In today's Connection:

• Mr. Mela's Message
• Dates to Remember
• Winter Holiday Recess
• A Message to 8th Grade Families about Technical/Vocational High Schools
• Interested in Substituting as a School Nurse?
• A Message from the ECMS Health Office
  
• Medical Supplies Collection Drive for Families in Need in the Dominican Republic
• Hat Day ~ December 23
• Curtis Is Going to Washington in 144 Days!
  
• ECMS Private School Application Procedures and Guidelines
• Curtis Schedule
  
• Lunch Menu for the Week of 12/12-12/16
• Kickoff to Kindergarten 2023
• ACE Awards Deadline December 16
• Calling All Bakers!
• CPO News
• Contact Us
  

Dear Families,

Every year, staff and families contribute to “Curtis Cares,” a program designed to help Curtis families who are experiencing financial difficulties. We have been able to give back and help many families with necessary items such as groceries, winter clothing, holiday expenses, and gas. In the past, Curtis families have always responded generously and it has been greatly appreciated.

Curtis Cares is again seeking gift card donations of any amount. Gift cards to the following stores are most helpful:

• Target

• Amazon

• Walmart

• TJ Maxx/Marshalls

• Grocery stores (Market Basket, Shaw’s, Stop & Shop, Sudbury Farms)

• Gas cards

Gift card donations can be dropped off in the Curtis front office (no cash or checks, please). We would appreciate any gift card donations by Monday, December 12th so we have adequate time to distribute them.

Please email Emily Ambeau, School Adjustment Counselor or you may call her at 978-443-1071 ext. 7201 with any questions or if your family would benefit from help through the Curtis Cares Gift Card Fund. You may also contact your child’s school counselor with questions or to request assistance. All inquiries and gift card distributions are kept confidential.

Terry Miller, 6th grade counselor x7513

Jenn Hymes, 7th grade counselor x7512

Ivar Henningson, 8th grade counselor x7510

Now more than ever families need our help! Please drop gift cards off in the Front Office by Monday, December 12th.

Thank you,

Jeff

Wednesday, December 14 - 12:45 Early Release; 7:30 pm Mandatory Parent Meeting for Cast & Crew, Auditorium

December 26 - December 30 - No School: Winter Break

Monday, January 2 - No School: New Years Day Observed

Wednesday, January 11 - 12:45 Early Release

Monday, January 16 - No School: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Wednesday, January 25 - No School: Professional Development Day for Staff

If your family will be traveling for the holiday and your child will miss any school, please call into our absence line at any time -- 978-443-1071, press 1. We must receive a phone call from a parent/guardian in order to verify an absence.

If your child is interested in applying to a technical school for high school, please reach out to Mr. Henningson, the 8th grade counselor, so that he can help you to explore options and help you with the process. Many application deadlines are in January, so please reach out to Mr. Henningson soon for next steps and we can begin the application process.

Ivar Henningson, 8th Grade School Counselor

(978) 443-1071 ext. 7511

Dear Families,

Are you a nurse or do you know a nurse who may be interested in school nursing? Our dynamic SPS nursing team is looking to increase our nursing substitute pool and would love to have you join us. If you are interested, please apply here! Want more information or have some questions? Please contact Nurse Leader, Carol Bradford to find out more about this very rewarding position.

Thank you!

carol_bradford@sudbury.k12.ma.us

978-443-1085 ext 6005

While we have seen minimal influenza activity in town to date, there is now widespread flu activity across the country, especially in the South.

What can you do to stop the flu?

1. Get vaccinated! It is not too late to get your seasonal flu vaccination! While the vaccine begins to create an immune response immediately after receiving the vaccine, peak effect is about two weeks post vaccination. Get your vaccine now to be fully protected. Pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens offer vaccination, as do most physicians offices. A flu vaccine may not completely prevent you from contracting the flu but will often minimize symptoms and hospitalization
2. Know the symptoms of the flu! This graphic helps distinguish flu from the common cold:

3. Practice good hygiene! Encourage covering a cough or sneeze with a tissue or using your “cough catcher” (sneezing/coughing into your elbow). Perform hand hygiene by sanitizing or washing with soap and water after coughing/sneezing, before and after eating and after using the restroom.

4. Stay home when sick! SPS illness policy requires students to remain out of school for 24 hours after a fever (defined as a temperature >100.4) without the use of fever reducing medications and for 24 hours after the resolution of vomiting or diarrhea and tolerating a normal diet. If you’re in doubt, keep them out! Illnesses spread rapidly through schools in the colder months. If your child isn’t feeling well enough to learn they should remain at home until they are feeling better. If they are diagnosed with influenza they must remain out of school until 24 hours fever free and symptom improvement. As we know, COVID 19 is still also circulating and the isolation guidelines remain. Contact the health office for guidance if your student tests positive.

Please help us keep our schools healthy for all students. Thank you and stay healthy!

Curtis is hosting a medical supplies collection drive to support the organization 7Elements, which helps to provide medical care to families in need in the Dominican Republic. The drive has been organized by a Curtis Angels alumnus with help from the current Curtis Angels. The drive will run through December 21st. We are asking for donations of vitamins, iron supplements, calcium supplements, eye and ear drops, Pepto Bismol, ibuprofen and Tylenol. A collection box will be located in the main lobby. Please contact Curtis Angels Advisor Ivar Henningson if you have questions about the drive. Thank you for your support.

There will be a Spirit Day fundraiser on Friday, December 23rd. It’s Hat Day! For a $2 donation, students may wear a hat during the school day. All proceeds will go to the D.C. Supply Fund. Get creative and have fun!

