For daily announcements and homework, please view my SchoolNotes Page. As I told the students at our last Zoom Meeting on the last day of school, I shall begin updating this site for the 2020 - 2021 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.

                                             November 20, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     First of all, I wish to thank Mrs. Rausch for sending the email procedure for the distribution of report cards today after lunch. The very first day I had 11 responses long before I expected to have any. In some cases, however, I have received double requests. I am hoping that the parents weren't expecting to get the report cards immediately since I had said they would be distributed on Friday. Needless to say, the grades should not be much of a surprise since I return the math homework at one point every day. All grading guidelines have been permanently in place on this Class Page in the documents below. The students know that I drop grades to be fair since anyone may have one or two bad days. We are only human. I always say that it is consistency that is important.

     With respect to the new students, the grades also include the "new student discount" which I use to allow for a smoother transition to the new middle school academic environment. Recently, however, I did tell the students that the transition should have taken place by now. I have been spending hours each night typing the same comments on some homework assignments, and I have posted the guidelines ands model assignments in the Google Classroom for the students to use as guides. Also, any specific notes I have given to the students are permanently available in the Google Classroom just in case they have neither printed them out nor copied them into the notebook.

     During the school day, it is impossible to respond to too many, if any emails that are sent. Once I arrive home each day after addressing my very patient mother's needs, I go online to try to answer as many questions as possible. Once I begin the three hour process of going through homework after dinner, I really don't have time to stop for other email messages. If I finish early, I do go back and check, but my responses may be too late to be helpful. I thank you for your cooperation and understanding in this matter.

                                         Respectfully yours,

                                         Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy
                                   
                                       November 13, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     Needless to say, I shall not really be available this weekend. Between my responsibilities to my eighty-eight year old mother, finalizing report cards, and doing all the lesson plans for next week, my free time will be very much limited.

     With respect to report cards, no grades should ever be a surprise. I spend three hours a night going through the math homework so it can be returned some time the next day. The students should be showing their parents the returned assignments and assessments, as well as showing them the results of their online work. As previously mentioned, I generally drop grades to be fair to the students. Anyone can have a few bad days. However, students who are still not following my homework guidelines will find more failing grades during the remaining marking periods. Now is the time to make a firm commitment to working up to the expectations that have constantly been repeated in the Google Classroom, as well as during live instruction.

     I look forward to working together with you throughout the remainder of the year.

                                             Respectfully yours,

                                             Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy


                                       November 5, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     Please be advised that I will only write one recommendation per school, the math teacher recommendation. I have only had the students for English for two months. That is certainly not enough time to get a full picture there, especially under the present teaching conditions. Please try to be reasonable in your expectations. The students can only attend one high school. It may have been back in the Stone Age, but I was able to narrow down both my high school and college choices to three schools. I felt I would be able to grow further in any one of the three.I was very happy with the education I received!

                                         Respectfully yours,

                                         Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy


                                           November 4, 2020

Dear Grade 8 Parents and Students,

     In addition to the TACHS document posted below and the additional information I posted in the Google Classroom, this was in my mailbox this afternoon:
 

Dear Colleagues,
 
Some parents and teachers have called or emailed me with concerns about a green box that comes up on the screen during the demo.  This green border should have no negative impact on the student's ability to take the test.  When the student first logs into Data Manager they will be prompted with a pop-up box asking the student to confirm their name.
Great care has been taken to ensure that students will be able to access the test content itself.  Please reassure our parents and teachers that Riverside has put the TACHS exam through a  thorough  QA process to be certain that all test items and response choices are clear and visible in the interface.
 
Below I have included the email going out to parents today.  Remind  parents to check their emails daily and encourage them to read the parent guide.  As always, thank you for your time and support.  Call or email if you have any questions. 
 
Note:    The Proctorio extension is installed for all school domains. As long as students log into the school’s google classroom domain, the extension will automatically load.
 
                                                                                                                     

       Mr. Naccari also came in to remind the students about these test preparations today. 

