Bulletin
February 16, 2018 Volume 37, #24
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Calendar Updates and Reminders
February 19: Snow Day make-up - regular school day February 23: Deadline to Sign up for April 5-6 Conferences; see below and sign up here. First Day of School 2018-19
We are currently working on next year's calendar, but it looks like Registration will be on Monday, August 27 and the first day of classes, Tuesday, August 28. Stay tuned for a full calendar in coming weeks.
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| From the Desk of Dr. Bloomfield
Making Sense of the Irrational
It is difficult to work at a school in 2018. Today is the 47th day of 2018 and by the count of one watchdog organization, there have been 18 school shootings so far this year. That’s one shooting every 3 days. How do we begin to understand that?
I, like all of you, spent Wednesday night reeling from the story unfolding in North Broward County in Florida. But I was reeling not only from the tragedy of loss of life, but from the mounting feeling of emotional distance within me: I’ve seen so many of these stories in the past years that I worry that I could begin to become numb to them. People always say that those who believe that “that type of thing could never happen here” need only listen to residents of Columbine, of Newtown, of Blacksburg, and now of Parkland who believed the same. But another threat we all face is to allow empathy to evolve into apathy or lethargy. We must insist that tragedies remain tragic in our eyes and talk to our students and children about them.
At The Academy we always think about student safety but rarely talk about it openly. We feel that our community is somewhat insulated from this type of threat and that fear does not comport with the ethos of our school. But we do have mechanisms in place: locked doors, deadbolts in every room, lockdown procedures in place. In the coming weeks we will again discuss what The Academy should do to remain in touch with the reality of today while still remaining “The Academy,” and decide if any of our procedures need revision. I invite anyone with ideas to reach out to me: I am eager to listen and discuss them with you.
In the meantime let us remember the simple, universal truths that sustain us and upon which our school and community stand: love is more powerful than fear; together we are stronger than we are alone; all that we do is in service to supporting and nurturing these wonderful young people; and that our responsibility to make this world a better place than we find it is our most noble calling as human beings and citizens.
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| Thursday, February 22 AfternoonTransportation/Pick-up for Faculty-Student Basketball GameAll students staying after school (past 3:15 PM) on Thursday, February 22nd will be participating in, or spectating at, the faculty-student basketball game. Please join us there! The Northampton and Amherst buses will depart from the Cowell Gym on Thursday, February 22nd and run on the normal late bus route and schedule. Other students can be picked up at the Cowell Gym (51 Maple Street in Shelburne Falls) at 5:15 PM.
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| APC Sponsored Mid-Winter Bowling - FREE!
Saturday, February 24, 10 AM - 12 NOON The Academy Parents Council invites all families to come out of hibernation and reconnect with other Academy families over a round of bowling.
We've rented the Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley and will provide pizza - you bring the family! For questions contact Diane Bigelow or Paul Catanzaro.
Hope to see you there!
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| | Winter Drama: Shakespeare in Hollywood
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We are gearing up for the winter play, Shakespeare in Hollywood by Ken Ludwig! It's 1934, and Shakespeare's most beloved fairies, Oberon and Puck, have magically materialized on the Warner Bros. Hollywood set A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by the famous Max Reinhardt. Instantly smitten by the glitz and glamour of show biz, the two are ushered onto the silver screen to play (who else?) themselves. Blonde bombshells, movie moguls, and arrogant "asses" are tossed into loopy love triangles, with raucous (and familiar) results thanks to a little help from a feisty flower. The mischievous magic of moviedom sparkles in this hilarious comic romp. Performances for Shakespeare in Hollywood will be at 7:30 pm on March 3rd and 9th ($10) and at 2pm on March 4th ($6) and 10th (free). Seating is by general admission and should be reserved in advance. Contact Jen Mitchell to reserve tickets or order directly from our website.
In addition, we are in need of pool noodles as a donation to the production. While they are inexpensive, they are hard to come by this time of year.
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|  | Physics 1 students use their understanding of projectile motion to predict where, along the floor, to place a cup so that a marble leaving the table horizontally lands in the cup as part of their "bullseye lab". | |  | Precalculus students develop their understanding of properties of logarithms by playing Log War, a variation on the card game War. | |
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 | Physics 2 students investigate what parameters affect the period of a pendulum.
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| ¡El PULPO!The Spanish 4 class said "adiós" to our study of literature and film from Galicia, Spain by preparing "Pulpo a la gallega" (Octopus Galician style). Three valiant students washed, then "frightened" the octopus, according to the traditional recipe (the sea creature was already dead). All but the vegetarian students cut off the legs then savored them with olive oil and paprika!
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SPORTS NOTES The boys basketball team lost their final game of the season, an RVAL playoff game to PVCICS, on Monday. Despite a small team, the boys persevered through a tough season, and should be proud of rejuvenating the boys basketball team this year.
The girls basketball team lost their RVAL playoff game to Stoneleigh Burnham School. Ruby R grabbed 8 rebounds, and Elaina GB and Eliza B scored 4 points apiece. The girls look to end their season on a strong note at home against Bement at the Cowell Gym next Tuesday, February 20 (3:45 PM start).
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COMMUNITY SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENT
Having raised funds for NuDay Syria at our winter concert, we've been notified of a related event which may be of interest to Academy students and families. On Sunday February 18 at 2 PM, Pat Hynes of the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice will be presenting at the Second Congregational Church (Court Square/Bank Row) in Greenfield about her recent trip to a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon. All are welcome.
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| CONFERENCE SIGN-UP (for Spring Conferences, April 5 & 6)The Academy strives to give students opportunities to reflect on their learning and progress in school. While they are supported by a team of peers and adults, it is ultimately the students that are responsible for setting goals for themselves, tracking their progress, and gathering and responding to feedback. Twice a year, at the end of the first and third quarter, students are responsible for reflecting on their learning and progress toward their goals through facilitating conferences in each discipline that include their parents or guardians, and teacher. These conferences will put students in a leadership role, rather than in a typical conference role of bystander, as they lead the discussion about their successes and areas for growth while responding to questions and feedback from the adult participants in the conversation.
We ask everyone to please sign up for a conference slot by Friday, February 23. If you have multiple children at the school, you may sign up for multiple slots (if you wish). We will then create a schedule for when you are here so that you have 15-minute sessions with each individual teacher during your conference period. We will do our best to stick to the agreed-upon schedule, but unforeseen circumstances sometimes require that people must remain a few minutes after their scheduled end time in order to meet.
Thank you. We look forward to seeing you all in person. Please remember that there is no school for students on Thursday afternoon (4/5) or all-day Friday (4/6).
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