Looking for a way to spread some book love, help out kids in need, and support a local business? Our wonderful local indie bookstore, Newtonville Books, has set up an initiative to give bundles of books to kids in the Newton Public Schools Title I program.
About 65 have been purchased so far, and the goal is 110, so they’re more than halfway there and would love to make sure all the kids get books!
Click on the link to find out more and donate!:
Coming up in January 2021, check out Dr. Eddie Moore Jr’s “21 Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge”©: https://www.eddiemoorejr.com/
As families, we are often working on doing for our kids or others. This challenge is a chance to center ourselves in the work, learning and action against racism.
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. Our Lincoln-Eliot FORJ contact is parent Lanni Isenberg, lanni_harris@yahoo.com
Mark your calendars for our next PTO meeting on Tuesday, January 12th, at 6:30pm! We’ll send out a Zoom link closer to the date, and we hope everyone can join us then. Please reach out anytime with questions or things you want us to discuss by emailing secretary@lepto.org.
Dear families,
Please take a moment to fill out the PTO’s brief DLA-hybrid connection survey if you haven’t already: https://forms.gle/rE7vXtqcVhUihYgr8
The Zoom storytime/social chats last week were a lot of fun, and we hope to continue with a few this week and then more in January! Watch your inbox for links to the meetings this week. We do need parent chaperones to keep these going; please email Elizabeth at DLA@lepto.org to volunteer, or if you have any other suggestions for hybrid-DLA activities.
And don’t forget to visit our online Lincoln-Eliot book fair this week!:
https://www.childrensbookstore.com/welcome/lincoln-eliot-elementary-school/
A reminder as we head into the second part of the year and with the upcoming changes to the K-2 in-person dismissal time:
All students are expected to attend the morning meeting and participate in all of the teacher-assigned, synchronous and/or asynchronous learning activities on each school day, including special subject classes such as library, art, music, and PE. There is no minimum number of classes students are permitted to attend and per MA DESE regulations, students who miss 10% or more of days enrolled (e.g., 18 days absent if enrolled for 180 days) are defined as being chronically absent. As part of the Hybrid Learning model, students are expected to participate on all days (both in-person and remote days) and cannot selectively opt out of certain classes, including those in the specials areas and even if they are participating in a private pod.
Stay safe, and happy Hanukkah to those who are celebrating this week!
Principal Morrissey & the PTO
There’s one more week to shop our online book fair and have 30% of the proceeds go to our support our school!
https://www.childrensbookstore.com/welcome/lincoln-eliot-elementary-school/
We’d especially love for you to check out our teachers’ wishlists and, if you can, send some extra appreciation their way in this challenging year. You can find links to their wish lists right below the green intro text box on the site. We recommend choosing the school’s address to ship to, under the teacher’s name.
(And if you’re looking for more book recommendations, our new librarian, Ms. Selwyn, has some great ones on our school library website:
https://elemlibraries.newton.k12.ma.us/lincoln_eliot_library)
Please email Tui at secretary@lepto.org if you have any questions! Thank you for supporting our school, and happy reading!
City-Wide FORJ Meeting, Wednesday, December 16th from 7pm-8:30pm
Parent, coach, educator and group facilitator Amy Behrens will lead an uplifting meditation, guide the group through reflection on the racial justice work of 2020, and provide time to connect with each other. Walk away restored and ready to take action in 2021.
Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/
Also, in terms of self-care (and family care, too!), have a look at this blog by Amy Behrens about helping to move through the stress cycle: a blog on ways of releasing stress for ourselves and our kids. https://www.amybehrens.com/
If you missed the November Meeting with author Richard Rothstein here is the video of Mr. Rothstein’s 11/17/20 talk: https://vimeo.com/472303039
Mr. Rothstein discussed his book “The Color of Law, A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” about how segregation in America is the byproduct of explicit government policies at the local, state and federal levels. The recorded talk incudes a discussion about the history of segregated housing in Newton and new zoning plans.
