Lowell Family Newsletter
October 16, 2022
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Table of Contents
Message from Mrs. Phelan
Scenes from this Week
This Old House Clip
Equity Hour
Parent and Caregiver Conferences
Message from the Music Department
Morning Meeting Fourth Grade Friday, October 21st
SEPAC Event
Winter Donation Drive
Diaper Drive
FTO
Important Dates
Community Events
A Message from Mrs. Phelan
Greetings!
I want to thank fifth grade families for attending our Morning Meeting series for caregivers on Friday. We enjoyed hosting you again after a long absence. We held a brief coffee for parents after they visited classrooms. Here are some of the topics we discussed. Fifth grade happens to be a unique year for students and families. During fifth grade, teachers spend a lot of time preparing students for their transition to middle school. Teachers explicitly teach students the importance of organizing their work space, managing their materials, and keeping track of assignments. Teachers encourage students to use their voice and self advocacy skills in the classroom and in their local community. They give student a wide range of opportunity to complete assignments ranging from collaborative work groups to independent study. Throughout the fifth grade year children are given the opportunity to present their work and explain their thinking. These are just some of the hallmarks of fifth grade.
Our families were interested in hearing more about our school safety measures and planning. Officer Kelly and Officer Margaryan, Watertown's school resource officers, were on hand to share school safety updates. We also benefited for Officer Margaryan experience working at the middle school. She was able to talk about how six grade students were welcomed into the school this year. We briefly talked about our MCAS and how WIN and Math Workshop directly impacted student achievement.
We encourage fourth grade families to join us this week!
Wednesday, the Phillips Building will practice an off-site evacuation drill at 9 o'clock. This is simply our yearly drill. Students have already successful practiced exiting the building for a fire drill. An off-site evacuation similar to a fire drill except we leave our school a move to a secondary location. This may be necessary if we experience an emergency where is safer to be away from our building. Our staff and student body will exit our building and walk across the street to the high school, enter the gym and take attendance, and then return back to the Phillips Building. We are required to practice one off-site evacuation a year. The High School is the Phillips Building's secondary site.
Last week we successfully performed Lowell West's off-site evacuation. The students and staff exited the building similar to a fire drill, walked to the St. Jude's Church, entered the upper church and sat by classroom. Teachers then took attendance and when we were sure we had and accurate account of all our students and staff we exited the church and returned to school. The entire drill took less than 20 minutes to perform. Lowell West's secondary site is the St. Jude's Church. If we need to move further away from our school due to an environmental hazard such as a gas leak we would contact our bus company and request busses to transport us to the Cunniff School. If we experience a true emergency you would receive information concerning the type of emergency we were experiencing and location of your child from me by phone or email. The principal or the superintendent would inform families as soon as the emergency was known. If you'd like to learn more about emergency procedures please join one of our coffee's or contact me directly at Stacy.phelan@watertown.k12.ma.us. or call 1-671-926-7770 or Mr. Chen at 1-781-899-3701.
Have a lovely weekend!
Stacy
Scenes From Last Week
Curiosity Challenge Winner Maya Josephy
Last May one of our fifth grade students, Maya Josephy, submitted a curious question and drawing to the Curiosity Challenge. In June, the committee announced on the Cambridge Science Festival and Curiosity Club website that out of 3,600 submissions and 200 classroom winners, Maya was selected as one of TEN STEM STARS! Here are pictures from year award ceremony which took place at the MIT Museum during the Cambridge Science Festival on Sunday, October 9th. Maya was joined accompanied by her family and her two fifth grade teachers Ms. Walker and Ms. Sudbay. What proud day for Lowell School.
We're super proud of Elizabeth Kaplan and all our friends at Hosmer! Clip Below
Equity Hour: October 25, 2022
Caregivers: 10/25
M.O.O: Managing [mis]understandings (Mr. Jamele Adams, LIT League)
All of us have unique perspectives on how we see the world, and everything in it. These varying perspectives often lead to misunderstandings. This session will teach and practice a communication protocol that will help to manage both understanding and misunderstanding of perspectives.
· Staff Hour (10/24, 3:30-4:30p @Cunniff Learning Commons) RSVP
· Parent & Caregiver Hour (10/25, 6-7p via ZOOM)
Caregiver & Teacher Conferences
Caregivers will be able to sign up for conferences beginning Monday, October 17, 2022. To book your conference please visit our School's Website.
All conferences are virtual this year. We have made this decision to accommodate families who have students in two buildings. We look forward to offering in person conferences in our new school new year.
A Message from the Music Department
This year, our concert dress will consist of dark pants/bottoms and our new Watertown Performing Arts t-shirt! Our t-shirt is designed through CustomInk and can be ordered directly through the website. You can opt to have it shipped as part of a bulk order to the school for free, or shipped to you directly for a small fee. The orders will close on Friday, October 21. T-shirts shipped to the school will be distributed in early November.
Here is the link to order:
https://www.customink.com/g/upv0-00cn-fr3q
If you feel so inclined, we welcome any donations of shirts to help sponsor a student in need. When purchasing the shirt, there is an option to leave a note as to which is being purchased as a donation.
We recommend that students get a t-shirt for our performances, in case it's warm or we perform outside in the warmer months, but anyone (family, friends, etc) is welcome to purchase any of the items to show your support for the performing arts program in our elementary schools. Band, Chorus, and Orchestra will all have the same shirt, so it will double for students who are doing both an instrumental and a vocal ensemble.
