Lowell School Newsletter
May 24, 2020
To translate this newsletter, click on it then use the link to the right. (English)
Para traduzir este boletim, clique nele e use o link à direita. (Portuguese)
Para traducir este boletín, haga clic en él y luego use el enlace a la derecha (Spanish)
لترجمة هذه الرسالة من المدرسة ، اضغط عليها ثم استخدم الرابط الموجود على اليمين. (Arabic)
Այս տեղեկագիրը թարգմանելու համար կտտացրեք այն, ապա օգտագործեք աջ կողմում գտնվող հղումը: (Armenian)
Чтобы перевести этот бюллетень, нажмите на него, затем воспользуйтесь ссылкой справа. (Russian)
Bu bülteni çevirmek için üzerine tıklayın ve ardından sağdaki bağlantıyı kullanın (Turkish)
Message from Stacy
Happy Memorial Day,
It's often said, Memorial Day weekend marks the official welcome to summer, seeing as we only have sixteen full days of school left, I guess that seems about right. The closing of school this year is very different from any other in recent memory. As a typical school year closes we mark the end with ceremonies and traditions. These end of the year events help us say goodbye to one another. These moments help children to transition from one grade to the next. Teachers and their students usually prepare for this transition together. Together they pack up the classroom disassembling well-loved class projects and taking down artwork. We gather notebooks, crayons, and pencils to go home for the summer. Students help clean the classroom for the next group of students who will enter in the fall. All this helps children and adults bring closure to a school year. Unfortunately, we will not be able to hold all our typical events in the same way, but we will mark the end of the year with a few new events. The following are a list of end of the year events you can expect over the next few weeks.
Report Cards/Student Records- This year we are not sending report cards home at the end of the school year. However, report cards will be completed for the spring 2020 semester for record-keeping purposes only. Teachers will carry forward the same grades they entered in semester one for semester two. Standards-based report cards measure a student's ability to master grade-level standards. Because we are not currently in school, we are unable to administer our typical benchmark assessments at this time. We essentially are holding students harmless during this marking period. We plan to administer assessments within the first couple of weeks of school. The results will drive our instructional decisions and determine where we begin in the fall. We expect they will be a review period at the beginning of the year for most students. We plan on devising a plan to support those students who need intense intervention and pick up other students where they come are now.
Celebration Meetings
We will be holding Student/Parent/Teacher Celebration Meetings on June 11th, 12th, and 15th. Parents may visit our school's website beginning June 4th to sign up for a meeting using Signup Genius. Meetings are intended to allow families to celebrate and share positive moments from the school year. Students are asked to attend with their parents. These meetings are not traditional parent-teacher conferences. Instead, they are an opportunity to share highlights and reflect on the year. We want parents, students, and teachers to have the opportunity to say goodbye to one another in a meaningful way. We've been partners with you over the past three months without your assistance we couldn't have stayed connected. We want to end the year saying thank you for all we've done together.
Meetings are expected to take 10 minutes in length. Interpreters will be available on June 12th only. You may sign up for an appointment on June 4th.
A SPECIAL NOTE: Zoom classes normally scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Monday of June 11th, 12th, 15th will be canceled due to Celebration Meetings.
Special Education Progress Notes- parents with students who receive special education services will receive progress notes at the end of the school year via email. If for some reason you need a progress note sent by SNAIL Mail please let your teacher know.
Promotion/Placement Announcement- The past couple of years we've held a Moving Up Ceremony for grades K-4. Students were able to meet their new teachers and see their new classmates. This year we are unable to hold this event. We are in the middle of creating classrooms for next year based on all the criteria previously mentioned. However, we are still trying to envision and plan for the fall's reopening. To that end, we want to delay announcing class placement until we have a better idea of how next year will look.
Reopening Task Force- Dr. Galdston has assembled a large group of stakeholders from across the school department and town tasked with creating a plan for re-opening schools in September. This group will be creating a plan specific to WPS based on the guidance provided from the federal, state, and local level government, CDC, and Department of Education. This work is just beginning and we expect to meet weekly throughout the summer to prepare for a smooth transition. You can expect frequent communication throughout the next few months.
Welcoming Incoming Kindergarten- Wednesday, May 27th at 7:00 pm we are holding a Welcome to Kindergarten Zoom meeting for our incoming K parents. Typically, we hold kindergarten screening and information sessions in June. Due to our current school closing, we have postponed our screening day until the fall. We want to allow parents to learn a little more about Lowell School and what they can expect in the fall.