                                             Respectfully yours,

                                             Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy

                                                   October 27, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     I am adding the "Parent Guide for the TACHS Test" to the documents at the bottom of my Class Page. Although I will spend some time reviewing the guidelines with the students, it might be a good idea for you to do so, also. Needless to say, it is very important that the students be as comfortable as possible on Friday, November 6, 2020. The following excerpts are taken from the mailing we received from downtown:

Attached you will find the Test Guide that will be shared with all TACHS Registrants upon receiving their session codes and test time beginning on Oct. 31st.  Please read through the guide for important information and test taking tips. The links for pre-test system checks and navigation tools- how to hi-lite, flag answers are on pages 5, 19 13, and 28.
 
If possible, please have your 8^th grade teachers review the guide with their students a day or two prior to the test on November 6^th.  We feel this will help leave less room for log in errors and allow for the test to run as smoothly as possible.  
 
Note: There will only be two test sessions, 8:30 AM and 10:00 AM.  All Extended Time students will be assigned to the 8:30 session. 
 
I understand many parents are worried about their children being flagged by the AI proctor, however to put their minds at ease please inform them that a trained, live proctor will review the flagged sessions to validate or void the suspicious activity in question.

       As you know by now, the next three days will be "Dress Down" Days to help the students celebrate the "Halloween" in the limited way that we are able during the current "pandemic" situation. Mr. Naccari has made "more than clear" what is acceptable in this regard. As a matter of fact, he corrected my original understanding of the requirements, and I clarified my understanding that the costumes were only for the lower grades before dismissal this afternoon. Hopefully, the scheduled "movies" will run with minimal glitches! While the students are not permitted to share any food, they may bring a "healthy" snack to enjoy while viewing.

     Since I do not know how many parents follow my daily announcements in the Google Classroom, I did return last week's math tests yesterday. While I never concern myself about any one grade, it is important that the students put forth their best effort on all fronts: class participation, nightly homework, online assignments on MobyMax, Dreambox, and Khan Academy, as well as the "spot check quizzes" and the tests that have been announced well in advance. The students already know that the next test will not be until the middle of next week.

     With respect to class participation, the students are required to show themselves on camera and remain unmuted once I have called their names. They may not always have completed the question that they are asked to answer, but I must hear their thought process straight through the example. This is the only way that I can correct their understanding with respect to the required procedural steps. As I have already mentioned on several previous occasions, too many answers are being "cut and pasted" from the internet. I get some very elaborately completed assignments that the students are unable to reproduce on loose leaf for my major tests. I have even written comments to this effect on the returned assignments on which "complex computation" appears to be producing answers with absolutely no computation steps shown. No student is an exception to the "guidelines" for class participation. I apologize for any misunderstanding that may be circulating in this regard.

                                                       Respectfully yours,

                                                       Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy

                                                   

                                              October 16, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

    I have added a reminder from the Archdiocese about the October 23, 2020 deadline for registering for the TACHS test. Time seems to be flying by, and I really do not want anyone to miss this deadline. 

     Some progress reports were sent home today. This time I wrote a letter and included the Homework Average, Check Quiz Average, Test Average, and the Dreambox Online Requirement. Although it takes hours, I have tried to returrn the math homework every day. i am also updating the students every Monday about the number of students who are properly completing the online assignments, just as I actually did throughout the summer. While the summer work may have been optional in the eyes of some, no assigned work has been optional since the school year has begun. It may be a good time to review the homework guidelines that are included in the documents below. In this way, there will be no disappointment at the time of report cards.

                                                           Respectfully yours,

                                                           Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy
                 

                                        October 7, 2020    

Dear Parents and Students,

      Well, I am learning something new every day! It appears that comments written on submitted pictures of assignments appear in my computer; however, only comments written directly on the Google Documents appear to be transmitted to the students. I have asked Mr. Naccari to send a message downtown. Haralamby Mila-Rus, one of the eighth grade students, knows how to get around the situation. After spending hours writing comments, it is very disturbing that all that work isn't reaching the students and parents! If I try again on the Google Document, I will be using a shortcut:  HW, CQ, and DB for Homework Average, Check Quiz Average, and Dreambox Requirement. I will hopefully get to those who sent pictures within a couple of days. If your child submitted the test on the Google Document, you already have that information!

