LIFE AT THE LOCKE … Issue #24 2023-2024
February 23, 2024
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
I hope you are having a great vacation week. It is a busy time of year as we enter into March. We are back with 5 DAYS OF LEARNING ahead next week! Let’s see what’s happening …
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @LockeMiddle and INSTAGRAM: locke_middle_school
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”
—Langston Hughes, American Poet
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday – D Day – Activities, HW Club, Late Buses
Tuesday – A Day
Wednesday – B Day – Advisory Schedule, Activities, HW Club, Late Buses
Thursday – C Day – Activities, HW Club, Late Buses
Friday – D Day
HOOPS FOR HEART TOURNAMENT FUNDRAISER – A BIG SUCCESS!
We had a fantastic basketball tournament and fundraiser before vacation. Thank you to our students and families for their donations to the American Heart Association. Also, a big thank you to Ms. Higgins, Ms. Cliff, and Mr. Flynn for organizing the event. Check out some photos on Instagram and the video of the epic halftime show!
PENNY WAR RESULTS
Thank you for all of your donations. The results are in! We raised $4047!! The winning homerooms are below. The pizza parties will be held on Friday, March 1st.
Grade 5 – Room 245, Ms. Call
Grade 6 – Room 115, Ms. D’Amato
Grade 7 – Room 231, Ms. Fournier
SCHOOL LUNCH
Please see the attached lunch menu for the week.
QUARTER 2 UNIFIED ARTS GRADES
Quarter 2 ended on January 24th. The following courses are on a 45-day schedule this year: art, drama, health, music, shop, and technology. Final grades for quarter 2 classes can be seen on the ASPEN portal and will appear on the trimester 2 report card issued in March.
LOCKE FAMILY RESTAURANT NIGHT
Our next PTO family restaurant night will be at Chipotle on Tuesday, March 5th from 4:00 – 8:00 PM. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
LOCKE GEAR FOR SALE
The PTO is now selling Locke gear. Please see the attached flyer with the link to the store.
PTO CORNER
The PTO welcomes all families to the Locke. We will be meeting monthly to plan several events throughout the year. We are always looking for volunteers to help plan great programs that will benefit our students. You must have a valid CORI on file to volunteer at school. Please see the minutes from our last meeting. Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 13th at 6:30 PM in the Locke Library. Please see the attached dates for the remaining PTO meetings during the year.
We also have a new Facebook page – “Billerica Locke PTO”. Click on the link below to take you there:
https://www.facebook.com/
MCAS DATES 2024
ELA (All Grades) -- April 10, 11
Math (All Grades) -- May 7, 8
Science (Grade 5) -- May 14,15
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY CAR PICK-UP
Car pick-up for after-school activities will be at 2:45. If you are picking up, enter and exit via Urban Street and loop around the circle as we do for regular car pick-up. Students can enter cars between the two crosswalks.
LATE BUS PICK-UP
Students will report to the cafeteria for late bus pick-up. Late bus runs will run on every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The buses usually arrive at the Locke at 3:10 PM. We have 3 late buses. The late buses have different stops than the usual routes. Please see the late bus routes.
7th GRADE PARENT/GUARDIAN INFORMATION NIGHT
BMHS will be hosting an information night for 7th grade parents and guardians on Tuesday, March 19th at 6:00 in the auditorium. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
7th GRADERS – FALL SPORTS INFORMATION
Below are the start dates for the Fall 2024. Team Meetings are in June for the fall teams.
- Football and Cheer -- Friday 8/16
- Soccer/ Cross Country/ Volleyball/ Swim & Dive, Golf -- Monday 8/19
- Winter Season always starts the Monday after Thanksgiving.
ESSAY CONTEST
The Billerica Adventure Series Corporation is sponsoring its annual essay contest related to the environment. Please see the attached flyer for more details.
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
LEAP YEAR MATH!
1. Philippe was born on 29 February 2016. His parents decided to celebrate his first birthday 365 days later. On what date did they celebrate his first birthday?
2. In our calendar, a normal year consists of 365 days. Because the actual length of a sidereal year (the time required for the Earth to revolve once about the Sun) is actually 365.2425 days, a "leap year" of 366 days is used once every four years to eliminate the error caused by three normal (but short) years. Any year that is evenly divisible by 4 is a leap year: for example, 2016, 2020, and 2024 are leap years. However, there is still a small error that must be accounted for. The rule is that if the year is divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400, leap year is skipped. For this reason, not every four years is a leap year. The year 2000 was a leap year, for example, but the year 1900 was not. What are the next 5 years that we will skip leap year?
Last week’s MPOW answer – Monique had $7 and Martha had $3.50
Show all work. Submit your answers to Mr. Garas for a chance at a Dunkin gift card and the highly coveted math certificate!
RIDDLE/JOKE OF THE WEEK
Last week’s answer: "What did the tortoise say to the other tortoise on Valentine's Day?" – I turt-ally love you.
This week – What is a frog’s favorite year?
FROM THE BILLERICA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Wanted! Substitute Teachers!
If you are looking to earn additional income and need a flexible schedule, then Substitute Teaching may be the perfect part-time job for you! Please visit our website at www.billericak12.com and go under 'Human Resources' and 'Employment Opportunities" to apply.
FROM THE COMMUNITY
The Lions Club is collecting old pairs of glasses. If you have any old glasses, you can turn them into the main office. Thank you.
REMINDERS
UPDATED -- CAR DROP-OFF
Student car drop-off will be in the lower lot beginning at 7:10. STUDENTS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO EXIT CARS UNTIL 7:10. PLEASE WAIT FOR MY SIGNAL TO LET STUDENTS OUT OF CARS. ALSO, ONLY MAKE A U-TURN AT THE END OF THE LINE. Parents are to enter VIA URBAN ST (off Baldwin Road), drop students off at the sidewalk, make a U-turn, and exit via Urban Street.
CHROMEBOOKS AND GOOGLE CLASSROOMS
Students are required to bring their school-issued Chromebooks to school every day. Students should charge their Chromebooks overnight. All teachers will be setting up a Google classroom for their students where assignments will be posted and where assignments can be turned in electronically. If your child does not have a Chromebook, please contact the main office at 978-528-8650.
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 secretaries, Ms. Brewster at nbrewster@billericak12.com or Lucy O’Brien at lobrien@billericak12.com
BUS ASSIGNMENTS
Students who 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.
The bus routes for the year are listed at this link.
If you have any questions regarding bus assignments, please contact our assistant principal: Phillip Peters: ppeters@billericak12.com -- 978-528-8654
UPCOMING DATES – ALL DATES ARE ALSO ON THE MASTER CALENDAR ON THE LOCKE WEBSITE
- Monday, February 26th – Return to School
- Tuesday, March 5th – Early Release 11:40
- Tuesday, March 5th – Chipotle Night 4:00-8:00 PM
- Monday, March 11th – Booster Thon Start Date
- Monday, Monday 11th – School Council Meeting 5:00 PM Library
- Wednesday, March 13th – PTO Meeting 6:30 PM Library
- Thursday, March 14th – Day 120, End of Trimester 2
- Wednesday, March 20th – Booster Thon Event-Locke Monster Fun Run
- Friday, March 22nd – Trimester 2 Report Cards Published
- Friday, March 22nd – Spring Dance 6:00-8:00 PM
- March 25th – March 28th – Last week of after-school programs, late buses
- Friday, March 29th – No School
If you have any questions, please contact me at tgaras@billericak12.com or call 978-528-8655 Have a great week!
Warmest regards,
Tony Garas, Principal