Lowell Family Newsletter
May 21, 2022
Message from Principal Phelan
It feels good to have ELA and Math MCAS behind us! Grade five will take the Science MCAS on Tuesday and Wednesday. It always feels good to wrap up testing.
Continuing our work to be an antiracist school, this week, classrooms from k- 5 took time from their busy schedules to meet and spend time talking about race.
The younger students in k-2 anchored their discussion with the video "PBS Kids Talk about Race & Racism" or "Talk About Race and Racism," linked below. They also started a book titled, All About Diversity by Felicity Brooks. Students are learning that being unique is a beautiful thing, and by celebrating our differences, we are learning more about our community and our friends!
Our older students had classroom conversations about how race-based hatred impacts society. Students discussed how they could make a difference and take action steps in their community to fight against racism and hate.
Each grade level approached this conversation differently, mindful of their developmental age. On Wednesday, our teachers came together during professional development time to plan these discussions.
Observance of Memorial Day will be on Monday, May 30, so we will not do not have a school that day. We will have an assembly at Lowell West on Friday, May 27, to honor veterans and celebrate Memorial Day.
Field Day is back this year! All Phillips and Lowell West students will be participating in Field Day at Victory Field on Thursday, June 9, with a rain date scheduled for Friday, June 10. The students will participate in different relay races and events. Please make sure your student has dressed appropriately for outdoor activities, has a bottle of water that can be refilled, a bagged lunch, dry clothes, and sunscreen!
Summer Offerings
Here is the Prek-12 compilation of the WPS Summer Academic & Enrichment Offerings - 2022 for your planning purposes. In addition, this is a truncated 'Cheat Sheet' - Summer Programs, 2022, streamlining dates and times. Please refer to the full WPS Summer Academic & Enrichment Offerings - 2022 for a more detailed view.
Extended Day Registration for Next Year
Registration for 2022-2023 Before School and Extended Day Programs will open at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. More information can be found below and in this newsletter: https://www.smore.com/xwrqj.
With Gratitude,
Stacy
Readers Theatre in Second Grade
Message from Ms. McCollum
Mindfulness and Movement in the Library
Learning in the library often involves moving our bodies to clear our brains to whole body listen and learn. From finding rhyming partners to using our bodies to keep the rhythm of a song or poem, or repeating a pattern of dance steps before we create a pattern in code we find many ways to learn. Our current favorites include Banana Banana Meatball, Scratch Garden Freeze Dance 4 (clean that house!), and Salamander Yoga.
Read more
Message from Mr. Spano
We want to make our Veterans proud on Friday when they come to participate in our program.
Eila Brown presenting her acrostic poem at the student Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Council.
Thursday, June 9th (Rain Date: June 10th & 13th)
Where: Victory Field (K-2 Turf and 3-5 Track and Oval) Time: 9:30-1:00
Students Should Bring the Following:
Bag Lunch
Water Bottle
Dry Clothes
Sun Screen
Sneakers
Watertown Memorial Day Parade & School Celebrations
On Friday, May 27th, Veterans are invited to join us at the Watertown Public Schools. The tentative schedule is here, changes will be sent out prior to May 27th:
o 9:00 a.m. - Watertown High School
o 9:45 a.m. - Cuniff Elementary School
o 10:00 a.m. - Lowell Elementary School
o 10:00 a.m. - Watertown Middle School
o 11:00 a.m. - Hosmer Elementary School
On Friday, May 27th, following the school event, Veterans and gardeners are invited to participate in the planting of the Freedom Garden at the Commander's Mansion. Please contact Veterans' Services, or the Commander’s Mansion to inquire about volunteer opportunities. The formal unveiling of the garden will take place at 5:30, with closing remarks scheduled for 7:30 PM. More information can be found at the link below, or by following Commander’s Mansion on social media: https://www.commandersmansion.com/events
• On Sunday, May 29th, Veterans, and members of the public are invited to join us for the honorary procession. TAPS will be played at several landmarks in Watertown, and a Veterans’ Mass will take place at Saint Patrick’s at 10 am.
