Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope this message finds you well. First of all, I would like to welcome the 8th graders who participated in the DC trip back to Winchester. I hope everybody rested up during this weekend and is ready to return to our school routines tomorrow. I would like to thank the McCall Parent Association and all parents and guardians who contributed snacks, water, and financial support to the DC trip. Your generosities made the trip successful and were appreciated by all trip participants and chaperones.
We have a busy week coming up. The school wide ALICE training exercise will be conducted on Wednesday between 9:00 and 10:00 am for all staff and students to practice proper responses to an intruder event. Please know we will not be using actors to simulate intruders during the training. The school will be asking staff and students to practice either locking down or evacuating based on the information shared over the PA system. The training exercise was planned in collaboration with our School Resource Officer and members of the fire department. They will be on hand to help support the training exercise. Please also remember that we held school wide assemblies to review with all students the training exercise process as well as all safety procedures on March 18. Attached here are the slides used for the student presentations for your reference.
We will also begin the MCAS testing process this week with the 6th graders scheduled to take the first session of the ELA assessments on Thursday. Although many see the MCAS as a major exam, I encourage all parents and guardians to normalize the testing days for the students as much as possible. Please help your students see that the MCAS assessments are just like any other tests that McCall teachers give. Therefore, I encourage all students to treat the MCAS tests seriously by getting good night sleeps the night before and having good breakfasts on the testing days. Unlike a typical McCall test, students do not need to study for the MCAS. I am confident with the quality of education that the students have been receiving at McCall, therefore, I am also confident all students will perform well on the MCAS if they give their best efforts during the tests.
Thank you and I wish you a great upcoming week!
James Lin
Principal
McCall Middle School