Our first concert will be Tuesday, the 13th of December at 8:30am in the Lowell West Gym/Cafeteria. It will feature 4th and 5th grade chorus and 5th grade instruments.
Thank you for all you do and email me with any questions,
Anthony Spano
Lowell Elementary Music Educator
Caregivers Are Invited to Attend Morning Meeting with Your Student
There are numerous benefits to starting each day with a morning meeting in the classroom that make it worth the few extra minutes each morning. It’s important to note that benefits are seen when morning meeting is a regular and consistent part of each day. Come join us and attend the morning meeting with your student. The schedule by grade is below. Please stay and have a cup of coffee with Mrs. Phelan and Mr. Chen and our SEL team. We will also review how Title One funds support teaching and learning at Lowell.
Here are a few positive outcomes that morning meeting can support:
- Builds meaningful relationships and establishes the trust (student to student and teacher to student)
- Sets the tone for a positive classroom climate
- Creates a space to highlight and discuss mental health needs
- Promotes the idea that all voices matter and are listened to
- Provides opportunities for teaching social, emotional, and academic skills
- Increases student confidence and self-awareness
- Motivates learners to do their best
- Supports academic learning
- Creates a kinder community
Simply put, morning meetings help all students do their best.
Fourth Grade Morning Meeting is Friday, October 21st at 8:30 am
Coffee with Mrs. Phelan & Mr. Chen following Morning Meeting
We invite caregivers to stay for coffee and conversation with Ms. Phelan & Mr. Chen and our SEL team from 8:30-9:30 am.
Parents are invited to attend their student's coffee by grade level:
Fourth 10/21
Watertown's SEPAC
Watertown SEPAC invites all caregivers to attend a virtual Disability-Centered Equity Listening Session on Monday, October 17 from 6-8pm. More details, including the Zoom meeting link, can be found here:
Winter Donation Drive & Free Store is on Sunday November 6th
Watertown Mutual Aid Network’s is hosting a Winter Donation Drive & Free Store is on Sunday, November 6th at Ballroom in Boston at 100 Parker Street in Watertown, MA. They will be receiving donations of winter coats, winter clothes for kids, and personal care items from 10:30am-12:30pm and then indivduals/families can "shop" for free 1-2:30pm. This event is open to anyone.
Portuguese Version
Please Support Metro Boston Diaper Drive 2022
Did you know that SNAP and WIC benefits do not cover diapers? In Massachusetts, 1 in 3 families struggle to buy enough diapers for their children. The annual Metro-Boston Diaper Drive donates all donated diapers to the Somerville WIC office, which serves Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Watertown, Lexington, Bedford, Lincoln and Belmont. Currently, this WIC office serves more than 4644 mothers and their young children. Please visit mbdiapers.org to make a donation, or click directly on the links to the Amazon and Target registries. Please help us get 70,000 diapers onto the bottoms of babies in the Metro-Boston area! Read more about why diaper drives like the Metro-Boston Diaper Drive are so important HERE. This year’s Drive will be from October 16 - 29.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP US MEET OUR GOAL OF GETTING 70,000 DIAPERS DONATED:
Share our website, mbdiapers.org, on your own page and ask people to donate.
Like our Facebook page. The more activity on the page, the more people will hear about the Drive. Share our Facebook page on your own page and encourage people to donate.
There are many ways to donate:
Via our website, mbdiapers.org
Via links on our Facebook page
Make a monetary donation to the Drive’s Venmo account @Kerstin-Sinkevicius, and co-coordinator Kerstin will buy diapers to donate
Lowell Family Teacher Organization (FTO) Weekly Updates
Join us for the Fall Festival:Friday, October 28 at 6PM, Phillips Parking Lot
Please volunteer, if you can, to decorate your trunk and pass out candy.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0545A5AE28A0F49-trunk1
Kids can wear costumes and trick-or-treat safely with their Lowell School friends.
Donate to the Watertown Food Drive: October 11 - 21
Please bring in non-perishable items to support the Watertown Food Pantries.
If your child takes the bus, please don't have them carry too much with them.
Drop off locations at the Lowell West and the Phillips School.
Consider a Voluntary Contribution:
Our activities and events are 100% supported by fundraising and family contributions. Everyone is always welcome at all events whether or not you financially contribute. Please consider donating if you are able. You can send in a check to your child's teacher or donate via PayPal on our website.
http://jrlowellpto.weebly.com/
We’d love your help! If you would like to volunteer, please email: lowellelementarypto@gmail.com
Find Us! You can find us on the web at: http://jrlowellpto.weebly.com/ and please like/follow our new Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LowellFTO
Save the Date
10/17 (Monday)
6:00PM - 7:00PM SEPAC, Disability-Centered Equity Listening Session
10/21 (Friday)
8:15AM - 8:45AM Morning Meeting Visit by Families (Grade 4)
8:45AM - 9:45AM Principal Coffee Hour (Lowell West)
10/24 (Monday)
Diwali
10/25 (Tuesday)
4:30PM - 6:30PM Parent Teacher Conference
7:00PM - 8:00PM DIB Council Meeting
10/27 (Thursday)
12:15PM Early Release
1:00PM Parent Teacher Conference
10/28 (Friday)
8:15AM - 8:45AM Morning Meeting Visit by Families (Grade 3)
8:45AM - 9:45AM Principal Coffee Hour (Lowell West)
Friday, October 28th
Trunk or Treat
Phillips Parking Lot
Located
31 Marshall Street
Sponsored by the FTO