Happiness on the 1st day of school (video)

The Remington Middle School principals were happy on the first day of school!




For more information on the Remington Middle School you can visit their page on the Franklin Schools website http://remingtonmiddle.vt-s.net/Pages/index

"I love the camaraderie, all these people coming together for a cause"

The Milford Daily News reports on the rest stop for the PanMass Challenge that rode through Franklin on Saturday in part by writing:

This year – the 35th year of the challenge – roughly 5,700 riders are participating, according to Jackie Herskovitz, the Pan-Mass Challenge spokesperson. 

Riders choose from 12 routes that range from 25 to 190 miles. The ride has three starting lines in Sturbridge, Wellesley and Bourne, and five finish lines: two in Provincetown and one each in Foxborough, Wellesley and Bourne. 

At press time, the challenge has raised roughly $26 million, all of which goes to research and patient care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute via the Jimmy Fund. 

The goal this year is $40 million. The final day to donate is Oct. 1, she said.

You can read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140802/NEWS/140809214/1994/NEWS

PanMass Challenge in 2013

You can still donate via this link:  https://www2.pmc.org/donation.asp

PanMass Challenge

For more info on Dana Farber you can visit there page
http://www.dana-farber.org/

Last day for Kindergarten today

It is that time of year, kindergartners finish today and the remaining classes finish on Friday. Unfortunately, Keller-Sullivan doesn't finish until Monday (6/23) due to a day they missed for a facility problem.

Parmenter sign with end of school schedule

6/16 is a "Kind" day

Let's hope all the last days of school are kind ones!



The last day of school notice on the Franklin schools page can be found here
http://franklindistrict.vt-s.net/Pages/FranklinDistrict_News/01D50C86-000F8513

Update: Remington/Jefferson Exterior

An update from the Facilities Dept via Town Administrator Jeff Nutting regarding the exterior photos of the Remington/Jefferson school building that were shared here on Sunday:

-Steve 

As a followup to your pictures the other day about the water at the RJ please see memo from Facilities

thanks
jeff

------------

Hi Jeff, 

Mike and I walked the entire exterior of Rem/Jeff. As pictured in Franklin Matters, there are a number of areas where water sheds from the roof onto the brick and leaves a staining of moss/mold. Fortunately, this mold is exterior and not capable of penetrating the interior of the building. However, it does leave an unsightly appearance on the affected areas. For some reason, the roof was designed to shed water as it currently does.As the weather changes and gets warmer, the brick will begin to dry out and the staining will become less noticeable. We will power wash the brick. 

Thanks 

Dana

While waling Sunday also in rain but much lighter, I snapped these photos of Parmenter and Davis Thayer. Both of these buildings have the roof extending over the building wall a good 10-12 inches. As indicated in Dana's email, that appears to be the 'root' cause.

Parmenter roof showing the overhang

Davis Thayer roof showing the overhang

If you missed seeing the photos on Sunday
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/04/new-kind-of-green-photo-essay.html

new kind of 'green' ?? - (photo essay)

While walking in the rain on Saturday, I was able to capture some photos of the Remington Jefferson building. Some parts of the building remained dry in the light rain. Some parts did not.

back side of building (gym)

facing the Jefferson playground area

close up of the window sill and below show in the photo above

wet corner, close up it is ugly (see below)

close up of the wet corner

Jefferson side of building

as good as water is, it does cause damage

Proposal for dugouts for the softball fields at Remington-Jefferson

On the agenda for the School Committee meeting this Tuesday is a proposal for the installation of dugouts for the softball fields at the Remington-Jefferson school complex.

This document outlines the proposal and includes photo samples of dugouts on other softball fields in Franklin




The full School Committee agenda can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/10/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-oct_20.html

PanMass Challenge makes a water stop in Franklin

As noted the annual PanMass Challenge bike riders made their water stop in Franklin on Saturday morning. The riders left Sturbridge and began to arrive at the Remington-Jefferson School complex around 7:30 AM. I stopped by to take some photos, a couple of brief videos and managed to see a couple of the riders I had contributed to. I missed finding the other riders but as you can see in the photos, most are all wearing the same shirt. They all have their safety helmets on and when on a bike, they can be hard to pick out of the crowd.

It is heartwarming to see the welcome provided by so many of the volunteers, friends and family and equally heartwarming to see so many riders. When folks can come together like this for a good cause, it is a special time!

The entrance:


In the middle of the water stop:



The entrance on Washington St



coming in to the water stop



the helmet decorations helped to find riders



Team Kermit



coming around the bend



food, refreshments, medical assistance and a DJ playing up beat music



once the riders arrived, they had some fun to find who they were looking for!



Town Administrator Jeff Nutting



Marty Middelman and his family

In the News: school orchestras take gold

Franklin orchestras win gold at festival

The Franklin Middle Schools Combined String Orchestra and the Franklin Repertory String Orchestra both took home gold medals from the regional three-day Massachusetts Instrumental & Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) festival.

