• Oct 30, Tuesday – Parent Forum: Changing the Culture Around Mental Health @ Ottoson 7 pm to 8:30 pm
• Oct 31, Wednesday – Direct Donation Drive: Last day!
• Nov 1, Thursday – 2nd Grade Field Trip to Wheelock Family Theatre
• Nov 1, Thursday – Box Top Fall Submission Deadline
• Nov 2, Friday – Coffee Chat With Karen, 8:15 am – Date Change
• Nov 2 & 3, Friday & Saturday – Halloween Candy Buy-Back
• Nov 3, Saturday – School Committee chat, 11 am – 12 pm
• Nov 6, Tuesday – No School & Election Bake Sale
• Nov 12, Monday – No School
• Nov 14, Wednesday – PTO Meeting 7 pm- 9 pm
• Nov 14, Wednesday – AFC’s Childcare & Preschool Options Night 7 – 8 pm
• Nov 14 & 28, Wednesday – Kindergarten Enrichment Program Wicked Cool for Kids
• Nov 15, Thursday – School Committee meeting, 6:30 – 10 pm
• Nov 17, Saturday – Boys In Motion 5K – 9 am
• Nov 19, Monday – Otto Pizza Fundraising Night, 5 – 9 pm
• Nov 21, Wednesday – 12 pm Release
• Nov 22 & 23, Thursday and Friday – No School
• Nov 30, Friday – Spirit Day: Sports Day

School Calendar

Click here 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.

The Arlington Public School Calendar is @ www.arlington.k12.ma.us/calendar

Direct Donation Drive

Did you know that 214 families have already contributed to the Thompson Direct Donation Drive? Many have also asked family and friends to support our school. Thank you to all those who have made a contribution.

I wanted to share with you the work that was done with the Leadership Team this summer around Schoolwide Expectations. Most of what is included in our expectations have been practices that that we have been referring to for the past couple of years, and they are quantified here and posted throughout the school. We have identified them and then given some examples of what this “looks like” at school. I encourage you to talk with your children about these, and how they are upholding them at school, and even how they could transfer to home in some cases!

Expectation #1: Take Care of Each Other and Our School

• See something say something

• Ask, not assume (pause before you act)

• Treat others the way you want to be treated

• Keep our school clean and tidy

Expectation #2: Mind Your Manners

• Say please and thank you

• Say excuse me

• Look each other in the eye

• Be kind to one another

• Pass the door to the person behind you

Expectation #3: Safe and quiet bodies in the hall

• Stay to the right

• Move together as a class

• Single file on the stairs

• Hands by your sides or in your pockets

• Be mindful of the learning of others

Expectation #4: Have a Safe, Fun, Fair recess

• Follow the school rules for games

• Only play the games that are intended for that space

• Allow everyone to join a game

• Walk to the green fence

• Line up in the designated area at the end of recess

• Use whistle system

  • 1st whistle = stop and listen (adult-pause, count to 10 in your head)

  • 2nd whistle = do and line up

Expectation #5: Relax and Refuel in the Cafeteria

• Sit with your class

• Pick one seat for yourself (no saving seats)

• Stay seated

• Wait for your table to be called to throw out your lunch and return to your seat

• Clean up your spot–table and floor

• Raise your hand if you need to get something

  • Caddy at each table

• Use a bathroom pass→ leave it on your seat

• Sign out with Lunch Captain when eating with an adult

• Stay at your table until your teacher lines you up

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to shape the minds and hearts of our students.

A couple of housekeeping items:
*Please come check the Lost & Found (before it gets even fuller with hats, gloves, and boots!)
*Don’t forget on Sunday Nov. 4th the clocks will TURN BACK an hour
**Date Change: Please note that the Coffee with Karen has been rescheduled to Friday, Nov. 2nd, from 8:30-9:15, in the Cafeteria**

Sincerely,
Karen

Location: Thompson School Lobby
Don’t forget to vote on November 6^th and after stop by the Thompson PTO table to purchase a baked good or volunteer for an hour. Kids are welcome to help out too.
Sign up to bake or help at the sale. https://tinyurl.com/bakesalelection
Bakers, please drop off the goodies on Monday, Nov 5^th, in the PTO room. If not on Monday, please drop them off early morning on Tuesday.

• Items should be pre-cut into SMALL portions for easy handling. Please wrap individually, or seal in an air-tight container to stay fresh overnight.
• If your items are nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, or gluten-free, please label them as such to help allergic community members identify them!
• Any items containing peanuts or tree nuts MUST be labeled as such.
• Some families have asked whether we are also accepting donations of pies to be sold whole as in past years – the answer is a resounding yes!

Not sure what to bring? Consider breakfast-friendly muffins or pastries, or the ever-popular brownies or cupcakes! Or if you’re feeling creative, come up with your own election-themed treat!

