Highlights & Spotlights
September-October 2023
The school year is well underway and October and November will be very busy! Below are some calendar reminders.
Calendar Reminders - October
Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day
Schools and Offices are closed on Monday, October 9
LMHS Parent-Teacher Conferences
Wednesday, October 18 is an early released day for LMHS ONLY for afternoon parent-teacher conferences; evening parent teacher conferences are on Thursday, October 19. Look for additional information in upcoming LMHS family newsletters.
School Committee Meetings
Wednesday, October 4 @ 6:30pm - Town Hall (Hybrid via Zoom) -anticipated approval of Strategy Action Plans
Wednesday, October 18 @ 6:30pm -LMS Collaboration Room (Hybrid via Zoom) -anticipated approval of Bullying Prevention & Intervention Plan
PTO
Monday, October 2 is the next PTO meeting at 7pm at LMHS
Miles for Myles (LMHS Track Boosters)
Sunday, October 15
Homecoming & Float Parade
Saturday, October 21
Float Parade @ noon (departs from THES, moves up Oak Ave to the Town Center and returns to LMHS via Mass Ave.)
Football game @1pm
Class of 2024 Electronics Recycling Fundraiser
Saturday, October 28 from 9am-1pm
Trunk-or-Treat (sponsored by the Lunenburg Business Association)
Saturday, October 28 from 12-3pm in the LMHS upper parking lot
SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
Class Dojo comes to Lunenburg Primary
Class Dojo is being used schoolwide at Lunenburg Primary. So many families have joined the Primary's Class Dojo community and hope that will make communication better than ever!
Welcome Everyone!
As a school community we are working to make everyone feel welcome at our school. Flags from places around the world that represent the heritage of our school community are on display in the Primary School lobby.
Nature's Classroom
Turkey Hill Elementary 5th grade students left for Nature's Classroom on Tuesday, September 26 and returned Friday September 29.
5th Grade Teachers Mrs. Connery and Mr. Chartrand
Off We Go!
Arrival at Nature's Classroom
Annual Penny Wars at THES
This year the PTO sponsored the annual penny wars challenge at THES! Penny Wars raised $5483.27!
LHS Knights Learning Outside the Classroom
Mr. Pingsterhaus’ Environmental Science class collected macroinvertebrates at Marshall Pond to assess its water quality.
Astronomy teacher, Mr. Hill, hosted a Star Party on September 20th, full of great observations and discussions.
Earlier in the month, one of Mr. Stevenson’s Civic & Community Engagement classes met with Nancy Beach, the Director of the Lunenburg Food Pantry at TC Passios. Nancy showed the students where the food is stored, how it is sticker dated, and talked about volunteer opportunities.
This week the chair of the School Committee, Carol Archambault, came to speak to the Civic & Community Engagement class. She spoke about the duties of the School Committee and about running for election. Ms. Archambault related to the students how policy made by the School Committee can impact them.
Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS)
PBIS is a tiered system of supports for behavior. The month of September at Lunenburg Primary focused on Teamwork. October is all about Responsibility. We can’t wait to see all of our students focusing on being responsible around the school!
World Smile Day!
Staff and students at Turkey Hill Elementary and Primary Schools will be celebrating Worls Smile Day on Friday, October 6th!
THES staff and students are invited to wear a yellow or smile shirt on October 6th to celebrate. Students can also make their own smile shirts at home with a marker. On the 6th, we will have an assembly and sing and read The Ripple Book. We are asking students and staff to do random acts of kindness.
Homecoming & Float Parade!
Homecoming is October 21st. Cross your fingers that we break this pattern of rainy weekends and get a beautiful sunny day! Float Parade starts at 11:00, so come out early to claim a good spot on the parade route around the center of Town! The floats each year are amazing! This year the float theme is "seasons".
Our Blue Knights take the field against the West Boylston Lions at 1:00pm. The recently upgraded concession stand will be open under the operation of the Lunenburg MusicAiders (our Band Boosters). Grab some lunch at the game!
NEW! Artist in Residence Program
Members of our LHS faculty met with our new Artist in Residence, Rob “ProBlaK” Gibbs, to discuss how we can collaborate to enrich our students' experience with art. According to his website, Mr. Gibbs “is a visual artist and organizer who has transformed the cultural landscape of Boston through graffiti art since 1991.
“Growing up in Roxbury during the Hip-Hop Golden Age, ProBlak saw the power of graffiti as a form of self expression. Graffiti became a tool for him, and others in his community, to chronicle and immortalize their culture and history. For ProBlak, graffiti acts as a contemporary form of hieroglyphs, a way to document and pay homage to underserved, underhead communities in the city. His vision- to beautify the predominantly black and brown communities of Boston- is a driving force behind his artistic practice.”
