newsletter 6-18-18

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Lowell School Newsletter

Move Up Day Scheduled for June 20th

Assistant Principal Finalist

We will host our last finalist on Thursday, June 21st.

Mrs. Candice Whitemore’s visit will be as follows

8:00 am Arrival

8:00-8:20 Meet with the Superintendent

8:20-9:00 Parent Meet and Greet in the Library

9:00-10:00 Meet with the Interview Committee

10:00-10:30 Tour the School

10:30-11:00 Meet with Mrs. Phelan

11:00-12:00 Meet with Teachers in the Library

Watertown Elementary Summer Math Program for Students Entering Grades 4-6

We are excited to offer TenMarks online math program for your students to use.

www.tenmarks.com

Details

• Parents of students entering grades 4-6 for the 2018-2019 school year will be able to use the login they have been using over the current school year.

• This program is optional but is a great resource for students to use over the summer.

• Students will be working to reinforce math skills and will not be covering future grade level skills.

• Your student has already been working with TenMarks this school year. It can be used on a tablet, phone, or computer.

Questions

• For questions regarding your student log-in, contact your current classroom teacher.
• For other questions, feel free to contact Elizabeth Kaplan, Elementary Math/Science Coordinator.

Watertown Elementary Summer Math Program for Students Entering Grades 1-3

We are excited to offer SplashMath Summer for your students to use.

The 8-week Splash Math Summer Program offers:

 In-depth diagnostic assessment
 Personalized learning plans based on each student’s skill level
 Weekly printables like puzzles, riddles, etc.
 Regular activity reports for educators and parents
 Certificate of completion for students

Details

• Parents of students entering grades 1-3 for the 2018-2019 school year will receive login information from your current classroom teachers.

• This program is optional but is a great resource for students to use over the summer.

• Students will be working to reinforce math skills and will not be covering future grade level skills.

• Your student has already been working with SplashMath this school year. It can be used on a tablet, phone, or computer.

Questions

• For questions regarding your student and parent log-in, contact your current classroom teacher.
• For other questions, feel free to contact Elizabeth Kaplan, Elementary Math/Science Coordinator.

Letter From Our Outgoing President Nikki Muraca

With this being the last week of school, I wanted to share with you a PTO year end recap and thank each of you for the time you’ve taken to come to meetings and present your ideas, or sending me emails asking to help out at events or providing suggestions and feedback, having patience as we tried new things and tolerating me as I would wander around the school doing PTO stuff.

So to recap the 2017/2018 year:

We raised $20,000 in our auction this year, $5000 in dues, another $3498 from the spelling bee, $1496 from misc fundraisers (amazon smile, red sox game, stop and shop rewards), $1653 from Silver Graphics, $600 in box tops, $2895 in grants for specific programs, all in all (minus our auction and Paypal expenses) we raised over $32,000 this year.  A 2018.2019 budget was presented by Donna Tuccinardi (next years PTO President) and approved in a meeting held last week, where the funds raised this year will be budgeted/spent.

Due to a successful year last year (2016.2017), we came into this year trying to determine the best way to spend the money thoughtfully but also having an immediate impact on our children’s educational experience. I worked with Ms. Phelan to implement a new funding program, encouraging all teachers and staff to approach the organization with funding ideas and needs for their classrooms or teams. I’m happy to say that we approved over $20,000 in funding for school wide initiatives such as buses for each grade for one field trip, buses for the all school field trip, the buddy program, building classroom libraries, and the afterschool clubs. In addition, we funded individual requests from teaching teams, teachers and specialists. Nothing was more gratifying, than sitting in those meetings, hearing all your fantastic ideas or understanding what is needed for our children and have our organization fund them. Additionally, we provided a wish list of supplies at the beginning of the year, scholarships, and a $75 teacher/staff reimbursement.

The PTO also hosted or supported a number of community events throughout the year, Movie Night, the Halloween party, Literacy Night (we can’t take the credit for this outside of paying for it and some volunteers, you all have this down to a science running it), International Night, the Spelling Bee and the End of Year Picnic being held today.

We had a wonderful parent (Lauren Unsworth, PTO VP next fall) that wrote grants on behalf of teachers and the PTO, and was awarded $2895. She also reached out to Home Depot and had them donate a shed for Ms. Donohue and Ms. Loguidice. We also had smaller miscellaneous things we supported financially throughout the year.

When I started out as a parent with a kindergarten student I really had no idea what to expect at the Lowell. I had attended the PTO meetings with my neighbor and really loved what the organizations goals were and thought about what I could contribute. For the last four years it’s been such a pleasure to get to know and work with all of you. Your support, help and participation was a driving factor in why I loved running this organization. I want to wish each of you a wonderful and relaxing summer and an easy entry into the fall of 2018.

Best Wishes,

Nikki Muraca

June 18th	Ms. Richardson’s Year End Celebration Parents Welcome	8:15-9:00 AM
June 18th	Gr. 5-Ice cream social	1:15-2:15 PM
June 18th	End of the Year Picnic Sponsored by the PTO	4:00 PM
June 19th	Yoga Party PreK Ms. LaBella’s room	8:30-9:00 AM
June 20th	Public Librarian Visit PreK-2 3rd - 5th	8:30 - 9:00 AM    9:30-10:00 AM
June 20th	End of the Year Showcase Ms. Walsh’s Room 206	8:30 AM
June 20th	Move Up Day For Students	Students will meet their next year’s teacher and Classmates
June 20th	Move Up Ceremony Practice	TBD
June 21st	Pre-K & K Last day of school
June 21st	Grade 5 Move Up Ceremony	1:00-2:30 Field

    

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