                                              Respectfully yours,

                                             Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy




                                      October 6, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     As indicated in my letter below, I shall be returning last week's tests some time during the day today. I have written a summary of the homework average, check quiz average, and the Dreambox requirement. While I an not worried about any one grade, and some of the grades are very poor as the students transition into this new form of learning, I try to be up front with the students. They must realize that they cannot neglect assignments, come unprepared with fully-headed sheets of loose leaf for tests, or ignore the mandated five lessons a week on Dreambox. Although I give detailed information in my Google Classroom posts, I am not certain that they all read them. Most other questions are answered in my post directly below.

                                       Respectfully yours,

                                       Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy

                                             
                                                October 2, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     I realize this is very soon after my last letter, but a few topics do need to be addressed as we continue to move forward in the "new normal."

     First of all, I have included a document with links to information about the NYC Public High School Information Guides, including links with details about the process for applying to the specialized public schools.I have placed it right at the top of the list.

     Although I have only check the Math 8 and Math 9 tests, all three groups were given short five question tests this week for which they had an hour's time to complete. I had announced the tests in last Sunday night's post in my Google Classrooms, and I had repeated the announcement daily. On Wednesday, I gave detailed instructions on what to have ready for the tests, but some students still seemed to have problems when the microphone wasn't working well in the sixth grade classroom. I attempted to type in the chat, but everything the students needed to know was already clearly spelled out in the Google Classroom posts.

     Since I do drop grades, I never worry about any single grade score. It is important to look at the big picture. I shall include the homework average and the "spot check quiz" average on the tests when they are returned next week in the Google Classroom. Low scores in either of the two latter areas usually indicates that a student is not handing in completed assignments or completing the required online work. Each Monday I have been announcing the number of students who have not been completing the minimum 5 weekly lessons in the individualized Dreambox program. As we enter the second month, I am hoping that the transition process and adjustment is finally taking place.

     Mr. Naccari has made several statements about attendance and the starting time for class. I generally go down to the yard shortly after starting my Zoom Meeting at 7:30 AM. The eighth grade enters at 7:45 AM, at which time the students should already be lined up and ready to enter the building. By the time I bring them up to the classroom, the "at home" students should already be on my Smartboard screen. My comments on "lateness" are posted in a document on the bottom of this page. Employers do not look kindly on workers who are frequently late for the job.

     Today, we had our first eighth grade "Dress Up" day for the new year. Despite my comments in class, some students did not report in "dress clothing." Jeans and "shorts" may be worn on "Dress Down" days, but not on "Dress Up" days, a privilege that was first granted to the Class of 1988. Even the students at home were allowed the same opportunity. 

     While I have been very pleased with my general experiences during this first month, I am greatly distressed by the fact that I pray alone in the morning, at lunch, or at the end of the day. It is sad that my voice is louder than that of the seven or nine other people in the classroom. In all, I have devoted almost fifty years to Catholic education in one form or another. Prayer is an essential part of my day. I do expect that the students will begin to raise up their voices in praise of the God who has showered so many blessing upon them.

     Finally, while I am on the topic of prayer, I shall be conducting a multi-media Confirmation Prayer Service on Tuesday. It includes music, Scriptural readings, personal reflections, and either excerpts from an entertaining, yet provocative film. I am hoping to get some family shots at next Sunday's Confirmation; however, for safety reasons, I will not be allowed to include the bishop. That information was sent to you earlier in the year by the Director of our parish Religious Education program.

     Once again, I appreciate your understanding and cooperation in the days ahead. Keep well and safe.

                                               Respectfully yours,

                                               Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy

  




                                           September 29, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     Two situations were brought to my attention today that I need to address. As the students are well aware, they must be in full uniform at all times, On Monday, which is our day for gym, they may wear their gym uniforms. I am hoping that this issue will not need to be mentioned. In addition, no other teacher's work may be done during my class periods, and I would hope that no students would be doing my work in another teacher's class. I told the students today that they must be ready to send me pictures of their class work effort any time I do a "spot check." Class work should be carefully organized in their notebooks with the date and the objective, which I publish daily in the Google Classroom, on the top of the page. While I do not expect that all students will complete the class work at the same pace, I must see an honest hour's work anytime I request it.

