LIFE AT THE LOCKE … Issue #15 2020-2021

December 20, 2020

HOLIDAY EDITION!!

Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,

I wish you all a happy, healthy holiday season and a happy new year. We have had another great year at the Locke. And what a year it was! Our staff and families came together over the last few months as we navigated our way through the pandemic. I am so appreciative of our staff for persevering during this challenging time. Also, to families, thank you for your patience and flexibility as we had to adopt new schedules and routines. It was not easy, but we succeeded in providing all students with a positive learning environment. As we reflect on 2020, remember the way that our community helped each other and got through these times together. We look forward to 2021 with a renewed sense of hope, purpose, and determination. The Locke certainly has great days of learning planned for the coming months. Until then, enjoy your vacation and I hope you get some time to rest and recharge. The newsletter will be taking a week off and we will publish again on January 3^rd. See you in 2021!!

Only 2 ½ DAYS OF LEARNING left in 2020! Let’s see what’s happening …

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @LockeMiddle and INSTAGRAM: locke_middle_school

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." – Edith Lovejoy Pierce

HALF-DAY SCHEDULE – December 23^rd

This Wednesday, December 23^rd is a half-day. The schedule is as follows for students.

Cohort 1 -- Follow B day (Tuesday) Schedule

Cohort 2 -- Follow D day (Friday) Schedule

Period 1: 8:15 – 8:35

Period 2: 8:40 – 9:00

Period 3: 9:05 – 9:25

Period 4: 9:30 – 9:50

Period 5: 9:55 – 10:15

Period 6: 10:20 – 10:40

TRIMESTER 1 REPORT CARDS

Trimester 1 report cards were published to the Aspen Portal. The report can be found on your Aspen home page under published reports. For parent account login assistance or to re-set your password, please email: portalhelp@billericak12.com    

UGLY SWEATER – BE FESTIVE DAYS

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week are ugly sweater/be festive days! Send us your photos. We will pick the most festive (and ugly) for prizes!

STUDENTS OF THE TRIMESTER

Congratulations to the following students for receiving the student of the trimester award. Students are chosen by their teachers based on overall effort, participation, and positive attitude. Certificates should arrive in the mail this week!

Subject
5A1
Reading	Sophia Bower	Haylee Fallon
ELA	Saif Shaikh	Collin Gillespie
Math	Elizabeth Higgins	Emerson Langley
Science	Ryan Barber	Scarlett Jordan
5A2
Reading	Emily Leite	Marc Luther
ELA	Natalia Aponte	Aislynn Kelley
Math	Valeria Torres	Lauren Sullivan
Science	Andrew Carter	Nathan Gagnon
5B1
Reading	Mila Eosco	Rory Fallon
ELA	James Swift	Delia Leanco
Math	Liam Vincent	Nathan Reynolds
Science	Lily Kellerman	Ahbi Patel
5B2
Math	Kaelyn Kerr	Gabriella Martens
Science	Michael Tiberi	Jason Leipow
Reading	Gabriella Moreira	Ryan Quin
ELA	Manuella Guerguis	Andrew Quin
6A
Math	Matthew Spidle	Samantha White
English	Justin Pappalardo	Shane Breen
Science	Jacob Dissottle	Emi Watanabe
Social Studies	Melanie Mahoney	Lily Van Ness
6B
Math	Sahil Gandhi	Mia Annello
English	Nathaniel Vidal	Alivia Fulgoni
Science	Rylen Canney	Jason Weeks
Social Studies	Louis Lizotte	Kara Gambale
7A
Math	Jocelyn Carroll	Delany O'Connell
English	Brady Burke	Aafrin Gadatia
Science	Linnaea Gallagher	Alexa Javier
Social Studies	Francesco Nietto	Sophie Barriault
7B
Math	Sophia Dasilva	Ryan Gambale
English	Haidyn Schneider	Alaina Arsenault
Science	Joshua Jacobo	Jessica Lee
Social Studies	Emma Philippon	Gabrielle Magaldi
Unified Arts
Band	Derek Mahoney	Kate Richard
Drama	Maisie Trant	Cameron Bennett
Music	Sophia DaSilva	Isabella Martens
Computers	Molly Gallagher	Joseph Gallagher
Orchestra	Isabella Martens	Natalie Gluck
PE	Joseph Dasilva	Mia Annello
Reading	Erin Skelton	Thomas Leclerc
World Language	Kenta Choy	Maeve O'Brien
PE	Ana Torres-Martinez	Ryan Johnson
PE	Molly Gallagher	Kaelyn O'Brien
Band	Layla Mendoza	Evan McGonagle
Art	Ashley Knell	Layla Alexis
Reading	Emma Baldwin	Jacquelyn Morrissey
Health	Aislinn O'Brien	Lacey Spinney
Social Studies	Gabriella Martens	Jordan Bucknam
Chorus	Sydnie Quinton	Aiden Coyne
Industrial Arts	William Munafo	Colby Sullivan
Effort	Colin Shea	Nathan Gagnon
Effort	Thomas LeClerc	Stephen Philippon
Remote Team
History	6th Sienna Bruno/7th - Lily Zediana	6th - Jose Segundo/7th - Andrew Gerasimov
Math	6th - Ava Harvey/ 7th - Kaitlyn Lambert	6th - Peter Rossini /7th Ayaan Nowaz
Science	6th - Sophia Massaro/ 7th - Layla Mendoza	6th - Nicolas Szekely/ 7th - Ashten Young
ELA	6th - Livia Lin/ 7th - Mahavya Patel	6th- Ryan Williams/ 7th John (Jace) Lecours
Music	Ximena Porraz	Deep Gurung
Math	Caroline Gorski	Ryan Berxhiku
Science	Molly Williams	London Carbone
ELA	Muhammed Patel	Soraya Pissarra
Social Studies	Wesley Stromme	Trixie Ong
Health	Liam Lopilato