• On May 30th, Watertown will again have its Memorial Day Parade. Participants are encouraged to begin staging by 10:30 AM. The parade itself will begin promptly at 12 with a brief speaking engagement at Victory Field following the parade.
NOTE: Individuals who plan on using public transportation along Mount Auburn Street are encouraged to expect delays and rerouted buses during the morning of the parade. Normal service should be expected around 2 pm-3 pm.
registration for the 2022-2023 before school & extended day programs opens on june 1st
Registration for the 2022-2023 Before School and Extended Day Programs will open at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. There will be a lottery for enrollment. Please click here to view Watertown Community Education's Smore Newsletter for full details including the registration process, lottery details, and links to the online registration forms. Direct Smore Link: https://www.smore.com/xwrqj.
If you have any questions regarding Watertown Community Education's Before School and/or Extended Day Programs, please contact Debi Cornelius at debora.cornelius@watertown.k12.ma.us and Jeff Bodner at jeffrey.bodner@watertown.k12.ma.us.
SEPAC Newsletter
Why Attendance Matters
Bus Registration is Open for Next Fall SY 2022/23
Phillips Building Lunch Menu Kindergarten and Grade 1
Lowell West Lunch Menu for Grades 2-5
Moving Next Year?
Parents of students in grades Kindergarten - 4th grade,
If you are planning to move out of Watertown or the Lowell School District, please let us know, please email Ms. Jacovides at Melina.jacovides@watertown.k12.ma.us. This information helps us to accurately plan for the fall.
Once we receive the information, we will email you the WPS Release Form for you to fill out and return to the school secretary via email. We will use this information to send your child(ren)s records to the receiving school when staff return to school.
Please submit this information as soon as possible as record transfers require time to process.
Thank you. You will be missed!
Kindergarten Registration
Online Kindergarten Registration is now open. Click on this link to register your child for Kindergarten for the 2022-23 school year.
Parents must register their children. Students attending WPS Preschool are not automatically enrolled. You must register your child for kindergarten. It's the same for families with students already enrolled in WPS. All incoming k students must be enrolled.
Language Choice Survey for Students Going to Middle School
Almost all students will be recommended to take a World Language next year in grade 6 at Watertown Middle School. We have three languages from which to choose: Arabic, Italian, and Spanish. Students were given the opportunity to participate in Spanish class on a regular basis over the years, and in early May they were given the opportunity to learn in Arabic and Italian during a sample class period. Please use that information as well as the information on the form to help inform your decision about which language to take in middle school. Email World Languages Coordinator, Adam Silverberg adam.silverberg@watertown.k12.ma.us with questions. Please fill out this survey as soon as possible, so we can begin scheduling. If you have already filled out the form, thank you. You do not need to fill it out again.
Mark Your Calendar
Science MCAS
Grade 5
Tuesday, May 24th & Wednesday, May 25th
Parent DIB Meeting
Thursday, May 26th
7:00-8:00
Join Zoom Meeting https://watertown-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/86417412092
Memorial Day Program - Gym
Friday, May 27th
10:00 am
Lowell West Only
Grades 2-5
Mike the Magician
Friday, May 27th
Phillips 9 or 9:30 Start TBD Gym
LW 1:15 Cafeteria
Human Growth and Development Lesson
Fifth Grade Only during scheduled PE time
June 1st
June 2nd
June 3rd
School Site Council
June 2, 2022
6:00 -7:00 PM
Last Meeting of the School Year
Pride Parade Sign Making
Student Diversity Council
June 3rd, 2022
1:15 PM
Lowell West 2 - 5
Listen to Sipu- Gym
Grades 3 & 4 Event
June 6, 2022
1:00 PM
The Watertown Community Foundation has provided us with the opportunity for all students in grades 3 & 4 to attend an in-house performance of the New Rep play Listen to Sipu! This is "a captivating and powerful story that illuminates Watertown's Indigenous history....the tour guide begins describing Watertown's local history only to find that the facts are missing a lot of truths." The play will visit the Cunniff and Lowell schools on Monday, June 6th, and the Hosmer school on Tuesday, June 7th (times below) We are grateful our students will have this opportunity!
