| Save the Date |
| June 3, Monday – Kindergarten Field Trip – Stone Zoo June 3, Monday – Zero Waste Assembly, 8:50 am June 3, Monday – Chamber Orchestra and Treble Chorus State House Concert, 3 pm – Open to Public! June 5, Wednesday – 1st Grade Field Trip – Courthouse June 5-6, Wednesday-Thursday – 2nd Grade Field Trip – Farrington Nature Linc June 7, Friday – PTO Morning Chat and Volunteers Thank-You, 8:15 am Friday, June 7 – 4th Grade Yoga June 7, Friday – 5th Grade Enrichment – Wingmasters June 7 and 11, Friday and Tuesday – 3rd Grade Field Trip – Jason Russell House June 10, Monday – 5th Grade Graduation/Celebration of Learning June 11, Tuesday – Town-wide Vote June 12, Wednesday – Field Day (rain date June 17) June 12, Wednesday – PTO meeting, 7 – 9 pm June 13, Thursday – Kindergarten – 4th Grade Enrichment – Author Jason Chin June 13, Thursday – 5th Grade Field Trip – Urban Air June 13, Thursday – Family Picnic (rain date June 14) June 13 and 14, Thursday and Friday – 3rd Grade Field Trip – Jason Russell House June 14, Friday – Spirit Day: Beach Day June 14, Friday – 1st Grade Field Trip – Courthouse June 14, Friday – Kindergarten Last Day of School June 17, Monday – 4th Grade Field Trip – MOS Lewis and Clark Movie June 17 and 18 – Incoming Kindergarten Screening June 19, Wednesday – Last Day of School Grades 1-5 – 11:30 dismissal June 19, Wednesday – 5th Grade Clap-Out! |
| 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. |
| This Week’s Highlight: Enrichment |
| Spring is a busy time for enrichment at Thompson! Since April Vacation, we have had field trips for three grades: first grade to the Franklin Park Zoo, third grade to Plimoth Plantation and Mock Town Meeting, and fifth grade to the Old South Meeting House. Author Toni Buzzeo visited students in first, second, and third grade, and they were the first to read her latest book! |
| We also had several visiting programs for individual grades: tide pools for kindergarten, African drumming for first grade, Japanese bento boxes for second grade, Wampanoag and colonial American life for third grade, and yoga for fifth graders. In June, all grades will have one more field trip: Stone Zoo for kindergartners, Moakley Courthouse for first graders, Farrington Nature Linc for second graders, Jason Russell House for third graders, a Lewis and Clark IMAX for fourth graders, and Urban Air for fifth graders. We will also have author Jason Chin visiting students in kindergarten through fourth grade, yoga for fourth graders, and Wingmasters coming to fifth grade. |
| We wanted to thank all parents for their support of the Thompson PTO this year. Enrichment spending is around 75% of our total PTO budget! Through your contributions, we’ve spent more than $50,000 on enrichment programs and direct classroom support. You can find a listing of all the year’s enrichment programs here. We also wanted to particularly thank the members of the PTO enrichment committee: Taffy McParland (Kindergarten), Tonja Bishop (1st grade and Co-chair), Sophie Delano (2nd grade and Co-Chair), Karen Roth LoRusso (3rd grade), Maggie Thurber (4th grade), Nicole Flory (5th grade), Takako Sugihara (all-school programs), Diana Trudell (author visits), and Meg Ostrander (grant-writing). We couldn’t bring so many enrichment programs to the school without their efforts! If you are interested in helping out with enrichment next year, please let us know. We are particularly looking for help with first grade and fifth grade. |
| Thompson News & Events |
| Thank You, Volunteers! Volunteer Coffee and Munchies, Friday, June 7 @ 8:15 am Did you donate any amount of your time or expertise to the Thompson PTO this past school year? Whether you are a member of the board, chaired a community event, fundraised, baked some delicious goodies for events, or helped sell tickets, the PTO thanks you for your time and effort! Join us for a Thank You to Volunteers coffee on Friday, June 7, after drop-off at 8:15 am in the cafeteria. Younger kiddos welcome! |
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Thompson Family Picnic
Save the date! The annual family picnic is coming: Thursday, June 13th from 5-8pm (rain date June 14th). Pack a picnic dinner, grab your chairs and blankets and come join the fun! Pizza, popcorn and frozen treats will be available for purchase. Knucklebones will be back with their gaga pit and games, plus all the usual activities: dunk tank, bouncy houses and musical cakes. As always, we will need A LOT of volunteers to pull all of this off! Consider volunteering for a short shift selling concessions, helping with an activity or donating a cake. Sign-up to help here: https://tinyurl.com/ThompsonPicnic2019 |
