Category Archives: Community News

Time to Submit Your Box Tops!

It’s time to send in your Box Tops for the spring submission deadline!  Even though Box Tops has gone digital, the ones we have collected from packaging still count if they aren’t expired.  Please send them in to the main office by Monday, February 24 (right after vacation).

And if you haven’t already done so, please download the Box Tops app and start scanning your shopping receipts to earn easy money for our school.  Here is a link to download the app:

BoxTops App Download

Thank you for taking time to earn money for our school!

Reminder: “Screenagers” Showing This Tuesday, 2/11

The L-E PTO is partnering with the citywide PTO Council and several other elementary schools to host a viewing of the documentary “Screenagers” on February 11th at 7:00pm at Newton North High School Auditorium.

Learn more at www.screenagersmovie.com.  From the website: “Through poignant, and unexpectedly funny stories, along with surprising insights from authors, psychologists, and brain scientists, SCREENAGERS reveals how tech time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults can empower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance.”

FORJ Meeting Announcements & Resources

FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) is a coalition of school-aged families in Newton coming together to teach our children – and ourselves – how to stand up for racial equality.

UPCOMING FORJ CITY-WIDE MEETINGS

All meetings will be held at the Angier School at 1697 Beacon Street.

Thursday, February 27th 7:30-9pm Deepening our Intervention and Impact with Madeline McNeely (parent of a recent L-E graduate!) — RSVP HERE

Wednesday, March 4th 7-8:30pm Special Speaker Josephine Bolling McCall
http://www.penaltyforsuccess.com/author.html

Tuesday, April 14th 7:30-9pm Panel discussion on the work of diversity, equity and inclusion in schools.

Recommended newsletters to address diversity, equity and inclusion:

Coalition to Eliminate Racism in Brookline: List of racial justice events and action steps to fight racism to build a more equitable community.

METCO Diversity Matters: Diversity Matters is a monthly newsletter from METCO Headquarters that shares stories, resources, and announcements to help suburban school districts make the most of racial integration.

Building Anti-Racist White Educators: “BAR WE” (Building Anti-Racist White Educators) distributes a monthly Reading & Inquiry Series intended for white educators to use with their peers to develop anti-racist identities and practices.

Feel free to reach out to your Lincoln-Eliot FORJ Liaison, Lanni Isenberg, at lanni_harris@yahoo.com.

Lincoln-Eliot January PTO Highlights

January Highlights – Thank You Teachers!

In the past two months, your contributions to the PTO and our community events have provided much needed support to our teachers in several ways:

  • Nov 25th – Distributed $4,180 in cash stipends to all teachers to spend on their rooms.
  • Dec 13th – Parents purchased & donated $1,700 in books to teachers from the Book Fair!
  • Jan 5th – Distributed items from the first annual LE Teacher Grant Program. Working together with Room Connectors, delivered $2700 in flexible seating and supplies to support our classrooms.  Please see the nice cards from our 1st graders as thanks for the Book on a Shelf Grant that provided a new book each day in December.

The Creative Arts and Sciences program continues to bring amazing content to our children:

  • Dec 6th – Bubbles from the Discovery Museum, Kindergarten
  • Dec 6th – Potato Hill Poetry, Grades 2, 4, 5
  • Dec 19th – World of Owls, Grade 5
  • Jan 17th – Women in World Jazz, Grades K-5
  • Feb 6th – Potato Hill Poetry, Grades 2, 4, 5

Halfway Through the Year! Halfway to Our Fundraising Goal!

  • The LE PTO spends $36,000 per year for our 364 children, about $100 per child.
  • We’ve raised nearly $20,000 to date and are halfway to our goal!
  • Please donate via PayPal at our website LEPTO.ORG/DONATE or email treasurer@lepto.org.  THANK YOU!

Thank You for an Awesome Movie Night!

Thank you to everyone who came out for Movie Night on Friday!  It was a really fun night, and we raised over $800 for the school, which will go toward our funding for Creative Arts and Sciences programs, library books, technology, and more.  Special thanks to everyone who volunteered to make the night a success, and to Heather and Kwok Yu for organizing everything!

Principal Update 2.3.20

Dear families,

Happy February!  A quick reminder that this Thursday, February 6th, is an early release day, with dismissal at 12:30pm.