     As I mention in the Google Classroom, I do not expect the students to complete the class work and do the required nightly assignment. Once again, all students do not work at the same pace. For example, yesterday I made a special presentation in the sixth grade because a few students appeared to have trouble with "simplifying fractions" and "changing between mixed numbers and improper fractions. Since I knew this extra presentation would not enable some students to complete the online assignment on Khan Academy, I did not give any extra homework, except to finish that online class work assignment. Parents should know that some students have missing assignments, and this is a serious situation. It takes about three hours to go through the middle school math assignments each night. That does not allow me any time to be looking at ten late assignments that are turned in as much as a week late. The students are being given time "to adjust" to the rigors of middle school, but that "adjustment" really needs to be made. I certainly appreciate your attention to these matters.

                                         Resprctfully yours,

                                         Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy


                                     September 28, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     Please be advised that Friday is a half day of school. The eighth grade students will be dismissed at 11:20 AM on that day. 

     It has been a very busy first three weeks of school, and I have been consistently posting messages in my Google Classrooms. With the student's account, the parents should be able to see any messages I have written. A few issues have come up which I would like to bring to your attention:

     The Dreambox program and the other online sites are not optional for any student. If you read my letters throughout the summer, you know that the Archdiocese requires that each student complete a minimum of 5 lessons a week on Dreambox. That program and MobyMax are individualized programs designed to fill in any gaps in your child's earlier education. Any time the class work has been completed before the end of the period, the students are free to access these programs. All of the information needed to access these programs have been listed in the documents below and posted on the Google Classroom several times. I always have plenty of grades; therefore, I can drop several at report card time and still have a fair evaluation. Needless to say, missing assignments are always among the first dropped. Once I have reached my "dropping limit," all other assignments count, including missing "zero" assignments. I remind the students of these responsibilities almost every day.

     Next Tuesday, I am going to conduct my "Confirmation Prayer Service" with the eighth grade. In years past, I would take one "extended" Math 7 class to conduct this service. With the revised schedule due to the staggered start and end of the school day, I shall be cutting a few of the eighth grade classes short on that day. As a Catholic Educator, I feel that prayer is a very important part of the school day, and certain milestones deserve special attention.

    At this time, I do not know how I will be involved with the Confirmation itself. Obviously, I will not be able to take the type of pictures I have taken in the past. Nevertheless, I would like a few family shots for whatever "Graduation Video" I am able to put together. Please pray that we are able to be together as a class at some time in this school year. Hopefully, some types of activities will be able to be shared by the students and their families. God bless you! Keep well and safe.

                                                 Respectfully yours,

                                                 Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy

P.S. I do try to respond to emails; however, I get hundreds of them a day. At times your email may be lost in the shuffle. I regret this situation. In addition, the time it takes to schedule for the week on weekends does not allow me much time to view email messages.



     





 



                                               September 13, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     For those who have signed into my Google Classrooms, I have posted the schedule for tomorrow. It was decided on Friday that the teachers would leave their computers in their own classroom when they moved from class to class. In that way, all students will only have to sign into the homeroom. I shall post the link for the eighth graders later on today. The teachers will be trying to make the transition between classes as easy as possible for the students, but we will have to find our own extra tabs in the classrooms we visit. I am hoping that is not a major problem.

     I have asked all students to have copies of the important documents that I have posted below on this page. These include the prayers I say with the students, the classroom and homework policy, and instructions for signing on to the online sites. The Pearson digital texts have all been synced with the Google Classroom. Please make certain that you have followed my orientation instructions from last week.

     The upper grades are scheduled for gym on Monday; therefore, all students may wear their gym uniforms to school. In the schedule I posted in my Google Classroom is a copy of the basic schedule from the staggered arrival to the staggered dismissal. Needless to say, we are moving in baby steps, and anything is subject to change if we find that it isn't working out.

     For the new students and the sixth graders, whom I have not taught before this year, I use an index card system to randomly call upon students to respond during class. Whether the students are at home, where they also need to be visible, or in the classroom, failure to respond does result in lower class participation grades. We all make mistakes; therefore, we all must be respectful of our fellow classmates and teachers. Following the example of Jesus is our primary responsibility as Christians and as human persons. I am looking forward to a great school year, and I continue to pray that we will all be together in the same room in the not too distant future.

                                               Respectfully yours,

                                               Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy

P.S. The teachers will be making arrangements for a virtual "Back to School Night" this week; therefore, I ask you to check for updates.




