The Mustang Minute
March 1, 2024- Issue 23
March Madness is Here!
March can be one of the longest months of the school year, so we try to add a little fun as we dig into MCAS preparation. This year we have three activities designed to add some fun an excitement to the last days of winter!
The Second Annual Tyler Lawrence Basketball Tournament
In remembrance of Tyler and his love of Basketball, we will once again hold our basketball tournament. We have over 30 teams competing! This will occur during Mustang Blocks during the month of May. All proceeds will be donated to fund scholarships for the Grade 8 Washington DC Trip.
World Language Week
Next Week is World Language week. Our World Language Teachers have designed many activities and events for us t celebrate the languages we are learning at CMS as well as the many cultures and languages present in our community. Don't miss Cultural Night at NHS on Thursday, March 7th from 6-8:00pm
Rock-Paper Scissors Tournament
In an effort to curb those February to April Break Blues we are having a Schoolwide Rock Paper Scissor War Tuesday March 12th- Thursday March 14th. Next week the rules will be explained to all students in preparation for the contest!
Parent Pick Up/Drop Off
A reminder that all parent drop off and pick up traffic should occur at the South entrance to the Coakley Middle School. This is entrance closest to Walpole that takes you next to the Auditorium. For drop off please use the parent drop off lane - pulling as far forward as possible to allow the largest number of cars to enter the lane. When exiting please follow the traffic pattern into the parking lot. For pick up please park in a spot in the lot nearest the auditorium.. We ask that you do not park along the lanes as this can block traffic and driver site lines, creating an unsafe situation for children crossing.
No parent access or drop off is allowed in the north entrance, closest to the Hawes pool between 7:30-9:30 and 3:00-5:00. This lane is for buses and staff parking only.
Winter Intramurals! Deadline Extended!!
The 3rd session of intramurals will be Dodgeball on Mondays/Tuesday, and Basketball on Wednesdays/Thursdays. Both will be after school in the gym before the late bus beginning the week of March 4th running until April 12th. Permission slips are located in the main office or outside of guidance, and the cost is $40 per sport. A permission slip has been attached to this newsletter. Slips and money are due Monday, March 4th! SPACE IS LIMITED. Any questions, please see Mr. Bell in room 101.
PTO Needs Your Help!
New Treasurer needed for the 2024-2025 School Year. If interested, please email coakleynorwoodPTO@gmail.com . We would have you start in May of 2024 to work with the current treasurer and transition to the new year.
CodeIT
CodeIt is one of MIT’s Middle School Outreach Programs, and it gives an introduction to Computer Science to girls or nonbinary students in grades 6-8. The program's curriculum is led in Scratch by experienced MIT undergraduate students and targeted at middle school girls and non-binary students with little to no prior experience with coding. They will be hosting their 6-week program in person at MIT in Cambridge, MA on Sundays 3/10, 3/17, 3/31, 4/7, 4/14, 4/21 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Free lunch will be provided and need based T passes are available.
The application can be found at http://tinyurl.com/codeitspring24. The deadline to apply is 3/1, and students will be notified of admissions decisions by 3/2. More information can be found on their website at http://codeit.mit.edu/ and questions can be addressed to codeit-exec@mit.edu.
Spring Picture Day
Picture Day is coming on March 12th! Lifetouch School Photography, known for capturing school pictures from K-12 nationwide, will take our school photos this year. For more information about Picture Day, visit: https://schools.lifetouch.com/for-your-families/
Picture Day ID: EVTGKG4DQ
Washington DC Scholarship Partners
Each week we will highlight one of our DC scholarship fund sponsors!
Thank you to the many individual members of the Town Leadership for sponsoring a student! This includes members of the Board of Selectmen, Finance Department, and many Norwood community members! The scholarship program is funding 14 students on the Washington DC trip. Students receive a scholarship of varying amounts and provide 10 hours of community service.
No School and Early Release Days
Early release: March 7th
No School (Good Friday): March 29th
MCAS Dates
ELA MCAS: April 3&4
Math MCAS: May 7&8
Civics MCAS: May 14th (Grade 8 Only)
SCI MCAS: May 15 & 16 (Grade 8 Only)
Grade 8 Events
Washington DC: May 28-31st
Grade 8 Dance: June 7th
Grade 8 Promotion: June 14th
Canobie Lake Park: June 17th
Yearbook Request!
Dearest 8th grade parents and guardians, please send us photos of your child and their friends from over the years to put into the blast from the past section of the 8th grade yearbook! Please send it with your child’s name (first and last), age (when the photo was taken), and current team color. It’s a fantastic way to embarrass your little bundles of joy! We know you’ve been waiting to leak these pictures and end their social lives, and this is a great way to do just that! All jokes aside, please send us these photos of your child and friends from when they were younger by February 15th to cmsyearbook@norwood.k12.ma.us. Thank you and Much love, Yearbook club 2023-2024
The PTO Needs You!
Coakley PTO
The PTO is a parent/teacher organization that helps fund a variety of activities at CMS from assemblies, to field trips, to classroom projects and more. We would love for everyone to be a part of the PTO!
New Treasurer needed for the 2024-2025 School Year. If interested, please email coakleynorwoodPTO@gmail.com . We would have you start in May of 2024 to work with the current treasurer and transition to the new year.
PTO meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm both virtually and in person. The dates are listed below a link to the meeting online is sent out the day of the meeting.
