LIFE AT THE LOCKE … Issue #9 2024-2025
October 27, 2024
SPOOKY EDITION!!
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
I hope you are enjoying another beautiful fall weekend as we get ready for Halloween. We are back with 5 DAYS OF LEARNING this week and a busy schedule ahead as usual. Let’s see what’s happening …
FOLLOW US ON X @LockeMiddle and INSTAGRAM: locke_middle_school
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Life's no fun without a good scare." -Lock, Shock, and Barrel, The Nightmare Before Christmas
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday – B Day -- HW Club, Activities
Tuesday – C Day – Trinket sales at lunch
Wednesday – D Day – Advisory Schedule, Trinket sales at lunch, HW Club, Activities,
Thursday – A Day – Halloween, HW Club, Activities
Friday – B Day
TALENT SHOW
We will be having a talent show on Wednesday, November 20th at 6:00 PM. Auditions are after school on Monday for the next two weeks. Sign-up outside of room 313. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
HALLOWEEN COSTUMES THURSDAY
On Thursday, students can wear Halloween costumes to school. Costumes must be appropriate for school, please do not bring in weapons or scary masks that cover the entire face/head. Also, please do not bring in blow-up costumes. A reminder that it is still a learning day and that students need to be respectful. In addition, students should not bring in candy to share with other students.
TRINKET SALES AT LUNCH
The PTO will be selling Halloween Trinkets (toys, pencils, stickers, etc) at lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. All items will cost $1 or $2
HALLOWEEN DANCE!
We had a successful Halloween dance on the 18th. Students had awesome costumes and we had a fantastic time! Please check out our Instagram page for some photos. locke_middle_school
PARENT CONFERENCES
Parent conferences for the Locke and Marshall will be held in person on Wednesday, November 6th and Wednesday, November 13th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. We are using a computer program called PTC Wizard to schedule conferences.
The link to schedule conferences will be open on Wednesday, October 30th at 6:00 PM. See the link below.
https://app.ptcwizard.com/
If you already have an account from last year, you can log in. If you do not have an account, you will need to register and create an account.
- You will need to know your child’s teachers’ names in order to schedule the meetings. The site will provide a list of names for you to choose from.
- For ensembles, the teachers will split the days between the Locke and Marshall.
- Orchestra – Ms. Cardella will not be available, Ms. Harmon Locke on 11/6, Marshall 11/13
- Band -- Locke on 11/13, Marshall 11/6
- Chorus -- Locke on 11/6, Marshall 11/13
- If you have any questions or difficulty scheduling conferences, please contact me – tgaras@billericak12.com
PICTURE MAKE-UP/RETAKES
Picture make-ups and retakes will be taken on Wednesday, November 6th. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
LOCKE HOLIDAY TREE
The PTO is looking for donations for the Locke tree at the Billerica Holiday Tree Raffle. The theme is musicals. Please see the attached flyer for more details.
6th GRADE SCIENCE PROGRAM
Thank you to the team from EMD Serono for coming in last week to work on a project with our 6th graders. The program is called “Bacteria Around You” and teaches students all about how bacteria impact our daily lives. The team will be back in tomorrow to analyze the results from their experiments. Also, thank you to Ms. Tolleson and Ms. Santy for organizing this program.
HOMEWORK CLUB
HW Club will continue throughout the year. It will meet in the library every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 1:45 – 2:45. Students do not need to sign up ahead of time for HW club. Students will report to the library immediately after school and sign-in. Students can attend as many days as the parent/student believes are necessary. Students are expected to stay for the full hour. Parent pick-up at 2:45 is required.
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. Please see the minutes from our last meeting. Our future meeting dates have been set. Please see the attached list. Our next meeting is Thursday, November 14th at 6:30 PM in the Locke Library.
Our board members are:
Andrea Toomey -- President
Amit Gandhi -- Vice-President
Jacqui Chaffins -- Treasurer
Katie Malone – Secretary
We also have a new Facebook page – “Billerica Locke PTO”. Click on the link below to take you there:
https://www.facebook.com/
LOCKE GEAR FOR SALE
The PTO is now selling Locke gear. Please see the attached flyer with the link to the store.
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK #6
Same as last week – More submissions are welcome
Apple Picking!
1. The Farmers Market sells apples by the bushel, and each bushel of apples weighs 42 lbs. A bushel of large apples contains 84 apples. If a bushel of small apples contains twice as many apples as a bushel of large apples, how many small apples are in 1 lb of apples?
