For daily announcements and homework, please view my SchoolNotes Page. As I told the students on "Move Up Day"  I shall begin updating this site for the 2019 - 2020 school year. I shall continue to save school paper by posting many of my handouts online at this site. Whenever a parent response form is required to be returned, the parents may simply print out that page. Since the documents will remain on this site as reference for the entire year, there is no need to print out the whole document unless the parent desires to do so.

 
       PARENTS SHOULD READ MY SCHOOLNOTES HOMEWORK PAGE DAILY 
            Today I reviewed the policies that I wrote on my "Homework Page" yesterday. There is an opportunity for "failing students" to take another "Cumulative Test" on Thursday. I do not have time to correct another eighty-nine "Cumulative Tests" before finalizing report cards. There are students who will be hard pressed to pass for the year if they continue to perform as indicated on the returned tests this quarter. I went over the exams before I left for the Holy Land; thus, all honest students know exactly how they performed. In many questions that they had wrong, the set of directions was never practiced on the hastily completed "Cumulative Test Project." I need to know by tomorrow how many of the new "Cumulative Tests" I should print out. I hope all students took the assigned review work seriously while I was away. This is an extra opportunity to raise the math average and possibly avoid the necessity of summer school remediation.     

      BASKETBALL MARATHON TRADITION POSTPONED INDEFINITELY AND 
    STUDENTS WILL ATTEND CLASSES AT HOME THE WEEK OF MARCH 16-20! 
          As everyone knows by now, I arrived home from choir practice last Wednesday night to the news that the NBA had officially cancelled its season and the anticipation that the other sports would be following suit within a short period of time. I knew that I had no choice but to at least postpone our annual charity event.  Then, before dismissal on Thursday we received news that all schools in the Archdiocese of New York would be closed for the week of March 16-20, 2020. 
     On Friday, I reviewed the procedure I would follow with the students throughout the week ahead. They were reminded about the Weekly "Weekend" MobyMax assignment of a minimum of 60 minutes that some students have been totally ignoring. On the "Homework Page" I have been constantly reminding the parents that this practice is not acceptable. Yesterday, I posted the Math "Quick Test Review" forms for the third test of the Third Quarter below on this page. For some students, the most recently returned test results were not good, even with the directions and sample questions nine days before the test. I hope those students will take these assignments more seriously. Assuming that we do return to class on March 23, 2020, the sixth grade test would be Wednesday, March 25, 2020, with Math 7, 8, and 9 to follow on Thursday, March 26, 2020. The stuents should also be working on their Cumulative Test Projects, which count as a test grade, because it will probably be due the following week.
    The eighth graders were told that there would be an extension for the religion term paper that was scheduled to be turned in this Wednesday. Once again, assuming we return to class on Monday, March 23, 2020, I would probably wait until Monday, March 30, 2020 for both the term papers and the posters. Obviously, the students do have a little more time to work on them this week.
     Later tonight, I shall post the assignments for Monday, March 16, 2020. When notes are necessary, I shall provide my own or pre-printed "Study Guides." Classwork and homework assignments will be specified to be "spot checked" upon our return. The eighth grade is familiar with my "spot check" policy that may occur at any time. On Friday, I gave a "spot check" quiz on the monthly reading assignment for March, Nothing But the Truth by Avi. Although a reminder has appeared daily on my homework page, some students were unable to answer questions on the first seven chapters. I am certain that I would find their notebooks without any nightly notes had I decided to "spot check" them. Since the students in all classes must work more independently, as I require the eighth graders to do in preparation for high school, I am concerned that some of the younger students may not take the posted assignments seriously. I pray that I am wrong.
     Although I will check my email accounts at least once a day, I know there is no way that I can respond to eighty-nine families when a majority of the time is being spent organizing the next day's notes and work. I thank you, in advance, for your cooperation during this very unusual situation that I have never encountered in over four decades of teaching.
 
