Thursday, February 25, 2016

MEF Road Race- March 19th!!

Less than one month until the South Shore's Premier Road Race, the Sixth Annual Marshfield St. Patricks Day 5K on Saturday March 19th!

In the past five years over 12,500 runners, walkers and crawlers have descended on Brant Rock in Marshfield, a great time has been had by all, and every penny of the over $320,000 raised has gone directly to the Marshfield Education Foundation to fund worthwhile educational programs and initiatives in the Marshfield Public Schools!


Register here!  https://racewire.com/register.php?id=5026  Dont delay in registering; everyone that registers by February 13, 2016 will receive the outstanding long sleeve race shirt free with registration!

Please check out our race website: http://marshfieldstpatricksday5k.com, where you will be able to find all the information on the race.

Don
t forget to like our Facebook race page: http://www.facebook.com/Patty5k for up to date race information and share our event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1523919561252464. Please let everyone know youre attending and forward to all your friends!  You can also follow the race on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StPatricksDay5K

Thank you to our Official Vehicle Sponsor, Quirk Cars!

Looking forward to seeing you on March 19, 2016!!!

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

National Engineers Week


National Engineers Week will be celebrated February 21-27, 2016 at schools, universities, companies, afterschool programs and in households across the United States.  Did you know that engineers dream up creative, exciting and practical solutions and work with other innovative and inspiring people to invent, design and create things that matter in the world?  Do you like to be creative, invent, help people solve problems and make a difference in the world?  Then explore engineering by doing a simple, hands-on engineering activity (see flyer and/or visit http://www.discovere.org/our-activities), meet an engineer in your community, or check out local engineering programs through the various STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) programs at your school, Boys & Girls Club or local public library.  National Engineers Week is sponsored by DiscoverE, a national foundation of over 100 non-profits and organizations whose mission is to sustain and grow engineering through outreach, education, celebration and volunteerism.  Let’s Make a Difference. 

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Putting for Patients- March 19th

Putting for Patients is an 18 hole indoor mini golf course that will take place on Saturday, March 19th, 2016 from 12-4 PM in the gym.  All proceeds from this event will benefit the Jimmy Fund. The cost for students and children is $10 to play and $15 for adults to play. In addition to the golf course, there will also be music, arts and crafts, face painting, caricatures, and snacks that are all included in the cost. 

MHS Student Council Executive Board Visits Dana Farber

The following update was provided by Student Council President, Caitlin Madeiros:

Over February vacation, a few members of the Student Council Executive Board went to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston for a tour and to learn more about the Jimmy Fund. We learned about the history of the Jimmy Fund as well as the progression of cancer research. It was amazing to see how an organization that started so small in a doctor’s basement could grow into the large well-known organization it is today. On our tour, we learned about many different areas of the hospital and saw all the displays that create an environment of hope instead of the uneasy feeling that often comes with a hospital.  This visit helped put a lot of problems and obstacles in our lives into perspective.


MHS Drama Club Presents "..And Others"-Thursday, February 25th

The Marshfield High School Drama Club Proudly presents their METG State Drama Festival Entry …And Others by Dennis Bush.

This 35 minute Drama will be performed for the public on Thursday February 25th at 7.00 and $7.00 tickets can be purchased at the door.

..And Others is a journey into the mind and memory of 26 year old Amanda as she discovers the reasons behind her dissociative identity disorder.

The show’s content deals with mature subject matter and is not recommended for children under 15 years old.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Marshfield FACTS Receives Support from Kiwanis

 
At the Kiwanis meeting on Thursday, February 4, Marshfield Kiwanis President Mike Seyffert and Kiwanis member Dick Stetson presented Marshfield FACTS with a check for $2500. The funds will be used to pay a professional grant writer to assist in the Marshfield FACTS application for a federal Drug Free Communities grant.

Marshfield FACTS (Families Adolescents and Community Together Against Substances) is Marshfield’s community coalition for substance abuse prevention, a group of residents collaborating on ways to promote mental and physical wellness and prevent addiction in town.  The coalition is made up of parents, health care professionals, school department staff and administrators, representatives of town, county and state government, representatives from civic groups, faith leaders and other concerned citizens.

