LIFE AT THE LOCKE … Issue #8 2020-2021
November 1, 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
Welcome to November! I hope you had a Happy Halloween and enjoyed the extra hour of sleep. It looks like winter arrived early last week with a few inches of snow on Friday. Hopefully, it gets a little warmer this week. A quick thank you to parents for their participation in parent conferences with our new format. It appears that we had very few technical glitches and had two successful evenings. We are back this week with 4 DAYS OF LEARNING! We have a lot going on. Let’s see what’s happening …
REMINDERS
We have been doing a great job wearing our masks and social distancing. Please continue to follow our protocols as we enter late fall and the upcoming winter. Thank you so much for your cooperation.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – E.E. Cummings
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd
There will be no school on Tuesday, November 3rd due to Election Day and professional development for staff.
PICTURE DAY – Remote students and make-up
Picture Day for Remote Students and make-ups will be Wednesday, November 4th. Please adhere to the following schedule by last name:
8:00 – 9:00 – A through G
9:00 – 10:00 H through Pa
10:00 – 11:00 Pi through Z
Photos will be taken inside in the hallway outside the auditorium. You can park in the side lot and come in the side door. We are asking parents to wait outside while the students come in to get their photos taken. It is optional and not required for you to have these photos taken. We understand that some families may not be comfortable sending students inside the building. Please see the attached form to order pictures on-line.
I-READY ASSESSMENT
Thank you so much to parents for your help with students taking the assessments at home. Your assistance I greatly appreciated. We have almost 100% participation. If students have not finished their I-ready assessments, they must complete them by Friday, November 6th.
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
Last Week’s Answer: About 92 Minutes
We Love Palindromes!
To properly organize dates in some of our computer systems, we often write them year, month, day, including leading zeros for single-digit numbers. For example,
November 2, 2011 would be written: 20111102
Say, isn't that an interesting result! It’s a palindrome.
The next palindrome date was February 2, 2020 -- 20200202. (the same backward and forward) What are the next two palindrome dates?
Thank you for so many answers last week! Send your answers to Mr. Garas – tgaras@billericak12.com – Show your work! Your answers will be put into a drawing for a dunkins card!
TRANSITIONS
We are establishing a more structured timeframe for making student transitions between models of instruction. (hybrid to remote or remote to hybrid) Transitions will now take place on the Monday of the 1st week of each month. Any requests that are submitted prior to the 15th of the month will take place on the 1st of the following month. Please send requests to Mr. Garas, tgaras@billericak12.com
Requests Submitted | Transition Date |
October 26 – November 15 | November 30 |
November 16 – December 15 | January 4 |
December 16 – January 15 | February 1 |
January 16 – February 15 | March 1 |
February 16 – March 15 | March 29 |
March 16 – April 15 | May 3 |
No requests accepted after April 15 | |
PARTNERS FOR EDUCATION FOOD DRIVE
Billerica Partners for Education (BPE) is not hosting a Billerica Turkey Trot this year due to the current conditions. However, rather than cancel this event, BPE decided to use the platform to help families in need.
To that end, BPE is partnering with the Billerica Community Food Pantry to host a Giving Thanks Food Drive!
Saturday, November 14, 2020
10 AM - 1 PM
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
70 Concord Rd, Billerica, MA 01821
Please see the link for more information and to sign-up to donate items. We are having a friendly competition between schools to see who can donate the most items. Go Locke!
VIRTUAL BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT VIDEOS
Please see the link below for our back to school night videos.
Also, please no political costumes. Students should continue to wear their Covid-19 protective masks and not Halloween masks that cover their entire face or head.
VIRTUAL ABSENCES
We are accounting for all students both when they are in school or at home.
On Wednesdays, attendance will be taken for both cohorts in homeroom at 9:15 on a google meet.
On the days that the cohorts are home, students must attend the support staff meeting with Ms. Rogers for 6th and 7th grade or Mr. Smith for 5th grade. Homeroom teachers will also send out a quick question to ensure that students are present. Attendance will be posted by 2:00 on those days. If your child has been marked “virtually” absent, you will be notified via email the next day.
If your child is going to be absent either virtually or live, please call 978-528-8650 to report the absence. You can leave a voicemail at this number which goes directly to our secretary. Please leave a reason for the absence. You may also email our secretary, Ms. Brewster at nbrewster@billericak12.com
WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE
On Wednesdays hybrid students in both cohorts will participate in google meets with their classroom teachers. They will follow a similar schedule to their regular in-person one with classes being 30 minutes in length. Our Wednesday schedule will always be the same with students always starting at 9:15. See the attached schedule. Wednesday Student Schedule
NEW LIBRARY INFORMATION –Books are still available!
Check out library books from the Locke library! The process for requesting library books online has become even simpler! Using Destiny Discover in your BPS Quick Links, you no longer need to log into the library catalog. Please see Ms. Cabral's updated instruction video on the Locke library website: https://
Returning library books: Students who still have library books that were checked out last year should please return them to the main office. There will be a library book bin for you to return the books. Late slips will be going out for overdue books this week. Any books that are from elementary school can still be returned in the bin. If you have any questions, please email Ms. Cabral at pcabral@billericak12.com
PTO UPDATE
Our next PTO meeting is on Wednesday, November 18th at 6:30. Please join us! A Zoom link to the meeting will be sent out soon. Thank you to all who attended last week. We had a great meeting with a lot of new faces!
Tuesday, November 3rd (Election Day) Locke Spirit Wear will be for sale at the Kennedy Elementary School during these hours:
7:00-9:00 am
11:00am-1:00pm
4:00-6:00pm
You can keep your family safe while supporting the Locke by ordering one of these handmade masks. They are comfortable, very breathable, and can even be customized!
UPCOMING DATES
- Election Day (Staff Development, No School)…Tuesday November 3, 2020
- School Picture Day – make-ups and remote students … November 4th –8:00-11:00
- Veteran’s Day (Holiday- No School)...Wednesday, November 11, 2020
- Quarter 1 ends (Last day for unified Arts Classes) … November 17, 2020
- Quarter 2 begins (Unified Arts Classes Change)... November 18, 2020
- Half-Day (Staff and Students)......Wednesday, November 25, 2020
- Thanksgiving Day (Holiday- No School)....Thursday, November 26, 2020
- Thanksgiving Recess (Holiday- No School)...Friday, November 27, 2020
- Trimester 1 Ends...Thursday, December 10, 2020
- Report Cards Published (Trimester 1 & Quarter 1)...December 17, 2020
- Half-Day (Staff and Students)......Wednesday, December 23, 2020
- Winter Break (No School).....December 24, 2020 to January 1, 2021)
- Schools Resume…..Monday, January 4, 2021
- Quarter 2 ends (Last day for unified Arts Classes)...….January 29, 2021
- Quarter 3 begins (Unified Arts Classes Change)...February 1, 2021
If you have any questions, please contact me at tgaras@billericak12.com or call at 978-528-8655.
Have a great week!
Warmest regards,
Tony Garas, Principal