More details on how Mr. Gibbs will be working with our young artists are coming soon. In the interim, you may visit his site to learn more about ProblaK and check out some of his works.
Rise and Shine
The LHS Art Department has collaborated with Smokestack Roasters to present: Rise and Shine
This is a small art show of coffee inspired work created by AP and Honors art students done over summer break. The show will be on display at Smokestack Roasters from September 27th until October 24th.
Smokestack Roasters
39 Mass Ave
Lunenburg, MA 01462
LHS Unified Basketball
The Luneburg Unified Basketball team is entering its fifth season! Team sports bring people together. Special Olympics Unified Sports® teams do that too, and much more. Half a million people worldwide take part in Unified Sports, breaking down stereotypes about people with various challenges in a really fun and engaging way. This sports program looks to unite and include all students in a semi-competitive, varsity sports experience to develop strong friendships and bonds with their teammates. A game schedule will be finalized and posted soon! We loved to have as many fans in the stands as possible. If you are interested in learning more about this program, please email Coach Todd Foster (tfoster@lunenburgschools.net).
LHS Student Project: Easel-y Scene
Olivia Swift, a STEP student (LHS intern program) with an interest in Art Curation, will be implementing a traveling art show called "Easel-y Scene," in which artwork will be presented on boards propped on an easel. The thought is to have student artwork viewed in community buildings around town. On Monday, Oct 2, easels will be set up at the Eagle House and the Public Library, with hopes for more buildings in the near future.
Electronic Recycling Fundraiser
Have an old printer, computer, DVD player, or cell phone that’s collecting dust? Don’t toss it! Keep toxic chemicals out of the landfill, and help out the Senior Class, just by decluttering! The LHS Class of 2024 is holding an Electronic Recycling fundraiser on campus on Saturday October 28 and Saturday November 4 from 9am - 1pm
DISTRICT UPDATES
Here are a few messages from various departments.
SnapChat Safety, from SRO, Officer McNamara
SnapChat is an extremely popular social media and messaging app in which messages are automatically deleted. Our School Resource Officer, Brad McNamara, would like to share the following information with parents whose children may use SnapChat. Snap has announced several new measures to better protect teens from unwanted contact, provide a more age-appropriate content experience, and are cracking down on accounts that try to market inappropriate content.
SnapChat’s message to parents about this initiative: http://parents.snapchat.com/
SnapChat’s ongoing YouTube series, “A Parent’s Guide to SnapChat”: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfaNTKSCGnEGUguiPVHOxSE_5UwHPPxj8
Curriculum Update from Annica Scott, Director of Teaching & Learning
Literacy K-5:
Teachers and support staff are working to make adjustments to practice in the second year of our new literacy curriculum. Please look for the Family Connections letter that is sent home with each module. Grade levels are currently in Module 2:
K There’s Only On Me! -The things we love to do. The languages we speak. Our names, bodies, families, and dreams. We’re different in so many ways, and different is awesome! In this module, children will explore what makes each of us one of a kind.
1st - My Family, My Community: Students seek to discover their place in the world. They begin their search by exploring how they fit within their family and their local community. It is important that they feel a sense of belonging to both. This module describes communities as special places to live. It explains how the people who live there, including family members, work together to make it better for everyone.
2nd - Look Around and Explore: When children hear the word explore, they may think about traveling great distances to faraway lands. However, children do not have to go far to explore. Stepping outside to observe the plants and animals in nature can provide opportunities for exploration. Exploration can also take place inside a good book! In this module, children will listen to and read texts that inspire them to look at the details in the world around them to learn new things.
3rd - Use Your Words -Students will work with a variety of texts and media that present them with information about the importance of words and how they are used to express ideas and feelings. A genre focus on letters and poetry provides students with opportunities to identify elements of poetry and figurative language. Students will also encounter memoir and fantasy to build knowledge across genres.
4th - Come to Your Senses - Students will work with a variety of texts and media that present them with information about the five senses. A genre focus on informational text provides students with opportunities to identify central ideas, text and graphic features, and media techniques. Students will also encounter a personal narrative and historical fiction to build knowledge across genres.
5th - What a Story- Students will work with a variety of texts and media that present them with different ways to tell a story. A genre focus on fiction provides students with opportunities to identify characters, setting, plot, and conflict. Students will also encounter poetry, myth, and fantasy/adventure to build knowledge across genres.
