid for field trips or end-of-year events. (5.) Congratul

  (1.) MCAS testing for 7th graders starts tomorrow. Please make sure any school-issued chromebooks get charged tonight and brought to school! (2.) Term 3 grades are closing in all classes over the next week. All makeup work and retakes are due by next Thursday, 4/14, in order for grades to be finalized over the break. Report cards will be issued on Monday, 4/25 after the break. Please contact your child's teacher with any class-specific questions, or contact their guidance counselor if you have more general concerns. (3.) All students are invited to join the Jigsaw Puzzle Club! We'll meet on Wednesdays starting after April Vacation, from 2:25-3:15 PM, in Rooms 98 & 99, the 8th Grade Science Wing beyond the elevator. (4.) There's still time to sign up for Trivia Night on Thursday, 4/28, from 6-9 PM. Teams must register by 4/14, and you win a prize just by signing up!  Contact  Mr. Sturtevant  with any questions. (5.) Congratulations to Mrs. Nickerson and Mrs. Devane who

Our first day of MCAS testing went relatively smoothly for 6th grade today. Last year's MCAS were completely different with hybrid schedules in place and about 1/3 of our students testing remotely, and the year before (in 2020) the MCAS were cancelled entirely, so this feels like the first return to "regular testing." Of course, a  ton  has changed since 2019 in terms of technology use in the middle school, so nothing feels "regular" at all! But, in a way, it was a relief to take the training wheels off this morning and complete a full session on our journey through this spring's mandated tests. We have been stressing to students (and teachers!) that these MCAS exams will be used for information only. Every town, state, and country struggled through the pandemic and with reopening this year, so it's reasonable to expect that some of the expected curriculum for each grade may not be fully in place at this time. The MCAS will be a helpful tool to identify