MPS Summer Update
August 2, 2023
A Note from Dr. Burrows
It has been wonderful to get started officially this summer! Throughout the past month, I have been taking time to begin the first phase of my entry plan, which involves making connections and learning more about our schools and community. I feel fortunate to have been here many days this past spring, which has helped as I lean into deeper analysis of our systems and structures in Milton.
Summer in school administration involves much forward planning, and I've been meeting with Milton leadership to gauge what's in place for the coming academic year. A big part of the work this year will involve bringing greater coherence across Milton schools, and I'm excited to work with our School Committee, students, staff, parents, guardians, and community to set a course that truly impacts student outcomes and opportunities.
Enjoy the rest of the summer, and I look forward to welcoming everyone back soon (but not too soon)!
With gratitude,
Peter
What's Inside?
📚MPS Summer Academics
☀️Summertime Stories
✅Staff Updates
😎MPS Summer Programs
🎭Les Miserables at MHS
🩺Nursing Updates
🖥️PowerSchool Comes to MPS
🎶MPS Instrumental Music Lessons
👟MHS Fall Sports Tryouts
➡️Milton Health Department Survey
🗓️Save the Date
😀Who's Who at MPS
MPS Summer Academics
Milton High School: Looking for a good book for some summer reading? Check out the MHS suggested Summer Reading list here. All students enrolled in AP courses for the 2023-2024 school year met with teachers and have been told course expectations, including required summer work. Students enrolled in AP courses have joined course-specific Google classrooms to access required work to prepare for the 2023-2024 school year.
Pierce Middle School: Creating a school-wide culture of literacy continues to be a priority for the faculty, staff, and administration at Pierce Middle School. Summer is the perfect time to find books and texts to read for pleasure. The resources and lists below are meant to be a starting point to help you select books that match your interests and include a variety of titles across many genres, levels, lengths, and platforms. The goal of this summer’s reading assignment is to engage all students in meaningful literacy experiences while providing student choice. All details on Pierce Summer reading can be found here.
Elementary Summer Reading: The Summer Reading Challenge is an on-your-own, do-it-anywhere, totally FREE reading program for kids in rising grades K-6. Participants read any books they want, track how many minutes they read, and enter their minutes read on our website. This year’s theme is Find Your Voice! All details are here and check out the summer reading video here – you’ll see many familiar faces! All details are here, and sign up at this link. Have questions? Please email struog@ocln.org or call the Milton Public Library’s Children’s Room at 617-898-4957. Happy reading!
Summertime Stories
We've had two wonderful Summertime Stories sessions and have two more to come in August!
Kids up to age 6, along with their caregiver, are invited for stories and songs with Ms. Sara from the Milton Public Library. Incoming Kindergarten students are invited to wear their "I'm going to Kindergarten" t-shirt to meet other friends who will also be heading off to Kindergarten in the fall.
Bring a blanket and join us at Cunningham Park on August 10 and the Tucker Playground on August 24. All sessions take place from 10:00-10:30am. Thanks to our partners at the Milton Public Library and Milton Early Childhood Alliance for bringing Summertime Stories to our community.
Staff Updates
We are pleased to announce that Zakia Jarrett has been appointed as the district's Interim Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Ms. Jarrett is a long time Pierce Middle School ELA educator and has been an active participant in the district's equity work over the last several years. Ms. Jarrett has officially started in her new role and has been working closely with Dr. Burrows and the central office leadership team this summer. A formal search for a permanent director of DEIB will take place during the school year.
Please join us in congratulating Zakia Jarrett and wishing her all the best in her new role!
MPS Summer Programs
Milton Summer Enrichment
Students at Milton Summer Enrichment just wrapped up a fantastic month of classes, and have enjoyed a summer filled with exciting games, activities, and projects. Our PreK-8 students have been having a great time and working hard with our talented staff, who have been teaching a wide-variety of subjects, including Tennis, Engineering is for Everyone, Mad Science, and Yoga. Our students in the Beyond the Bell program worked to keep their skills sharp on ELA, FLA, and Math this summer while still having fun with friends!
