| Save the Date |
| Mar 8 and 15, Fridays – Field Trip 1st grade – Discovery Museum Acton March 11 – March 15: International Week @ Thompson Mar 11, Monday – International Spirit Day: Dress up in the traditional outfit of another country, wear the colors of a flag, or your favorite international sports! Mar 13, Wednesday – PTO Meeting – 7-9 PM CANCELLED Mar 14, Thursday – Enrichment – Afro Brazilian Ensemble: Capoeira Assemblies Mar 14, Thursday – Arlington EATS Community Dinner, 6 PM Mar 16, Saturday – International Festival – 11 AM – 3PM Mar 21 and 22, Thursday and Friday – Field Trip 2nd grade – Japan House March 22nd, Morning PTO Meeting – 8.15 am – 9.15 am March 21 and 22, 28 and 29, Thursdays and Fridays – Field Trip 3rd Grade – Royall House April 4, Thursday – 3rd Grade Enrichment – Museum of Science (Motion, Forces, and Energy) |
| 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 |
| PTO Spotlight |
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International Week March 11 – 15 The Thompson International Festival will expand to a week-long celebration of our diverse community. During the week of March 11th -March 15th, this theme will be incorporated in various ways throughout the school day. Programs will include: |
| Morning announcements in different language Music from around the world during morning announcements Diverse books on display in the library World Art in the Art Room International Spirit Day, Monday, March 11th: Dress up in the traditional outfit honoring another country, wear the color of a flag, or your favorite sports team. All-School Enrichment, Thursday, March 14th: Afro-Brazilian Capoeira Ensemble. |
| For March, the theme of the Social Emotional Learning Initiative at Thompson compliments the International Festival and International Week. The monthly theme is Acceptance and the book of the month that the school will read is Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. |
| International Festival – March 16th, 11AM-3PM The Thompson International Festival is two weeks away! See all the ways you can contribute to this special biennial event that celebrates the rich diversity of the Thompson Community. |
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To sign up go to the PTO website here or use the individual links below. Volunteer to help on the day of the event. We need many helping hands as our kids explore the world! Join fellow parents to make this day a success. Most shifts are between 1 and 1.5 hours. Help with set up, volunteer at the welcome table, serve food in the café, assist with the fashion show and more! Younger kiddos are welcome to help, except in the café. Sign up here:https://tinyurl.com/2019IntlFest-Volunteers Raffle Baskets: Each grade will sponsor a basket to be raffled at the end of the event as an easy and fun way to raise funds for our enrichment programs. Each grade is assigned a continent. Go to your child’s grade sign-up for ideas and remember to indicate the item you are donating in the ‘comments’ so we don’t have duplicates. In a rush? Cash contributions are also accepted so that they can be pooled to buy additional items. Drop off items in the bins in the lobby by March 8th. Kindergarten – Africa 1st Grade – Antarctica 2nd Grade – South America 3rd Grade – Asia 4th Grade – Australia 5th Grade – Europe Kids Fashion Show: Kids can participate in the Fashion Show by wearing the traditional outfit of a country. https://tinyurl.com/2019IntlFest-FashionShow Bazaar of Countries: Host a country table to showcase its uniqueness! It can be a country of origin, adopted country, or country of interest. Display books, images, decorations, toys, instruments. Get creative and design an interactive activity to engage our young travelers! It can be a quiz, puzzle, language activities, crafts, dance lessons, dress up options, and so much more. Consider partnering with a country from the same region for design or an activity. https://tinyurl.com/2019CountryBazaar International Café: The cafeteria will transform into an International Café serving a global feast including lunch and desserts. Consider donating a dessert for the event. This is your chance to share with other families desserts you make at home! https://tinyurl.com/2019IntlFestCafe The snow date for the event is March 23rd. Questions? Contact Sabrina Kias (sabrinakias85@gmail.com), Lucy Thiboutot (lucy.thiboutot@gmail.com), Nandana Mewada (nmewada@gmail.com). |
| Thompson News & Events |
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4th and 5th Grade Wednesday Morning Fitness Program, Session II
On March 6th, a second 6 week fitness program begins for 4th and 5th grade students on Wednesday mornings starting at 7:30am. The program is free for Thompson students. Students have the opportunity to participate in various fitness activities. Please email Melissa Crowley, PTO Outreach Coordinator, directly at melish26@yahoo.com, if your child is interested in participating for the first or second time by Monday, March 4th. The email should include your child’s name, grade level and your name and telephone number. *Volunteers are also welcome. Email Melissa if you can help. |