Meeting Lowell May 27, 2020, at 7:00 pm
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/91158956215
Picking up Student Belongings- June 9th, 10th, and 11th we are scheduling times for parents to come in and gather items left behind by students. Teachers have been packing up notebooks, crayons, and items for parents to take home for the summer. These items have been bagged up and label for each student by their homeroom teacher. The bags have been placed on hooks by each student's cubby just outside their classrooms. We are asking parents to come in and pick up bags during a scheduled pick up time.
We are creating the schedule based on the first letter of your last name. For example: if your last name begins with the A, B, C, or D you will come in between 8:00 am-12:00 am on June 9th.
We ask you to return any item you borrowed during the school year. Please bring all items you borrowed on the day you pick up your belongings. Many students need to return books to their classroom or library. We ask that you place those items in your child's cubby for safe return.
Here is the schedule, days, and times:
June 9th, 8:00 am- 11:00 am - A, B, C, and D
June 9th, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm E, F, G, and H
June 10th, 8:00 am -11:00 am- I, J, K, and L
June 10th, 11:00 am- 3:00 pm- M, N, O, and P
June 11th, 8:00 am- 11:00 am- Q, R, S, and T
June 11th, 11:00 am- 3:00 pm- U, V, W, X, Y, and Z
We are asking parents to enter at the main entrance on Lowell St. Wear a mask, and practice social distancing regulations.
Return of Borrowed Library Books
Please return borrowed Library Books to school. You may place them in your cubby or on the return rack in the main lobby.
End of the Year Music Celebration
Corona may be keeping us apart but it isn't keeping us silent. The music lives within us, bringing us laughter, joy, strength, and solace. The Watertown Public Schools Fine, Applied and Performing Arts Department, in collaboration with Friends of Watertown Music, invites all Watertown musicians, students, teachers, families, and community members to join us in a musical celebration.
Virtual MusicFest website and various social media platforms.
Submission Deadline: May 27th
Let's spread the joy of music beyond our homes and share it throughout our community!
June 16th End of the Year Community Meetings-Each elementary classroom across the district will hold one final Community Meeting on Tuesday, June 16th. We want to come together as a class to say goodbye and happy summer! Class meetings time will be announced and scheduled by the classroom teacher and announced in the weekly newsletter.
Fifth Grade Moving On - We are planning on holding a virtual Zoom Moving Up Ceremony on Monday, June 15th. We will announce more specific shortly. The PTO and fifth-grade parents are assembling swag bags filled with items such as the yearbook, class t-shirt, and other fabulous goodies for our fifth graders.
I hope you find all this information helpful in planning for the next few weeks. As always if you have any questions or concerns please email me or call the school between 8:30-2:20.
Be safe and stay healthy,
Stacy
Kids Are So Over Zoom. Here's What To Do About It. Video calls can be a harsh reminder of the sudden changes in your child's life.
In the past month, my 5-year-old has gone from being excited about video calls for school and virtual “play dates” to basically hating it all. Sometimes he’s into it — like yesterday, when he was totally engrossed in a 30-minute math class with his teacher and six friends. More often, he whines and mopes beforehand, then immediately after slips into a funk. That goes for official school meetings and for more casual digital hangouts with family and friends.
Zoom fatigue (or whatever your preferred video call platform) is a real issue for both adults and kids, which is, of course, a problem. Millions of children across America are doing the bulk of their schooling online right now, a scenario that could well continue into the next academic year. But lots of them are feeling, just, meh about the whole thing.
Are your kids completely over Zoom? Here’s what that is all about — and what you can do to help them through it.
First, understand that they might just be really sad
I’ve noticed that my 5-year-old gets especially upset on the morning of his weekly full-class Google Hangout. It’s a sweet idea — they ask each other questions and sing some songs. Afterward he crashes, without fail. He’ll have a totally unrelated meltdown. Or pick a fight with his brother. Or just kind of sink into a crappy mood.
Educational experts say video calls can be a sudden reminder to kids of how different things are in their worlds right now. They might be navigating their new at-home routines pretty well at this point, but seeing their friends and their teacher virtually can quickly snap them out of it.
“They’re tired of not being able to see people face to face,” said Lee Scott, chairwoman of the educational advisory board at The Goddard School, a private early education provider. “It’s a reminder they can’t do that.” Scott added that video chat removes all of the spontaneity that’s such a hallmark of kid friendships, particularly for the younger set.
“In natural friendships, they think, ‘Oh, I’ll go over and say “hi” to so and so,’” Scott said. They can’t do that at all right now, and video calls can be a hard reminder of that change.
So don’t try to fix it
“Children have experienced a loss. This is really sad for them,” echoed Nermeen Dashoush, an assistant professor of early childhood education at Boston University and chief curriculum officer at MarcoPolo Learning. Don’t underestimate how difficult that is to cope with emotionally, she said.
