Lowell Family Newsletter
May 8, 2022
Two Buildings, One School: Books Unite Us
Table of Contents
Message from Mrs. Phelan
Literacy Week Events
SEPAC
Attendance Matters
Garden Coordinator Message
Incoming K Information
Bus Registration for School Year 2022/23
if your child is not returning next school year
Listen to Sipu
Lunch Menu
Upcoming Events and Save the Dates
What's Happening Around Town
Message from Principal Phelan
Happy Mother's Day to all the people who nurture and support others. I hope you are honored and appreciated for all your dedication on Sunday and every day.
Teacher Appreciation Week was a success! Thank you, FTO for all you did to make our teachers and staff feel special.
This week our reading team is leading the literacy week celebration. Please read our Literacy Week newsletter. Each day of the week follows a theme.
Tuesday- Wear whatever makes you feel amazing
Wednesday- Wear shirts with words
Thursday- Wear an item of clothing that celebrates your country or culture
Friday- Dress as your favorite book character
Warm regards,
Stacy
Working During WIN!
Collecting and graphing data on bar graphs!
Kindergarten Pals!
Literacy Week Morning Meeting
- Qi Chen, assistant principal, will present in Mandarin, Chinese
- Nursel Cinar, cafeteria cook, will present in Turkish
- Ramon Gonzales, custodian, will present in Spanish
- Isabella Delmoral, ESL teacher, will present in Portuguese
Literacy Week Events
Message from Heather McManus, SEPAC Chair
"The May Newsletter from the Watertown Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) contains updates from their April meeting, links to upcoming training, opportunities to get involved, and a parent programming survey that gives Watertown caregivers a chance to offer input into upcoming SEPAC programming."
All the best,
Heather McManus
Watertown SEPAC Chair
Why Attendance Matters
A Message From Judy Fallows, Garden Coordinator WPS
INCOMING KINDERGARTENERS/2022-23
Online Kindergarten Registration is now open. Click on this link to register your child for Kindergarten for the 2022-23 school year.
Parents must register their children. Students attending WPS Preschool are not automatically enrolled. You must register your child for kindergarten. It's the same for families with students already enrolled in WPS. All incoming k students must be enrolled.
Bus Registration is Open for Next Fall SY 2022/23
Message from Carey Conkey-Finn Supervisor of Teen Services | Watertown Free Public Library
Extravaganza details are firmed up and I wanted to share promo information for you to reference and hopefully spread to your other social networks.
Visit the Watertown Pride webpage: watertownlib.org/pride
Share the Facebook Event
Share the Instagram Post
Share the Tweet
I wanted to highlight some of the activities that may interest your kids. In addition to the mini-parade that kicks off the Extravaganza, we have arranged to have lawn games and an obstacle course that will be run by Boys and Girls Club staff. Art projects will include rainbow wand making, making your own pronoun pin, and tie-dying.
Parade participants (all are welcome to join) will gather in front of the Library and kick-off at 11:00. We will be supplying as many noisemakers and mini-Pride flags as we can. Please feel free to make and carry signs. Dress fabulously!
ALSO: I have reserved one information booth for the Diversity and Belonging Councils (elementary schools)—there is the possibility of having more than one table. Please let me know asap if the one table is adequate.
If you have any questions, please reach out.
Thanks so much!
Carey Conkey-Finn
Supervisor of Teen Services | Watertown Free Public Library
123 Main St.| Watertown, MA 02472
617-972-6437
She/her
Lunch Menus for the Week of May 9-13
Phillip Building K-1
Lowell West 2-5
Mark Your Calendar
Literacy Week
May 9th-13th
Stay Tuned for Events
Meeting: Teachers PD
Wednesday, May 4,⋅2:45 – 4:05 pm
Monthly on the first Wednesday, until Jun 30, 2022
FTO Meeting
Tuesday, May 10,⋅6:30 – 7:30 pm
Lowell - School Council
Thursday, May 19,⋅6:00 – 7:00 pm
Memorial Day Program - Gym
Friday, May 27th
10:00 am
Lowell West Only
Grades 2-5
Human Growth and Development Lesson
Fifth Grade Only during scheduled PE time
June 1st
June 2nd
June 3rd
Listen to Sipu- Gym
Grades 3 & 4 Event
June 6, 2022
1:00 PM
The Watertown Community Foundation has provided us with the opportunity for all students in grades 3 & 4 to attend an in-house performance of the New Rep play Listen to Sipu! This is "a captivating and powerful story that illuminates Watertown's Indigenous history....the tour guide begins describing Watertown's local history only to find that the facts are missing a lot of truths." The play will visit the Cunniff and Lowell schools on Monday, June 6th, and the Hosmer school on Tuesday, June 7th (times below) We are grateful our students will have this opportunity!
