LIFE AT THE LOCKE … Issue #27 2021-2022
March 20, 2022
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
Happy 1st day of Spring!! I hope you are having a great weekend. It’s been a busy month of March. We are back with 5 DAYS OF LEARNING! Let’s see what’s happening …
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @LockeMiddle and INSTAGRAM: locke_middle_school
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. – Hal Borland
PARENT AND GUARDIAN SURVEY
Our Locke school council is working on a school improvement plan for next year. As we develop this plan, we would appreciate feedback from parents and guardians. The information from this survey will help us improve student learning, parent/school relationships, and the Locke's overall environment. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey. It is greatly appreciated. Your answers are confidential. Please click on the link to complete the survey.
AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Most after-school activities will end this week. The activity teachers will let you know the last day. Our HW club and late buses will continue until the end of the school year.
7th GRADE AFTER SCHOOL SPRING SPORTS
Starting April 4, 2022, we intend to start up 2 middle school athletic programs that compete against other middle teams; 7th-grade girls' volleyball and 7th-grade boys' and girls' track & field.
Registration and Payment are completed using “Community Pass” using this link:
Please contact the coaches with questions about the weekly schedule and games. (see attached schedules)
Locke Track & Field: ksharkey@billericak12.
Locke Volleyball: kcruz@billericak12.com
BOOK FAIR THIS WEEK
It’s time for our annual Scholastic Book Fair!!
EWALLET -- For easy shopping, you may set up an ewallet and add money for your child to purchase books. We also accept cash or check.
https://bookfairs.scholastic.
SCHEDULE
Monday: 5th Grade A team Reading Classes (A1 during first half of period, A2 during second)
Tuesday: 5th Grade B Team Reading Classes (B1 during first half, B2 during second)
Wednesday: 6th Grade English (6A during first half, 6B during second)
Thursday: 7th Grade English (7A during first half, 7B during second)
Friday: 9am - 12pm
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday – C Day, Activities, HW Club, late buses
Tuesday – D Day, Pool Testing
Wednesday – A Day – Activities, HW Club, late buses
Thursday – B Day – Activities, HW Club, late buses
Friday – C Day – Report Cards Published
TRIMESTER 2 REPORT CARDS
Trimester 2 ended last Friday. Report cards will be published on Friday, March 25th at 2:00 PM.
MCAS TESTING DATES
Students will be taking the complete MCAS assessment once again this year. The dates are as follows:
ELA -- All Grades--April 5, 6
Math -- All Grades--May 3, 4
Science -- Grade 5 Only -- May 10, 11
There will be one session per day.
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK #22
What’s your name?
On the 1st day of school, in all of Mrs. Brown’s math classes, the first student says his/her own name; the second student repeats the first student's name and adds his/her own name. The third student repeats the first two names and adds his/her own name.
It goes something like this:
Emily says, "Emily"
Mike says, "Emily, Mike"
Adedayo says, "Emily, Mike, Adedayo"
Elizabeth says, "Emily, Mike, Adedayo, Elizabeth"
June says, "Emily, Mike, Adedayo, Elizabeth, June"
When all the students have finished, the teacher repeats their names and adds hers - I'm Mrs. Brown. How many total names were said if the numbers of students in her math classes on the first day were 27, 28, 32, 31, and 30?
Last week’s answer – Zoe must buy 2 bags of flour
Send your answers to Mr. Garas – tgaras@billericak12.com – You can win a Dunkins gift card and the highly coveted math certificate!!
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
- IMPORTANT – NEW MASK GUIDELINES
- DESE and the Billerica Public Schools have lifted the mask mandate in school and on the bus effective Monday, February 28th. We will continue to have discussions with students to ensure that all students and staff feel safe with respect to their mask choices. Our conversations will emphasize our core values of Respect, Responsibility, and Safety. Students can revisit our expectations on pages 2, 3, and 4 of the agenda book.
- Students that return to school after having COVID-19 will be required to wear a mask in school for 5 days (or until day 10 from symptom onset) and isolate during lunch.
- Every 2 weeks we will pass out COVID tests to students to take home. The box contains 2 tests. We recommend that students test each Sunday moving forward. If you did not sign up already and want to receive a test kit on the next distribution, please complete the form by clicking on the link below.
- Our weekly routine COVID testing continues in school on Tuesdays. If you gave consent for your child to be tested, this will occur every Tuesday moving forward. If you have not completed the consent form and wish your child to be tested, please see the link:
- We will no longer be tracing close contacts in school.
- Please report all positive cases to our school nurse Ms. Roberts (jroberts@billericak12.com ) and Mr. Garas. (tgaras@billericak12.com ). Test results can be sent in by paper copy, e-mailed after scanning, sending screenshots, or taking pictures of at-home tests. Students can return to school following a positive test result after isolating for a minimum of 5 days following either symptom onset or a positive test result via a PCR or antigen test (this is day 0 of quarantine). This includes over the counter home tests; please e-mail an image of at-home tests. Students can return on day 6 if they are fever free (and diarrhea, vomiting, headache free, etc.) for 24 hours without the use of medication, have improving symptoms, or have been asymptomatic.
- If on Day 6, your child is still not feeling well, please do not send them to school. Please keep them home until they have improved symptoms. Also, please do not send your student to school in the morning to receive a Covid test if they are not feeling well. School nurses cannot function as testing sites during this time.
LATE BUSES
Late buses continue this week and will run on every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The buses usually arrive at the Locke at 3:10 PM. We have 3 late buses. Please see the attached routes. Please let students know their bus number. Students will wait in the cafeteria until buses arrive.
STUDENT REMINDERS
- Charge Chromebooks at night and bring them to school every day – We only have a few extras left in the office for students to borrow.
- Bring in a pair of inexpensive headphones to leave in school or your backpack.
BUS POLICY
Students that ride the bus can only ride on their assigned bus in the morning and afternoon. Students are not allowed to ride different buses to be with friends after school.
If you have any questions regarding bus assignments, please contact our assistant principal: Phillip Peters: ppeters@billericak12.com -- 978-528-8654
PTO CORNER
Our next PTO meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 5 at 6:30 PM in the library.
The PTO will sponsor the Book Fair from March 21-March 25. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Tricia LaFauci at tlafauci@msn.com
Email: billericalockepto@
Facebook: https://www.
ABSENCES
If your child is going to be absent, please call 978-528-8650 to report the absence. You can leave a voicemail at this number which goes directly to our secretary. You may also email our secretary, Ms. Brewster at nbrewster@billericak12.com
DISTRICT SUMMER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
Summer Camp is back!!! Students in grades K-7 are invited to enjoy a wide variety of activities and some socialization with friends. Camp runs from 6/27-7/29 and is from 8-12 at the Marshall. Community Pass will be the only method to register. Spots WILL fill up quickly so please sign up ASAP. If interested please register at the following link:
https://www.billericak12.com/
All Billerica families have a Community Pass account, but if you have never registered your account please send an email to Communitypass@billericak12.
If you have any questions about camp please contact PJ McCarthy at PJMcCarthy@billericak12.com or Michael Waters at MWaters@billericak12.com
UPCOMING DATES
- Friday, March 18th – Trimester 2 Ends
- After School Activities End – March 21-25
- Book Fair – March 21-25
- Friday, March 25th – Report Cards Published
Have a great week! If you have any questions, please contact me at tgaras@billericak12.com or call at 978-528-8655
Warmest regards,
Tony Garas, Principal