Monday, September 30, 2013

Monday Message

It was so wonderful to see so many of you at Back to School Night last night.  It was a very busy weekend in our community. I have heard Faire on the Square was a lot of fun and our Lowell Learning Garden volunteers and families enjoyed an amazing potluck on Sunday evening.    On Friday night, I was at the Watertown Education Foundation's grant kick-off event. There were many great presentations from grant recipients. I had the honor of thanking the PTO and WEF for the iPads that were purchased for classroom teachers.

Picture Day
Picture day is on October 10th! Picture forms will be sent home this week. Students should return them directly to homeroom teachers.


4/5 Parent Coffee
There will be a parent coffee for parents of students in grades 4 and 5 this Thursday, October 3rd at 8:20 am in the Lowell lounge. We will talk specifically about curriculum, instruction, assessment, social-emotional learning and more!


Back to School Night Presentation
A link to my brief presentation from Back to School Night is below. We are starting a "Five to Thrive" campaign to increase parental involvement. This means that we are asking for families to pledge to give five hours of involvement/volunteerism to the school community! There are many ways parents can get involved. The following website "Project Appleseed" is an amazing resource!  www.projectappleseed.org
Back to School Night Presentation Link





Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Monday, September 23, 2013

Monday Message

It will be a great week ahead at the Lowell School. We have our annual Back to School Night and our first School Site Council meeting. Please read on for details. I also want to share a great resource with all of you. Mrs Knight, our guidance counselor, updates her blog with great information and thought-provoking insights. She has a new post up right now. Please take a moment to check it out.
http://lowellguidance.blogspot.com/

Back to School Night

Back to School Night schedule is as follows:

PreK-2 Parents
3-5 Parents
6:30-6:45 pm
Presentation from Ms Kaplan (Gym)
6:45-7:15
Visit classrooms 
(Students' classrooms)
Visit specialists (Café)
7:15-7:45
(K parents will have brief presentation in library from Project READ, and will visit specialists after)
Visit specialists (Café)
Visit classrooms
 
Grade 4/5 parents will meet in the GYM.




School Site Council
The School Site Council will meet this Tuesday, September 24th at 7:00 pm in the Lowell lounge. The Site Council is comprised of teachers and parents work together to write our school improvement plan. Please attend if you are interested in school reform and improvement. It is a great way to get the "big picture" of our school!

School Security Reminder
We pride ourselves on having a safe and secure school building. Please remember to do the following when entering our building:
1. Always check into the main office first. Please DO NOT enter the building and walk directly to a classroom, the nurse, etc...Even if it is during drop off when the doors are being held open for students, adults must check in to the main office.
2. Enter and exit through the main doors only.




Monday, September 16, 2013

Monday Message

I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend! The PTO Movie Night was a great success and I enjoyed seeing so many of you there!

PTO Meeting
The first PTO meeting is tomorrow night, Tuesday, September 17th at 7pm in the Lowell lounge. All are welcome! We always have a teacher sharing grade level happenings at this meeting. This week, Rachael Levine, a grade 4/5 teacher will be sharing how she uses the iPad to enhance instruction.

Courses for Kids
The deadline for Courses for Kids sign up has been extended to this Wednesday. Forms can be dropped off in the black basket inside the main office.

Grade Level Parent Coffee
We will have the first grade level parent coffee on Thursday, October 3rd at 8:20 am for parents of students in grades 4 and 5 in the Lowell lounge. This is a date change due to a calendar conflict. Topics covered include: curriculum, assessment, instruction, and bullying and teasing. Each grade level will have a parent coffee once a month.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Monday Message

We had a wonderful first week back last week. I hope to use this blog this year to share useful and interesting information about our school and education in general. The post today is mostly informational-but it contains some important info!


New Family Coffee
We would like to invite parents new to the Lowell school this year, to a family coffee this Friday, September 13th at 8:20 am in the Lowell cafeteria. It is a great opportunity to speak with other new families, parent leadership, and me (Ms Kaplan)!

CORI Forms
In order to volunteer in the school or chaperone a field trip, all non-staff must fill out a CORI form. Once you do this, you are approved for THREE YEARS.  If you have not filled out a CORI yet, please take a moment to read the following information:
-CORI forms are available right outside of the main office.
-To complete the process, bring a copy of your drivers license  and the completed form to the table in front of the main office between 8:05 and 8:45 am.
-CORI checks usually come back within two weeks. 

Absent Students
Please do not call the main office if your student is absent. If your child is out, you will receive an automated absent call. If you receive the call and your child is NOT absent, then please contact the office.

Dismissal Forms
Please return your students dismissal form to your student's teacher.  We may not dismiss your child to anyone who is NOT on the dismissal form. This means that if you call with the name of an adult that is not on the dismissal form, we may NOT dismiss your child to that adult.  Safety is of the utmost importance and any adult taking your child home MUST be on the dismissal plan.  You may add to the dismissal plan, but it must be done by the parent or guardian in person, in writing.


Ice Cream Social and Movie Night

The PTO is sponsoring a movie night with ice cream this Friday night at 5:00 pm.  It is a free event and will be fun for parents and students!
Please bring blankets, bug spray, and flashlights as the movie will be shown on a large screen on the lawn at the front of the school. No dogs are allowed at this event.
If it rains, the event will be rescheduled

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Welcome Back!

Happy first day of school! We have had a very successful first day-we even had our first fire drill, which was quite a surprise!  This is my first weekly message of the year. Usually, I send a weekly Monday Message. Please take a moment and subscribe to this blog so that you may receive these posts!

PreK and Kindergarten Updates
It was wonderful to see all of our preK and K students on tours today.  Our PreK and K students will be with us for shortened days on Thursday and Friday of this week. The first full day for PreK and K students will be on Monday, September 9th.

New Family Coffee
If you are new to the Lowell school, please join us for a New Family Coffee on Friday, September 13th at 8:30 am in the cafeteria. It will be a great chance to connect with other new families, parent leadership, and me!

Back to School Night
Back to School Night is Thursday, September 26th at 6:30 pm. Details to follow!

As always my door is open to you. Please get in touch if you have any questions about anything at all. It will be an amazing year ahead and I look forward to working with you and your students.