Looking ahead
Coming up in January 2021, check out Dr. Eddie Moore Jr’s “21 Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge”©: https://www.eddiemoorejr.com/
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. Our Lincoln-Eliot FORJ contact is parent Lanni Isenberg, lanni_harris@yahoo.com
Did you know that Newton residents are required to remove the snow and ice from their paved sidewalks within 24 hours? A $50 fine after an initial warning was added for 2019. The Newton Safe Routes to School Task Force asks that residents do their part so students can keep walking to school all winter. The extra bit of exercise and fresh air is particularly important this year before students start their very structured school day.
We need residents to clear the snow and ice from their sidewalks to keep our community safe. Download the “Newton MA 311″ app for your mobile phone or use the web portal to report concerns immediately, pinpoint the exact location, and include a photo. You can report anonymously or with contact information so you can track the progress of the report. In addition to sidewalk repairs, sign and traffic signal problems, and brush covering the sidewalk, there are many categories for reporting snow concerns, including sidewalks that are not cleared and corners that are blocked. You can also call the City at 617-796-1000.
Dear families,
A reminder that this week Monday, December 7th, and Thursday, December 10th, will be “early release” days (no live afternoon instruction) for both DLA and hybrid students, to allow time for parent-teacher conferences.
Our PTO and DLA Liaison are working on ways to connect our DLA and hybrid students, and would love to get your feedback via this brief survey:
https://forms.gle/rE7vXtqcVhUihYgr8
Please fill it out if you have a chance, and reach out to our DLA Liaison, Elizabeth DePasquale, at DLA@lepto.org with any questions or suggestions.
We are also happy to share that we are having a Lincoln-Eliot online book fair from now through December 20th — buy books online, for yourself or for our teacher or library wish lists, and 30% of the proceeds go to support our school. See more details below, and visit the site here:
https://www.childrensbookstore.com/welcome/lincoln-eliot-elementary-school/
Also, don’t forget that the 4th DLA supply pick-up is scheduled for Thursday and Friday from 9am to 2pm. Each round has new supply bags, so please plan to come on the pick-up days! If your child had school pictures taken, the pictures will be in these bags. For families that have items to pick up from Holiday Helpers, you can pick them up at this time as well.
Stay warm, stay safe, and have a great week!
Principal Morrissey & the PTO
Although we can’t have our usual in-school book fair this year (and we really miss you all!), we still wanted to celebrate reading and support our school library — so we have set up an online book fair through Children’s Book Store, and we’d love for everyone to visit our site!:
https://www.childrensbookstore.com/welcome/lincoln-eliot-elementary-school/
Make sure you check out the teacher and library wish lists — they’re right below the intro text. (Clicking on “Wishlists” at the top will take you to a page to make your own wishlist — which you can do and send to friends and family, if you like!). Also, if you scroll down the main site, you can find a book list of Principal Morrissey’s favorites and lists of recommendations from our wonderful new librarian, Ms. Selwyn!
All purchases will be shipped directly to your home, and for the next two weeks, 30% of the profit will go to our school. (You can also continue shopping all year long; the rest of the year we get 15%!) Children’s Book Store recommends shopping early and choosing “UPS” at checkout if you hope to receive your books by Christmas, but as with all shipping this year, they can’t make any guarantees. But books are wonderful to get no matter when, right?
If you need some suggestions (or would like to share your favorite books!), don’t forget we have our L-E book recommendation Padlets:
And keep your eyes on your inbox for an invitation to a Zoom storytime hangout in the next couple of weeks!
Please let us know (at secretary@lepto.org) if you have any questions! Happy reading!
Our wonderful local indie bookstore, Newtonville Books, is offering a way for us to give books to kids in Newton’s Title I program. Click on the link to find out more and donate a young reader bag filled with books!:
https://checkout.square.site/buy/KPQZCW6G3ULVBYXRXJB36KQK
(And if you’re still shopping for books you can’t find in our online book fair, we recommend the Newtonville Books Bookshop page — a great way to shop online anytime and still support a local bookstore!)