Band Concert Save the Date
June 7th
Lowell West
Field Day Save the Date- Victory Field
Thursday, June 9th
Friday, June 10th (Rain Date)
Fifth Grade Field Trip- Duck Tous
Thursday, June 16th
9:00 am
Kindergarten Picnic- Phillips Campus
Thursday, June 16th
Friday, June 17th (Raindate)
Listen to Sipu
The Watertown Community Foundation has provided us with the opportunity for all students in grade 3 & 4 to attend an in-house performance of the New Rep play Listen to Sipu! This is "a captivating and powerful story that illuminates Watertown's Indigenous history....the tour guide begins describing Watertown's local history only to find that the facts are missing a lot of truths." The play will visit the Cunniff and Lowell schools on Monday, June 6th and the Hosmer school on Tuesday, June 7th. We are grateful our students will have this opportunity!
What's Happening Around Town
Message from Carey Conkey-Finn Supervisor of Teen Services- WFPL
Extravaganza details are firmed up and I wanted to share promo information for you to reference and hopefully spread to your other social networks.
Visit the Watertown Pride webpage: watertownlib.org/pride
Share the Facebook Event
Share the Instagram Post
Share the Tweet
I wanted to highlight some of the activities that may interest your kids. In addition to the mini-parade that kicks off the Extravaganza, we have arranged to have lawn games and an obstacle course that will be run by Boys and Girls Club staff. Art projects will include rainbow wand making, making your own pronoun pin, and tie-dying.
Parade participants (all are welcome to join) will gather in front of the Library and kick-off at 11:00. We will be supplying as many noisemakers and mini-Pride flags as we can. Please feel free to make and carry signs. Dress fabulously!
ALSO: I have reserved one information booth for the Diversity and Belonging Councils (elementary schools)—there is the possibility of having more than one table. Please let me know asap if the one table is adequate.
Come join the book club discussion, Monday, June 14th at 4:00 pm. All are welcome the featured book is This is Our Rainbow.
If you have any questions, please reach out.
Thanks so much!
Carey Conkey-Finn
Supervisor of Teen Services | Watertown Free Public Library
123 Main St.| Watertown, MA 02472
617-972-6437
She/her
Race Reels Presents
In honor of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Watertown Race Reels will be screening the documentary Asian Americans (see attached flyer for details).
This month, one of our guest speakers will be Dr. Nicole Filler. Nicole is the Program Coordinator/Research Associate at UMass Boston's Institute for Asian American Studies. Joining Dr. Filler will be Mr. Qi Chen. Mr. Chen is the Assistant Principal of Lowell Elementary School right here in Watertown. We are thrilled they are both able to join us to share their experiences, perspectives and insights.
Thank you to all you have been joining us throughout the year for Watertown Race Reels events! Race Reels has proven to be an amazing community building space in which racial and cultural experiences and differences are valued and celebrated and history is reflected on in a thoughtful and constructive manner, always looking toward a bright future. As a result, the recent independent, external Equity Audit, conducted by Public Consulting Group LLC (PCG) recommended that WPS leverage the rich resources that can be found in many equity, anti-racist focused organizations that are dedicated and committed to equity and inclusion in the City of Watertown and in the schools. The audit specifically recommended WPS collaborate with Watertown Race Reels. In that spirit, we look to our WPS school committee members, administration and educators to encourage WPS students grades 6-12 to join us for our Race Reels events. We have found we learn so much from our young community members sharing out at past Race Reels events. We look forward to hearing from them and learning even more.
We hope that you all can join us and/or will help us spread the word of the event/event details/flyer with your circles within Watertown and beyond.
Special note: Our very own Mr. Chen will be on the panel. Please join us!
In solidarity,
Kara Lopez Salvi & Teo Evans
Co-Coordinators
Watertown Race Reels
Lowell Elementary
30 Common Street
Watertown, Ma 02742
Telephone: 617-926-7770
Lowell West Location
175 Main Street
Waltham, Ma 02451
Telephone: 781-899-3701
Email: stacy.phelan@watertown.k12.ma
Website: http://watertownjrlowell.ss19.sharpschool.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JRLowellElementary