• Mr. Mela's Message
• Dates to Remember
• ECMS MCAS Schedule Spring 2023
• First Trimester Citizenship Awards
• Winter Break
• A Message from the ECMS Health Office: Seventh Grade Screening Information
• ECMS Trivia Club
• Local Resources and Helpful Information
  
• Gifts to Teachers
• Interested in Substituting as a School Nurse?
  
• Recess
• Hat Day
• Curtis Is Going to Washington in 130 Days!
  
• A Message to 8th Grade Families about Technical/Vocational High Schools
• ECMS Private School Application Procedures and Guidelines
  
• Curtis Schedule
• Kickoff to Kindergarten 2023
• CPO News
• Contact Us
  

Dear Families,

I am sorry to inform you that we have recently been addressing several acts of discrimination and racism. The acts, including verbal and written words, have impacted students from different cultures, ethnicities, religions, races, and genders. We have also seen discrimination occur among racial and ethnic subgroups. It’s important to know that in some of these situations the words used were intended to be a joke or said without fully understanding the meaning and impact. However, we know that discriminatory language has a deep, hurtful, and long-lasting impact on students and families.

We recognize that middle school students are still learning about the impact of their words and we will continue to educate our students about acceptance, diversity, and inclusion. For this reason, we utilize proactive, ongoing educational activities to help students navigate these situations. In January and February, we have scheduled microaggressions assemblies (for all the teams) to learn about the negative impact of subtle, indirect, and often-unintentional comments. We need your partnership to teach our students that discriminatory language is never acceptable.

If you hear something from your child, please encourage her/him to report the information to a staff member, or contact us yourself. We will follow up on any information received. In addition to our own investigations, we communicate with Sudbury Police about all acts of discrimination and racism and they help to support our investigation.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

It's hard to believe that the winter vacation has arrived. Thank you to the staff for continuing to provide excellent instruction and support to our students during the excitement of the holiday season.

Vacation is a wonderful opportunity to take a break from school, busy schedules, and all of the running around that families do. We appreciate your continued support and we look forward to seeing your children on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

Wishing you a safe and happy vacation!

Jeff

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

Congratulations to the students who were recognized this past Tuesday for their outstanding citizenship. Each trimester, homeroom teachers, UA teachers, and staff nominate students for being kind, respectful and helpful towards their classmates and adults in the building.

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. In an effort to allow families to spend time together, we have designated this upcoming vacation as a time when no homework is assigned. We hope that our students and families will enjoy this unstructured time with activities that are fun and relaxing.

Dear Parent/Guardian:

Vision and hearing screenings are conducted for all seventh grade students per Massachusetts law. They are designed to identify students who may need further evaluations.

The ECMS health office will be conducting vision and hearing screenings for 7th Grade students throughout the month of January during team blocks.

If your child is already being followed by a provider for vision and/or hearing conditions you may opt-out of this screening by filling out this form. If you are planning to opt out your student please do so by January 3, 2023, otherwise your child will be automatically screened.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact the nurses: curtis_nurse@sudbury.k12.ma.us or 978-443-1071 x7509 or x7508

Thank you,

Kiersten Varner, RN and Marisa Giorgi Woodford, RN

ECMS Health Office Nurses

Does your child know a little bit about everything? Do they want to? We are excited to offer a new club at Curtis beginning in January. The Trivia Club will meet on Mondays from 3:15-4:15 p.m. This opportunity is open to students in grades 6-8.

We’ll host weekly games with questions on pop culture, geography, science, math, history, and more. Students should send Mr. Neagle or Mr. Montgomery a message on Schoology if they have any questions or would like to sign up. We will play in teams, but give it a try:

• What distinct cape stretches from Provincetown to Woods Hole in Massachusetts?
• In which body system do tapeworms make their home?
• The First Amendment begins a list of ten amendments known as what?
• According to Newton, how long would a feather remain motionless on a box if it were not acted on by outside forces?
• In what novel is a boy named Jonas selected to be the person to store all the past memories of the time before Sameness?
• The sum of odd integers between 1 and 99 (inclusive) is 2500. What is the sum of the even integers between 2 and 100 (inclusive)?

SPS Social-Emotional Resource Site for Families

This site includes a variety of resources designed for caregivers to help you support children in their social, emotional, and self-regulation growth. Contact information for the school-based mental health professionals is located on this site.

Town of Sudbury Website

Bethany Hadvab, Town of Sudbury Social Worker, can be reached by phone at 978-440-5476 or by email at HadvabB@sudbury.ma.us

William James INTERFACE Referral Service

A mental health and wellness referral helpline. Each referral best meets the location, insurance, and specialty needs of the caller. Click here to watch a short video about the referral service. Call toll-free: (888) 244-6843 Monday - Friday between the hours of 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.

Framingham Family Resource Center

Family Resource Centers (FRCs) are a statewide network of community-based providers offering multicultural parenting programs, support groups, early childhood services, information and referral resources, and education for families whose children range in age from birth to 18 years old.

Behavioral Health Partners

A referral agency that helps find and connect you to services needed to improve your quality of life. Metrowest referral line: 1-844-528-6800.

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

Thank you to all who participated in today's Spirit Day fundraiser. We raised $ 288 for the D.C. Supply Fund!

Registration closes in 49 days

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

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 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

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

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 that 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. It is important to note that there are multiple sizes of several items, so please check before taking what is yours.

Curtis Gear

The Curtis online store is now open with lots of Curtis spirit wear and gear, including clothing, hats, bags, and more! Now is the time to make purchases for holiday gifts. Gear is available for purchase throughout the year.

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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