February 5, 2017

Dear Lincoln Eliot Families,

It was lovely to see so many of you at Lincoln Eliot’s first annual movie night.  Thank you to the PTO for planning this community event.

Progress reports will be available to parents on Monday, February 6.    You can access Skyward at this link.  Your user name should be your email address.  There is a “forgot password” button should you need some help.

Free English classes!

Free English classes starting for families of Lincoln Eliot students! Class begins on Tuesday, February 14th from 9-10 in the library.    Come meet new friends and practice speaking English.  All English levels are welcome.    If you are interested, go to this link and complete a short survey.  If you are a fluent English speaker and are interested in volunteering your time to help parents learning English then there is a question for you in the survey.

In lieu of a meeting, the L-E PTO is offering its monthly update for February in newsletter form.   Click here to read the February newsletter.  Please visit www.lepto.org for more information about particular events or to contact a board member.

Start planning for the Science Fair on March 16th!   The Science Fair and registration form are going home in folders but you can preview the information at this link.

The Newton Philharmonic welcomes Lincoln Eliot students and families to its Valentine’s concert on February 12 at 3:00 at the First Baptist Church in Newton Center.  The concert begins at 3:00 and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Instrumental Music Enrichment Program at Lincoln Eliot.  Flyer is here and will be sent home in the folders.

Two food drives are still happening to help families in need.  Thank you to all who have contributed.

1.  One of our students is collecting canned goods and other non perishables  as part of her Girl Scout service project.  All food that is collected will be delivered to a Newton food pantry.
2. The PTO is helping to support  a food donation drive to help Syrian Refugees.   There are food collection bins by the Jackson Road entrance.

The fifth graders are collecting new winter clothing to donate to families in need.  There are collection boxes all around the school.  Look for a flyer in your folder.  Students have visited classrooms to describe the project to students.

Lincoln-Eliot 5th Grade Launch Fundraiser – February 10th from 6-10pm. The 5th graders are working towards an end-of the year camping trip and graduation ceremony and need to raise money to offset the cost – this is the first of four fundraisers. Please spread the word, bring your children and friends to jump and have fun and please mention Lincoln Eliot when you pay for your tickets at the door – 25% of the tickets sales on February 10th will go directly to the 5th grade fund!!! Note: Children will still need to be supervised by their parents at Launch.

Have a great week,

Jody

District Kindergarten Information

Out of District Placement

Upcoming Dates:

February 6  Progress Reports Available on Skyward

February 6  K Parent Night at Newton North

February 10 – 5th grade Fundraiser at Launch

February 14  ESL classes begin for families of students

February 20-24 – School vacation (resumes Monday, February 27 )

March 16  Science Fair

MCAS Dates:

January 30, 2017

Dear Lincoln Eliot Families,

新年快乐   Happy Chinese New Year to our families who celebrate this holiday.

I hope to see many of you at Lincoln Eliot’s first movie night on Friday.  If you are at the school then please stop by the lost and found rack and barrel to claim clothes.  Each week I am surprised by new additions to the collection.  This week’s surprise item was a beach towel.

Reminder Wednesday, February 1 is an early release day!  All students are dismissed at 12:30.  What do teachers do on these afternoons?  The majority of these afternoons are spent on professional development.  This week teachers will work in grade level teams to plan lessons and assessments, share instructional strategies and assessment results.

Events

The Secret Lives of Pets is showing this Friday, February 3rd at Lincoln Eliot’s first annual movie night.   Parents and children are invited to watch a movie in the gym.  Look for the flyer in your child’s purple folder.

The PTO needs help with set up, ticket and food/bake sales, and clean up. Sign up and help make the night a success! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e44aba72ea2fd0-family

The girl scout cookies did not arrive in time for last week’s Tuesday afternoon pizza sale.  They will be on sale at the Jackson Road entrance thiscoming Tuesday.

Two food drives are happening to help families in need.