ELA 6-8
Grade 6-8 ELA classes have begun the pilot of our new high-quality Amplify curriculum. Visit the Amplify Caregiver Hub to view curriculum details including an overview of all grade level units and resources students can use at home.
Math K-5:
Both students and teachers are getting into the swing of our new math curriculum - HMH Into Math. The program offers many opportunities for students to discuss and share their ideas related to the topics, and to try different strategies for understanding what they are learning. Home-School Connections letters are sent out at the beginning of each module so families can support student learning at home. Watch for these letters from your child’s teacher as well as from the principals. We encourage all family members to support student learning in math by watching the videos, playing the games, and practicing math facts at home.
Students at all grade levels are currently working through the beginning modules of the curriculum.
Kindergarten: Module 3 - Matching & Counting Numbers to 5 Students will be learning how to identify greater, lesser, and equal groups of objects within 5, and compare the groups by counting and matching..
Grade 1: Module 2 - Subtraction Strategies
After completing work on addition strategies, students will now learn a variety of subtraction strategies, such as counting back, counting on, and using 10.
Grade 2: Module 2 - Equal Groups
Students are learning to identify even and odd numbers, write equations to represent even numbers, and how to represent equal groups through word problems and arrays.
Grade 3: Module 2 - Understand Multiplication Strategies Students will begin their work in memorizing math facts, while also discovering strategies to help them multiply 2s & 4s, 3s & 6s, and 5s & 10s.
Grade 4: Module 2 - Addition & Subtraction of Whole Numbers Students are reviewing the standard algorithm for adding and subtracting whole numbers, and assessing the reasonableness of their answers using estimates. This module includes working with the perimeter formula for rectangles.
Grade 5: Module 1 -Whole Number Place Value & Multiplication After completing a module on the Coordinate Plane and then attending Nature’s Classroom, students are now focusing in recognizing the 10-to-1 relationship among place value positions, using patterns and powers of 10 to multiply mentally by 10, 100, and 1000, and developing multiplication fluency with multi-digit numbers.
Math 6-8
Grade 6-8 math teachers are beginning the process of evaluating and selecting a new high-quality math program. New programs will be reviewed and piloted this school year, and a decision and purchase will be made by the spring. Full implementation of the new math curriculum will take place during the 24-25 school year. The district is pursuing state grants in order to defray the intial cost of these materials.
Special Services Update from Julianna Hanscom, Special Services Director
You can find information for the Lunenburg Parent Advisory Council Supporting All Learners group (PACSAL), our Regional PAC group, and their upcoming meetings for the year. PACSAL members are families whose children have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), 504 Plan, English Language Learners (ELL), or receiving Title I services, although other interested parties are encouraged to attend. Information on the meetings scheduled for 2023-2024 is below.
Special Services does have a page on the district’s website. It has information on all of our programs, including Title I, 504, McKinney-Vento, ELL, and so much more!
PACSAL Meetings for 2023-2024
This year PACSAL meetings will be via Zoom. Here are the dates, times, and link for all the meetings:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/78813215134?pwd=SkQrMXZ5ejltcURJSlc2S1FxZDRldz09
Meeting ID: 788 1321 5134
Passcode: C7Ec0X
November 16, 2023 @ 6:00pm
January 11, 2024 @ 6:00pm
March 14, 2024 @ 6:00pm
May 9, 2024 @ 6:00pm
Food Services Update from Nadine Lorenzen, Director of Food Services
Meal Benefit Applications
While all students will receive free meals at school during school year 2023-2024 we ask that all families that believe they may be eligible for benefits fill out and return the meal benefit application. Our program is federally funded therefore by completing and qualifying for meal benefit directly impacts the money we receive from the federal government for free school meals now and in the future. It may also provide more funds for other school programs.
Sharing of Information Forms
When families qualify for benefits a notification letter will be mailed out along with a sharing of
Information form. The status of the meal benefits may be shared with other programs for which your children may qualify. Such as discounted fees associated with athletic programs, AP testing and field trips and with Title 1 Coordinator/ Director of Curriculum for data regarding district grants. The information you provide is confidential. We follow strict federal rules to keep your
information private.
- If you have completed an application already, thank you.
- If your family has received a letter regarding direct certification there is no need to complete the application.
Please contact the Director of Food Services, Nadine Lorenzen, with any questions or concerns regarding meal benefit applications or sharing of information forms. nlorenzen@lunenburgschools.net
Farm to School
We are excited to be serving fresh apples from Fairview orchids in Groton. Fairview Orchards is a small family farm located in Groton, Massachusetts. The farm is a third generation run business, which began in 1945. Since they have become a bit smaller and have young children, they have made it their mission to bring local fresh fruit to schools in the community and surrounding areas.