Instead of trying to fix their sadness by setting up more online playdates, help give them the vocabulary they need to express their feelings — and be open to hearing about what they’re going through.
“I do think that sometimes as parents we try too much to try and make things better for our kids,” said Dashoush, herself a parent who added that she often does the same thing. “A lot of research says, though, that what really helps is trying to help kids identify their feelings.” Then be on the lookout for more pronounced withdrawal, which could be a sign your child is struggling with depression or anxiety.
Give them some control over when they have video calls
Different teachers, classrooms, schools and districts have different expectations for what remote learning looks like, and what kind of daily schedules they’re setting. But if your kid is really pushing back against Zoom, it might be time to just give them a break.
“I do think there needs to be a healthy mindset around all of this,” said Stephen Cochrane, an associate professor for the California School of Education at Alliant International University. “Parents shouldn’t be too fearful that their child is going to slip and fall behind.”
So cancel Zoom dates with friends and family for a few days, and talk to your kid’s teacher about what they’re experiencing in order to come up with some strategies that can give them the time and space they need, while also staying on top of their schoolwork. That might mean calling into school meetups when they need to, but then spacing out the rest of their work a bit more.
“Let them have a say in how they break things up,” said Scott. “Give them some choices about how and when they do schoolwork that is required.”
Plan social calls with clear structure
If your kid is getting bored on Zoom calls with friends and family, it can be really helpful to give them a specific thing they’re going to do or talk about ahead of time. Maybe you have them play games with a friend, or have them cook a favorite recipe, suggested Scott. An older friend or relative might enjoy reading your kid a book. Maybe it’s a virtual dance party.
And that’s not just for younger kids. Older children might enjoy watching a movie with their friends, and there are extensions and apps that they can use to make it more of a viewing party.
“Try and have a plan,” Scott said.
Remember, in a lot of ways this is even harder for kids than it is for adults
Adults had at least been following the COVID-19 news before everything shut down, but kids’ worlds changed in an instant.
“A lot of them went to school one day, and the next day it was just ... over,” said Dashoush. So be patient with them if they just don’t feel like hopping on another Zoom call. Be open with them (in a developmentally appropriate way, of course) about how this all feels for you emotionally, too. Acknowledge that this feels really forced for a lot of us.
“It’s so different than the live interactions they have together,” said Cochrane. “When they’re in school, they’re not just learning content, they’re not just learning how to be a critical thinker. They’re developing relationships. That piece is difficult to replicate via video conference.”
Highlights of Last Week!
We are beginning another wonderful week of virtual learning. Please remember we will not have any zoom meetings on Monday, due to Memorial Day Holiday.We will see students bright and early on Tuesday for Morning Announcements starting at 8:20am.
A few highlights from last week included:
- The classroom teachers and staff began coming into to the school to begin end of year cleaning. Pictures below show students item being hung or placed in their assigned cubby.
- On Friday, during Morning Announcements, we hosted a hat day. Teachers, staff and students enjoyed wearing their favorite hats for zoom meetings the entire day.
- Ms. Hudon's second grade classroom finished their reading series project with a series presentation. Below are some pictures of students final projects.
- Ms. Walsh and Ms. Caveretta, were spotting around Watertown visiting their students with home visits. The kinder students were so happy to see them and the wonderful sign they carried with them.
- Ms. Gerring's 1st grade students continue the ABC countdown for the end of the year. Last week they celebrated Dot Art DAY, Exercise Day, and Fun in the Sun day! Below are pictures of one of our students' and how they participated throughout the week .
Stacy and I are always happy to receive photos of activities students are doing throughout the week or weekend. If you have a photo, please feel free to share with us at anytime.
Thanks and stay safe,
Candice Whitmore
Gearing up for Student Belongings Pick up
Hat Day
Hat Day
Hat Day
Series Presentations
Home Visits
Ms. Gerring's 1st grade class ABC countdown!
A Message from Rashmi Pimprikar, Digital Learning Coordinator
Join us Lowell Family Technology Bi-Weekly Sessions
Upcoming Dates: May 21 and June 4
Time: 5:00PM - 5:30PM
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/99167150843?pwd=emh1bHBJNW52UXNKY29IK0xTZXlwQT09 Meeting ID: 991 6715 0843 Password: 340828
Links to Few Resources from Family Technology Support Sessions:
Link to Portuguese Zoom Screencast | Spanish Zoom Screencast | Portuguese Google Classroom | Spanish Google Classroom
Questions? Please email Library Media Specialists & Digital Learning Specialists at your school & CC District Digital Learning Coordinator Rashmi Pimprikar (rashmi.pimprikar@watertown.k12.ma.us). Please contact ‘Computer Repairs’ if a Chromebook is broken and needs repair.
