Save The Date
* New *
- May 14, Monday – Incoming Kindergarten Orientation, 9 AM
- May 15, 22, 29 – Thompson Tuesdays at Not Your Average Joe’s
- May 15 and 17 – Math MCAS Grade 3
- May 16, Wednesday – Field Trip, Grade 5
- May 18, Friday – All Town 5th Grade Dance
- May 22, Tuesday – Incoming Kindergarten Visit, 1:30-2:30 PM
- May 21 and 22 – Science MCAS Grade 5
- May 24, Thursday – In School 3rd Grade Enrichment
- May 25, Friday – Field Trip Grade 3
- May 25, Friday – Spirit Day – Red, White and Blue
- May 28, Monday – No School
- May 29, Tuesday – All School Enrichment: “One Day Song”
- May 30 and 31 – Field Trip Grade 3
- May 31 Thursday – Thompson Art Show
- June 7, Friday 5 PM to 8 PM – Thompson Picnic
School Calendar
Click http://tinyurl.com/ndp8spb for Thompson’s Google Calendar to get school holidays, early release days, and PTO events on your own calendar. Click here for a printable version of this month’s calendar.
Principal Update
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
– John F. Kennedy
Dear Thompson Families,
I wanted to take a moment to thank you on behalf of myself and the entire staff here at Thompson for an amazing couple of weeks! From the Community Drive, to Nurse, Principal, and Administrative Assistant Appreciation Days, and last week’s Teacher Appreciation festivities, we are so grateful to all of you for making it so wonderful. A special shout out to Judy Hu and Melissa Kenard for all of their time, energy, and organization!
Hard to believe, but there’s ONLY 30 more school days left in the 2017-2018 school year! In these days, there is a tremendous amount of learning, enrichment, field trips, fun filled activities, and celebrations to be a part of!
See you soon,
Karen
Highlight of the Week
Not Your Average Joe’s
Thompson Tuesdays in May at Not Your Average Joe’s!
Eat or get take-out at NYAJ’s on any Tuesday in May, mention Thompson when paying the bill, and 15% of your check will go to the PTO Enrichment Fund! You can use your Community Card to save yourself 10% too – SAVE and GIVE at the same time! Excludes alcohol. Arlington location only.
Thompson News & Events
Thompson’s Art Night
Please save the date for Thompson’s Art Night on Thursday, May 31st from 6:00-7:30pm. All student’s will have artwork on display and there will be artmaking activities for the entire family.
Students have been practicing with art media, learning new techniques, finding inspiration from other artists and reflecting on their artmaking processes since September to prepare for this show. We hope you will join us to spend some time talking with your student about their artwork and to view all of the creations coming from Thompson’s Art Studio.
This year, the art teachers have switched to a Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) model. This philosophy focuses on student choice. Students generate their own ideas and work to solve visual problems. For more information on this philosophy, please visit: http://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/
We look forward to seeing you there!
Deb Campagna and Melody Wolfe Thomas
Book Release by Thompson’s Own 4th Grade Teacher Sarah Marie Jette!
Ms. Jette’s first book, What the Wind Can Tell You, will be released on May 15th. Ms. Jette will host a reading and signing on Saturday, May 19th at the Robbins Library from 1pm-3pm.
To pre-order the book or for additional information: https://www.islandportpress.com/what-the-wind-can-tell-you.html
The book will also be available at the Book Rack for purchase.
CONGRATULATIONS TO MS. JETTE!
Green Team News
Congratulations to Thompson for collecting 775 lbs of textiles (1.59 lbs/student) in the All-School Textile Recycling Competition. Peirce won the competition with 1,160lbs of textiles donated, or 3.84 lbs per student.
All the schools together collected over 7,200 lbs of textiles, now diverted from the waste stream and able to be put to good use as reusable clothing, household insulation, car seat stuffing, and wiping cloths! Remember that you can bring your donated textiles to the collection bin outside the school year round. Bay State Textiles gives money back to the Arlington Public Schools for the amount we collect (close to $400 during this competition week and $1,190 so far this year)!
First Grade Update
The first grade had a beautiful, peacock-filled day at the Franklin Park Zoo on Friday, May 11. Highlights included red pandas, giraffes, and animal-themed playgrounds.
Thompson Community Sing
Chris Eastburn, the artistic director of the multigenerational Family Folk Chorale, will teach Thompson students and staff Matisyahu’s hopeful and uplifting song, “One Day,” on the mornings of May 29th and June 5th.
