W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School
Week at a Glance, News and Notes
March 7-11, 2022
Note from the Principal:
We had a busy welcome back week from our break! The classes jumped right back into work. Several Crews finished up their fabric hanger for our Wish Tree. Each team had a tree that they decorated with wishes from each student in the school. You can see the fabric blowing in the breeze as you drive by the school–students see them every day when they drive by on the bus or in cars. This is a project of the Du Bois Welcoming Crew–a group that supports activities and engagement of families and students to make everyone feel welcome in our school The wishes are moving, from typical tween and teen wishes to deep wonderings about our community and our world to heartfelt wishes for family and loved ones. This is the kind of community project that keeps us together. See below for information on joining the Welcoming Crew, and an opportunity for families coming up.
Monday is a big day for the district and our school, as we start with optional masking for students and staff. Masking is a choice starting next week, and we have been coaching students all week to follow the direction from their family on masking–whether they mask, don’t mask, or choose to mask at certain times of the day. We have also had grade meetings to review the expectations, and especially to promote the idea of being kind and respectful of everyone’s choice. Please discuss the shift with your kid this weekend if you have not yet, especially the part about not making fun or making someone uncomfortable about their choice. Students can choose to mask or not mask on buses, in classes, in the halls, in the cafeteria and at recess, etc.: anywhere, really. We will still require masks in the health office, where masks will be available for every student, and for students who return from quarantining with Covid for the required period of masking. We will also continue to stock the main office with masks for adults and children.
The DBM school library has been chosen to host the exhibit “Mohican Journey,” a history of the Stockbridge-Munsee band put together by the Sheffield Historical Society in partnership with the tribe and the Southern Berkshire Regional School District. The exhibit–which consists of 10 large panels and support materials–is up around the perimeter of the library and will be accessible to students and staff until March 18. Here is a link to a PBS special about the Stockbridge Munsee History. The Stockbridge Munsee are the people who lived on this land before and at the beginning of the colonial era, and we do a land acknowledgement at the start of every week to honor them and appreciate their journey to Wisconsin where they live now. The exhibit brings the history alive, and highlights the people of the Stockbridge-Munsee community today.
Please drop me a note if you have other feedback or questions at ben.doren@bhrsd.org.
Have a good break!
Ben Doren
Principal
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Monday, March 7
Regular School Day
Tuesday, March 8
Regular School Day
Wednesday, March 9
Regular School Day
Thursday, March 10
Regular School Day
Friday, March 11
Regular School Day
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How to Talk to Children About Race and Racism
Wednesday, March 9, 2022, 7:00–8:30 pm – Free Webinar via Zoom: This Flying Deer Speaker Series event explores the topic “How to Talk to Children About Race and Racism” and the presentation will introduce parents to simple ways to engage in meaningful conversations with children, while supporting them to develop empathy and respect. For more information and to register click here.
Spotlight on the Arts
Congrats to the following students who have their artwork at the Berkshire Museum for the month of March for Massachusetts Youth Art Month. See flyer below for more details.
Grey Thomas
Frankie Kreese
Mystic Glenn
Nina Martin
Miya Schonbeck
Plum Knudsen
Cora Pacheco
Augie Mugridge Neilson
Naomi Palestino
The Du Bois Welcoming Crew
We aim to foster belonging and connection while honoring the diversity in our community. We will meet on Wednesday evening 3/9/22 at 6:30 pm. Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89015767168?pwd=ZTlEN2RQcmF5MDNwTEpkZjYxMlBMUT09
The first half of the meeting we will discuss the Wish Tree project that many crews participated in during February. We welcome your ideas on how to continue to build community within our school and district! In addition to building community, this group seeks to grow our capacity to be welcoming by exploring our own relationship to issues of equity. Thanks to all who joined our last meeting! We began a discussion of the STOKE Collective’s report on equity issues in our district. In future meetings, we will continue to dive into that report and discuss changes needed to make our school and district more inclusive and welcoming (report attached again here). This month, we invite Du Bois families to join in an important conversation being hosted by Flying Deer Nature Center: How to Talk to Children About Race and Racism, with Ridvan Foxhall This important event begins at 7pm on Wednesday, March 9th, so our normally scheduled Welcoming Crew meeting will end at 7pm so we can all join.: https://flyingdeernaturecenter.org/programs/talk-to-children-about-race/
Registration link Thanks so much, and we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!
REMINDERS:
A couple of valuable lost and found items
I have a valuable looking ring, a house key, a gift card and some wireless earbuds that have not been claimed. Please contact me with a description of the item if you think it may belong to you. julie.duffin@bhrsd.org or call 413-633-2300 ext. 2300.
LAST CALL TO PRE-ORDER the YEARBOOK
The 2022 W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School yearbook is happy to report that we are filling this year’s book with all the memories and moments we can capture. If by some chance, you have not purchased a yearbook yet, please reserve your copy today at https://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A03463230.
We want to make sure everyone that wants a yearbook has one. Please know that we only produce yearbooks based upon those pre-ordered. Any that we happen to get above and beyond are on first come first served basis. We have sold out in the past. Don’t miss out. Thank you for your time and attention!!
PE REMINDER:
Sneakers must be worn for all PE classes. Please remember to pack sneakers on PE days!