A huge thank you to all the MSE and Beyond the Bell staff, Red Shirts, students, and families for making this outstanding summer possible!
MHS Bridge Program
MHS incoming 9th graders in the Bridge Program have been focusing on summer reading and math work, mixing in activities like Kahoot and other games. Our rising ninth graders are preparing for their experience at Milton High School, becoming familiar with our student handbook, class schedule, graduation requirements, and meeting staff members in the building. We are excited to officially welcome them to MHS as 9th graders at the end of the month!
Camp Cunningham
The summer has been flying by at Camp Cunningham, a licensed, full-day camp headquartered out of Cunningham Elementary School! Our amazing counselors and staff are all trained in First Aid, CPR, and lockdown procedures, and providing a varied, fun, and safe environment to all campers is our priority.
Each day at Camp Cunningham is packed with fun activities in art, cooking, STEAM, arts and crafts, and sports. Milton Community Schools, which operates Camp Cunningham, teams with Milton Public Library and Cunningham Pond to provide campers with weekly literacy lessons and daily swimming time. We even sneak in some summer reading time!
Special activities and events include African Drumming with Jafar Manselle, fire safety demonstrations from Milton Fire Department, and fun performances from Mike the Bubbleman, Robb the Magician, and the Inventor Mentor. Weekly optional field trips have visited the Movie Theater, Launch Trampoline, Ward’s Berry Farm, and Plymouth Harbor Ice Cream Cruises.
We are looking forward to more fun this month at Camp Cunningham!
ESY - Extended School Year
ESY students are engaged in many different activities this summer that make learning enjoyable and ESY staff are incorporating breaks outside to keep students energized and motivated throughout the morning. Despite some early challenges, students are working hard and making great progress while having fun. Thank you to our ESY families and staff for their collaboration and support. We are all hopeful that this beautiful weather continues for the final week of ESY!
The Calculus Project
The MPS Calculus Project held its 10th mathematics enrichment program this summer. The program was attended by over 70 MPS students from grades 8 through 12. The mission of The Calculus Project at the Milton Public Schools is to increase the representation of Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, People of Color, and low-income students in advanced mathematics. The summer enrichment courses are used by students to maintain their standing in honors level courses or to make the move to the honors or the advanced placement level.
Students participated in DEILAB, a design, engineering, and innovation lab where they build and compete with robots. We are proud of the hard work that our students have put in this summer and look forward to seeing them continue to succeed in the future!
Thank you to Ms. Harris, Ms. Pursuit, Ms. Feeley, Mrs. Raymond, Mr. McCready, Mr. Selig, and Ms. Ritten, and our teaching assistants Jayden Boyer, Tale Odion-Ukpebor, and Raiana Sumpter for working with our students this summer.
Les Miserables at MHS
The Creative Team behind Mamma Mia and Beauty and the Beast present Les Miserables starring Milton High School Theatre performers!
Featuring a live orchestra of students and educators from Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory, Boston University, and Lawrence University, as well as MHS graduating senior Claudia O’Neill and MHS Alum Max Hollinsgworth-Hays.
Starring Milton's Eilie Boylan, Mairead Brien, Brenna Brien, Amelia Cardoza, Greta Cardoza, Kylie Chamberlin, Liam Corey, Owen Creamer, Ruby Dolgon, Caroline Duffy, Celia Frank-McKnight, Malcolm Frank-McKnight, Lucy Hollingsworth-Hays, Elisa Ketler, Julia Mangum, Lily Nolan, Maggie O'Connor, Ronan O'Connor, Lily Muir, Quinn Murphy, Owen Quirion, June Padera, Roman Padera, Ariel Phong, Noel Vega & Alicia Wong.
Don’t miss this unforgettable story told by the South Shore’s finest young artists! Performances will take place at Milton High School Auditorium on August 4th and 5th at 7pm and August 6th at 2pm.
Nursing Updates
All students should have up to date immunizations prior to attending school.
- All incoming 4th, 7th, and 11th grade students are required to submit a new physical exam with up to date immunizations.