Registration closes in 63 days

Reminder to 8th grade families: To register your 8th grader for the civics trip, go to Worldstrides AND Family ID.

To seek financial aid, use the D.C. Scholarship Request Form. Scholarship requests are due Jan. 1st.

For other information and links, please visit the ECMS D.C. Website.

*If you know your child will NOT attend this trip, please email Lauren Egizio.

If your child is applying to private school, please contact your child’s grade level school counselor so that we can help facilitate the process. To ensure that this process is efficient and expedient, please follow these guidelines:

• Prior to submitting any forms (electronically or on paper), please ensure that your child contacts their teachers and the counselor to ask for their recommendation.

• Most schools are using on-line platforms for applications and recommendations. Please notify the grade counselor which schools your child is applying to and the platforms that these schools use.

• If the applications require paper forms, they should be dropped off at the ECMS main office to the attention of the grade level counselor. Please do not send any paper recommendation forms directly to teachers; the grade level counselor will distribute these to teachers.

• In order to send records and recommendations to the private school, we must have a signed release from a parent or guardian. This is usually provided with the private school application form or may be part of the on-line platform.

• We request that you submit all forms as early as possible to allow teachers and counselors ample time to complete recommendations. Please be aware of the following timeline for submitting forms to the grade level counselor:

By December 1, 2022 for a January 1, 2023 deadline
By December 15, 2022 for a January 15, 2023 deadline
By January 3, 2023 for a February 1, 2023 deadline

• In early spring after you have heard from the school’s admissions department, please contact the grade level counselor to inform us of the application outcome and private school decisions for your child.

• Please direct any questions about the status of recommendations to the following counselors.

Procedure for applications requiring direct mail:

• Include a large (10 x 13) stamped standard mailing envelope for each school with the forms, so that we are able to mail them out quickly when the applications are complete.

• On each mailing envelope, include a postage amount of $2.94.

• Print the specific name and address to whom we are directing the application.

• Leave the return address blank as we will fill this in indicating that the materials came from Curtis.

- Terry Miller, Grade 6 ext. 7513

- Jennifer Hymes, Grade 7 ext. 7512

- Ivar Henningson, Grade 8 ext. 7511

Thank you very much for your assistance and cooperation with this private school application process.

ECMS Counseling Department

Please click here to view the SPS 2022-2023 School Calendar.

Please click here to see the complete Curtis schedule for this school year.

Would you like to recognize an exceptional educator who has made an impact on your child this year? ACE Awards are a meaningful way for families to contribute to Sudbury’s schools while showing appreciation for teachers and staff at their child(ren)’s school.

Funds raised from the purchase of ACE Awards are reinvested in the schools in the form of SERF grants, which allow Sudbury educators to bring innovative ideas for engaging students to life! Order by Dec 16, and your ACE Award recipient will receive a certificate customized with your words of appreciation in time for the holidays!

https://serfsudbury.org/ace-awards/

Holiday Bakers Needed for the ECMS Staff Holiday Cookie Sampler on Wednesday, December 14th!

Please contribute a batch of your family's favorite holiday cookies or other festive homemade treats. We need approximately 120 bakers to make this event a success! Non-baking volunteers also needed, please check out our signup genius HERE

Questions? Contact jgreermorrissey@gmail.com.

Book Fair - Thank you!

The Book Fair is officially closed. Thanks to all who shopped and supported our school library with purchases. We earned over $2,000 to be spent on books and materials for the library at Curtis. A special thank you to the Book Fair Chairs—Jessica Moore and Surene Pretorius, as well as all of the parents that volunteered to help run the fair.

Curtis Directory

You can still purchase online access to the Curtis directory and make a donation to

Direct Appeal in one easy step. Online access for the directory is $10 and you will

have access right after you place your order. Visit this link to get Directory access

today !

Direct Appeal

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to the CPO to help support Curtis’ cultural, creative, and educational programming. The CPO supports a variety of programs and initiatives, including cultural enrichment, the 1:1 computing program, the Curtis Messenger newsletter, student scholarships, student social events, technology, end-of-year activities, classroom curriculum aids for teachers, UA supplies, recess equipment, uniforms for school sports teams, library furniture, the student counseling department, the tile project in the school hallways, outdoor beautification projects, and much more. These are all important additions to the Curtis community and they truly improve the students’ experience at Curtis Middle School. This is all possible because of the generosity of the Curtis parent community.

We suggest a $75 donation—but no donation is too small—and all are appreciated! Also, please check if your company offers a matching donation. Click here to donate.

Please note that donation acknowledgment letters will be provided by request only. If you require a letter for tax purposes, please email a request to cpotreasurer@gmail.com.

(You can also make a donation when you order your directory!)

Lost & Found

Please remind your student to check the Lost & Found in the cafeteria for missing items. There are a lot of clothes, shoes, bags and water bottles and other items that need to go back home. On our Facebook page you can find a recent post with videos/photos of items in the Lost & Found. It is important to note that there are multiple sizes of several items, so please check before taking what is yours.

CPO Facebook Page

The CPO Facebook is a great resource to get information and ask questions. Please remember to answer the required questions to be approved. This is important for us to keep the membership contained to Curtis families.

Curtis Gear

The Curtis online store is now open with lots of Curtis spirit wear and gear, including clothing, hats, bags, and more!

8th Grade Events and Washington DC Trip: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We are still looking for volunteers to form a team to help with various aspects of the DC trip.

Additionally, we need a team of parent volunteers to start planning the 8th Grade events including the end of the year Social.

Please reach out to the 8th Grade Co-Chair Nalini Luthra via email nluthra647@aol.com if you would like more information or sign up to help.

Learning ~ Respect ~ Responsibliity

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