Dear Peirce Families,

It's hard to believe that my own children- ages 17 and 13-- are still planning on dressing up and trick-or-treating this year. They used to always have themed costumes together: different crayon colors, Wonder Woman and Superman, or a hot dog and fries. This year we get Wednesday Addams and a t-rex.

With all the excitement and fun this holiday brings, I also want to share some important reminders:

• Students should continue to bring a healthy, filling snack to school each day this week. It can be tempting to make a dent in your candy stash at home, but candy does not qualify as a snack that will fuel students to do their best learning in school.
  
  
• Sharing candy (or any food) with other students is not permitted. To protect students with food allergies and to encourage healthy habits, students may not share or exchange food items at Peirce.
  
  
• Not all students celebrate Halloween. We often think of Halloween as a universal holiday, but please be mindful of the fact that some families do not participate in Halloween traditions for religious or other reasons.

Sincerely,

Andrea Vargas

Dear Peirce School Community,

We are pleased to share that our library will resume circulation of library materials as of Wednesday, November 1st. As you remember, we had temporarily suspended book borrowing while we addressed the discovery of booklice in our collection.

Since that time, we have taken the following steps to remediate the issue:

• Consulted with the Newton Department of Health and Human Services and our pest control vendor

• Purchased and installed a dehumidifier for the library space

• Monitored humidity levels regularly

• Conducted periodic checks of books

As a reminder, book lice are a harmless organism that often live in warm, humid environments.

Please see the linked memo from the Newton Health and Human Services Department for more information.

We will continue to monitor the library books periodically. If you have any concerns about the books that your child brings home or any other issues, please contact Principal Andrea Vargas via email.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Steven Rattendi

Steven Rattendi

Director of IT and Library Services

Newton Public Schools

Eileen Keane

Eileen Keane

Coordinator of Library Services K-12

Instructional Technology

Newton Public Schools

Let’s celebrate the Peirce School value of "I take care of my community" by cleaning up candy wrappers in your neighborhood the day after Halloween. We enjoy all that candy, now let’s make sure our community looks good too! Equip your kids with tongs and paper bags to collect as many candy wrappers as they can after Halloween night - your family will be helping both your neighbors and the Earth! Deliver the bag of wrappers and Halloween detritus to Peirce on November 1 or 2. We will have collection cans at the front and back doors. How many pounds of trash do you think our school community can collect? We'll let you know! To sign up to help with the collection bins on November 1 or 2, please contact Devon Villarreal at dhmvillarreal@gmail.com or Noreen at noreenmartinherzog@gmail.com.