In today's Connection:

• Mr. Mela's Message
• Dates to Remember
• Winter Break
• A Message from the ECMS Health Office: Seventh Grade Screening Information
• ECMS Trivia Club
• Medical Supplies Collection Drive for Families in Need in the Dominican Republic
• Hat Day ~ December 23
• Local Resources and Helpful Information
  
• Gifts to Teachers
• Interested in Substituting as a School Nurse?
  
• Recess
• Curtis Is Going to Washington in 137 Days!
  
• A Message to 8th Grade Families about Technical/Vocational High Schools
• ECMS Private School Application Procedures and Guidelines
  
• Curtis Schedule
  
• Lunch Menu for the Week of 12/19-12/23
• Kickoff to Kindergarten 2023
• CPO News
• Contact Us
  

Dear Families,

Select Chorus, Select Orchestra, and Jazz Band performed a wonderful concert Tuesday night. On Thursday, all of these students were the guest of Secretary William Gavin at the State House. Curtis Middle School is the only group that has been honored with the most consecutive performances for almost the past 30 years at the State House. Many thanks to Kevin Donegan, Carrie Kenney, and Deanna Leedy-Andreozzi for their dedication to the program and work they do to prepare the students for their performances. Thank you to Christine Hogan for accompanying them on piano.

On behalf of the Curtis staff, I would like to thank the Curtis Parent Organization for the delicious Holiday Cookie Sampler we all enjoyed Wednesday afternoon. The staff was very excited this tradition was able to resume this year. As you may have heard, this is a favorite day of many! A special thanks to Jen Greer-Morrissey for organizing the afternoon.

Thank you,

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

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)?

Curtis is hosting a medical supplies collection drive to support the organization 7Elements, which helps to provide medical care to families in need in the Dominican Republic. The drive has been organized by a Curtis Angels alumnus with help from the current Curtis Angels. The drive will run through December 21st. We are asking for donations of vitamins, iron supplements, calcium supplements, eye and ear drops, Pepto Bismol, ibuprofen and Tylenol. A collection box will be located in the main lobby. Please contact Curtis Angels Advisor Ivar Henningson if you have questions about the drive. Thank you for your support.

There will be a Spirit Day fundraiser on Friday, December 23rd. It’s Hat Day! For a $2 donation, students may wear a hat during the school day. All proceeds will go to the D.C. Supply Fund. Get creative and have fun!

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

Registration closes in 56 days

Reminder to 8th grade families: 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 you know your child will NOT attend this trip, please email Lauren Egizio.

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

Please click here to view the SPS 2022-2023 School Calendar.

Please click here to see the complete Curtis schedule for this school year.

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

If you need this information translated, please copy and paste it into Google Translate. The link to Google translate ishttp://translate.google.com/

Spanish

Si necesita que se le traduzca esta información, por favor, copie y pegue en Google Translate. El enlace de Google Translate es http://translate.google.com/

Portuguese

Caso precise traduzir esta informação, por favor, copie-a e cole-a no Google Tradutor. O link para o Google Tradutoré http://translate.google.com/

Mandarin

如果您需要翻譯該資訊,請將其複製並粘貼到 Google 翻譯。 Google 翻譯的鏈接是 http://translate.google.com/

Russian

Если вам нужен перевод этой информации, скопируйте и вставьте ее в Google Переводчик. Вотссылка на Google Переводчик: http://translate.google.com/