                                            
                                     September 9, 2020

     With transportation and hybrid classes factored in, the teachers will not have as much time to respond to parent emails during the school day. Our major communication is done through the Google Classroom, and it is impossible to do a Zoom Lesson with twenty students at home, attend to the eight or nine students in the classroom, and check our emails as was more easily accomplished during the totally remote period. Your understanding is appreciated as we try to work out the kinks in the system.

     With respect to the eighth grade, I shall post some assignments in the Google Classroom about classroom procedures that we reviewed today after the "long" opening day Prayer Service. You only need to complete items when I request them in the Google Classroom. I shall post any of the previously mentioned items in my Religion 8 Google Classroom.

     Tomorrow's schedule is as follows:

Grade 8:  Mr. McCarthy at 8:00 AM
                Mrs. Ness at 9:30 AM
                Ms. O'Beirne at 10:05 AM
                Mr. McCarthy at 10:40 AM

Grade 7: Ms. O'Beirne at 8:00 AM
               Mr. McCarthy at 9:30 AM
               Mrs. Ness at 10:05 AM
               Ms. O'Beirne at 10:40 AM

Grade 6: Mrs. Ness at 8:00 AM
               Ms. O'Beirne at 9:30 AM
               Mr. McCarthy at 10:05 AM
               Mrs. Ness at 10:40 AM

Please sign into Zoom using the links you were given today. I shall post my link again in the Google Classroom.

                                                    Thank you,

                                                    Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy


P.S. Hopefully the information below will help the new students sign into my MobyMax classes!

It has come to my attention that the newer students are having trouble signing in to Moby Max.

      1) They must click the first option to sign in as a student.

      2) They must locate the school by writing "St Gabriel School" in the first box

           with no period after St and no quotation marks.

      3)  On the pull down tab on the right, they must choose Bronx, New York.

      4) They then sign in with their user name and password that was provided

           in class. 

      I wish to thank the sixth grade student who brought this situation to my attention. I regret

any anxiety my lack of clarity caused.

                                          Respectfully,

                                          Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy

    Needless to say my time with Grade 6 was cut short today because of a problem with one of the other classes; however, I would not have covered this because the steps were listed on my Schoolnotes page since a parent had a problem signing on last year!

 

                                                September 8, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     The invitations to tomorrow's Zoom Classes is posted in my Google Classrooms; however, the link for my class is as follows:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/7511721564?pwd=THZlYVFzNXRTTHErTDU4NUZsRkl4Zz09

      The attending eighth grade students will be entering at 7:45 A.M. through the schoolyard door to the gym. It will take me a little while to get them up to the classroom and settled. For this week, the at home students will be signing on at 8:00 A.M. for the opening Prayer Service and initial orientation. I shall meet briefly with the seventh grade at 10:00 A.M. followed by the sixth grade at 10:30 A.M. Finally, I shall continue the eighth grade orientation at 11:00 A.M. The eighth graders will be dismissed at 11:20 A.M.
 
     Thank you to all those who have signed into my Google Classroom. Please make certain that you sign in to the correct classroom. I shall eliminate students from the classes that they are not supposed to attend. The links are below in my August 19, 2020 post. All eighth graders should sign in for my Morning Prayer Class because I will be making posts there from time to time.

     Keep well and safe. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

                                                Respectfully yours,

                                                Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy


                                    September 6, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     Please be advised that I began posting in my new Google Classrooms on Friday, September 4, 2020. Below I shall paste a copy of that first post:

Dear Students and Parents,

     This is my first post of the new year in the Google Classroom for which I gave the codes on my Class Page on August 19, 2020. With less than a week to go, I am very low on signed in students. All of the major instructions can be found on my Class Page, in addition to the important documents for the upcoming year.

     Please make certain that you sign in to the correct classes. Two seventh grade girls signed into Math 7-8, the eighth grade math course for the some seventh graders. It is important that they sign in for the Math 7 Google Classroom where the seventh grade math assignments and work will be posted.

      For the eighth grade, I usually begin with a prayer service. Before Wednesday, I will be posting a copy of the prayer service in my Morning Prayer Google Classroom. Unfortunately, everything will be passed out online, and all collected classwork and homework will need to be completed on Google Documents or on the online sites. I have been told that they will be synced with the Google Classroom, but I will be looking into that more over this weekend. I did practice my opening prayer service on the new mobile Smartboard, and I have work out the kinks the best I am able.