Next Meeting: March 26th
April 23rd
May 28th
June 18th
Please email coakleynorwoodPTO@gmail.com or mfraczek@norwood.k12.ma.us if you are interested in volunteering or being a part of the PTO!
Notes from February Meeting
Coakley Middle School PTO
2/27/2024
Google Meet
Members in attendance
Ryan R.
Viviana O.
Kathleen G.
Allison M.
Alisa K.
Sleiman A.
SB Consulting
Guests in attendance/contact info
Margo Fraczek, CMS Principal, mfraczek@norwood.k12.ma.us
Eileen Siegel, CMS Teacher, esiegel@norwood.k12.ma.us
AGENDA
Principal Update
Myth Masters Recap!
Performance for 6th grade- funny and entertaining
MCAS Season!
Teacher training took place
8th grade has additional test- piloting Civics (2 days)
All dates in Mustang Minute
Infrastructure trial Thursday, March 7th (early release)- checking technology, using tools
Volunteers
Watch bathrooms, Sam will update sign up genius from last year
Celebration Post MCAS (ice cream/popsicles)- encouraging students to do their best (about $600 from food services), Margo will get quote to be voted on at next meeting
Coakley Connects summer program- Ms. Siegel is coordinator
At NHS (due to construction)
Focused on 5th into 6th but also open to 6th into 7th
Info going out to elementary schools this week
Summer reading, hands on math and science- project based- can choose 2 weeks or 4 weeks
DC Trip
Started a parent group on Parent Square
Setting up both student in school meeting and parent/student meeting outside of school (there will be another meeting shortly before the trip)
Grade 8 Events Meeting - Tomorrow Night Virtual
Margo will send out link
Can PTO pay for 8th grade T shirts? PTO paid full amount last year ($2250- all students), Margo will get quote and we will vote at next meeting
World Language Night at NHS - March 7th
Displays
Food
Anti- Vaping Presentation March 21st for all grades
Sponsored by Nursing Staff (Jill Driscoll is coordinator)
NJHS Applications are out for 7th and 8th graders
Due Friday March 8th
If you are unsure if your student is eligible, email Dr. Fraczek, Ms. Arone, or your child’s guidance counselor
Teacher Update
Tyler Lawrence Memorial Basketball Tournament
38 teams signed up, money to be used for scholarships for DC
6th grade- hoping to attend Auschwitz Exhibit coming to Boston (ties in with content: ELA classes read Daniel’s Story about Holocaust)
Can PTO help pay entrance fee? ($15 per student), chaperones also need to purchase tickets, Ms. Siegel will get quote and make formal request at next month’s meeting, hoping students will only have to pay for bus
June 5th- 6th grade will have presentation with Holocaust survivor
Treasurer’s Update-
Incoming money (fundraising)
PTO Dues - $0
Dine Out - $0
Box Tops - $45.30
DC Donations - No new donations
No fuss - $50 in Jan, $540 Feb.
Fudge - Deposited $1140 + $1114.34 via Venmo.
8th Grade Dance - $575
Outgoing money (budget requests/payments)
Passthrough - Checks for DC - $400 - 2 scholarships
PTO Funds
Bank Balance as of 2/15 = $12,273.47
Outgoing = -$7777.50 (Scholarships for DC($6787.50), Arts for Learning MA($540) & DJ for Dance - $450)
Funds Available = $4,495.97
Board Member/PTO Member Updates
Dine Outs- March 7th at Comella’s (½ day), Duck Donuts and Jake and Joes on Tuesday March 19th, also- PTO will pick up 20 dozen Duck Donuts at 4:30 on May 9th to sell at 5th grade step up night, April 30th for Chateau
Big Y Community Bag Program- Route 1 in Walpole, fundraiser is all set up and ready to go, customer pays $2.50 for reusable bag and $1 goes to school (for month of March)
Teen Fun Nights revisited- Ms. Siegel will send out staff survey to gauge availability for chaperones, do on a Thursday instead of a Friday? 5-7 pm?
Teacher Appreciation May 6th to May 10th (last year- breakfast from Costco, stock teacher’s lounge with treats, candy bar), Sam will create sign up genius for treats and candy, last year Dr. Fraczek raffled a cooler and gave all the teacher flair pens, suggestion- have breakfast on Thursday in case of leftovers
Margo reached out to yearbook advisers re: fundraising needs
Fudge feedback- maybe do closer to end of year next time? (or around a holiday?), not a lot of kids ordered, made about $1000, easy on PTO end
Other fundraiser ideas?- Sam will reach out to Lexa at NHS and Mandy at Oldham, Winner Wheel? Cash calendar? (Margo will put Rhini and Alisa in touch to discuss further), Margo can help at school with collections, Venmo helps too, submit via Google Form, make prizes smaller amounts to ensure school is making money?, gift cards could be prizes too, get prizes donated?
Rhini- will send grant info this week
Teacher of the year applications- will be included in Mustang Minute and Parent square, $1000 awarded to winning teacher to be used for supplies/classroom and $1000 to be used for his/her school
Dr. Margo Fraczek
Email: mfraczek@norwood.k12.ma.us
Website: https://sites.google.com/norwood.k12.ma.us/cms-principal/home
Phone: 781-762-7880
Facebook: facebook.com/CoakleyMIddleSchoolPTO
Twitter: @mfraczek