Thank you so much for all that you do!
-Rashmi & George
Join us for Morning Announcements at 8:20am (NEW LINK)
- Pledge
- Lowell Pledge
- Thought for the Day
- Start of Virtual Learning Pep Talk
Please click the link below:
https://zoom.us/j/94335348882?pwd=aEtEUTZJS1R2SGg3SWtubHhnc05uQT09
Parent Resources
CHANGE IN SCHEDULE FOR MR. SPANO AND MR. SKAIFE
Due to the Memorial Day holiday, Mr. Spano and Mr. Skaife will be holding our Zoom on Thursday, the 28th, at 2:00 pm. Also, Mr. Spano will be seeing his instrument students on Thursday at 3 pm.
A Message from Mr. Skaife and Mr. Spano
Hello Everyone,
Mr. Skaife and I will be holding live, multi-grade Zoom sessions together starting next Monday. The sessions will be bi-weekly, alternating between Grades 3-5, and Grades Kindergarten-2. Please note that our next meeting for grades 3-5 will be on Thursday next week due to the Memorial Day holiday.
Mr. Spano:
anthony.spano@watertown.k12.ma.us
Mr. Skaife:
kurtis.skaife@watertown.k12.ma.us
Thursday, May 28th, 2:00pm
Password: musicart
Monday, June 1st, 2:00pm
Password: musicart
Instrument Lesson Zoom Meetings:
Mondays from 3:00-3:30pm
- Mr. Spano's students
- Ms. Schneider's students
- Mr. Boynton's students
- Ms. Byham's students
- *Ms. Slesinger's students (Mondays from 2:30 - 3:00pm)
- *Mr. Jordan's students (Tuesdays from 3:00 - 3:30pm)
Message from Ms. Donahue and Ms. Loguidice
For the next two weeks, the P.E. lessons are as follows:
Also, due to Memorial Day, there will be NO ZOOM classes on Monday, May 25, 2020
Continue to stay active and healthy!
Eileen Donahue eileen.donahue@watertown.k12.ma.us
Tina Loguidice tina.loguidice@watertown.k12.ma.us
When: Thursday, May 28, 2020 at 2:00pm
Who: Grades K-2
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82252918447?pwd=RXlzYS8ralFNbmFVWElIQ2ZNY3Uwdz09&status=success
password: PE
Lunchtime Library Read Aloud with Ms. McCollum
Kelly McCollum is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
This is a drop-in event each Wednesday @ 12:00 PM
Topic: Hats Off!
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/4742415813?pwd=THJuSFZlMS92ZHpyM3JyN0lQVVU0UT09
Meeting ID: 474 241 5813
Password: 5w5fka
Student Support Team Newsletter
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U0BpDKjfMNzJIRvVKlM_E4YST4FdyluSyksRY_bVd78/edit
Principal's Coffee Over Zoom Friday, May 29, 2020
Friday, May 29th. 8:30 -9:00 am
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/216424590?pwd=c3k5L2NtcXcrbGt1WnhMUUlMNHJUQT09
Meeting ID: 216 424 590
Password: 853764
Families not Returing to Lowell for 2020-2021 School Year
Parents of students in grades PreK - 4th grade,
If you are planning to move out of Watertown or the Lowell School District, please complete the form below as soon as possible. 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 click the form here.
Calling All Musicians!!!
Corona may be keeping us apart but it isn't keeping us silent. The music lives within us, bringing us laughter, joy, strength and solace. The Watertown Public Schools Fine, Applied and Performing Arts Department, in collaboration with Friends of Watertown Music, invites all Watertown musicians, students, teachers, families, and community members to join us in a musical celebration.
If you would like to be part of the first ever Virtual MusicFest, please use this form to submit a video of yourself performing. By submitting a video, you are giving permission for this video to be posted on the internet via our soon-to-be-created Virtual MusicFest website and various social media platforms.
You will need a gmail email address to fill out this form. If you do not have one and are unable to acquire one, please contact anthony.spano@watertown.k12.ma.us for an alternative way to be part of Virtual MusicFest. We will figure out how to include you if you want to be part of our celebration of music!
By submitting a video, you are giving permission for this video to be posted on the internet via our soon-to-be-created Virtual MusicFest website and various social media platforms.
Submission Deadline: May 27th
The deadline for video submissions is next Wednesday, the 27th.
Let's spread the joy of music beyond our homes and share it throughout our community!