Band Concert Save the Date
June 8th
Lowell West
Field Day Save the Date- Victory Field
Thursday, June 9th
Friday, June 10th (Rain Date)
Fifth Grade Field Trip- Duck Tous
Thursday, June 16th
9:00 am
Kindergarten Picnic- Phillips Campus
Thursday, June 16th
Friday, June 17th (Raindate)
MCAS Dates for Spring 2022
Math: May 16th & 17th Grades 3, 4, & 5
Science: May 24th & 25 Grade 5 Only
Listen to Sipu
The Watertown Community Foundation has provided us with the opportunity for all students in grade 3 & 4 to attend an in-house performance of the New Rep play Listen to Sipu! This is "a captivating and powerful story that illuminates Watertown's Indigenous history....the tour guide begins describing Watertown's local history only to find that the facts are missing a lot of truths." The play will visit the Cunniff and Lowell schools on Monday, June 6th and the Hosmer school on Tuesday, June 7th. We are grateful our students will have this opportunity!
What's Happening Around Town
Race Reels Presents
In honor of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Watertown Race Reels will be screening the documentary Asian Americans (see attached flyer for details).
This month, one of our guest speakers will be Dr. Nicole Filler. Nicole is the Program Coordinator/Research Associate at UMass Boston's Institute for Asian American Studies. Joining Dr. Filler will be Mr. Qi Chen. Mr. Chen is the Assistant Principal of Lowell Elementary School right here in Watertown. We are thrilled they are both able to join us to share their experiences, perspectives and insights.
Thank you to all you have been joining us throughout the year for Watertown Race Reels events! Race Reels has proven to be an amazing community building space in which racial and cultural experiences and differences are valued and celebrated and history is reflected on in a thoughtful and constructive manner, always looking toward a bright future. As a result, the recent independent, external Equity Audit, conducted by Public Consulting Group LLC (PCG) recommended that WPS leverage the rich resources that can be found in many equity, anti-racist focused organizations that are dedicated and committed to equity and inclusion in the City of Watertown and in the schools. The audit specifically recommended WPS collaborate with Watertown Race Reels. In that spirit, we look to our WPS school committee members, administration and educators to encourage WPS students grades 6-12 to join us for our Race Reels events. We have found we learn so much from our young community members sharing out at past Race Reels events. We look forward to hearing from them and learning even more.
We hope that you all can join us and/or will help us spread the word of the event/event details/flyer with your circles within Watertown and beyond.
Special note: Our very own Mr. Chen will be on the panel. Please join us!
In solidarity,
Kara Lopez Salvi & Teo Evans
Co-Coordinators
Watertown Race Reels
In-Person Family Workshop
Sunday, May 15, 1:00, 1:45, and 2:30 pm, one-hour each
Peabody Museum, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA
Register by Friday, May 13, 12:00 pm
Ages 6–10, one adult required $5 members/$10 nonmembers
The Olmec civilization of ancient Mexico is known for its mysterious sculptures of giant heads that rise up to eleven feet high. Touch a huge modern replica in the museum for one day that is based on Monument One, The King. Explore artifacts with an educator that show Olmec influence on architecture, the ball game, written language, and pigments. Handle reproductions and paint a mini-plaster head of your own to take home.
Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
Lowell Elementary
30 Common Street
Watertown, Ma 02742
Telephone: 617-926-7770
Lowell West Location
175 Main Street
Waltham, Ma 02451
Telephone: 781-899-3701
Email: stacy.phelan@watertown.k12.ma
Website: http://watertownjrlowell.ss19.sharpschool.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JRLowellElementary