Marshfield Kiwanis has demonstrated serious commitment to addressing addiction in Marshfield. The club organized the “Klubbing Out Addiction” golf tournament in September to raise money for prevention efforts, donated flags for the Overdose Awareness Day candlelight vigil in August and helped fund the October performance of Drug Story Theater at Marshfield High School. By working together, Marshfield Kiwanis and Marshfield FACTS hope to bring a Drug Free Communities grant to Marshfield.

As described by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, “The Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFC) is a Federal grant program that provides funding to community-based coalitions that organize to prevent youth substance use.  Since the passage of the DFC Act in 1997, the DFC Program has funded more than 2,000 coalitions and currently mobilizes nearly 9,000 community volunteers across the country. The philosophy behind the DFC Program is that local drug problems require local solutions.  With a small Federal investment, the DFC Program doubles the amount of funding through the DFC Program’s match requirement, to address youth substance use.  Recent evaluation data indicate that where DFC dollars are invested, youth substance use is lower.  Over the life of the DFC Program, youth living in DFC communities have experienced reductions in alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use.”

 

Monday, February 8, 2016

School Open Tuesday with 2 Hour Delay

Good evening. This is Superintendent of Schools, Jeff Granatino, with an important message.  Due to the projections of continued light snow through the evening, and the work that still needs to be done overnight and in the morning, we will have a 2 Hour Delay to the start of the school day tomorrow, Tuesday, February 9th.  This determination has been made in consultation with our DPW and town safety officials. 
If overnight conditions are more challenging than projected, there could be a change to this determination in the morning, but for now, Marshfield will have school Tuesday, with a 2 hour delay.
With the delay, there will be no AM Pre School or AM Kindergarten and the District's "Inclement Weather" bus stops will be in effect (http://www.mpsd.org/files/_GJJPS_/01dd3b93a814eeb03745a49013852ec4/Inclement_Weather_Bus_Stop_Changes.pdf)
Thank you and please drive safely tomorrow.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

No School: Monday, February 8th

Good evening.  This is Superintendent of Schools, Jeff Granatino, with an important message.  After consulting with DPW and safety officials , and due to tomorrow's projected blizzard conditions (with coastal flooding), school will be cancelled Monday, February 8th. 
All afternoon and evening activities are cancelled as well.
Thank you and please be safe if you have to travel tomorrow.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Update on Tonight's Performance at FBMS

The following message from Principal Sullivan went out this morning:

Due to today's snow storm and our school cancellation, all of today's afternoon and evening activities are cancelled, which includes tonight`s scheduled performance of Shrek.  We are rescheduling this performance for this Sunday at 12:00PM.  All people who pre-purchased tickets for tonight will have their tickets honored on Sunday.  Those who pre-purchased tickets for tonight`s performance who wish to switch their tickets to one of the Saturday shows (2:00PM or 7:00PM) or who would like a refund, should please email the FBMS Drama Director, Stacey Shanahan, at sshanahan@mpsd.org.
The FBMS Book Fair will be extended through Monday.  

MEF Grant Application Process is Open


Good morning.  I’m happy to announce that the Marshfield Education Foundation’s (MEF) grant cycle for the 2016-2017 school year is now open.  The MEF will be taking grant proposals up through April 29th.  Directions and blank proposal applications have already been distributed to teachers and staff across the district.

I urge everyone to take a close look at the MEF grant process.  This organization has worked very hard over the past five years to raise funds that go directly towards innovative projects that cannot be covered by the school budget.  For the past five years they have granted over $400,000 in grants.  Last year alone, they gave $107,830 towards eight outstanding grant proposals.  The MEF cares greatly about Marshfield educators and they want to help support creative, ‘out of the box” initiatives.  Every school and every grade level is eligible to take part.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact my office and good luck to all grant applicants.