1.  One of our students is collecting canned goods and other non perishables  as part of her Girl Scout service project.  All food that is collected will be delivered to a Newton food pantry.
2. The PTO is helping to support  a food donation drive to help Syrian Refugees.   There are food collection bins by the Jackson Road entrance.   Please bring nonperishable food items to school and/or to movie night.

The Winter Walk to School day is this Thursday,  February 2.  Let’s be traffic free for a day!

More Community Events can be found at this link.

Lincoln-Eliot 5th Grade Launch Fundraiser – February 10th from 6-10pm. The 5th graders are working towards an end-of the year camping trip and graduation ceremony and need to raise money to offset the cost – this is the first of four fundraiser. Please spread the word, bring your children and friends to jump and have fun and please mention Lincoln Eliot when you pay for your tickets at the door – 25% of the tickets sales on February 10th will go directly to the 5th grade fund!!! Note: Children will still need to be supervised by their parents at Launch.

Have a great week,

Jody

District Kindergarten Information

Out of District Placement

Upcoming Dates:

February 1    Early Release

February 2   Walk to School Day

February 3 –  Progress Reports available on Skyward

February 3 –  Movie Night at Lincoln Eliot

February 10 – 5th grade Fundraiser at Launch

February 20-24 – School vacation (resumes Monday, February 27 )

MCAS Dates:

Dear Lincoln Eliot Families,

I was visiting a second grade class on Friday and found students reciting this part of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s ‘I Have Dream’ speech:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

In fifth grade, I observed students sharing what they know about Martin Luther King Jr., what they want to know or what questions they would have for him, and what they have learned over the years about his life and influence.   The lessons about Dr. King were woven into the resilience and survival unit.  Students across the school were thinking deeply about Dr. King’s vision for equity and equality in our country.

The PTO held their monthly meeting on Tuesday evening.  The rolling agenda and minutes can be found on the PTO web page and and here.  The next meeting is February 7th and all are welcome.  It is a great way to meet other parents and build school community.

The next PTO sponsored event is Movie Night!  Parents and children are invited to watch a movie in the gym the evening of Friday, February 3rd.  More information to follow.

Lincoln-Eliot 5th Grade Launch Fundraiser – February 10th from 6-10pm. The 5th graders are working towards an end-of the year camping trip and graduation ceremony and need to raise money to offset the cost – this is the first of four fundraisers. Please spread the word, bring your children and friends to jump and have fun and please mention Lincoln Eliot when you pay for your tickets at the door – 25% of the tickets sales on February 10th will go directly to the 5th grade fund!!! Note: Children will still need to be supervised by their parents at Launch.

Have a great week,

Jody Klein

District Kindergarten Information

Out of District Placement

Upcoming Dates:

January 25 second grade goes to the Museum of Science

February 3 – Progress Reports available on Skyward

February 3 – Movie Night at Lincoln Eliot

February 10 – 5th grade Fundraiser at Launch

February 20-24 – School vacation (resumes Monday, February 27 )

MCAS Dates:

Join us for our next L-E PTO Meeting!

When: Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Where:  L-E Cafeteria
Time: 6:30-7:30 pm

Childcare provided in the Gym.  All are welcome!!

Dear Lincoln Eliot Families,

This is the email update with the correct dates for February vacation and the community information.  I had the April vacation dates.

I hope you all were safe and sound after our first snowstorm of the season.  Students and teachers got right to work this week after the winter break.  It was all hands on deck with staff conducting reading assessments on students.  Teachers are assessing reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension.

Community Information

Lincoln-Eliot 5th Grade Launch Fundraiser – February 10th from 6-10pm. The 5th graders are working towards an end-of the year camping trip and graduation ceremony and need to raise money to offset the cost – this is the first of four fundraiser. Please spread the word, bring your children and friends to jump and have fun and please mention Lincoln Eliot when you pay for your tickets at the door – 25% of the tickets sales on February 10th will go directly to the 5th grade fund!!! Note: Children will still need to be supervised by their parents at Launch.