Bonus: Megan purchased a bushel of apples from the Farmers Market that contained only large and small apples. There were exactly 129 apples in the bushel Megan purchased. Based on this and information from the previous problem, what is the positive difference between the number of large apples and the number of small apples in the bushel of apples Megan purchased?
Last week’s Answer: 1. 74.9 % of the year has passed 2. 2/3 is the probability Send your answers to Mr. Garas – tgaras@billericak12.com – Show your work! Last week’s winners – Daniella Cruz, Charlie Dundon, Skyler Young, and Ella Barreto --We will choose two winners each week for a Dunkin gift card and the highly coveted math certificate!!
RIDDLE/JOKE OF THE WEEK
This week – Pumpkin Jokes – 1. What do adventurous pumpkins do for fun? 2. Who helped the pumpkins cross the road?
Last week’s Answer -- 1. Why does a ghost hate getting caught in the rain? – Because it dampens their spirits 2. What did the parent ghosts say to their kids before a road trip? Fasten your sheet belts
REMINDERS
SCHOOL TIMES
School starts promptly at 7:30. Students should be in their homeroom at 7:30. The car drop-off time for students is 7:10 -- 7:25. Students will be allowed to enter the building at 7:10. From 7:10 – 7:20, students that enter the building will be supervised in the cafeteria. Students will not be allowed in before 7:10 AM.
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. 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.
Parents, please do not enter from Allen Road in the morning. The Allen Road entrance is only for school buses.
DISMISSAL
Walkers and pick-ups are dismissed at 1:50 after the buses depart.
TRAFFIC PATTERN FOR DISMISSAL
Parents enter via Urban Street and line up in lower circle. After the buses leave, parents are to pull around circle in a SINGLE file line to pick up children. The pick-up zone is between the two crosswalks. This is the only place we would like children picked up. We do not want children stepping in front of cars to be picked up. Please keep the line single file.
PLEASE DO NOT PICK UP STUDENTS IN THE LOWER LOT.
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 and Lucy O’Brien at lobrien@billericak12.com
CELL PHONE POLICY
Our cell phone policy is that all student phones/smart watches are to be kept in student lockers and turned off for the duration of the school day. If parents need to contact students, please contact the main office.
CHROMEBOOKS AND GOOGLE CLASSROOMS
Students are required to bring their school-issued Chromebooks to school every day beginning on the 1st day of school. 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. Fifth-grade students who did not pick up a Chromebook will be sent home with the paperwork for parents to sign. Please return it with your child and we will issue them a Chromebook.
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
MEDICAL INFORMATION
Our school nurse is Janice Roberts – jroberts@billericak12.com
- Students may drop off EpiPens, inhalers, and any over the counter medications.
- A parent or guardian must drop off any prescription medications.
- All medications need to be accompanied by a medication order from the student's physician and with either an Anaphylaxis Action Plan or Asthma Action Plan as applicable
- If families need copies of these forms they can be found on the Billerica Public Schools website: https://www.
billericak12.com/departments/ health-services-wellness/ school-nursing
Also, as a reminder:
ALL 7th GRADE STUDENTS must submit proof of TDaP (tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis) and MCV4 (meningitis) vaccines, as well as an UPDATED physical exam, by 9/30/24
LUNCH/BREAKFAST
All breakfast and lunches are free to all students again this year. Students will be receiving a 4 digit pin code that they will need to use when they get breakfast or lunch. Breakfast will be served every day and it will be “grab and go”. Students can grab a breakfast in the cafeteria when they come in and then report to homeroom. They can eat breakfast in homeroom.
UPCOMING DATES
- Wednesday, October 23rd – PTO Restaurant Night, Casa Blanca, Wilmington
- Tuesday/Wednesday, October 29th, 30th – Halloween Trinket Sales at Lunch
- Tuesday, November 5th – No School, Election Day
- Wednesday, November 6th – Parent Conferences 6:00-8:00 PM
- Wednesday, November 6th – Picture Make-ups
- Thursday, November 7th – Day 45, End of Quarter 1
- Monday, November 11th – No School, Veterans Day
- Wednesday, November 13th – Parent Conferences 6:00-8:00 PM
- Wednesday, November 20th – Talent Show, 6:00 PM Auditorium
- Thursday, November 14th – PTO Meeting, 6:30 PM Library
- Thursday, November 21st – Ice Cream Social, 6:00 Cafeteria
- Wednesday, November 27th – Half Day, 10:40 Dismissal
- Thursday, Friday November 28th and 29th – Thanksgiving Recess, No School
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