Monday Message

International Night Volunteers
We are still in need for a few more volunteers to help out with this free PTO family event! If you are able to help out please sign up here http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4cafab2fa3f94-international
We also are in need of donations of paper plates, cups, napkins, and water bottles.
The event is Friday night from 6-8pm.


Spirit Day This Friday

International Spirit Day this Friday! Students should make and bring in a flag that will decorate International Night. They can also wear something from that represents a culture, country, or nationality if they chose.

International Night 
All are invited to our fourth annual International Night! Please bring a dish to share at our potluck! The schedule for the event is:  6-7pm Country exhibits-get your passport stamped and enter our raffle
7-8pm Potluck dinner.

Drop and Go Reminders
A reminder that when in the drop and go line, please do not pass cars. It is very dangerous as children and families are crossing and can not be easily seen.  Pull all the way up to the second crosswalk and drive on. Your child will be welcomed into the building safely.

Site Council Meeting
School Site Council will meet this Thursday at 7pm in the Lowell library. All are welcome to come and learn more about our school and work on our goals for the upcoming school year.

Cyber Workshop for Parents
There will be a Navigating the Cyber World Parent Workshop on Wednesday of this week (1/27) at Watertown Middle School, 6:30 PM. More information here. 

Parent Resource Survey from Guidance Department
Research indicates that caretakers have the most significant and lasting impact on their children’s development.  For her year-long project, our intern from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Lauren McDermott, is interested in creating short video clips of parenting strategies and resources to add to our toolboxes.  We have created a short survey to brainstorm and prioritize topics for our parent/guardians. The link to this anonymous survey is provided below. The survey should take no more than 5 minutes.

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TC9WRC2

We appreciate any feedback that you may have about potential topics.  Please share any additional ideas and/or requests..  As always, we value your contribution and partnership!

Monday Message

I hope you had a great weekend! Lots of updates today...

No School Next Week
There will be no school on Monday, January 18th and Tuesday, January 19th for Martin Luther King Jr day and teacher professional development day, respectively.

PTO Updates
There will be a PTO meeting this Tuesday, January 12th at 7pm

Boxtops for Education (on many food containers) are still being collected for the next contest! Make sure they are not expired and labeled with student and teacher name.

International Night
Is Friday, January 29th from 6-8pm! Come and bring a dish to share or host a table that represents your culture or nationality! Email yolyett@gmail.com to host a table

6th Annual District Wide Spelling Bee

The deadline for registering for the all elementary spelling bee is this Friday, January 15th! Teachers are talking to students about the bee and explaining how to get a team together to register. The registration information is here  http://jrlowellpto.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/4/0/31409341/spellbeeregform-2016.pdf


Annual PTO Auction
We've officially started our 2016 Silent Auction Solicitations.  

For those that are new to the Lowell, the PTO holds an annual silent auction in the Spring, our biggest fundraiser of the year. We solicit donations from a wide range of businesses and service providers throughout not only Watertown, but New England. In the past we've offered ski tickets, restaurant gift cards, museum passes, sporting event tickets, theater passes, vacation stays, principal for the day, the list goes on and on. The auction is a highly anticipated event due to the items we offer.  

How It Works:
In March we host an online silent auction, where anyone (not just Lowell families) can bid on the items listed.  Everything is done online, once the auction ends we will have a designated day/time/location to come pick up your items. Be on the lookout in February for the auction site URL and more details on how it works.

When Is It?
The auction will run March 1st through March 12th. We will send home firm dates and information as the time draws near.

Where Does The Money Go?  
All proceeds go to the Lowell PTO. Being our biggest fundraiser of the year this money helps us fund all the various family events, student scholarships, teacher assistance and reimbursement,  class/grade level subscriptions, various enrichment programs, support school events and so much more.

 You Can Donate:  
You may be asking what would be something I could donate? Anything is the answer, but here are some ideas (please note these are just examples we are open to your creativity and generosity):

If you own a business and would like to donate a service (IE hair salon you can give a free hair cut or gift card, Tax Accountant you could donate a 2016 tax preparation, Photographer you could donate a family session, Estate Lawyer you could donate an estate planning session etc).
If you have some gift cards laying around you don't plan on using or just want to get a gift card to donate
Have sporting event tickets, theater tickets,  any tickets dated after March 15th.
Help solicit or network for the event. The auction is only successful because of the tireless efforts of our Auction Team that are soliciting to get these great items. We ask that if you go to a restaurant, or get your hair cut, or nails done, or to the barber, or dry cleaners, or get an oil change...anything to please mention our auction and ask if they'd be willing to donate. We have a letter written that outlines the auction and also provides our tax ID that you can download here.  We will also furnish receipts for donations.

Help be a part of the success of our largest and most anticipated fundraiser by contacting Mary Lynds or Sarah Zengo  or lowellelementarypto@gmail.com with your donation!!

Monday Message

Welcome back and happy new year! It was so great to see everyone at drop off this morning.  During November and December our school focused on our core value of kindness! Students received kindness coupons for acts of kindness that were posted in the school. They worked with their buddies on a kindness activity and our already very kind community was even more kind! This month we will talk about cooperation and focus on that core value.

Kindergarten Information Night
If you have an incoming kindergartener or know anyone in your neighborhood who does, kindergarten information night is this Wednesday, January 6th from 6:30-7:30 in the Lowell library. Incoming kindergarten students must be 5 years old BEFORE September 1st, 2016

Grade 3 Parent Coffee
Just a reminder that there will be a principal's coffee for grade 3 parents this Thursday at 8:20 am in the cafeteria. All grade 3 parents are welcome to learn more about curriculum, assessment, and all things grade 3!

International Night
International Night is a free event for families. Join us for an amazing evening of food and culture on Friday, January 29th from 6-8pm. We ask that families bring a food dish to share. Please email yolyett@gmail.com if you are interested in hosting a table that represents a country. So far we have the following countries represented
Argentina
Australia
Dominican Republic
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Ireland
Japan
Namibia
Palestine
Russia
Senegal
Switzerland
Vietnam
Hungary
Turkey