All parents are invited to attend the June 5th 8:40 am rehearsal and join the Community Sing of “One Day” at the annual PTO picnic Thursday June 7th. Link to “One Day” is here.
Please contact Elizabeth Rocco at egrocco@gmail.com if you want to help with the Thompson Community Sing project.
Community Collection Drive Update
“Thompson CARES” is our motto for a good reason. Our first ever Community Collection Drive was a HUGE success. Thanks to everyone who contributed to fulfilling our Teacher wishlists.
For our beloved children, we collected enrichment opportunities (e.g. Legos, Magnatiles, chess sets, games, knitting supplies, diverse books), group play activities (e.g. recess balls, sidewalk chalk and bubbles, etc), and furniture that provides comfortable learning (e.g. lap desks, cozy pillows, yoga balls). For our beloved teachers we supported their day to day needs (e.g. laminator, document camera, poster board, gridded paper, art materials, classroom supplies). And this only highlights a small portion of what was collected!
One teacher said, “I feel like I won the lottery; and I never win anything!” Not here. As a Thompson community, we all win. On behalf of our teachers, thank you.
-PTO, Spirit Team
Volunteer Opportunities
The Thompson PTO has many volunteer needs both small and big. If you’re looking for a way to give back to Thompson, here’s a list of ways you can help.
Join the Community Card Team!
Planning is already underway for 2018-19! This is Thompson’s second biggest fundraiser, bringing in $16K+ annually for School Enrichment. We confirm our promotional and selling strategies now, so that we can relax over the summer and hit the ground running right when school starts in September. We need your help!
To get in the loop, email one of the co-chairs:
- Ashley Lorenz (K,3,5) at ashley.e.lorenz@gmail.com
- Gaggi DeStefanis (3) gaggi@rcn.com
- Christy Murphy (K) cembc99@yahoo.com
For more details about the Community Card, go here.
Help Throughout the Year
To check all current volunteer opportunities: http://tinyurl.com/ThompsonPTOVolunteers
Community
The 20th annual Read to Ride Program
The Read to Ride Program, sponsored by Dependable Cleaners, is kicking off this week! We welcome students at Thompson School to enter to win a bicycle and other prizes by reading each week during summer vacation. It’s a great way to encourage children to read. To date, more than 70,000 books have been read! Click here for an entry form with rules.
Arlington Children’s Theater Presents
Gulliver’s Travels features a talented cast of 43 ACTors ages 7-12 from seven local towns. Performances will be held on Thursday, May 17 at 7 PM, Friday, May 18 at 7 PM, Saturday, May 19 at 10 AM, 2 PM and 7 PM, and Sunday, May 20 at 3 PM at the Masonic Temple, 19 Academy St, Arlington, MA 02476.
Tickets are $10.00 and available online at http://gulliver.brownpapertickets.com or at the door.
Arlington Scoopermania
You are invited to Arlington’s fourth annual Scoopermania, all-you-can-eat ice cream festival, which will be held on May 19th from 1-5 PM on the Jefferson Cutter House Lawn (611 Mass. Ave). Entry to the ice cream buffet will cost $5 per person, and all proceeds will go to the Jimmy Fund for cancer research and treatment. All are welcome to attend! Thank you for your support, and we hope to see you there!
See Arlington Scoopermania 2018 Flyer.
All-Town 5th Grade Dance!
Friday May 18th 6-8PM
Ed Burns Arena, 422 Summer Street
Put on annually by the Arlington Rec, this event is a special time for graduating 5th graders to celebrate with old friends, and meet new ones as they get ready to enter Gibbs.
- DJ, pizza for sale, photo booth and more!
- $5 in advance, $7 at the door. 5th graders ONLY.
Go here for advance ticketing and further details.
Attend The Bear Fair!
44th Annual Bishop School Bear Fair
Saturday May 19th 10AM-3PM (rain date Sun May 20th)
25 Columbia Road, Arlington
No actual ‘bears’, but lots of fun carnival activities for kids of all ages.
Open to all. A great way to spend a May Saturday!
Connect with Us
THOMPSON PTO BOARD
Nandana Mewada, Co-President
Diana Trudell, Co-President
Yael Beals, Vice-President
Danielle Gottesman, Communications Chair
If you have news to share with the community, please email ThompsonPTOevents@gmail.com by Thursday at 12 noon to be included in the next newsletter.
Please note that we will only include news from the Thompson School and Town of Arlington. Announcements of interest to the Thompson community from other non-profit organizations may be included at our discretion.