LIFE AT THE LOCKE … AT HOME EDITION #9

May 24, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,

I hope you are enjoying the Memorial Day weekend and the sunny weather. Please take a moment to reflect on those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us and our country in the defense of freedom. The Locke Virtual Middle School (LVMS) returns again this week with 4 DAYS OF LEARNING! Our remote learning plan continues this week and the work for this week will be sent to each team later this evening via student and parent email. As we approach June and the warmer weather, we ask for students to continue to work hard and engage in virtual learning. This means actively participating in google meets and trying their best on assignments. Please see the important points for students and parents below regarding our virtual learning plan.   We reiterate again that we understand what an extraordinary situation this is and we are all trying to get through it together. I appreciate the support of our staff, families, and students as we navigate these difficult times. Have a great week of learning!

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 "Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them." – Franklin D. Roosevelt

TRIMESTER 3

All virtual learning assignments will be entered in trimester 3. The assignments are being graded as Submitted (SUBM) or Missing (MISS). New content standards started to be introduced on May 11^th. Please see the attached instructions on how to view student assignments on Aspen.

REPORT CARDS – TRIMESTER 2 and TRIMESTER 3

Please see the attached letter from Superintendent Piwowar regarding grading. This was sent last week via email.

STUDENT BELONGINGS

I have received many inquiries regarding student belongings. Please be patient as we implement a plan for students to retrieve them. As soon as the plan is ready, I will contact families.

MUSIC ENSEMBLE REGISTRATION (20-21)

Incoming 5th, 6th, & 7th-grade students at the Locke/Marshall have the opportunity to enroll and/or continue their music ensemble participation in either Band, Chorus, or Orchestra at the Middle School level.  The enrollment form can be found online at www.tinyurl.com/BPSMusEns20. All students that intend to play in the Band or Orchestra, or Sing in Choir this upcoming school year need to fill out the form so that they can be added to the appropriate ensemble for Middle School scheduling.

For more information about the program, please see the attached letter.

STUDENT RECOGNITION

Congratulations to the following students for their hard work during virtual learning! Our students have all made an awesome effort to engage in this new learning environment. Thank you!

Subject
5A1
Reading	Michael Lavery	Isabella Molina
ELA	Daniel Kinsella	Emma Hiott
Math	Layla Alexis	Ellie Matheson
Science	Ava Finn	Tommy Sheridan
5A2
Reading	Alan Robertson	Ashlynne Colella
ELA	Louis Lizotte	Nathanial Vidal
Math	Kiera Harvey	Celia Ungerson
Science	James Straffin	Sean Ferraro
5B1
Reading	Jazmine Vibert	Rylen Canney
ELA	Lily Van Ness	Sean Smith
Math	Cam Bennett	Nate Matthews
Science	Caroline Eggers	Izzy Deangelis
5B2
Math	Mia Figueroa	Brady Bencic
Science	Mikey Bencic	Alex Schulze
Reading	Schiavoni, Megan	Aaron Souza
ELA	Adriana Lopez	Cale Fountaine
6A
Math	Abby Tremblay	Cora Lankowski
English	Emma Philippon	Mahre Duprez
Science	Christian Colarusso	Dylan Doherty
Social Studies	Cameron Bruso	Andrew Gerasimov
6B
Math	Alexia Delaney	Ariella Kelley
English	Sohpie Barriault	Jocelyn Carroll
Science	Dominic Tagliaferro	Zachary D'Addario
Social Studies	Olivia Aranha	Parker Carrabba
7A
Math	Megan Cali	Erica Rizzo
English	Olivia Bishop	Kyle Deprimeo-McLaughlin
Science	Ashley Jacobo	Muntaqa Tahsin
Social Studies	Lauren Aliberti	Lindsey Mulkerin
7B
Math	Aiden Montemagno	Christopher Hamilton
English	Keira Burns	Sophia Jannoni
Science	Sofia Torres-Martinez	Nicolas Palmerino
Social Studies	Giovanna Gulinello	Domenic Centola
Music	Brady Einarson	Erin Skelton
PE	Christopher (CJ) Hamilton	Natalie Walsh
Orchestra	Claire O'Connor	Bella Martens
Effort	Logan Morrissette	Colin Shea
Health	Brady Burke	William Munafo
Reading	Andrew Gerasimov	Calissa McKenna
World Language	Jacob Clarke	Caden Canney
PE	Brendon Nguyen	Kaitlyn Lambert
Orchestra	Melanie Mahoney	Emi Watanabe
PE	Evan McGonagle	Kiera Harvey
Band	Delaney O'Connell	Olivia Coyne
Art	Ava Harvey	Evan McGonagle
Art	Faith Martin	Dustin Ehwa
Social Studies	Ava Harvey	Ben Anzelmo
Health	Mariyam Patel	Shreya Gandhi
Chorus	Kyle DePrimeo-McLaughlin	Lily Zediana
Industrial Arts	Mahre Duprez	Parker Carrabba
Reading	Rishith Ravi	Jacqueline Morrissey
Reading	Nyrah Joseph
Art	Bridget Finn	Cameron Bennett