Follow Up to Morning Announcements

Good morning. I hope this note finds you somewhere warm and not driving around the roads.  They are getting more challenging by the minute.
I wanted to apologize if you did not receive your "robo-call" on my announcement to cancel school today in a timely fashion this morning.  I understand that many of you wait on that phone call but, for some reason, the company we use to send our messages had major delays in getting out voice mails this morning.
 
Once the determination was made to cancel school, I put in my message through Blackboardconnect (the system sending this email) around 5:30  AM.  The message was to be sent via email and through voice mail.  The messages were sent by 5:36 AM.  The emails went as planned, but the voice mail took anywhere from 20 minutes to 50 minutes to get out to everyone.  Similar delays happened to dozens of districts in the region.  This is unacceptable and I've contacted Blackboardconnect to voice my concerns.
 
Please know that when we have weather like today and emails and voice mails go out, there are still a variety of other ways we communicate this message.  Between 5:34 and 5:45 AM this morning, the cancellation message was posted on my twitter account (@MarshfieldSuper),  as well as on the Superintendent's Blog (http://jwgranatino.blogspot.com/).  In addition, cancellation notices were posted on the local television channels (WBZ, WCVB, WHDH and WFXT) and WATD was notified.  So if you feel you're not getting a phone call in a timely fashion, you will always be able to check these other outlets to find out what is going on.
 
We work closely with our DPW and safety officials to make sure we make the best call possible on behalf of our students and staff and we want to make sure the message gets out in a timely fashion as well.
 
I also want to thank the 1,000+ followers we now have on Twitter, but please know I will not be able to answer individual questions pertaining to school closings throughout the evening or morning of a storm.  If I were to respond to every request as they are put up on Twitter, there could be a variety of mixed messages out there in social media, before we've had the chance to weigh all the factors and make the best decision we can.  Once a final and official determination is made, I will send out notification through the means explained above.  Ideally, if we can make the call the night before, that is what we will do.  There will be days like today however, when we have to wait until the morning to make that call.
 
Thank you for your patience and understanding.

No School: Friday, February 5th

Good morning.  This is Superintendent of Schools, Jeff Granatino, with an important message.  After consulting with DPW officials throughout the early morning, and due to the projected snowfall and potentially dangerous driving conditions in the mid to late afternoon, school will be cancelled today.

All afternoon and evening activities are cancelled as well.

Thank you and please be safe if you have to travel today.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

MEF's St. Patrick's Day 5K Road Race

Less than one month until the South Shore's Premier Road Race, the Sixth Annual Marshfield St. Patricks Day 5K on Saturday March 19th!

In the past five years over 12,500 runners, walkers and crawlers have descended on Brant Rock in Marshfield, a great time has been had by all, and every penny of the over $320,000 raised has gone directly to the Marshfield Education Foundation to fund worthwhile educational programs and initiatives in the Marshfield Public Schools!


Register here!  https://racewire.com/register.php?id=5026  Dont delay in registering; everyone that registers by February 13, 2016 will receive the outstanding long sleeve race shirt free with registration!

Please check out our race website: http://marshfieldstpatricksday5k.com, where you will be able to find all the information on the race.

Don
t forget to like our Facebook race page: http://www.facebook.com/Patty5k for up to date race information and share our event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1523919561252464. Please let everyone know youre attending and forward to all your friends!  You can also follow the race on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StPatricksDay5K

Thank you to our Official Vehicle Sponsor, Quirk Cars!

Looking forward to seeing you on March 19, 2016!!!

MHS Students Shine in Scholastic Art Competition


We just received word from our Visual Arts Coordinator, Meghan Dinsmore, that 9 MHS students won awards at the 2016 Boston Scholastic Art Competition.  Here is a list of the students and their awards:

Winners of Scholastic Art Competition 2016: (honorable mention through silver key)

Laura Casey-HM

Callie Almeder-Silver Key

Shannon Connolly-HM

Heather DiPasquale-HM

Olivia Gill-HM

Grace Lennon-HM

Keagan Marcella - HM 2x

Piper McMahon- HM
 
Congratulations to these tremendous artists.  We are so proud of your efforts!!