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Green Team News: Zero Waste Assembly The Zero Waste Assembly is Monday, June 3rd. Students will learn at the assembly that our all School Green Team is a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Grand Prize winner and won Jack Golden’s performance entitled “Garbage is My Bag” next September for our efforts. |
| Zero Waste Day is Tuesday June 4th.Sustainability Coordinator, Rachel Oliveri, will be doing activities in the cafeteria on Tuesday and in the library the rest of the week. Please email Rachel at roliveri@arlington.k12.ma.us if you can help her in the cafeteria or library. |
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Garden Update
First grade parent, Mara Vatz, will be the new Vegetable Garden Coordinator and Educator! Thank you Fiona Ehring for leading the Gardening effort up to this point. The Garden Committee is still looking for teachers, students and parents to help with the Pollinator Garden beds and outdoor classroom. Email Elizabeth at egrocco@gmail.com or Mara at mara.vatz@gmail.com to get involved. |
| Thompson Diversity and Inclusion Group |
| One aim of the Thompson Diversity and Inclusion Group (DIG) is to share resources and local events that support courageous parents as they talk to their kids about diversity and inclusion. Summer is just around the corner – make sure you and your kids have some great summer reading to look forward to! The Robbins and Fox Libraries are part of an extensive network of libraries and can help you find the books in these collections of diverse/inclusive books: Books for toddlers – 8 years old Books for children 8 – 12 years old Books for adults Want to get involved? Join us at ThompsonElementarySchoolDIG@gmail.com |
| Volunteer Opportunities |
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Field Day Is June 12
The annual Field Day is set for Wednesday, June 12, this year! All students will get together to participate in traditional outdoor summer games. We will need parent volunteers to help set up, help the teachers supervise the kids, and keep them together eating their lunch outside while the teachers go inside the school to have lunch. If you have time to spare that day, please sign up here: Field Day 2019 |
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The Dentist is Coming September 12th and 13th (next school year)! Return your form to the school nurse before the end of the school year. Please contact Nurse Christina or Vicki if you need a form. |
| Community News & Events |
| At the end of the school year (date TBD) Arlington EATS will host an abundant pop-up pantry with staples and produce to help with the first few weeks of summer vacation. We will have summer lunches at 2 locations: at Thompson, Mondays through Thursdays from 12 – 1 pm, from July 8 until August 15 and at Robbins Library Community Room on Fridays from July 12 until August 16 from 12 – 1 pm. On June 1, the Arlington EATS Market moved to Saint John’s Church (74 Pleasant Street, Arlington). We’ll be there for approximately two years while 117 Broadway undergoes redevelopment for an affordable housing project, which will include a new and improved Market! |
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5th Grade Social, June 7, 6 – 8 pm
It’s the event of the season for all current 5th graders! See our FLYER for all the fun! To purchase tickets and for more information, click HERE. 5th Grade Social – Code of Conduct |
| Cambridge Children’s Chorus Auditions Now accepting new singers age 4 through 8th grade for September. No experience or preparation necessary. Auditions will be held on Thursdays, June 6 and 13, 3:15 – 6 pm, or by appointment, at St. John the Evangelist, 2254 Mass. Ave., North Cambridge. To schedule an audition, please contact Wendy Silverberg, Director of Early Childhood Education: 617-869-8848 or wendysilverberg@bostoncitysingers.org. Cambridge Children’s Chorus is a division of Boston City Singers. |
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SEPAC Update The next SEPAC business meeting is scheduled for June 11th, 7 pm at the Gibbs Media Center 41 Foster Street, Arlington. We will stay after the meeting for a social. Please come and meet other sped parents! |