Monday, November 30, 2015

Monday Message

I hope you had a nice long weekend! We are so happy that it is a full week after a November filled with days off and early release!

Meetings This Month
PTO
The Parent-Teacher Organization meets monthly to plan events and work on fundraising for the school. All are welcome at any meeting. The PTO will meet on Tuesday, December 8th at 7pm in the Lowell library.

School Site Council
The School Site Council is a group of parent and teachers that meet to analyze school data and discuss school goals  in relation to school improvement. All are welcome at any meeting. School Site Council will meet this week on Thursday, December 3rd at 7pm in the Lowell library.

Lowell Parent Nutrition Workshop
There is a parent nutrition workshop for all Lowell families tomorrow, Tuesday, December 1st from 5:30-7pm. Childcare IS provided! There will be presentations, cooking demonstrations and sampling for parents and fun activities for kids.


Family Literacy Night
We are so thrilled to announce we will be having a FREE family event on Friday, December 18th. Our first annual literacy night will have celebrity readers, a performance from storyteller Len Cabral, the book fair, and more! Save the date!

Lowell Parent Survey
There is still time to complete the Lowell parent survey! The link is here Lowell Parent Survey

Monday, November 23, 2015

Monday Message

It was great to see so many of you at parent-teacher conferences last week. I also want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving!

Early Release Wednesday
Dismissal will be at 12:00pm NOT 12:15pm. Lunch will not be served and there is no LEDP.  Please be on time for pick up.

Lowell Parent Survey
We are up to 96 responses but need more! Please fill out this important survey if you have not yet filled it out. Lowell Parent Survey.

Toy and Warm Clothing Drive
Our local Girl Scout troop has organized a warm clothing and toy drive to benefit Penelope's Place, a shelter for victims of domestic violence. There are posters around the school with details and boxes to drop of donations are just inside the front doors. Donations will be accepted through December 18th.

Celebrating Kindness
The Lowell school is focusing on one of our four core values this month, kindness! We had a great kindness assembly two weeks ago and students have been receiving kindness paw prints (Lowell leopard paw prints!) to recognize acts of kindness they have shown. Each day the kindness paws are put up on the bulletin board in the main lobby. Here is the board last week.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Monday Message

I hope you had a lovely weekend. It is parent-teacher conference week at the Lowell.  I always share this brief article summary(see below)  because I think it is a helpful reminder of how to make the most of a parent-teacher conference.

Lowell Parent Survey
The Lowell Site Council has created the first Lowell parent survey in six years! We are thrilled to be able to collect important feedback from all families. Our goal is to collect responses from EVERY family at the Lowell. Details are below.

Where can I find the survey?
The survey can be found here: Lowell Parent Survey and is also on the Lowell website homepage. The survey is also available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian in paper copy form and will be given out at conferences/

When can I complete the survey?
The survey can be completed on your own time by using the link above. Also, the computer lab will be open for parents to use to complete the survey during all parent teacher conferences. There will be many reminders to complete the survey over the next two weeks.

Why should I complete the survey?
Your voice is so important to school improvement and to your childrens' learning.  It only takes ten minutes and will give us insight and data to move forward and improve our school.

Early Release Days
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week are early release days. Dismissal is at 12:15, lunch will be served and there will be LEDP for those enrolled. There will be NO Courses for Kids.

Making the Most Out of Parent-Teacher Conferences
“Parent-teacher conferences can be daunting,” says Marjorie Hancock, Kansas
education professor, parent, and former teacher. She offers parents these ten pointers
for making conferences more successful:
- Arrive on time. This sends the message that the parents care.
- Bring a written list of questions. “A lot of parents get nervous because the
teachers are the professionals and they get back into their car and think ‘Why
didn’t I ask that?’”
- Realize that your child may act differently in school than at home; be open to
the teacher’s descriptions of your child’s behavior in school.
- Don’t be defensive. It’s all about helping your child do better in school.
- Ask the teacher for examples of your child’s work to back up the points the
teacher is making.
- Discuss specific strengths of your child as a learner; build on your child’s
strengths.
- Ask the teacher for specific ways you can help at home.
- Set 2-4 specific goals for your child in the next grading period.
- Share what the teacher reports with your child. Better yet, have your child be
part of the conference.
- Remember that, as a parent, you are the most important person in your child’s
life. Give your child a hug and reassurance after the conference. “The bottom
line is ‘I love you,’” says Hancock. “It’s almost a team approach to success.”