As I communicated with you on Friday we had a brief period of time Friday morning when students and staff were directed to remain in the building and visitors were not allowed in.  Most students were unaware of the situation as we were between recess times.  The police department advised a Shelter-in-Place protocol as they conducted a well-being check for an individual. This person was ultimately located in Watertown and the situation was resolved. The Shelter-in-Place protocol was utilized out of an abundance of caution.

For a variety of reason, some families want their child to attend a Newton school outside of the Lincoln Eliot neighborhood district.  If you want more information on this process then go to Out of District Placement for specific instructions.  For example, some fifth grade families live closer to the Day Middle School and apply for out of district placement in order to attend Day instead of Bigelow.  Both middle schools feed to Newton North.

Hard to believe but we are planning for kindergarten screening.  If you have a child who will enter kindergarten in September, 2017 then please email Jena_rossi@newton.k12.ma.us with your name, child’s name, email address and best phone number to reach you.  Please pass this information along to friends and neighbors in the LE district. There will be a Kindergarten Information Meeting at Newton North on February 6, 2017.  All there is to know about the K registration process can be found on theDistrict Kindergarten Information page.

On Monday morning, we plan to place all of the lost and found items on a cafeteria table for parents and students to view and hopefully claim.  They will be laid out on Monday morning.  If you are missing boots, coats, lunch containers, a blanket… come check it out 🙂

Have a great week,

Jody Klein

Upcoming Dates:

January 10 – 6:30-7:30 PTO meeting, childcare available

January 16 – Martin Luther King Day, No school

February 3 – Progress Reports available on Skyward

February 20-24 – School vacation (resumes Monday, February 27th)

MCAS Dates:

Dear Lincoln Eliot Families,

Happy New Year.  I wish you a joyous and healthy 2017!

Book Fair – It was wonderful to see so many of you at the Cocoa and Cookies/Book Fair night.  My husband and two of my children popped in and commented on the enthusiasm of parents and students.  It really was the “Best Book Fair” and would not have happened without the hard work of the PTO.    Thank you to Librarian Heather Tannenbaum, Tui Sutherland and her parents, Jenny and Matt Rosenthal, Cindy Chan, Andrea Hemment, Karen Hite, and all the parents who purchased and helped sell books.  What started as an idea back in September grew into a wonderful community building and fund-raising event.

MCAS 2.0 – Public school students in grades 3-12 are required to participate in state-wide assessments for math, English and science. For the past two years, elementary school students took the PARCC assessment.  This year, students will take the MCAS 2.0 assessment.  Read more on the history of state assessments from Commissioner Chester.

We are finalizing the dates for the Spring administration of MCAS 2.0 for students in grades 3-5 but expect testing to start the beginning of April.  Fourth graders will take the test on the computer.  Grades 3 and 5 will take a pencil and paper test.  Eventually all grades will be required to take the test on the computer – there are some exceptions for particular students requiring accommodations.  Our literacy specialists and math specialists along with teachers will share additional information on how to prepare students for the assessments.  While we don’t teach to the test, we want students to be familiar with the types of questions, test content and directions.

Just a reminder to check out some fabulous and free learning resources on the Lincoln Eliot website:

Math Specialist, Ms. Elka Kuhlman’s Math website.

Library Learning Links.

Sincerely,

Jody Klein

Upcoming Dates:

January 10 – 6:30-7:30 PTO meeting

January 16 – Martin Luther King Day, No school

February 3 – Progress Reports available on Skyward

Parent teacher organization (PTO) meeting
When: Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Where: Lincoln-Eliot cafeteria
Time: 6:00pm – 7:30pm

Come and learn what is happening in our school and how you can help.
Meet our Superintendent, Dr. David Fleishman and ask him questions.
We have free childcare for you in the gym. Everyone is welcome!
Reunión de organización de padres y maestros
Cuando: Martes, 6 de diciembre de 2016
Dónde:Cafetería de Lincoln-EliotHora: 6:00-7:30 pm

Venga y aprenda lo que está sucediendo en nuestra escuela y cómo puede ayudar.
Conozca a nuestro Superintendente, Dr. David Fleishman y hágale preguntas.Tenemos guarderías gratuitas para usted en el gimnasio. ¡Todos son bienvenidos!