Green Team News

Our next Green Team Club meeting will be Friday Nov. 2nd 2:35-3:30 pm in room 210. We will explore creativity in environmental education. Using ACMI equipment we will experiment with our film making skills and learn and film the dance to REM’s Stand.

Contact Elizabeth Rocco at egrocco@gmail.com for more information on Green Team. Please email Fiona at fionaehring@gmail.com or Elizabeth if you are interested in joining a forming Thompson Garden Committee to integrate the Thompson School Gardens into the K-5 Curriculum!

Parent Forum: Changing the Culture Around Mental Health: It’s Past Time

October 30 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM @ Ottoson Middle School

John Broderick, the former chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, is leading a campaign to bring mental illness out of the shadows. His son’s mental illness had gone undiagnosed for nearly 20 years: ”I was the parent and I didn’t see it. So he suffered for years. Then we had that horrible tragedy and he went to prison. And I don’t know how he survived that.”  In 2016 Justice Broderick agreed to co-chair the first statewide launch in New Hampshire of a national mental health awareness campaign called Change Direction in New Hampshire.  For the past two years, he has spoken countless times about the five most common signs of mental illness, in an effort to improve understanding and awareness of mental health.   PRESENTER: John Broderick is the Senior Director of Public Affairs at Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s R.E.A.C.T. Mental Health Awareness Campaign.  Broderick believes that “we have the ability to change the culture and the way mental health is viewed.”

Halloween Event at Waldo Park

Wednesday, October 31st

All are invited to the 13th annual Waldo Park Halloween Party.  We’ll gather at the Park beginning at 4:30 pm, and we’ll have a costume “fashion show” that’ll start around 5 pm or so.  A light dinner (hot dogs and veggie items) will be served before dark, so that all who wish can eat a meal before trick-or-treating. (Waldo Park is located at the end of Waldo Road, off Cleveland Street, between Mass Ave and Broadway.)

Annual Halloween Candy Buy Back Event

Friday, November 2nd, 9am- 5pm,  Saturday, November 3rd, 8am- 2pm, Arlington Orthodontics. 800 Mass. Ave. Arlington.
If your children are overachievers and collect more candy that you can possibly imagine eating this Halloween…
Arlington Orthodontics is gearing up for their Annual Halloween Candy Buy Back Event to benefit Arlington Elementary School PTOs and our troops serving abroad! Children/Parents are invited to drop off their leftover Halloween Candy at their office November 2nd and 3rd. They will give the child or parent $2/lb (max $10) as well as make a matching donation to the child’s school PTO. All candy is shipped to troops serving overseas! Last year Thompson School received $365 that went directly towards Enrichment programs organized by the PTO. Thanks for participating!

Kids’ Night Out! 
Nov 10, 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM @ Arlington High School

Children in grades K-4 are welcome in Arlington High School’s Blue Gym for a night of games, crafts, movies and more! A delicious pizza dinner and snacks will be provided.
An RSVP is recommended, but not required. Kids can stay for the whole three hours, or just come for an hour or two! The cost is $20 for the first child, and then $10 for each additional sibling. All of the proceeds from this event will be going towards the AHS Student Council mini-grant fund, a new program that gives grants to AHS clubs, and allows Arlington students to go out and do incredible things.

This event is organized and run by high school students, but there will be an adult advisor present at all times. And in the incredibly unlikely event of injury, we have people who are CPR certified and first-aid certified present at the event as well. To RSVP: Email trosen2020@spyponders.com. Please include your child or children’s: Name(s), Age(s), How long they plan to stay, and any dietary restrictions they have.
The Address is 869 Mass. Ave, but we ask that people enter through the Mill St. Entrance. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email us!
We hope to see you there!

Family Folk Chorale: All Ages Sing and Concert: R.E.M. and Indigo Girls
Sunday, November 11^th @ 3 pm, Arlington Town Hall          

Under the direction of Artistic Director Christ Eastburn, the Family Folk Chorale intergenerational chorus will be performing the music of R.E.M. and Indigo Girls at an all-ages concert and community sing. (Last year, Eastburn partnered with the Thompson PTO and Green Team to lead the community sing of “One Day” at the June picnic.) Buy tickets at Brown Paper Tickets.

AFC’s Childcare & Preschool Options Night

Nov 14, 7 PM – 8 PM @ Thompson Elementary Gym

Local parents, both from Arlington and surrounding towns, are welcome to join for a free night of one-stop shopping for their childcare needs. This is a wonderful chance for busy parents to come to one place and meet the faces behind Arlington’s great preschools and daycare centers all at once. Parents can save time and gas, not having to drive all over town to pick up brochures and applications. There are nearly twenty licensed preschools and daycare centers in town with a large variety of programs. Free and open to all local parents.

Questions? Email options@arlingtonfamilyconnection.org