     Since the teachers will be switching the classrooms instead of the students, there are going to be some brief gaps in the day as I see it. Each teacher must detach our chrome books from the classroom we are in and transport our books and chrome books to the new classroom. We must then attach our chrome books to the mobile Smartboard in the new classroom and boot up again. How smoothly that will run, I cannot say at this moment. I will need the students to use their time wisely to get ready for the beginning of class during these lapses.

     Although I am not absolutely certain, we may be asked to repeat our Wednesday comments on Thursday this week. Under normal circumstances, however, all lessons will pick up from where we have left off the previous day. It is essential that you are participating from home in whatever way that is required. I will be using the "spot check" method in my grading system to help make certain that everyone is making the best of their educational situation.

     I thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation as we begin a school year that is so unlike anything we have previously experienced. If you know any of your classmates who has not registered for the appropriate Google Classrooms, I would appreciate your spreading the word. Please keep well and safe in the days ahead.

                                                                    Respectfully yours,

                                                                    Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy


                                                August 31, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     I usually write this message earlier in the day; however, I went to school to help get the schedule "somewhat" set up for the beginning of the school year. Nevertheless, I did want to give my weekly review of the Summer Dreambox progress. As the summer draws to a close, only seven students from last year's Math 6 group four students from last year's Math 7 group, and one student from last years Math 7-8 group did any work during the last seven days. I was very pleased to see that one Math 6 student and one Math 7 student completed well over one hundred lessons this summer. I commend them on their outstanding effort!

     Once again I remind you that the codes for my new Google Classrooms have been available below since August 19, 2020. Please follow the same procedure as used last March to sign in. Grade 8 students should sign in to Morning Prayer, Math 9 or Math 8, English Language Arts 8, and Religion 8. Grade 7 students should sign in to Math 7 or Math 7-8 for those taking Math 8. One student did sign into the wrong classroom. I made comments on last June's report card with respect to my course suggestions. Grade 6 must sign in to Math 6. Since we had no way of making contact last year for a "Move Up Day," I really never had a chance to address the incoming sixth graders. As far as I know at this point, the digital textbooks and other online resources will probably be linked with the Google Classroom.

      This week the teachers will be getting lessons on the management of the new hybrid classroom setup. On the first day of school I generally do an introductory Prayer Service with the eighth grade to set the tone for the year. The Prayer Service booklet and two versions of the Prayer Service have already been placed in the Morning Prayer Google Classroom to be posted on September 9, 2020. In the documents below, I have added the "Prayer for Renewal" with which I generally begin each math class and "The Morning Offering" and "Hymn to Saint Gabriel" that I use in the morning with the eighth grade. I am asking that the students make copies for themselves since we will not be able to hand them out in class.

     Please stay well and safe during this final week. I will probably begin to post my messages in the new Google Classrooms next week. Thank you for your continued cooperation throughout the coming year!

                                                   Respectfully yours,

                                                   Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy




                                                August 24, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     I am writing a little later this morning since I had an early morning dental appointment. Although some students have already signed in to my Google Classrooms [Morning Prayer (7), Math 6 (1), Math 7 (3), Math 7-8 (2), Math 8 (6), Math 9 (2), ELA 8 (9), and Religion 8 (9), I am not posting any details in any of those classrooms just yet. As you can see below, I provided some instructions on how to sign in to several of the other online sites that I use. Since I have been told that I will be able to import the classes by syncing with the Google Classroom, I have not been looking at these sites just yet. I also need to know my rosters for the three classes before I can set up any other programs. I shall certainly keep you posted as we move along.

     With respect to Dreambox performance for the last seven days, there were nine of last year's Math 6 students active, four of last year's Math 7 students active, and one student from last year's Math 7-8 group active. One Math 6 and one Math 7 student were also active on MobyMax. Until I get the rosters, I cannot really set up my MobyMax classes for the coming year; therefore, those classes remain the same.

     If you look at the documents below, they have only been updated if they say 2020-2021. Obviously, everything is tentative at this time because we are still working on the protocols for beginning classes. I do intend to go in one day this week to see how much progress has been made. I have two versions of my "Opening Prayer Service" prepared for the eighth grade, and I am hoping that the "new normal" allows me to one or both of them since prayer is an essential part of our lives as Christians. Please pray that scientists are able to find a remedy for the present pandemic situation. 

     i look forward to seeing you once again, even with masks, on September 9th and September 10th, which is as much as I can say at this point. Until then, I pray that God keeps you and your families well.

