Colonial Park Weekly News
March 11 - March 15
Principal's Note
Dear Colonial Park Families -
It was wonderful to see so many families here last week at Parent Teacher Conferences! Thank you for taking the time to meet with your child's teacher(s) and for working together to assure their success. We all know it takes a village!
We will be celebrating National Reading Month with a Spirit Week on March 18 through March 22. This year, our PTO has scheduled two visiting authors. Alicia Ramsdell, author of The One and Only Incredible Me will be visiting our PK-2 students on Tuesday, March 19, and Jen Malone, www.jenmalonewrites.com/books, will be working with our students in Grades 3 and 4 on Friday, March 22. Attached to this newsletter, please find the flyer for our Spirit Week.
World Down Syndrome Day is marked each year on March 21 and has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. The 21st day of March was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome. This year, Colonial Park is going to "Rock Your Socks" to show our support for World Down Syndrome Day. This falls during our Spirit Week, and March 21 is "Dress as Your Favorite Book Character Day." We are looking forward to seeing lots of book characters with mismatched, colorful, crazy socks!
Just a reminder, our playground structure is closed until 2:45 each day. Our students use the structure right up to dismissal, so we ask that our preschool families do not use the structure until after K-4 dismissal. Thank you in advance!
I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Best,
Rosa Flynn
PTO News
*Cookies and Canvas - Family Paint Night (Part 2!) - Friday, March 15 from 6-7:30 pm in the school cafeteria. Our art teacher, Mrs. P, will provide all the supplies needed as well as step-by-step instructions on how to paint a lovely spring scene. Doors open at 6 pm and painting starts at 6:15.
Please use this link to signup: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4CABA82DA4FAC16-45971977-family#/
*SBCEF Trivia BEE - The SBCEF Trivia BEE will be held on Friday, March 22 at Robin Hood at 6:30 pm. We have a Colonial Park team sponsored by PTO - there are 4-6 spots open. If you'd like to be part of the Colonial Park team, please email colonialparkpto@gmail.com to reserve your spot for this fun community event (adults only). Each year, the Stoneham Business and Community Education Foundation provides funding for field trips, enrichments, and activities for students across Stoneham's schools (including our 2 fantastic Paint Night events this year!).
*Girls on the Run - registration is now open for our Spring Girls on the Run Team! Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based positive youth development program (PA-PYD) dedicated to empowering girls in grades 3-4 through engaging, dynamic lessons and physical activity. Girls on the Run inspires girls to build confidence, set goals and use their voice to become leaders.
The team will meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:45 to 4:15, from April 2 to June 1. Each day targets specific life skills (competence, confidence, connection, character and caring). Girls on the Run has implemented a new curriculum, “Hello, Superstar!” which focuses on confidence building. The big culminating event is a celebratory, non-competitive 5K. Over the course of the program, the girls set running goals which help prepare them for crossing the finish line!
Click here for the flier and registration information, or visit www.girlsontherunboston.org. If you have any questions, please email Ryan at ry.tollefson@gmail.com.Joint PTO Meeting/Budget Discussion - March 13
Superintendent Ljungberg will be hosting a meeting on Wednesday, March 13, at 6:00 in the Stoneham Central Middle School Media Center. This is open to all elementary parents and/or members of the Stoneham community. Please see his letter below for more details.
Dear Parents and Caregivers:
I am writing to share with you that the Colonial Park, Robin Hood, and South Elementary School PTO and School Councils have been working with me to schedule a time for any / all elementary parents and caregivers to have an opportunity to learn about the FY25 budget challenges that you have likely been hearing about. This week I held a forum on Monday that was for secondary parents and caregivers; and it provided an opportunity for participants to ask questions and share input.
The Elementary Joint PTO, School Council, and Parent Budget Forum will take place at the Stoneham Central Middle School Media Center next Wednesday, March 13th at 6:00 PM. There will be an option for folks who would like to attend remotely since this meeting will be live streamed. For those who want to attend remotely, please use this link or copy and paste into your browser this link:
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/xxz-uzzt-mnx
The goals of this meeting will be to review information that I have previously shared about the FY25 budget and to:
1. Clarify the budget situation/review the budget request for SPS and review what needs to happen in order to balance the FY25 budget
2. Explain the methodology and timeline for making reductions
3. Listen to input, feedback, and concerns
4. Answer questions.
Respectfully,
David Ljungberg, Superintendent
Stoneham Public Schools
All Town Band Concert - Wednesday, March 20
Band teacher Mr. DelMonaco will be hosting an All Town Band Concert on Wednesday, March 20 at 7:00pm in the Stoneham HIgh School auditorium. Additionally, there will be an after school band rehearsal to prepare for the concert. This rehearsal will take place on Thursday, March 14, from 3:00 to 4:00 in the middle school band room. Please see the attached flyer for more details.
A Message from the Fourth Grade Moving On Committee
Fourth Grade Moving On Committee - The Fourth Grade moving on committee welcomes families of fourth grade students to submit pictures for this year’s memory book! Please use this link to upload pictures to the “2023-2024 4th Grade Memory Book” folder. Photos are due by April 1st.