Monday Message 5/4

Good Morning Lowell Families,

This week is teacher appreciation week.  I believe that we have a lot to appreciate here at the Lowell School.  Our teachers are dedicated and care deeply about the success of our students.  Every day brings new challenges but the teachers at the Lowell School continue to work hard to make the Lowell School a welcoming and safe place for all children.

This weekend the Watertown Community Foundation sponsored "Watertown Helps Out" a day of community service.  In that spirit a small group worked to repair the fence around the Lowell Learning Garden that was damaged by this winter's snow fall.  Thank you to Gideon and Vivian Schreiber and Judy Fallows for helping to get the garden straightened up and ready for spring.

This Week:

On Tuesday and Wednesday the students in Grade 5 will be taking the Science, Technology and Engineering MCAS exam.  Students need to be on time for school.  Testing will begin first thing in the morning.  Next week students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 will complete the second part of the PARCC testing on Monday 5/11, Wednesday 5/13 and Thursday 5/14.

PTO Updates:

The next PTO meeting is Tuesday, May 12th at 7:00 PM in the Library.

The PTO is organizing a Teacher Appreciation Luncheon on Thursday, May 7th.  Please contact Pamela Dennison if you'd like to donate a food item, raffle item or money (checks payable to Lowell Elementary PTO): pamela.dennison123@gmail.com.

Yard Sale: The Lowell School will be participating in the Town Wide Yard Sale on Saturday, May 16th. The PTO will be collecting sports equipment, children's clothing, toys, games, books, bikes, strollers. As you are cleaning out from this awful winter, please set your things aside to donate!

If your interested in helping out contact mary.lynds@brighthorizons.com.

Yoga Week:  Please the following link to access the flyer for Yoga Week. This week 100% of the proceeds from any yoga classes will go to the Lowell PTO.  

Box Tops: Mr. Shpritzer's class has won the Spring Box Tops contest.  The PTO collected over $700 for the school.
 

Have a great week!

Ms. Donovan

Monday Message 4/27

Good Morning Lowell Families,

I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing week off of school.  It was wonderful to see the smiling faces return to school this morning.  The traffic in the drop and go lane seems to be a little lighter now that many people have returned to walking and biking to school.  Please remember to watch in crosswalks around the school for students that may be walking to school.  I have also noticed that many families are walking dogs to school.  I am a dog owner and dog lover but, please remember that dogs are not allowed on school grounds according to town ordinances.  If you are walking to school with puppies please try to use the sidewalks across from the building so that the areas in front of the stairs and ramps are clear for students.

Homework Club and Cooking Club:
The grade 3, 4 and 5 Homework Club will no longer be meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The cooking club for grades 4 and 5 will meet on Tuesdays for the next six weeks.  Students that have been selected for the cooking club received permission slips to be signed and returned.

Site Council
This Tuesday, April 28th, from 7:00 -8:00 there will be a site-council meeting in the Lowell School Library.  We will finalize the school improvement goals for the 2015-2016 school year and discuss action steps for each goal.

PTO Updates:
Please visit the Lowell School PTO website: http://www.lowellpto.org/ for updates on PTO events and fundraisers.

Lowell School Yard Sale: If you are doing any "spring cleaning" consider donating items to the Lowell PTO's Yard Sale.  On May 16th, as part of the Watertown Town-Wide Yard Sale the Lowell PTO will be hosting a sale on the front lawn of the school.  The proceeds from the sale will benefit the Lowell PTO.  We will be collecting Sports Equipment, children's clothing, toys, games, books, bikes, strollers. As you are cleaning out from this awful winter, please set your things aside to donate! Please be on the look out for more information.

Box Tops: Correction: The Box Tops contest ends April 30th.  Here are the current class totals.    Thank you to all of the families who donated.  This is a great way for our PTO to earn money.

Shpritzer~1,226
Altobello~735
Seward~657
Peca~611
MacLellan~424
Peteson~386
Connors~292
Stezzi~285
Barker~177
Sudbay~163
Park~136
Morrison~117
Moriarty~99
Fiandaca ~96
Murray~88
Walsh~70
Cox~59
Pinsoneault ~51
Hudon~22

Have a great week!

