Hello 7th Grade Families!

Hello 7th Grade Families,

Welcome students and families to the seventh grade!

Now that we are back to having all students in the building at one time, we are reverting back to our original rule of no backpacks being allowed in the classroom. The reason behind this rule is that with class sizes of 20 or more students, backpacks become a safety hazard when left on the floor. It makes it difficult to move around the classroom without tripping over bags. For this reason, students are to leave their backpacks in their lockers. While that may seem like it means students have a lot to carry, we provide them with plenty of opportunities to go to their lockers and they will never need to carry supplies for more than two classes at one time.

Because we had bags and other belongings in the classrooms last year without access to lockers, it has become a bad habit for students to carry their phones with them. As it says in our handbook, phones are to be “off and away” in their lockers for the entirety of the school day. This includes lunchtime and mask breaks. Students will be given reminders, but should the reminders not be enough, the next step would be to have students need to pick their phones up with deans or administration at the end of the day. We would prefer not to have to take these steps so helping remind students to keep them in their lockers is a big help to us.

Students are encouraged to bring a refillable water bottle to school, especially on these hot days. The school installed water bottle filling stations to avoid the use of a traditional water fountain which is why a refillable water bottle is an ideal option for students. The only thing allowed in classes is clear, unflavored water. We prefer not to have spills that are anything other than water to keep our spaces clean and free of ants, and sticky messes.

Many students have said that their family did not receive a back to school email or letter stating the required supplies list. For this reason, we are putting the list here. We are asking that students have required supplies in classes by Tuesday September 7, 2021. This gives students about another week and a very long weekend to work on getting the necessary supplies. If you have any questions or concerns about supplies or are experiencing financial difficulties, please let your child’s CPR teacher or the team leader, Jen Luciano, know as we have supplies available to support students in need.

Here are the required supplies:

Pens

Pencils - sharpened

Pencil sharpener that collects shavings (optional, but helpful)

Colored pencils or markers

Pouch or case large enough for a calculator (to be taken to all classes)

4 Pack of Dry Erase Markers

Graph paper

Ruler (30 cm./12 in. with metric and English Units)

Scientific Calculator (Texas Instruments TI30XIIS - recommended)

Four sturdy folders with pockets (or 4 pocket dividers in the binder, if you prefer)

One 1 subject spiral notebook (70 pages or more) for Reading Class

Earbuds or headphones to be used daily with Chromebooks

For Study Skills, students need an independent reading book, daily

For PE, students must have sneakers

If you have any questions that are not answered in this email, please feel free to reach out to us. We hope that the beginning of the year has been a success for all students and families. We also realize that it has been a very long time since we have had the opportunity to work on routines together. For that reason, we are using patience and consistency to work out any kinks that may arise.

The 7th Grade Team