| 2018-2019 Classroom Grant Fund Recipients For the 2018-2019 school year, the Thompson PTO launched a new Classroom Grant Fund (CGF) to support teachers and staff for significant classroom purchases that may not possible under the Teacher Reimbursement program. The CGF has two funding cycles of $1,000 for each round. In February, the PTO board announced the first round of CGF recipients. Teachers who will receive funding include: Kindergarten teacher Ms. Giovannini for a subscription to the Boardmaker website Ms. McKenney’s proposal to purchase weighted lap blankets for her 3rd grade class Ms. Campagna’s Art-in-a-Bag program for all grades The next round of grants will be announced in April. Also, as part of the enrichment budget, the PTO will fund a SEL initiative on bullying prevention spearheaded by Ms. Orlando. |
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PTO Meeting, Friday, March 22nd 8:15am – 9:15am Haven’t been able to make an evening PTO meeting? Join us for a morning PTO meeting on March 22nd, after drop off at 8:15am. Learn about upcoming spring events and an update from Ms. Donato. Little kids are welcome to join. Coffee will be provided. |
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The Drama Project has some awesome volunteer opportunities coming up this weekend! Set Painting (Children welcome!): Sat. 3/9, 10AM-4PM (and Sun. 3/10, 12PM-4PM if needed–please check in with us for 3/10). We might also do props and costumes. There will be lots of great projects for kids to help with! We will also need volunteers to help with the tech rehearsals on March 30-31 and with the performances on April 7-9. Please email thompsondramaproject1@gmail.com to let us know if you’ll attend. Thanks for your support–we couldn’t pull this off without many willing hands!! |
| Green Team News The Thompson PTO has received a $2,000 grant to start an edible garden curriculum from Whole Kids Foundation! Thank you, Amy Droitcour, for writing the grant. Thompson is looking for a volunteer to co-lead the Garden Committee. Please email Elizabeth at egrocco@gmail.com if you are interested. Thompson has experienced garden educators on our Garden Committee, so gardening expertise is not required for this rewarding opportunity. Green Team club finished their first “Small But Mighty Kids Change the World” podcast at the 5th grade ACMi workshop over vacation break. The club also built a model green team town out of trash for Ecofest Sunday March 3rd. On the 27th youth mentor, Kevin Wetmore, led Ms. D’Intino’s 5th graders’ 2nd Podcast for the Planet workshop. Some teams will submit their “Make Way For Water” podcasts to the NPR Student Podcast Challenge. |
| Get Involved |
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Community Card Committee Seeks Chairperson Trainees for 2019-2020
The Community Card Committee is looking for a 2nd and 3rd co-chair to shadow the existing team for a year, learn the ropes, and be ready to take over. Join this talented team! No prior experience required. There are many ways you can lend your talents to the success of this profitable fundraiser. If you would like to come aboard, or are even just a little curious, email Ashley: ashley.e.lorenz@gmail.com. |
| Community News & Events |
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Arlington Trivia Bee, hosted by AEF Sunday, March 17, 3-5pm at Arlington Town Hall (free!) Join us at the Arlington Trivia Bee, hosted by the AEF. This town-wide, family-friendly event is an annual Arlington tradition that includes activities for kids and opportunities for audience participation. Cheer on 30+ competing three-person teams! Participants face off to answer questions about sports, literature, history, current events, music, science, and local lore. If interested in forming a team, visit https://www.aefma.org/events/trivia-bee/. Come cheer on Thompson’s 5th grade team! |
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Arlington EATS Community Dinner
Join us for a Community Meal on Thursday March 14 at 6pm. Come party with us at our yearly fundraiser, Beats for EATS,Saturday, March 23, 2019, 7 PM – 11 PM at the Town Hall. Don’t wait to get your tickets, last year we sold out! |
| Support Thompson |
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Shopping on Amazon? Last year the PTO earned $3,500 through the Amazon Associates program with a percentage of sales at no cost to you. Click here and start earning now! Read more. |
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Stop & Shop A+ Rewards: Register your Stop & Shop card and support the PTO with every purchase. |
| Box Tops: We collect Box Tops throughout the year. Each box top is worth 10 cents for Thompson. Drop off your box tops @ the Thompson lobby. |