Canned Gratitude...update!

Well, actually my gratitude is fresh and organic...even if it seems to be fragranced with the most natural of fertilizers...

My office is getting very crowded but I can still manage to get to my desk.

Cans upon cans upon cans have crossed the threshold already and we are still early in the drive.  It warms my heart to see the students so genuinely interested in displacing me from my office.  I keep finding additional items in strategic places like my printer when I am trying to troubleshoot reasons things are working around me.  My bookshelf is now a tower of Ramen noodles and almost every level surface in the office is supporting piles of cans, boxes of pasta, and a roll or two of toilet paper.  A package of toothbrushes were placed on my desk yesterday.  I was not sure if it was hint or not, but I chose to believe it was a donation to the drive.  The items are numerous and the variety is wide; initially, students were simply spreading them out over the floor but they were reminded that the goal is max volume capacity not just area!

In addition to the can drive, our CommUnity Club (formerly known as Service Learning Club) is working with all of our advisories to collect toys and clothes for local children in need from both ours and surrounding communities.  Our students are also looking to help support the WA Student Council's efforts to collect school supplies and coats for the students impacted by the fire in an elementary school in Lawrence recently.  We received this information from WA regarding their drive:

-Last Monday the Bruce School in Lawrence had a fire and much of their school's interior was destroyed

-Westford Academy Student Council is running a Coat and School Supplies Drive from Friday November 18-Wednesday November 23 to help replace items lost in the fire 

Some items to donate include (gently used or new):

-Backpacks

-Sweatshirts

-Coats 

-School Supplies 

*We are looking for supplies and clothing for grades 3-8 

Thank you for your support and we hope you have a wonderful holiday!  

We are very proud of how willing our students and their families are to get involved in helping when they recognize a need.

Very soon, the students should be able to express how proud they are of the work they have been doing in their classes as the first term grades will be available soon after the Thanksgiving break.  Grades closed today and after they are completed and verified, they will be made viewable in iParent on Wednesday, November 30 at 2:30PM.

Parent Conferences will be held on Tuesday, December 13th from 7:30AM to 9:30AM and Wednesday, December 14th from 2:00PM to 8:00PM.  There is a 2 ½ hour delayed opening on December 13th and no school on December 14th.  In an effort to accommodate all families interested in attending a conference, we offer a choice between one of two teacher groups: Math/Social Studies or ELA/Science.  Should you wish to schedule a conference we are asking families to sign up for one conference per student online as we have in the past via Sign Up Genius. In addition to one of the team of teachers time-slots, families can also sign-up for a conference with the Integrated Arts and the Foreign Language Teachers if they wish to do so through the Sign Up Genius website.  The website will be open for families to access starting on Wednesday, November 30 at 9:00AM and closing on Thursday, December 8 at 2:00PM.  Changes can be made by calling the office after that time.

These ten-minute check-ins with two of your child's team teachers provide an opportunity for you to share important information, stay informed of your child's progress, and discuss the first trimester report card. Parent conferences are not required, and many parents find a phone call, email or one of our available weekly team conferences meet their needs.  As I shared earlier, our students are well supported both here and at home and these conferences are only one of the many processes that we have in place that help foster the home/school communication which we know to be one the most critical elements for overall student success.  When the adults are all on the same page, the children are more likely to thrive.

I would like to express specific gratitude to the WMSPTO for once again sponsoring our 6th graders visit with Newbery-Medal Award winning author Jack Gantos.  As always, he was entertaining and inspiring.  The students were gripped to his stories and enjoyed hearing about his writing process and how he developed his voice as a writer.

With next week being so short, I will wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving now and do my part to give your inbox a break for a few days!

Chris