Pool Testing
We strongly encourage your student’s participation, and anyone can participate in the pool testing regardless of vaccination status. Please use this LINK for more details and to complete the electronic consent form. Each student in your household will require an individual consent. The link defaults to Muddy Brook. Select the drop down for your child’s school — Muddy Brook, Du Bois, or Monument Mountain. The video is available in multiple languages–click the link on the top right to choose the language you want.
Celebrating Du Bois!
The W.E.B Du Bois Legacy Festival starts this week, ahead of the 154th Birthday of Du Bois on February 23. Here is a great article from the Berkshire Edge on the festival activities. See below for more info on the festival. We are also hosting the Great Grandson of Du Bois, The town of Great Barrington created the Du Bois Legacy Committee to celebrate Du Bois around his birthday every year. Here are some links to events that are happening later this month to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Du Bois that you and your family can watch and join. One of the events is a celebration at the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington. Because of the pandemic they will be streaming the event on the internet so everyone can see it. Part of the event is a streaming of recordings of students from our school, the Du Bois Regional Middle School. I
Lost and Found
Our Lost and Found boxes are overflowing! Please ask your child to stop by the main entrance to check for any lost items. I also still have a phone that belongs to someone. Students should stop by the office to identify phones or small items like jewelry or glasses. After break we will be donating the items in the lost and found to community organizations, so please come by as soon as possible if you know your child is missing something they left at school.
Safety and the Pandemic: How to navigate symptoms at home
We are serious about safety here at Du Bois, and appreciate all you do to coach the students on how to keep it safe while here at school and in the community. So far we are in school and able to come every day. Much of that depends on you abiding by our community safety norms–thank you for your help so far and in the future! One way you can do that is to check in with the school nurse, Hilary Bashara, if you are not sure about symptoms and whether to keep your kid home. She can advise on covid protocols, testing and other health questions. When your kid is home sick, please make sure they rest, and we will catch them up on school work when they return: the best cure for being sick is rest, and not worrying about falling behind. For unvaccinated students, if there is a concern about exposure to Covid and the student is symptomless, we are able to support learning during quarantine with materials as the school is directing the student to be home. If a vaccinated student is a close contact they can continue to attend school, while connecting with pediatricians and our health office to ensure the safety of all. If a student, regardless of vaccination status, is positive for Covid we are able to support learning remotely until quarantine is complete and they can safely return.
Long Term Absences
Long term absences are difficult to manage as our curriculum depends on students being present for instruction every day. If you take a student on vacation or on an extended family visit it really interrupts the learning cycle, as we are set up for in-person, community based learning. Please let us know if you are planning a longer absence, as there are Massachusetts rules about extended absences and attendance laws that we have to follow. If a student is out of school for a non-medical reason we will support as best we can when they return. We are not set up to provide learning materials for this as we are an in-person learning community. This is still winter, and we have kids out from being sick. We have also seen an uptick in students being out of school for family vacations. This is a reminder that when when kids return from extended absences and vacations they should be
- checking in with teachers,
- getting make up assignments,
- staying in or after school for help, and
- checking their email and online class sites.
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Flyers and School Letters
Flyers and School letters are available on our website at this link: https://mvrms.bhrsd.org/category/families/flyers/
This week’s flyers:
- 2022 Spring Lacrosse
- Berkshire Busk
- 5th Annual Spotlight on the Arts
- 2022 South Berkshire Babe Ruth Spring Sign Ups
- GB Girls Softball Registration 2022
- Bilingual Computer LIteracy Workshop
- CHP March Playgroup Schedule
Recent flyers:
- Read Across America: GB Libraries
- Gt. Barrington Little League RegistrationMMRHS Ski Team Dine to Donate Event at Marketplace Wed. 2/9/22
- Young People and Anxiety, Depression and Stress Free Forum Tues., 2/15 6:30pm
- Young People and Anxiety, Depression and Stress Forum–Spanish version
- Community Health Programs: Virtual Parent Workshop
- FREE Family Social-Emotional-Learning Session (Virtual): 2/17/22 at 12 pm
- FREE Glee Club Class–Grades 1-5
- YMCA Camp Hi-Rock Virtual Information Session Flyer
- BRIDGE: Lesson Plan and Project for MLK Day 2022
- Winter Project Connection Packet
- Winter Project Connection Packet – en Espanol
- Stateline Youth Wrestling
- Du Bois Middle School 2022 Musical: THE WIZARD OF OZ! (English & Spanish versions)
- Winter Farmer’s Market
- Hancock Holiday Nights
Older flyers:
- Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine Information Session
- Community Thanks Supper: BSRCC
- Participate in a Williams College Study on Children’s Thinking
- Girls Basketball Free Clinic Grades 5 and 6
- Fall Arts & Crafts Festival – BSRCC
- Yearbook Club
- Casting Untitled Annie Baker Film
- Housatonic Youth Basketball Registration
- 27th Annual Winter Outerwear Drive
- Ski Butternut Student Application
- FUNK BOX BREAKING: Berkshire Pulse
- Golden Knights House League Registration
- American Red Cross Swim Lessons: BSRCC
- Oct. 2 ThinkFOOD Conference FREE for all students
- Talking to Teens so that they Talk Back
- Flying Cloud Institute: SMArt Kit Flyer
- Parent Child+: Equal Possibilities from the Start