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.


                                     September 15, 2020



     Please be informed that we will be having a virtual "Back to School" night tomorrow. My Zoom Classroom will be open from 6:30 PM until the meeting ends. According to the schedule, I shall meet with the seventh grade parents at 6:30 PM, the sixth grade parents at 6:40 PM, and the eighth grade parents at 6:50 PM. Each teacher will be posting his regular Zoom Classroom code in an invitation both on the Class Page and in the Google Classroom.


Glenn McCarthy is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Parents Back to School Meeting
Time: Sep 16, 2020 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/7511721564?pwd=THZlYVFzNXRTTHErTDU4NUZsRkl4Zz09

Meeting ID: 751 172 1564
Passcode: 5fWRuW

                     6:30 PM - Grade 8 - Mrs. Ness    
                                      Grade 7 - Mr. McCarthy      
                                      Grade 6 - Ms. O'Beirne

                     6:40 PM - Grade 7 - Mrs. Ness    
                                      Grade 6 - Mr. McCarthy      
                                      Grade 8 - Ms. O'Beirne

                     6:50 PM - Grade 6 - Mrs. Ness    
                                      Grade 8 - Mr. McCarthy      
                                      Grade 7 - Ms. O'Beirne


 



                                               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






 
                                     

     

 

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