Reunião da organização de pais e professoresQuando: terça-feira, 6 de dezembro de 2016
Onde: Lanchonete de Lincoln-Eliot
Tempo: 6:00-7:30 pm

Venha e aprenda o que está acontecendo em nossa escola e como você pode ajudar. Conheça nosso Superintendente, Dr. David Fleishman e faça perguntas.
Temos puericultura gratuita para você no ginásio. Todos são bem vindos!

Организация встречи родителей и учителей
Когда: Вторник, 6 декабря 2016
Где: Кафетерий Lincoln-Eliot
Время: 6:00 – 7:30 вечера

Приходите и узнайте, что происходит в нашей школе, и как вы можете помочь.
Познакомьтесь с нашим суперинтендантом (заведующим городским отделом образования), доктором Дэвидом Флейшманом и задайте ему интересующие вас вопросы.
В спортзале будет предоставлен бесплатный присмотр за детьми. Приглашаем всех желающих!

家长教师组织会议
日期：2016年12月6日（星期二）
地点：Lincoln-Eliot自助餐厅
时间：6:00 – 7:30 pm
请来吧，了解我们学校正在发生的事情，以及如何帮助。
认识我们的总监，若有问题可以请教他。
我们在健身房为您提供免费托儿服务。欢迎大家！

December 4, 2016

Dear Lincoln Eliot Families,

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. We had an email transmission problem last week and I’m sorry for the incomplete emails.

Thursday, December 8^th is an early release day.  Dismissal is at 12:30 for all students.

Community Information is linked here.

Tuesday evening, December 6^th is busy at Lincoln Eliot.  There is a 5^th grade fundraising meeting from 6-6:30 in Ms. Penzar/Ms. Evans classroom.  There is a PTO meeting from 6-7:30 in the cafeteria.  Childcare is provided.  The regular meeting is from 6-6:30 and from 6:30-7:30, David Fleishman will be present to speak with parents about the principal search.

Please visit the lovely donated clothing rack outside the gym to find missing coats and lunch boxes.

Best Book Fair is Coming to Lincoln-Eliot!

Lincoln-Eliot Book Fair Flyer

Don’t have time to shop? -Leave your holiday gift buying to the week before winter break and shop right in our school library!  Every book purchased will help buy new books for our school!  You and your children will be able to browse the bookshelves, make wish lists, and shop right from the comforts of our school.  The book fair will culminate with a ‘winter warmer’ evening event where all students and parents are invited to come shop.

More details to follow!

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE:

Mon. December 19th

Tues. Dec. 20th

Wed. Dec. 21st  (‘Winter Warmer’ Night)

The PTO will be looking for many volunteers to help with class browsing and shopping times.  A sign-up Genius will be sent out shortly.

Tuesday Pizza Sales

Thank you for eating pizza on Tuesdays! The pizza /bake sale is a big fundraiser for the 5^th grade class.

Newton Community Education

Three classes are being offered at Lincoln Eliot this winter – robotics, chess and actors studio.  Registration opened on November 16th.  Scholarship applications are available through our school social worker.  Please email Ms. Stephanie Baumann at stephanie_baumann@newton.k12.ma.us.

VOTE FOR LINCOLN ELIOT – Deadline is December 31, 2016.

This year, Watertown Savings Bank has set aside $75,000 to distribute to non-profits through the Customer Choice Awards.  The program provides customers with the opportunity to influence how the bank distributes funds in the community.  Last year, our community turned out the vote, and Lincoln-Eliot was  awarded $2,000!  If you have any type of account with Watertown Savings Bank, you can cast a vote! Every customer may vote once. Deadline to vote is December 31, 2016!!  Go to Customer Choice to vote online, or visit a branch to cast your ballot!