Harvest of the Month Recipe: Pear Pasta Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 3 TB red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
Salad
• 1 pound dried short whole wheat pasta
• 2 firm pears, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded, and sliced
• 8 ounces bite-size fresh mozzarella balls
• 4 ounces sliced salami, coarsely chopped
• 3 cups baby arugula or spinach
Directions
1. To make the dressing: In a blender, combine the olive oil, yogurt, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Blend until smooth. Stir in the oregano. The dressing will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
2. To assemble the salad: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to
package directions until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool to room temperature; drain
well.
3. Place the pasta, pears, cucumber, mozzarella balls, salami, and pickled peppers in a very large bowl.
Pour in the dressing and toss to coat well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. Toss in the greens just before serving.
Enjoy!!
Technology Update from LPS IT Department
Protection Plans for School Issued Devices
As a reminder, this year families will have the opportunity to purchase a one year plan for accidental damage protection for your LMHS student(s)'s Chromebook through K-12 Tech. There is no deductible and multiple repairs after an accident are covered. The cost of the protection plan is $35 for the 2023-2024 school year.
Athletics Update from Kevin Bigelow, Athletic Director
FALL SEASON
Standout starts for some of our fall teams include; Field Hockey 5-0, Football 3-1, and Girls Soccer 5-1.
We have some great events and important dates coming up.
- 10/3 - Girls Soccer senior night vs Clinton 7PM
- 10/5 - Boys Soccer senior night vs Ayer Shirley 7PM
- 10/6 - Field Hockey Booster Cancer Charity night vs Groton Dunstable 6:30PM
- 10/21 - Homecoming! Football vs West Boylston 1PM
NEW FEATURES THIS YEAR
Website
Our athletic website has some new information and enhancements. This will be your one stop for everything athletics. We will no longer be using the “rschooltoday” site. https://sites.google.com/a/lunenburgschools.net/newlhswebsite/athletics is available via the main high school website.
Live streaming games
New online game streaming will now be offered through Hudl! The link to access this will be available soon via the website. This new feature not only provides a better streaming experience, it is also an enormous asset for our teams with their game preparation.
Online game ticketing
Available this year is an option to purchase your tickets on GoFan. There are individual game or season ticket options.
Cash on site will still be accepted as well.
Facilities & Grounds Update
We recently shared notice of water testing resuts for each of our schools. We have taken the recommended actions in response. The notice letters for each school along with information on lead in drinking water is posted on our website. You can find it from the district main page by clicking Department Directory, the Facilities & Grounds. It is important to remind all families that all of our schools have water bottle filling stations that filter the water. Staff and students use those filling stations only for drinking water.
New Director of Facilities & Grounds Hired
Mr. Eric Levy has been selected as the Director of Facilities & Grounds. He is currently the Director of Facilities & Grounds for Greenfield Public Schools. He has also served in that same role in the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District. In addition to experience in the role, his first career was in IT. He has years of experience with town government as he has served his home town as a member of the Select Board, Finance Committee and School Committee, and as a volunteer firefighter. We feel all of his experience makes him a wonderful fit for the role of Director of Facilities & Grounds in Lunenburg. He will be joining us on Monday, October 23. We will schedule a meet & greet opportunity after his arrival.
Additional October Dates of Interest
October is National Bullying Prevention Month and National Depression Education and Awareness Month.
Week Observances in October
Mental Illness Awareness Week - 1st week in October
National Fire Prevention Week and National School Lunch Week- 2nd week in October
National School Bus Safety Week and National Teen Driver Safety Week - 3rd week in October
Day Observances in October
2 National Custodial Worker's Recognition Day
4 National Taco Day (What? Not on a Tuesday?!)
5 National Do Something Nice Day
6 National Coaches Day; World Smile Day
9 Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day
10 World Mental Health Day
11 National Stop Bullying Day; International Day of the Girl Child
16 World Food Day
20 National Youth Confidence Day
21 National Sweetest Day
23 National Mole Day (Avagadro's Number)
27 National Civics Day
31 Halloween
October Fun Fact!
Fall (including October) is a good time to be born if you want to live a long life. More centenarians are born in the fall months.
Volunteer with Us!
Do you know someone in the community who is retired and looking for a new way to stay engaged with the community? Are you are a parent, guardian, or family member of one of our students? We have lots of opportunities to engage in our school community by volunteering! On the district website, we have posted a flyer with just some ideas for the ways in which you can help the schools through volunteer work.