- 7th graders should have an updated Tdap and Meningococcal vaccine along with their physical exam that includes a vision screen and scoliosis screen.
- 11th graders should have an updated Meningococcal vaccine along with their physical exam.
All updated physicals should be sent to healthforms@miltonps.org and the subject line should include your student’s name and grade. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
PowerSchool Comes to MPS
Milton Public Schools has officially made the switch from Rediker to the PowerSchool Suite. The PowerSchool Family portal will be replacing Rediker’s PlusPortal. The PowerSchool Family Portal is where families will go to view information on your student's class(es).
At the end of August, information will be shared with families on how to create their PowerSchool Portal account. You will receive the credentials needed to link your account with your student(s), and a link to the PowerSchool Family Google Site. The site will contain tutorials and information to get you started in PowerSchools and in mid-September, we will offer live in-person support sessions. Please be on the lookout for more information in August.
MPS Instrumental Music Lessons
Come be a part of the Milton Instrumental Applied Lesson Program! Students entering 4th grade and above may participate in the ALP program. All information for the program can be found here: ALP At A Glance.
If your student is interested in taking lessons, please fill out the form here: ALP Interest Form. After filling out the ALP Interest Form, an instructor will contact you at the end of August to set up lessons. Please reach out to program director Rebecca Damiani with any questions rdamiani@miltonps.org
MHS Fall Sports Tryouts
The fall athletic season will be here soon! Listed in this document are the first three days of tryouts for MHS teams. Future dates and times will be communicated by individual coaches and dates are subject to change. Students are required to attend ALL listed sessions unless otherwise directed by the coach and missed sessions may impact a student’s chances of making a team. All students intending to sign up for fall sports must be registered by Friday, August 18th. Registration info can be found here. Let's go, Wildcats!
Milton Health Department Survey
The Milton Health Department is conducting its first Community Health Survey to find out more about the health and well-being of Milton adult residents (18 and over). The survey linked here is quick and anonymous and they appreciate residents taking the time to respond.
Save the Date
Aug 22 Pierce New to MPS Family Night, Grades 6-8 6:30 pm
Aug 28 Teachers & Staff Return
Aug 28 MHS New Student Orientation 3:00-5:00 pm
Aug 29 Pierce Grade 6 Family Night 6:30 pm
Aug 30 1st Day of School Grades 1-12
Sept 1 No School Labor Day Weekend
Sept 4 No School Labor Day Weekend
Sept 5 1st Day of School Preschool and K
Sept 7 Pierce Open House
Sept 11 Applied Music Lesson Reg Night
Sept 13 Tucker Open House
Sept 20 MHS Open House (note new date)
Sept 21 Glover Open House
Sept 21 Collicot Open House
Sept 22 Early Dismissal for Students
Sept 25 No School Yom Kippur
Sept 28 Cunningham Open House
Who's Who at MPS
Superintendent, Dr. Peter Burrows - 617-696-4808, pburrows@miltonps.org
Asst. Supt of Curriculum & HR, Dr. Garth McKinney - 617-696-4811, gmckinney@miltonps.org
Asst. Superintendent of Business, Dr. Glenn Pavlicek - 617-696-5041, gpavlicek@miltonps.org
Special Education Director, Danielle Wetmore - 617-696-5040 ext 5572, dwetmore@miltonps.org
Transportation Coordinator, Kim Golden - 617-696-5040 ext 5510, bus@miltonps.org
Milton Community Schools Director, Martha Sandoval - 617-696-5040 ext 5544, mcs@miltonps.org
Food Service Director, Natalia Perez - 617-696-4470 ext 5514, nperez@miltonps.org
Director of Nursing, Kim Coughlin - 617-696-4470 ext 5517, kacoughlin@miltonps.org
Athletic Director, Michael Bierwirth - 617-696-4470 ext 5515, mbierwirth@miltonps.org
Student Registrar, Sarina Burke - 617 696-5040 ext 5516, registration@miltonps.org
Family Outreach Liaison, Marti O'Keefe McKenna - 617-980-7343, mmckenna@miltonps.org