Ms. Donovan

Monday Message 4/13

Good Morning Lowell Families,

It is wonderful that spring is finally here.  We are seeing a lot more students walking to school which means that drop and go traffic is moving more quickly.  Remember to be on the look out for students in crosswalks.

Early Release This Week:
Monday through Thursday are early release days.  Students will be served lunch and dismissed at 12:15.  There is LEDP but, there is no homework club.  Friday is a full school day.  If you have a conference scheduled with your child's teacher please try to be on time.  Conferences are twenty minutes in length and teachers have packed schedules.

April Vacation:
Next week is April vacation, there is no school for the week.

PTO:
This Tuesday, April 14th, there is a PTO Meeting at 7:00 in the Library.

The theme of this Friday's Spirit Day is "Mismatch Day."  I am looking forward to seeing some great clashing outfits on Friday.

Have a wonderful week and a great April break.

Ms. Donovan

Monday Message 4/6

Good Morning Lowell Families,

The students at the Lowell School were very excited to reach their goal of reading 5,000 hours during the month of March.  The students in Pre-k through fifth grade read a total of 5,546 hours.  To celebrate this accomplishment we had a special assembly from Jim Parks of Wingmasters.  He brought five birds of prey and did an educational presentation for all of the students.  Ask your children about the American Kestrel, the Peregrine Falcon, the Screech Owl, the Barred Owl, and the Red Tail Hawk they met today.  Mr. Parks was amazed at what a respectful audience the students were and about the knowledge they had about animals.  I will be updating the homepage soon with more pictures of these magnificent creatures.

Early Release and Conferences
Parent- Teacher Conferences are scheduled for this Thursday evening and Monday through Thursday afternoon of next week.  Please be on time for conferences so that teachers can stay on schedule.
On early release days, lunch will be served and students will be dismissed at 12:15.

PTO:
Classes are in the middle of the spring Box Top contest.  The students have until April 30th to bring in Box Tops.  The class with the most box tops will win an ice cream party.  Ms. Altobello's class is currently in the lead with 237 box tops.

The next PTO meeting is next Tuesday, April 14th at 7:00 PM.

Grade 3-5 Homework Club:
There will be homework club this week.  The homework club sign-up will go out this afternoon.

Healthy Technology Use Speaker Series
This Wednesday, April 8th is the third and final speaker in the Healthy Technology Use Series.

Wednesday April 8th @ 7:00

Watertown Middle School (Parent & tween/teen presentation)
Speaker David Bickham and also features Stacy Carruth with an introductory to Mindfulness.

Reserve your seat by registering at
https://healthy-families-2015.eventbrite.com

Learn more about the Center on Media and Child Health on their FB group at
https://www.facebook.com/centeronmediaandchildhealth

Have a great week!

Ms. Donovan

Monday Message 3/30

Good Morning Lowell Families,

The students at the Lowell School have been very busy reading.  Each hoot sheet they complete represents two hours of reading and earns a feather for the owl.  The owls wings are growing large!

The school needs to read 5,000 hours to earn a special assembly.  So far the students have read 1,912 hours.  We need to do a lot more reading in the final weeks.  Keep reading!

Early Release Friday:
This Friday, April 3rd is an early release day.  It was changed from a no school day due to the amount of snow days.  Students will be served lunch and dismissed at 12:15. There is NO L.E.D.P.

Report Cards and Conferences:
Reports Cards will go home this Thursday, April 2nd.  Conference appointment times will also go home this day.  Evening conferences are scheduled for Thursday, April 9th.  Afternoon conferences are scheduled from Monday 4/13 to Thursday 4/16.  These will be early-release days.  Students will be dismissed at 12:15 and lunch will be served.

PARCC:
Student in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade have two final days of testing.  Monday and Tuesday of this week students will complete the two sessions of Math testing.  The next window of PARCC testing will be Monday, May 11th- Friday, May 15th.  Additionally students in grade 5 will have two days of the MCAS Science, Technology and Engineering test on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 5th and 6th.

