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Thompson School News : March 26, 2018

Save The Date

* New *

  • March 26, Monday – Grade 3 – 5 Enrichment, ImprovBoston Anti-Bullying Workshop
  • April 2, Monday 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM – Gibbs Parent Forum @ the Stratton Cafeteria
  • April 6, Friday – 1st Grade Trip to Discovery Museum in Acton
  • May 11, Friday – 1st Grade Trip to Franklin Park Zoo
  • May 31, Thursday 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM – Art Show @ Thompson School
  • June 4, Monday – Kindergarten Field Trip to Wingaersheek Beach (Rain Date is Wednesday, June 6

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 http://tinyurl.com/y7u5k2on for a printable version of this month’s calendar.

Thompson News & Events

Thompson Art Show

Thursday, May 31st from 6-7:30 PM

During this special evening the Thompson School will be transformed into an art gallery showcasing the work of all of our amazing student artists! Families and friends will be invited to see and interact with the art and the artists. Since we have moved to a TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior) program this year, each student is working on their own projects, coming up with their own ideas, and making them come to life. Students will be choosing the work to display, and helping to mount the work. Our students have a lot to say about their work, and why it is important to them. We hope that this show will be a chance for the whole community to come together and celebrate their growth as artists and the unique work they do in the art studio!

Textile Recycling Bin

Support Thompson while donating your unwanted clothing, shoes, linens, stuffed animals, and more (in any condition as long as they are clean and dry). Bay State Textiles gives the schools a share of their profit from the sale of these materials. The more you donate, the more the school will receive! The bin is located on the Everett Street side of the school, near the loading driveway.

You can learn more about the Bay State Textiles program at http://www.baystatetextiles.com/schools-box-program

See the acceptable items and other participating schools in the AHS Textile Recycling 2018 Flyer.

Community

Gibbs Parent Forum

The Gibbs Parent Forum has been rescheduled to Monday, April 2 from 7:00-9:00 pm in the Stratton cafeteria.

Based on feedback from parents, we will wait to open the parent portal until April 3. Previously, we had scheduled the portal to open on March 26, a week following the last forum, in order to give parents the opportunity to learn more about the course options and to have the opportunity to ask questions. While the portal will open the day after the forum, it will be open for close to two weeks.

The new closing date will be Friday, April 13 at 11:59 pm.

Arlington After School Care Survey

This is a short survey to determine what the current needs are for after school care at various elementary schools in Arlington. We will release the results of the survey once we have data from all schools in the district. Thank you in advance for your time!

Please complete survey.

School Librarian Information & Advocacy

Wednesday, April 11, 6:30 PM @ Robbins Library Community Room

School Librarians 2018 04 11 aFind out what school librarians do and how we can get them back into Arlington Public Schools at this information session open to all.

School librarians teach research skills, safety online, digital citizenship, and information communication skills.  They are essential partners for teachers.

School Librarians 2018 04 11 bSchool library programs staffed by qualified school librarians have a positive impact on student academic achievement.

See School Library Advocacy Fact Sheet 2018 04

Destination Imagination

On Saturday, March 17, the 2018 Regional Destination Imagination Tournament was held at Beverly High School. Composed of students from local area schools including, Brackett, Dallin, and Pierce Elementary, two Arlington teams, The Firecrackers and The Arlington All-Stars made their debut and presented their solutions to the “Rising Star” challenge. Both teams received unanimously positive feedback and standing ovations from all appraisers and the audience.

Destination Imagination (DI) is a non-profit, volunteer-led, cause-driven organization. The purpose is to inspire and equip students to become the next generation of innovators and leaders. Annually, DI offers seven new Challenges in STEM, Improv, Visual Arts, Service Learning, and Early Learning. Participating teams have half year to design and present a solution to one of the seven challenges. Each Challenge is open-ended and enables student teams to learn and experience the creative process from imagination to innovation. Academic tournaments take place around the world where teams have the opportunity to present their solutions to trained appraisers.

This is the first time in years that Arlington participated in the challenges. “We are proud of our students, who all exemplified creativity, resilience and team spirit. We also learned to believe in our kids and let them drive every step forward by themselves.” said Bo Peng, team manager of The Firecrackers. Lynette Martyn, Arlington All-Stars manager added, “Destination Imagination nurtures incredibly innovative children, it helps bridge the gap between what students learn in school and the skills they will need to thrive in an ever-changing world. I was impressed with the number of parents that expressed interest in participating. I would love to see Arlington model other local communities and pursue adding Destination Imagination teams to their after-school programming.” The team members had tremendous fun and gained confidence in their ability to solve challenges. In working to solve the challenges, teams learned 21st century skills (creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, citizenship and courage) to build on their unique strengths.

Members of the winning teams are:

The Firecrackers:

  • Anna Van Dyke (6yo, 1st grade, Brackett)
  • Kai Yesilaltay (6yo, 1st grade, Brackett)
  • Allistair O’Donnell (6yo, 1st grade, Brackett)
  • Theo Zhivich (7yo, 1st grade, Brackett)
  • Piper Callahan (7yo, 1st grade, Dallin)

The Arlington All-Stars:

  • Paige B (6yo, 1st Grade, New Covenant School)
  • Shae Coronado (5yo, Kindergarten, Pierce)
  • Shayne Lino dos Santos (7 yo, 1st grade, Brackett)
  • Kyle Martyn-Crawford (7 yo, 1st grade, Brackett)
  • Myles Martyn-Crawford (5 yo, Pre-School, Drumlin Farm)
  • Natalie McGinnis (6 yo, 1st grade, Brackett)
  • Alex W (6yo, Kindergarten, St Peters School)

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.

Annual Picnic Organizers

Though it seems a long way off the planning for the annual June picnic is starting now. The PTO is seeking parent volunteers interested in taking an active role in planning to join the picnic organizing team.

Contact: Kate Murphy, thompsonschoolvolunteers@gmail.com

Safe Routes to School Coordinator

Looking for a parent interested in helping with the Safe Routes to School program. This is the program that has organized the Walk/Bike to School Day among other projects. The current parents in charge have graduating 5 graders. If interested there is a March 8th meeting about Safe Routes to School you might be interested in attending.

Contact Kate Murphy: thompsonschoolvolunteers@gmail.com

School Library Needs Help!

Help out at the Thompson Library! Miss Mak is looking for volunteers to help with book shelving and library upkeep on Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings. Please email amakrianis@arlington.k12.ma.us if you’re interested or have any questions!

Join the Community Card Team!

Believe it or not planning begins NOW for the 2018-19 Community Card! This is Thompson’s second biggest fundraiser each year, bringing in $16K+ annually for School Enrichment.

Spring to-do’s include:

  • get contracts signed
  • confirm our advertising plans
  • start planning for Town Day and beginning of new school year sales

The Team is is looking for:

  •  task-rabbits
  •  brainstormers
  • AND a 3rd Co-Chair (shadow for a year and poise themselves to take over for Gaggi in 2020)

Whether you’re totally ready to take something on, have some good ideas to pass on, or are just curious about what’s involved before committing to anything, please email the co-chairs:

Ashley Lorenz (K,3,5) at ashley.e.lorenz@gmail.com
Gaggi DeStefanis (3) gaggi@rcn.com.

Help Throughout the Year

To check all current volunteer opportunities: http://tinyurl.com/ThompsonPTOVolunteers

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.