REMOTE LEARNING PLAN (Continuing this week)

To Summarize our current plan,

FOR STUDENTS

• A document with all of your classes and work for the week will be sent out Sunday night. It will be sent to your email.
• It is our expectation that you complete the work assigned. Assignments will be recorded in aspen with missing (MISS) or submitted (SUBM) codes. Teachers will offer feedback to students for your work and this will not take the form of traditional grades.
• Remember to be appropriate during video calls – you should be dressed as you would for school and your language should be appropriate for school – This is a great tool for teachers to use – Please be respectful
• Try not to stress or be anxious about completing work – If you have any questions, email your teachers. Do the best you can!
• If you have any questions about your work, the schedule, or your log-in information please email your teachers, your counselor, assistant principal, or principal.

FOR PARENTS

• A document with all of your child’s classes and work for the week will be sent out each week on Sunday night. It will be sent to your email.
•  Our guidance for families is to have students do “school work” for 3 hours per day.  It is our expectation that students attempt to complete their work. They should also try to be active for an hour per day, in addition to doing chores, and helping out around the house. Students should also spend time being creative. (art projects, cooking, dancing, playing an instrument)
• Staff will offer feedback to students for their work and this will not take the form of traditional grades. Assignments will be recorded in aspen with missing (MISS) or submitted (SUBM) codes.
• All staff members will have virtual office hours which will be listed on the weekly schedule. Staff are expected to answer emails as soon as they can and definitely within their office hours.
• (Most) parents/guardians are not teachers. During this closure we do not expect you to “teach” grade level content standards to the students. Your role is to assist the students in engaging with the teachers and the materials to the best of your ability. For a variety of reasons this will be more challenging on some days than others, and we understand this.
• We know that within our school there are many students and each one is an individual learner. Some will transition to remote learning readily while others will need more support. Our Special Education team will work closely with parents and families to support all of our students on Individualized Education Programs and our Student Support Team (counselors, social workers) will work with students to make this experience as successful as possible.
• If your child needs more structure in their day, I have seen several schedules posted that may be helpful. If you need help in this area, please let me know or your teachers.

MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK

Last week’s answer: 6 years

Multiplication Mystery

This week we're going to use our multiplication skills... but not in the usual fashion! Instead, take a look at the problem below. Each letter represents a digit. What does each letter equal?

  

SHOW YOUR WORK and send answers to tgaras@billericak12.com We will send out virtual prizes for correct answers!

PTO CORNER

Our next PTO meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 7th via Zoom. See the link below. The link is also posted on the Locke PTO Facebook page. Hope you can join us! 

Zoom Meeting Link

We have two open spots on the PTO: Secretary & Treasurer

We are also looking for help with the following programs:

Special Programs Coordinator

Labels Program (Box Tops, etc)

Locke Apparel

School Time Fundraisers 

Scrip Gift Card Program

Scholastic Book Fair

Walkathon

Field Day Chairperson/Committee 

If you are interested in any of these positions, please contact the Locke PTO

Email: billericalockepto@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Locke-PTO-353081482315/

If you have any questions, please contact me at tgaras@billericak12.com or call at 978-528-8655. Have a great week and stay safe!

Warmest regards,

Tony Garas, Principal

Attachments

-Middle School Music Ensemble Letter

-Superintendent Grading Letter