Upcoming dates:

12/6                    PTO Meeting at 6:00.  David Fleishman will join the meeting from 6:30-7:30 to discuss the principal search

12/8                    12:30 early release

12/19,20,21        Book Fair

12/23                  Last day before winter break

November 20,  2016

Dear Lincoln Eliot Families,

Last week was a very sad week for the Lincoln Eliot community.  Parents, teachers and staff all worked hard by keeping school routines in place.  If you or your child need further support, please contact your child’s teacher, the social worker, school psychologist or me.

Remember that students are dismissed at 12:00 on Wednesday, November 23 for the Thanksgiving recess.  I wish you a restful break.

Fall Festival

The date of the fall festival has changed to Tuesday, November 22.  Each performance will be about 30 minutes long and take place in the gym.   Parents and younger siblings are welcome to attend.

8:45– grades K,1,2

9:30– grades 3,4,5

November 13,  2016

Dear Lincoln Eliot Families,

Thank you students and families for sharing the school with the many voters that came to Lincoln Eliot on Election Day.    The PTO raised $1,400 from the Bake Sale.  Thank you to the many volunteers who baked and worked the table that day.  Fifth grade parents sold out of pizza!

Morning Meetings this week

We have planned a coffee for METCO families on Thursday morning and a coffee for families of English learners on Friday morning.    I had a  principal/parent coffee last Monday.  Several parents had questions about the 2016 PARCC test and the Spring 2017 MCAS 2.0 assessment for students in grades 3-5.  

Creative Arts and Sciences

All students will enjoy The Dragon King performed by the Tanglewood Marionettes on Tuesday, November 15.  The PTO sponsors this show as well as many other educational programs that support the Newton Public School curriculum.  4th graders had a hands on rocks and minerals workshop last week and 5th graders will participate in the “World of Owls” next week. Third graders enjoyed an outdoor presentation on trees and bugs and bubbles are in store for the younger learners.  The Creative Arts and Sciences committee are planning on sponsoring three educational programs for each grade level this year. 

Understanding Our Differences

The Understanding Our Differences Program has finished up the Fall Units for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grades.  Thanks to all of the teachers and staff at Lincoln Eliot who make the Unit presentations possible and accessible for their classes.  Special thanks go out to the parent volunteers:  Rebecca Schmidt, Maryam Farshi, and Linelma Zacarias.  Without their assistance it would not be possible to run the program.  Presentations will resume in the Spring, and will need additional volunteers.  This is Cathleen Morrison’s last year as coordinator so the PTO will be looking for another volunteer as well for this position.  Thank you Cathleen!

Newton Community Education

Lego Robotics, Chess and Actors Studio are being offered at Lincoln Eliot this winter.  Registration opens on November 16th.  Scholarship applications are available through our school social worker.  Please email Ms. Stephanie Baumann at stephanie_Baumann@newton.k12.ma.us.

VOTE FOR LINCOLN ELIOT

This year, Watertown Savings Bank has set aside $75,000 to distribute to

non-profits through the Customer Choice Awards.  The program provides customers with the opportunity to influence how the bank distributes funds in the community.  Last year, our community turned out the vote, and Lincoln-Eliot was  awarded $2,000!  If you have any type of account with Watertown Savings Bank, you can cast a vote! Every customer may vote once. Deadline to vote is December 31, 2016!!  Go to Customer Choice to vote online, or visit a branch to cast your ballot!

Upcoming dates:

11/15                  Tanglewood Marionettes

11/16                  Picture Retake

11/17                  METCO Family Coffee   8:35-9:35

11/18                  ELL Parent Coffee 8:35-9:35

11/23                  Thanksgiving Music Performance School  – time TBD

11/23                  Dismissal at 12:00

11/24 and 25     Thanksgiving Break