                                          Respectfully yours,

                                          Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy

                                                      August 19, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     Yesterday I archived last year's Google Classrooms and set up the ones for the coming year. In the days ahead, I shall also be setting up my new classes in the other online sites that were used last year. Below I am providing you with the Google Classroom Codes for the 2020-2021 school year:

Morning Prayer for Grade 8 [if we return to remote learning]:  wmby3gy

Math 9:  mq3737w

Math 8:  pgp3itd

Math 7-8:  hhv2hik

Math 7:  drc64tj

Math 6:  47a3dno

Religion 8:  jobaxjy

English Language Arts 8:    mocmtcl

     As I indicated below, I am assuming that you will follow the same procedure to join the classes as was followed last March when we went to remote learning.
For students new to the school, I will provide instructions once you have been assigned student school email addresses. I shall also be replacing the documents below with the new ones for 2020-2021 a little at a time. I really need to know my eighth grade class roster for some of the items. For now, however, I will do my major posting on this Class Page.

     Please keep well and safe in the remaining summer days ahead.

                                                  Respectfully yours,

                                                  Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy




                                                      August 17, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     As I mentioned in my previous post in last year's Google Classrooms, this morning was my last report in those Classrooms. I will be setting up the new classrooms for 2020-2021 tomorrow. I shall post information on my Class Page until further notice. To be honest, I really do not know the full procedure here. I am guessing that once I post the new Class Codes on my Class Page, all students will be able to join the required classes using the method from last year. Obviously, I will find out if students start to sign in.

     I know that there have been some changes in my class rosters for 2020-2021. Some new students have come to our school from those schools that have closed their doors. I welcome those students, but I do not know how to instruct them to sign in just yet. I also know that some students have left the school for a variety of different reasons. Based on last year's rosters, eleven (11) of last year's Math 6 students made progress on Dreambox last week. Four (4) students from last year's Math 7 group and three (3) students from last year's Math 7-8 group also made progress as the Archdiocese had suggested. 

     I wish I could say more at this time, but I still need further information myself about September. I know some students will be coming in on Monday, Wednesday, and alternating Friday's while others come Tuesday, Thursday, and alternating Friday's. I have been told that you are required to tune in to class on those days you are learning from home. I know Mr. Naccari has stressed the importance of mandatory attendance on a daily basis. This will be very important because I will not be able to cover the entire curriculum if I am repeating the same class two days in a row. Therefore, you must be responsible for all material that is covered whether you are learning in person or watching from home. I am sure that everything will be worked out before the actual first day of school.

                                            Respectfully yours,

                                            Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy

[What I have written above was previously posted in last year's Google Classrooms this morning. Once the new classrooms are set up tomorrow, I will wait to see how you should proceed.]


                                                     July 28, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

     Although all the details still remain to be worked out, I did want to take this opportunity to repeat my "welcome" to our new families from my previous letter below. I know that our present students and their families will do everything they can to help you make a smooth transition to Saint Gabriel School. For over forty years I have had the privilege of serving what I like to consider my Saint Gabriel family. As mentioned below, we have recently had many new additions at the eighth grade level, and I have been happy to say that they have been well received. I have no doubt that our new families will share the same positive community experience.

     At the bottom of this page in the "Documents" section, you will find the "Supply List " and the "Summer Reading Assignment" for the incoming eighth grade students. Under these top two documents will be found last year's handouts that remain on my Class Page permanently. Once I have a little more direction, I shall revise these documents where needed to meet the requirements of the year ahead. My class policies, for the most part, seldom change. The math topics covered at each level remain the same. Depending on the learning model we are required to adopt for the year ahead, I shall modify whatever areas require it.

     The only news that I didn't know at my last writing is that the TACHS tests for the Catholic high schools will be taken online at home on Friday, November 6, 2020. As soon as I receive more information, I will post it on this site.

     Please enjoy what remains of the summer vacation period. Keep well and safe.

                                         Respectfully yours,

                                         Mr. Glenn A. McCarthy






 
                                     

     

 

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.