LIFE AT THE LOCKE … Issue #10 2024-2025
November 3, 2024
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
I hope you are having a great weekend and remembered to set your clocks back. We are back with only 4 DAYS OF LEARNING this week due to Election Day, but we still have 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
“Someone struggled for your right to vote. Use it.” – Susan B. Anthony
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday – C Day -- HW Club, Activities, School Council Meeting-5:00 PM
Tuesday – No School, Election Day
Wednesday – D Day – Picture Re-takes, Advisory Schedule, HW Club, Activities, Parent Conferences 6:00-8:00 PM (in-person)
Thursday – A Day – HW Club, Activities, End of Quarter 1
Friday – B Day – Quarter 2 Unified Arts Classes Start
TALENT SHOW
We will be having a talent show on Wednesday, November 20th at 6:00 PM. Auditions are after school on Monday, 11/4 and Friday, 11/8. Sign-up outside of room 313. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
PARENT CONFERENCES
Parent conferences for the Locke and Marshall will be held on Wednesday, November 6th and Wednesday, November 13th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. All conferences are in-person. We are using a computer program called PTC Wizard to schedule conferences.
The link to schedule conferences is open. 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
QUARTER 1 ENDS
Thursday, November 7th is the forty-fifth day of school and the end of the first quarter. The following courses are on a 45-day schedule this year: art, drama, health, music, shop, and computer science. Students will see a change during one period of their day on Friday, November 8th, the beginning of the second quarter. Students, please check your schedules. Final grades for quarter 1 classes will be posted to ASPEN by Thursday, November 14th and will appear on the trimester 1 report card issued in December.
PICTURE MAKE-UP/RETAKES
Picture make-ups and retakes will be taken this week 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 the last two weeks 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 living. 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 #7
Time to Rake!
Leif and his sister Autumn are raking at their house. Once they have all of the leaves in their yard in a huge pile, they decide to do a little math with their pile of leaves. They notice that all of the leaves are yellow and/or red. So, they decide that Leif will count the leaves with any red (5570 leaves) and Autumn will count the leaves with any yellow (6920 leaves). Then, they get their other little brother, Oakie, to come out and count the leaves that have both yellow and red on them (4370 leaves). Using their reported numbers, how many leaves are in the pile?
Last Week’s Answer: 1. 4 apples Bonus: 51 apples Send your answers to Mr. Garas – tgaras@billericak12.com – Show your work! We will choose winners for last week and this week for a Dunkin gift card and the highly coveted math certificate!!
RIDDLE/JOKE OF THE WEEK
This week – November Jokes – 1. Which month of the year are bakers the busiest of all? 2. What is the best month to go boating?
Last week’s Answers -- 1. What do adventurous pumpkins do for fun? – go bungee gourd jumping 2. Who helped the pumpkins cross the road? – the crossing gourd
BMHS ROBOTICS – Opportunity for K-5th graders
On Saturday, November 16th, the BMHS robotics team is sponsoring an event for K-5th graders. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
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
- 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, Turkey Toss
- 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