Hopefully you all received the progress reports for your scholars that were sent out on Thursday.  If you had any trouble accessing the report on Aspen, please reach out to aspen@newton.k12.ma.us, or if you have any questions, please be in touch with your child’s teacher or me.

We’re more than halfway through the school year now, and looking forward to some more great community events in the second half of the year — starting with Movie Night this Friday; hope to see you all there!

Tumble Book Library is a collection of online animated picture books, read-along chapter books, graphic novels, videos, puzzles, and games available in English, French, and Spanish.  And it’s free for you and your child to use at home!  This resource is provided through the Newton Public Schools’ libraries.  Now families will have lots of choices of good books to read anytime, anywhere!

To access from home, just go to the Library page of Lincoln Eliot School’s website. Near the top of the page, click on READ and then click on Tumblebooks.  You will need to sign in with the a username and password which I can provide you; please reach out to me or Jena for that.

Upcoming Dates To Note:

Thursday, February 6th:  Early release day; 12:30pm dismissal
Friday, February 7th:  Movie Night, 6pm
February 17th-21st:  No School — February Vacation Week
Friday, March 6th:  Game Night, 6pm

Have a great week!

Principal Morrissey

Movie Night THIS FRIDAY!

We hope you can join us for our annual Lincoln-Eliot Movie Night this Friday, February 7th, at 6pm!  (Movie starts at 6:15!)  $5 per person includes a bag of popcorn, and the movie this year, by popular vote, is Toy Story 4!

Pizza, baked goods, and water will be for sale in the cafeteria throughout the movie.  (Donations of water or baked goods can be dropped off in the cafeteria at 6pm or in the main office earlier that day.)  Please keep in mind that this is not a drop-off event; parental supervision is required.

Feel free to wear pajamas!  We hope to see everyone there!

Our Valentine’s Day Flower Fundraiser Is Back!

Help raise funds for our Lincoln-Eliot students and show someone you care with a one-of-a-kind flower bouquet created by Lincoln-Eliot PTO volunteers!  Great for staff, co-workers, friends, and family; large bouquets for $20 and small bouquets for $10.  This was a great success last year and raised over $500 for our students, so we’re excited to bring it to you again this year!  Watch for an online order link in next week’s newsletter, then place your orders by February 12th at 3pm and pick up before or after school on Valentine’s Day!

   

Reminder: Online Auction Donations Still Needed

Thank you to everyone who’s responded about our upcoming online auction — don’t forget that the deadline to submit your donation idea is February 14th!

Our online auction will begin on March 23rd and this year, we are hoping that each classroom can donate some “delivery donations” as well as some “hosting donations.”

Delivery donation ideas could be:
• Gifting a meal – this could be a homemade dish you are famous for, or a traditional meal that you love to make
• Cake delivery – make your best cake and give to the highest bidder
• Wine delivery – gift your favorite bottles of wine to the winner
• Handmade items – if you have a hobby like knitting or pottery, let us auction off one of your pieces!
• Special talents – Rubik’s cube lessons, flower arranging, tax help, language lessons, dog-walking.  You name it!

Hosting donations work a little differently.  You decide the number of guests, and bidders purchase a spot at your gathering.  Please note, these spots are only open to the children in your child’s class or grade — you may specify.  You are donating your time by organizing and providing the materials and space for the event.

Feel free to be creative, but some ideas include:
• Hosting a playdate for 3-5 classmates with a theme – crafts, cooking, science, outdoors, etc.
• Host a movie or video game night at your house with popcorn
• Hosting a parents’ or moms’ night out with drinks and appetizers at your house

Please email your Room Connector or president@lepto.org with the details of your donation.  (Please be as descriptive as possible in any food-based donations to keep in mind the buyers who may have allergy and dietary restrictions.)  The deadline to submit is February 14th.  We will follow up with you after that date to confirm the details as we get closer to the auction.

Thank you for your consideration — we appreciate your help in raising money for the school and bringing our community closer together at the same time!

CAS Program: Poet Andy Green

This Tuesday, February 4th, and Thursday, February 6th, Andy Green, founder of Potato Hill Poetry, will be making his final visit to our school this year to work with our second, fourth, and fifth grade classes.  The students have been working hard on their poems and learning a lot from his writing workshop — ask them about some of the poems they’ve studied!  His visits are made possible by your PTO donations and a generous grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council; thank you for your support for CAS programs like this all year long.