                                                         Sincerely,
                                                         Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy
                                 
       GRADES 6-8 ASKED TO CREATE AN ONLINE PEARSON MATH ACCOUNT
     As you were informed today, the school will be closed until April 20, 2020. I have arranged for the students to create an online account. In this way, math quizzes and tests will be able to be taken online until the emergency situation is settled. The "User Names" and "Passwords" are available below. I have already created some assignments based on the material that we are presently covering, but I will tell you more once the entire program is in place. I shall continue to provide daily assignments on the homework page, but those that may be done online will be noted in my comments. 
     I shall also inform the eighth graders when the religion term papers may be sent to me as attachments later this month. Obviously, further details will be forthcoming. Once the students login online, they must complete the registration instructions that they see on the screen. I have logged in as random students to make certain that the user names and passwords work; however, I did not complete any of the registration procedures that are to be followed by the student. 

       PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT ALL WORK IS BEING PUBLISHED ON THE GOOGLE CLASSROOM SITE. ALL NOTES, VIDEOS, AND RESOURCES WILL BE FOUND ON THAT SITE. I HAVE BEEN HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE THE HOMEWORK SITE SIMPLY BECAUSE THE COMPUTER IS BEING USED ALMOST THE ENTIRE DAY. IT IS AN OLD COMPUTER, AND I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE DURABILITY OF IT AFTER SEVEN YEARS.

                               Announcement for March 24, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,  

        I appreciate how you are gradually adapting to this

unfortunate situation. Beginning tomorrow, there will be a

change in the schedule. This is basically how I am handling

the situation. Morning Prayer will begin at 8:45 A.M. The

students are expected to be in class on time. As the students

found out today, I begin most classes with a question to which

they are to respond within a short amount of time. This lets

me know you are in my class. Class Assignments will be

responded to on Google Documents. My instructor told me

how to make a copy available to each student without anyone

asking permission. Assignments will not be visible until the class

is scheduled to begin, with the exception of the Math 8 Group in

the seventh grade. I will accept the responses to the initial

discussion late from them, as long as it is at the beginning of

their class period. They should not be doing math during any

other teacher's class time.    

Due to time limitations, the schedule of classes has been

changed for shorter periods. The school day will begin

at 8:45 AM with morning prayer. All students are expected

to be in class by that time. I have set up a Morning Prayer

Class in the Google Classroom for the purpose of taking

attendance.  The Class Code is 43j3cu4. Each student will be asked to provide a special intention for which we will pray. After that,

the classes will proceed according to this tentative

schedule:

9:00 AM - Math for Grade 8     

                - Homeroom for Grades 7 and 6      

9:45 AM - Grade 8 and Grade 6 should check for Science or Social Studies 

                - Math for Grade 7        

10:30 AM - Homeroom for All Three Classes    

11:00 - Lunch      

12:30 PM - Grade 8 and Grade 7 should check for Social Studies or                                  Science    

                 - Math for Grade 6     

1:15 P.M - Homeroom or Specials for the Middle School Classes    

2:30 PM. - Dismissal    

The new class code for Social Studies is    sipyz61 

This schedule is subject to change to meet the needs of the various

middle school teachers. The students will be notified in advance

when a change is taking place.    
  

Note: Although I shall continue to provide notes, they will help

to guide the lesson in the limited time available. As many students

have noticed, I begin most classes with a question to which I

expect a response within the first few minutes of the class.

This serves as a means taking attendance. Using the notes

the students will complete the class assignment on a Google

Document that already bears their names and the date.

Whatever work they have finished is turned in at the end of

the class. The Google program will keep an automatic record

of who has completed what. The notes are meant to be a

resource, but the student will not have time to copy them

during class. What the students do on their own time is left to

their discretion. Math work should never be done during

another teacher's class period.

I had included the Class Codes on Monday, March 23, 2020 homework on my Schoolnotes page, and it is still there; however, I believe some people want it repeated every day. Thus, it appears above permanently on this Class Page!

To view to Mr. McCarthy's School Notes page click here!

This link will lead to my homework page, study flashcards, and my Photo Gallery.