Category Archives: Community News

Principal Update 10.1.18

Dear Families,

It was wonderful to see so many of you at Curriculum Night on Thursday! We hope you had a great visit to your child’s classroom and got a chance to meet some of our specialists. Parent-teacher conferences are coming up in October, so you’ll be hearing from your teachers about signing up for those if you haven’t already.

Picture Day on Friday went very well despite the weather keeping us indoors this year. A reminder that it is still possible to order and pay for your photos online at www.haywardphotography.com using the school code LES18, as long as you do it before October 3rd.

Also, don’t forget that flu shot forms are due by October 9th for our flu clinic on October 11th.

This week we welcome our kindergartners to their first full days, with Group A having their first full day on Monday and Group B having theirs on Thursday.

Please mark the following dates on your calendars:

* Monday, October 8th:  Columbus Day — no school
* Thursday, October 11th:  Flu Clinic at school
* Saturday, October 27th:  Lincoln-Eliot Fall Festival — time TBD
* Thursday, November 1st:  Early Release day — 12:30 dismissal
* Tuesday, November 6th:  Election Day

The PTO is looking for parents to join the Fall Festival committee and help shape this new event, which is an evolution of our traditional Halloween Dance. Please email Lauren McMinn at laurenpeppers@gmail.com to sign up.

Have a great week, and happy October!

Principal Morrissey

DonorsChoose Projects from Ms. Goode and Ms. Bradley

Thank you so much to the donors who contributed to Ms. Roth’s DonorsChoose project last week!  Her project was fully funded, which means sensory boxes will be going out to all the classrooms in the school.  Hooray!

This week we want to point you to two projects posted by 4th grade teacher Ms. Goode, who is hoping to purchase standing work desks and cantilever chairs to give our students different options for their different learning styles.

It’s Time to Stand Up and Learn! has $686 to go to reach its goal, while Learning While Moving in Our Comfy Chairs! still needs a first donor to get it going.  Ms. Goode will only receive her materials if the projects are fully funded by Thursday, October 18.  Please click on the links to read her full descriptions and to donate!  Any amount is greatly appreciated!

And speaking of seating, kindergarten teacher Ms. Bradley is only $65 away from a fully funded project to add a new couch and cushions to the reading corner in her classroom.  Check out A Comfy Place for a Bookworm to help out (or as DonorsChoose puts it: “complete this project and be a hero!”).  🙂

Thank you for supporting our teachers and improving our classrooms!

(A full list of Lincoln-Eliot DonorsChoose projects can be found here.)

 

Reading Corner: A Book Pick from Ms. Kinney

Our book recommendation this week comes from our lovely Friday librarian, Ms. Rebecca Kinney, who suggests Amina’s Voice.  This novel by Hena Khan is a great choice for 4th and 5th graders.

Image result for amina's voice

A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to her family’s vibrant culture while simultaneously blending in at school after tragedy strikes her community.

Amina has never been comfortable in the spotlight.  She is happy just hanging out with her best friend, Soojin.  Except now that she’s in middle school everything feels different.  Soojin is suddenly hanging out with Emily, one of the “cool” girls in the class, and even talking about changing her name to something more “American.”  Does Amina need to start changing too?  Or hiding who she is to fit in?

Ms. Kinney says:  “I love this book!  Amina is a wonderful honest character, struggling to fit in.  But she needs to stand out to help her community.  Compassionate and honest, it’s a great read.”  And it’s available in the Lincoln-Eliot Library!

Turn In Your Box Tops!

It’s almost Box Tops submission time!  We’ll be sending in any Box Tops collected by Friday, October 26, so please start hunting through your kitchen and bringing them in.  All money earned goes to support our school!

A couple of tips to help make submitting Box Tops easier:
* Bundle your Box Tops in groups of 10 or 50 using an envelope, Ziploc bag, or rubber band.
* Tape, glue, or staple your Box Tops on a collection sheet (which went home in the blue folders or can also be found at btfe.com/collectionsheets).

Box Tops can be dropped off in the main office anytime or sent in in your child’s blue folder.  A list of participating products can be found at btfe.com/products.  Take a look; you might be surprised how many items you already have with Box Tops you didn’t notice!  🙂

Thanks very much for your help!

Welcome to Our New Librarian!

Lincoln-Eliot is lucky to have two of our fantastic librarians returning from last year — Ms. Sheila Packard and Ms. Becky Kinney — and we’d like to welcome our new third librarian, Ms. Jill Leibowitz, who is in the library on Wednesdays!  Stop by to say hi or sign up to volunteer in the library to see our librarians in action — it’s a great way to help out and meet your kids’ classmates at the same time.

Ms. Leibowitz says:  “I am in my fourth year as the library teacher at Cabot Elementary.  At Cabot I do a Greek Mythology club with 4th and 5th graders and last year I traveled to Greece with other educators to learn about Greek ancient history and culture.  My favorite thing to do as a library teacher is to help students find books that they love.  Outside of school I enjoy reading, walking on the beach and attending Broadway shows.”

Welcome to Lincoln-Eliot, Ms. Leibowitz!

Principal Update 9.24.18

Dear Families,

The home of one of our second grade students was recently destroyed in a fire. Sadly, the family lost a majority of their belongings. Our student is in need of some winter clothing now that the weather will be getting cooler. If you have any gently worn boys clothing size 8 that you would like to donate, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be delivered to the main office. Thank you!