“Getting the Most Out of Parent Conferences” in PEN Weekly NewsBlast, Sept. 30, 2004.
See http://www.click2houston.com/education/3767252/detail.htm

PTO Updates
The Chateau fundraiser for the Lowell is this Wednesday!  The flyer can be found here: http://jrlowellpto.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/4/0/31409341/chateau_2015.pdf

The gift card program has launched, place your holiday gift card order by December 11th at www.shopwithscrip.com. Most major brands are available and it costs you nothing extra to order.
You can pay online or via check made out to Lowell PTO.  PLEASE REMEMBER TO USE CODE: 8L14DL7B26791.  Directions on how to order are located here: http://jrlowellpto.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/4/0/31409341/holiday_pto_giftcard_flyer.jpg

Monday, November 9, 2015

Monday Message

It has been a great first 8 weeks (or so) at the Lowell.  I have been wanting to share these photos from the professional development day (election day). Teachers were engaged in learning so many new things to pass on to our students. Our teachers took courses in Math in Focus curriculum, Picturing Writing curriculum, making curriculum connections to school gardens, teaching to strengths, Google in the classroom, the power of play, and many more topics.









Interest Form
As you know, our Lowell Community Volunteer Program "launched" last week. Please take a moment to click here and fill out this volunteer interest form!

PTO Meeting
Tomorrow night there will be a PTO meeting at 7pm in the Lowell library.

No School Wednesday, November 11th
There will be no school on Wednesday, November 11th in observance of Veteran's Day.

Conferences Next Week
Parent-teacher conferences will take place next week on Monday night and then on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons.  You should have received your conference appointment slip last week.  There will be early release days Tuesday-Friday next week. Dismissal will be at 12:15 pm and lunch will be served to students on those days. I will put out more information about conferences later this week.

Parent Survey
A very important survey will be available during conference week and the week after. This survey is for ALL Lowell parents to complete. The survey was created by parents and teachers working together on School Site Council.  We hope to have all families fill out one survey. More information will be coming next week, along with the survey link.

Friday, November 6, 2015

End of Week Message

It has been a busy week so I wanted to send an end of week message!

LCVP Launch Week
This was the official launch of our new and improved Lowell Community Volunteer Program.  We will still be getting this off of the ground next week but I wanted to take a moment to thank Lowell parent and volunteer coordinator extraordinaire, Nici Smith (you probably have seen her at her little LCVP table)! The LCVP is back and bigger than ever and it is due to her hard work and organization. Part of what we want to do at the Lowell is recognize our volunteers for all that they do-so we would like to recognize and thank Nici!

PTO Updates
The next PTO meeting is on Tuesday, November 10th at 7pm in the library.

No School on Wednesday
There will be no school on Wednesday in observance of Veteran's Day


Enhanced Lockdown Parent Meeting
Thank you all who attended last night's enhanced lockdown parent meeting. The powerpoint from the event can be found here

Help in Garden Needed!

The Lowell Learning Garden needs volunteers this Sunday, from 1-3pm to prepare beds for daffodil planting, to add soil amendments to beds, as well as, to help with weeding and pruning.  Judy, our wonderful garden expert, will bring leaf bags and pruning tools.  It would be helpful if some of us could bring:

- rakes for leaves (I will bring one)
- gloves
- spading forks  

Please RSVP to kmcgah@hotmail.com if you think you can help out.  If you're able to join, please let us know what you are able to bring.  Feel free to bring your children; they can help, or play together nearby!

Hope to see you Sunday, for a couple of enjoyable hours, outdoors in the garden, with new and old friends. Thank you for considering to help out!

Kathleen McGah
LCVP Parent Rep. and Volunteer

Monday, November 2, 2015

Monday Message

Exciting News
It was so wonderful to see so many of you at the Halloween Party on Friday night and to see so many parents in classrooms volunteering or visiting on Friday!







On that note I am so excited that the Lowell Community Volunteer Program (LCVP) is re-launching! We have had this program in place for five years and garden volunteers, office and library help, and International Night all came about because of it.  Be on the lookout this week for communication about this program. For now I want to give you a sneak peak of our brand new web page that has been dedicated to this wonderful program that is so valuable to our teachers and support staff.

Lowell Community Volunteer Program Website


No School Tomorrow
There will be no school tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3rd, for town wide voting and teacher professional development.

Important Events This Week
Grade 1 Parent Coffee-Thursday, November 5th at 8:20 am
Please join me in the cafeteria to learn more about grade 1 curriculum, assessment, and more!

Lowell School Wide Emergency Protocol Parent Meeting-Thursday, November 5th at 7pm
There will be a meeting for all Lowell parents in the gym to learn about our Enhanced Lockdown drill that we will be practicing as a school in the coming weeks. Watertown Police and the district's Critical Incident Team will be presenting.