Remington-Jefferson School Tour (photo essay)

It was cold Thursday evening in Franklin and the lights of the Remington-Jefferson building cast a warm welcoming glow.    



If you looked down at the building from the sky, it is laid out like an airplane with a main central section and two wings. Much of the central section are areas that are used by both schools; cafeteria, library, and gymnasium. The tour started on the lower level of the Jefferson side, went up to the second floor and crossed over to Remington to eventually finish on the lower level of the Remington side.



In most elementary classrooms, this a familiar sight with the chairs up to help the cleaning process.



Jefferson does have modular units, the corridors are distinct as they have the rack of hooks along the walls. The modular units are basically boxes with four walls with windows and doors but no closet space. These modulars were just budgeted for removal as they are no longer needed.



Bags on each chair provide individual reading materials for the student. They get rotated out for units of study from the in room reading collection or the central school library.



One of the architectural details in the library that I was not aware of previously is that the ceiling is shaped like a book open for reading. Both my daughters attended Remington Middle School so I have been into the school before for parents night and musical performances. I had not been into the Jefferson side.



In addition to the computer lab, Remington uses "cows" computers on wheels; carts with laptop or netbook computers that can be wheeled into a classroom.



A view down the Remington stairwell as we crossed over the center section into the wing.



Yes, every seat is this class has been replaced by an exercise ball as an experiment. There are physical benefits from sitting like this especially for the long periods that the students are required to. They are also testing a stand up desk (not pictured).



The science lab on Remington side is located under one of the two roof peaks to take advantage of the space offered.



An integrated art project, the students researched the artist to paint chair in his/her style.



Here is a close up of a chair for Piet Mondrian, a Dutch painter.



Another architectural detail found throughout the building are triangular windows. This is an attempt to pick up the Benjamin Franklin story of his kite experiment.



The cafetorium is one of the main common areas. half the cafe is used by Remington, the other half by Jefferson. The divider wall can be opened up for the school performance where the stage is used.



We got a view of the Jefferson small gym. As we went around to the Remington side, it was being used by a basketball group.



Jamie Barrett's music room



Another interesting architectural detail; the bench built into wall, the wall line broken up with the different brick colors and material.



The Jefferson entrance from inside looking towards the door.



Positioned just inside the entrance is the wood carving done for Jefferson.



Back to the Remington entrance where the tour ended.



My thanks to the School Committee for scheduling these tours and in particular to Paula Mullen and Susan Rohrbach who participated in this tour. Thanks extends of course to the principals, Paul Peri (Remington), Linda Ashley (Jefferson) and Sally Winslow, Asst Superintendent. Brian Wildeman, Asst Principal for Remington was also quite helpful on the tour with timely demonstrations.

"giving back and giving thanks"

Students at the Remington Middle School prepared a Thanksgiving meal for their parents as reported in the Milford Daily News:

"We tell them over and over again, ‘You are going to have to work really hard,’" said Kristen DeSimone, a seventh- and eighth-grade special education teacher who for the past seven years has planned Remington’s annual Thanksgiving Harvest Luncheon. 

The mouth-watering event, DeSimone said, teaches the 18 students who participate valuable social and life skills, while challenging them to put to use some of the lessons they’ve learned in class. 

For instance, math came up during the shopping spree last week, she said. Students had to bargain hunt, identify the best prices and manage their food budget. 

On Monday, they had to measure just the right amount of ingredients while baking pies for dessert. 

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x719495966/Franklin-middle-schoolers-celebrate-Thanksgiving-early#ixzz2CrDssT7U

Remington MS - School Improvement Plan

The School Improvement Plan (SIP) for the Remington Middle School is scheduled for discussion at the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, Oct 9.





The full agenda for the School Committee meeting can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/10/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-oct.html

Remington Middle School - Turkey Trot - photo essay

Remington Middle School held their annual Turkey Trot to raise awareness on hunger and collect food for the Franklin Food Pantry.

Food Pantry Executive Director, Anne Marie Bellevance, spoke with the students before showing a video on food hunger.




Principal Paul Peri guided the students through some warm up activities in the gym before going outside to run two laps around the building.




Students and faculty members are lined up for the start of the Turkey Trot




And they're off! Did someone jump the gun? Hard to tell, catch that turkey anyway!




The reminder of the student body joins the trot!




and yes, there are more




Principal Peri helps some friends along




Through the generous efforts of groups like this, the Franklin Food Pantry has prepared and delivered over 250 turkey dinners to Franklin families in the past two weeks.

Donations of food and money are welcome. You can drop off food and non-food items at the Food Pantry. We are located in the Rockland Trust parking lot opposite the new fire station downtown Franklin. You can either donate online or mail a check to the Food Pantry. Information on these options are available on the Food Pantry website http://franklinfoodpantry.org/



Note: I am on the Board of Directors of the Franklin Food Pantry.