Healthy Technology Use Speaker Series:
The second part of the Healthy Technology Use speaker series is happening this Wednesday evening.
CYBER SAFETY (Parent & tweens/teens)
Wednesday, April 1st 7:00 PM @ Watertown Middle School
Kristen Noto - DA's Office

Reserve your seat today! https://healthy-families-2015.eventbrite.com

As a Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney, Kristen Noto has had firsthand experience prosecuting perpetrators and working with victims of online criminal behavior. She will hold a frank discussion about how risky online behaviors can negatively affect the emotional well-being, health and safety of our children. After her talk, she, along with a panel of staff members from the Watertown Public Schools, will help us plan guidelines for our children's online use so that we can better ensure that they are safe while they are digitally connected.

PTO:

The next PTO meeting is Tuesday, April 14th.  

Check out the PTO website for information about on-going fundraisers.  

Have a great week!

Ms. Donovan

Monday Message 3/23

Good Morning Lowell Families,

The students at the Lowell School read 708 hours last week as part of the 2015 Reading Challenge: Birds of a Feather...Reading Together.   The reading challenge last for 4 weeks.  The students need to read a total of 5,000 hours to earn a special assembly.  The students will need to read much more than 700 hours per week to reach the goal of 5,000 hours.  Families can get in on the action and help out.  Reading to children earns minutes in addition to children reading on their own.  There are many benefits to reading to children, even for children old enough to read on their own.  Check out the article posted on www.greatschools.org that examines the benefits of reading aloud to children.  Children can track their reading minutes on the owl reading logs and return completed logs to class to add to the classroom total.

PARCC in Grade 3, 4, and 5

Students will be taking the PARCC exams this week.  It is important for students to arrive on time.  Testing sessions will begin first thing in the morning.

Monday 3/23	Tuesday 3/24	Wednesday 3/25
ELA Session 1	ELA Session 2	ELA Session 3

Monday 3/30	Tuesday 3/31
Math Session 1	Math Session 2

There will be no Homework Club this week.


Healthy Technology Use Speaker Series

On Wednesday, March 25th Jon Mattleman will be the first in a series of speakers on healthy technology use.  Please use the link to access the flyer or sign up to attend the speaker series at: Healthy Technology Use Sign-Up.

PTO: Upcoming Events & Fundraisers:

Boston Red Sox - 4/27, 6:10pm.

Paint Bar - 5/19, 6:30pm

Lost and Found

The Lost and Found in the cafeteria is looking very full.  Please check it out.  I'm sure there are many hats, mittens, and lunch boxes that have not made it home this winter.

Have a great week!

Ms. Donovan

Monday Message 3/16

Good Morning Lowell Families,

We have broken the record for snowfall this year but luckily it has not caused another cancellation.  This has been a difficult winter but despite all of the challenges parents and teachers in Watertown continue to work for what is best for the students.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to making the PTO Zumbathon a success.  The money the PTO raises helps to fund important resources for students at the Lowell School.  

Site Council

On Tuesday, March 17th at 7:00 PM is the next Lowell Site-Council meeting.  We will be working on crafting goals for the 2015-2016 School Improvement Plan.  

Healthy Technology Use Speaker Series
Here Is a link to the flyer: Healthy Technology Use

Reserve your seat today! https://healthy-families-2015.eventbrite.com for one, two or all three of the Speaker Series.

PARCC Schedule:

Students in Grades 3-5 will begin taking the PARCC exam next week.  At the Lowell School the testing schedule will be:

Monday 3/23	Tuesday 3/24	Wednesday 3/25
ELA Session 1	ELA Session 2	ELA Session 3

Monday 3/30	Tuesday 3/31
Math Session 1	Math Session 2

Attendance on the testing days is very important.  Students need to be at school on time to settle into the routine of the day and prepare for a successful testing session.  

PTO:

The Lowell PTO is taking reservations for Red Sox Tickets, Monday April 27th 7:10 PM.  The Red Sox are playing the Toronto Blue Jays.  Here is a link to the form: Lowell PTO Night at the Red Sox.  Forms are due by March 31st.  

Have a great week!

Ms. Donovan