 

HONOR ROLL/HIGH HONOR ROLL

We are in the process of preparing our lists for honor and high honor roll for trimester one. Students will be recognized after holiday break. The criteria for honor roll is an 80 or above in all subjects and for high honor roll it is 90 or above in all subjects.

FLU SHOTS

As you know, all students are required to have a flu shot by December 31, 2020. Please send your child’s flu shot information to our school nurse: Janice Roberts, jroberts@billericak12.com

SNOW DAY/REMOTE DAY SCHEDULE

In the event that we have a snow day or need to go full remote, the student schedule will remain the same as a usual day. Students will attend google meets for all classes. In particular,

• Students will still have homeroom from 7:30-7:40. Attendance will be taken in homeroom 
• Students in both cohorts will attend google meets. Example: If we are out on a Tuesday, students will follow their B (Tuesday), D (Friday) schedules.
• Students will attend their regularly scheduled Band, Chorus, or Orchestra classes.
• The Wednesday schedule will not change. 
• Note: We will not have delayed openings. 

MASK REMINDERS

Students have been doing a fantastic job wearing masks and we thank them for following all protocols. As we enter the traditional cold season, it may be a good idea for students to have an extra mask in their backpacks if the one they are wearing gets wet or is broken. We also have extra masks in the office for students if needed.

STUDENT REMINDERS

Please remember our school-wide google meet expectations. See them here: 

Google meet expectations for students

Also, remember to turn in assignments on-time. It is an important skill to learn how to manage deadlines. Work with your teachers to develop these lifelong skills.

MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK

Because of the short week, we will keep the same problem as last week. Happy solving!

HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS

Sarah and her mother invited 3 other pairs of mothers and daughters on zoom to make holiday ornaments. They made a total of 46 ornaments. The daughter’s names are Sarah, Monica, Dawn, and Natalia.

Sarah made 2 ornaments, Monica made 3, Dawn made 4, and Natalia made 5.

Mrs. Carpenter made the same number of ornaments as her daughter. The other mothers made more than their daughters. Mrs. Sawyer made twice as many as her daughter. Mrs. Alvarez made 3 times as many, and Mrs. Taylor made 4 times as many.

1. Find how many ornaments each mother made.
2. Match each mother with her daughter.

Send your answers to Mr. Garas – tgaras@billericak12.com – Show your work! Your answers will be put into a drawing for a dunkins card! (and the famous math certificate!)

PARENT CORNER

The holidays can be a stressful time for adults and children and this year in particular has been difficult for all of us.  The American Psychological Association offers the following tips to parents and families:

Strengthen social connections – We know that strong, supportive relationships help us manage all kinds of challenges. So, we can view the holidays as a time to reconnect with the positive people in our lives. Accepting help and support from those who care about us can help alleviate stress. Also, volunteering at a local charity on our own or with family can be another way to make connections; helping others often makes us feel better, too. 

Initiate conversations about the season – It can be helpful to have conversations with our kids about the variety of different holiday traditions our families, friends, and others may celebrate. Parents can use this time as an opportunity to discuss how some families may not participate in the same holiday traditions as others. Not everyone needs to be the same. It is important to teach open-mindedness about others and their celebrations.

Set expectations – It is helpful to set realistic expectations for gifts and holiday activities. Depending on a child's age, we can use this opportunity to teach kids about the value of money and responsible spending. We need to remember to pare down our own expectations, too. Instead of trying to take on everything, we need to identify the most important holiday tasks and take small concrete steps to accomplish them.   

Keep things in perspective – On the whole, the holiday season is short. It helps to maintain a broader context and a longer-term perspective. We can ask ourselves, what’s the worst thing that could happen this holiday? Our greatest fears may not happen and, if they do, we can tap our strengths and the help of others to manage them. There will be time after the holiday season to follow up or do more of things we’ve overlooked or did not have the time to do during the holidays.   

Take care of yourself – It is important that we pay attention to our own needs and feelings during the holiday season. We can find fun, enjoyable and relaxing activities for ourselves and our families. By keeping our minds and bodies healthy, we are primed to deal with stressful situations when they arise. Consider cutting back television viewing for kids and getting the family out together for fresh air and a winter walk. Physical activity can help us feel better and sleep well, while reducing sedentary time and possible exposure to stress-inducing advertisements.

PTO UPDATE AND FALL FUNDRAISER

Hello from the Locke PTO!

Our next PTO meeting is on Wednesday, January 20th at 6:30. 

A link will be sent out in the coming weeks. 

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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! 

PTO mask orders

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

 

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://lockemiddlelibrary.weebly.com/video-tutorials.html

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

UPCOMING DATES

• 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
• PTO Meeting … Wednesday, January 20^th, 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