This week we welcomed Professor Eric Olson (the “Canopy Guy”) to present to our 3rd graders about trees and the ecology of the New England and Costa Rican treetops. The program was organized by the Creative Arts and Sciences committee and funded by your support of the PTO. We also had our first PTO meeting in the library on Monday evening, and it was great to see so many in attendance!

Please mark the following dates on your calendars:

  • Thursday, September 27th: Early Release Day – 12:30 dismissal time
  • Thursday, September 27th: Curriculum Night from 6:00pm – 7:00pm; Title 1 staff will be available to discuss Title 1 services.
  • Friday, September 28th: Picture Day
  • Thursday, October 11th: Flu Clinic at school

Open House/Curriculum Night:

Our Curriculum Night open house will be taking place on Thursday, September 27th from 6:00pm – 7:00pm. Grades K-2 teachers will be presenting for families from 6:00-6:20; grades 3-5 teachers will present for families from 6:25-6:45. Specialists will be located in the Library and the PTO and SEPAC will have a table by the Jackson Road entrance — please stop by and say hello.

Please note childcare will not be provided and families are responsible for their students while onsite. An adult family member should accompany students at all times.

Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ) Newton

FORJ Newton will be offering monthly meetings for all Newton parents and guardians who are interested in learning more about race, identity and culture and supporting racial justice in our schools. Click here for a letter from Superintendent David Fleishman. The first FORJ meeting of the year will be on Tuesday, October 2nd from 7:30-9pm at the Angier Elementary School.

Your fellow Lincoln-Eliot parent, Lanni Isenberg (Mom of Milo in 1st and Lili in 3rd), is coordinating a group from our school this year.  Join her at the first meeting at Angier Elementary School and feel free to email any questions, ideas and comments: lanni_harris@yahoo.com.

First FORJ Meeting of the year:
October 2nd 7:30-9pm at Angier Elementary School
1697 Beacon St. Waban 02468
RSVP HERE: https://goo.gl/forms/EbEjNPfz5dKR8h1J2

At this meeting:

  • Superintendent Fleishman will update us on anti-racism work being done in the district.
  • We will introduce our new FORJ Co-Coordinator, Gloria Pascual.
  • You will have an opportunity to learn about plans for the coming year, see old friends, and meet new ones.
  • You can meet with your school’s FORJ team.
  • Bring a friend who wants to learn more about FORJ!

We hope to see everyone at Curriculum Night on Thursday!

Principal Morrissey

Support Our Teachers’ Donors Choose Projects!

DonorsChoose.org is a wonderful organization that allows people to donate directly to classroom projects posted by teachers.  A few of our teachers have new projects up this year, and we would love to encourage the community to support them if you can!

The one we’re highlighting this week is Ms. Roth’s Inclusive Classroom Sensory Materials project, where Ms. Roth is hoping to give each classroom a box of sensory tools like fidget toys, silly putty, and flexible seating to support all students’ needs across the grades.

This project has $202 to go to reach its goal, and Ms. Roth will only receive her materials if it is fully funded by Saturday, September 29.  Please click on the link to read her full description and to donate!  Any amount is greatly appreciated!

(A full list of Lincoln-Eliot DonorsChoose projects can be found here.)

September PTO Meeting Recap

Thank you so much to everyone who came out for our first PTO meeting on Monday!  It was great to see so many friends and friendly faces, and we’re very excited for the year ahead.  🙂  If you missed it, you can click on the links below to review the minutes and the slideshow presentation.  We need volunteers for all our events and programs, especially the Fall Festival (formerly the Halloween Dance), so if you see anything you’d like to sign up for, please do so by emailing secretary@lepto.org or online using your MySchoolAnywhere login.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting on Tuesday, November 13, where we will have special presentations about SEPAC and FORJ!

September PTO Meeting Slideshow

September PTO Meeting Minutes

Reading Corner: A Book Pick from Ms. Packard

Our book recommendation this week comes from one of our wonderful librarians, Ms. Sheila Packard!  Ms. Packard suggests the series Eerie Elementary, by Jack Chabert.  Book One is called The School is Alive!:

      

In this early chapter book series, Sam Graves discovers that his elementary school is ALIVE!  Sam must defend himself and his fellow students against the evil school.  Is Sam up to the challenge?  He’ll find out soon enough: the class play is just around the corner.  Sam teams up with friends Lucy and Antonio to stop this scary school before it’s too late!

Ms. Packard says:  “This is a fun and exciting series for kids who like to stretch their imaginations.  Sam, the main character, has a school job to be the hall monitor, and when he finds out something strange is going on, he sets out to try to protect the students from a school gone wild!  Try one and you might just need to read the whole series…”

“The Canopy Guy” Visits the 3rd Grade

On Friday, Sept 21st, the Creative Arts and Sciences Committee brought Professor Olson to Lincoln-Eliot for a presentation to each of the third grade classes.  As the “Canopy Guy,” Eric put on his tree climbing gear and uses props and puppets to give a “tour” of the New England and Costa Rican treetops, starting with the trees on our school playground.

Key topics developed during this presentation include how trees make a living from soil, air, and light, how trees consist of both below ground and above ground parts, and how different trees carry their seeds far away with either winged or fleshy fruits.

This is one of several curriculum-based enrichment programs that our PTO funds. Thank you for your continued support of the Creative Arts & Sciences Committee!