LIFE AT THE LOCKE … Issue #21 2024-2025
January 26, 2025
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
I hope you are enjoying the winter weekend. We are back with 5 DAYS OF LEARNING! Let’s see what’s happening ...
FOLLOW US ON X @LockeMiddle and INSTAGRAM: locke_middle_school
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold." – Aristotle
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday – B Day – Day 90 End of Quarter 2, HW Club, Penny Wars Start
Tuesday – C Day – New Unified Arts Classes Start
Wednesday – D Day – Advisory Schedule, HW Club
Thursday – A Day – HW Club
Friday – B Day
END OF QUARTER 2
Quarter 2 unified arts classes end on Monday, January 27th. Quarter 3 unified arts classes start on Tuesday, January 28th. Students, please check your schedules for your new class.
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES – WINTER SESSION
After-school activities begin the week of February 3rd. Please complete this Winter After School Activity Form to sign up for after-school activities. The Google form must be completed to enroll. All sessions have limited enrollment and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis according to the timestamp on this form. In addition, complete the attached form and send it in with your payment by Tuesday, January 28th. You will be contacted this week with the status of enrollment.
PENNY WARS ARE HERE!
The penny wars are January 27th – 31st. See the attached flyer for the details.
ROBOTICS UPDATE
The Locke Monsters Robotics team competed in their second event of the 2024 - 2025 season on Sunday, January 12th at Walsh Middle School in Framingham, MA. The students are working in three separate teams, each with their own robot. VEX Robotics is a student centered program where the students are responsible for designing, building, coding, and driving their robots. In this event, each team participated in 6 qualification rounds, skills rounds, and were also interviewed by judges who asked them a variety of questions about their robot. All three teams showed tremendous improvements from their first competition in December!
Congratulations to Srihaas Mynampati of Team 8025B. He competed on his own at this event as his teammates Arius Wirsch and Ethan Beach were unable to attend. Srihaas and the 8025B robot ended up in 1st place out of 24 teams at the end of the day. This earned him a “bye” in the first playoff round. He made it to the semifinal round of the playoffs, but his alliance was defeated, and didn’t make it to the finals. Srihaas was also recognized by the Judges and received the Judges Award, which was very exciting! The wording of the Judges Award is as follows: The Judges Award is presented to a team that the Judges determine is deserving of special recognition. Judges consider a number of possible criteria for this award, such as team displays of special attributes, exemplary effort, and perseverance at the event, or team accomplishments or endeavors throughout the season that may not fit under existing awards but are nonetheless deserving of special recognition.
Team 8025C (Cassie Berube, Megan Hogan, Sophia Amato, and Michael Beach) ended up in 4th place at the end of the day, earning them a “bye” in the first round of the playoffs. The team was eliminated in a close match in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.
Team 8025A (Nikhil Gandhi, Colin Baldwin, and Avery Gagne) finished in 14th place at the end of the qualification rounds. The team’s alliance was defeated in the Round of 16 in the playoffs.
A recording of the day can be found on the host school’s YouTube channel (Walsh Bot).
Mr. DeBenedetto and Mrs. Tolleson are extremely proud of the hard work these students have put in to improve their robots over the last several weeks. We are extremely thankful to ZOLL Medical Corporation for their financial donations to our team over the last few seasons. We would also like to thank Mr. John Berube and Mr. Jim O’Connor for their continued support as mentors to our students throughout the season. We would also like to thank Locke Monsters Alumnus Eli Baldwin for coming to our after-school sessions to help with a wide variety of tasks. Our next competition is scheduled for Sunday, February 2, 2025 at Walsh Middle School in Framingham, MA.
HOMEWORK CLUB
HW Club continues 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.
LOCKE SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL
Our school council met on Monday, January 6th. Please see the minutes for the meeting. All related documents for the council can be found on our website.
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK #15
HOT SHOT!
Hot Shot is an arcade basketball game in which the object is to make as many baskets as possible within the 60-second time limit. A player is awarded 2 points for each successful shot during the first 50 seconds of play and 3 points per successful shot during the final 10 seconds. Taylor had a bit of beginner’s luck in her first game scoring a total of 60 points. She wants to exceed this total in her second game. What is the minimum number of baskets Taylor must make to earn a score greater than 60 points? Last Week’s Answer: 48 miles in February Send your answers to Mr. Garas – tgaras@billericak12.com – Show your work! You can win a Dunkin gift card and the highly coveted math certificate!!
RIDDLE/JOKE OF THE WEEK
This week – A riddle -- What can go up a chimney down, but can’t go down a chimney up?
Last week’s Answers -- 1. Who is Frosty's favorite aunt? Aunt Artica 2. What's the weatherman's favorite food in winter? Brrrrr – itos!
BMHS PROGRAM FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS
The Italian National Honor Society at the high school is putting together a workshop/presentation about Italy's Carnevale at the public library on Monday 2/3 from 3:30-4:30 for middle schoolers. The link to the demonstration is here:
https://billericalibrary.
PTO GIFT CARD FUNDRAISING PROGRAM
The Locke Gift Card Program through RaiseRight (formerly Scrip) is up and running! Order gift cards from hundreds of vendors and earn cash for the Locke! To get started, go to RaiseRight.com, select to join a program, and when prompted enter the Locke registration code: 2CL88E7B61823.
Some retailers offer physical cards and e-gift cards, so you can choose your amount and delivery method. Additionally, you can choose whether your physical cards will be sent to the Locke and home with your student, or if they are eligible for direct ship, you can choose to have the cards shipped to your home. Customers can opt for a variety of payment methods, including to pay by check. However, anyone who chooses this method needs to bring their check to the school and it must be deposited and clear the bank before your order will be pushed through for processing. For anyone opting for shipment to the school, orders placed and paid for by 10:00 on Mondays will be processed with the week’s order. Once received at the school, it will be sorted and sent home with your student.
Please be sure to email the Locke PTO at BillericaLockeMiddlePTO@
BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION
Our school is participating in Box Tops for Education, which means that you can earn cash with the products you already buy that can be used for our students! Here’s how you can help:
1. Download the Box Tops app on your phone and follow instructions on how to set up an account and sign up to support our school. Use referral code TD580QUF to earn bonus box tops which means extra money for our school!
2. Shop as you normally would. There are hundreds of participating products that help our school earn money! Look for the Box Tops logo on product packages and download a full list of participating products at BTFE.com/products.
3. Use the app to snap a photo of your receipt or submit digitally within 14 days of purchase. The app will identify any Box Tops participating products and credit them to our school. You can also connect your Box Tops and Walmart accounts. Once your accounts are connected, your school will get credit for any Box Tops products you buy at Walmart when you pay with the saved payment method in your Walmart wallet.
4. Twice a year, our school will get a check! Help us give students what they need to succeed. Let’s see how much we can earn!
SEE THE ATTACHED FLYER FOR MORE INFORMATION
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 in January. Our future meeting dates have been set. Please see the attached list. Our next meeting is Wednesday, February 12th 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.
REMINDERS
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
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
- Monday, January 27th – Day 90 End of Quarter 2
- Monday, January 27th – Penny Wars Start
- Tuesday, January 28th – 1st day of quarter 3 Unified Arts classes
- Monday, February 3rd – After School Activities Start
- Tuesday, February 4th – Early Release Day, 11:40 dismissal
- Tuesday, Wednesday February 11th, 12th – Trinket Sales at lunch
- Wednesday, February 12th – PTO Meeting 6:30 PM Library
- Friday, February 14th – Hoops for Heart Game
- February 17th through 21st – Winter Break
- Monday, February 24th – Return to 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