LIFE AT THE LOCKE … Issue #28 2024-2025
March 23, 2025
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
I hope you are enjoying the warm/cold/sunny weekend. It is a busy time of year in the month of March. We are back with 5 DAYS OF LEARNING this week! Let’s see what’s happening …
FOLLOW US ON X @LockeMiddle and INSTAGRAM: locke_middle_school
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside 24 hours." —Mark Twain
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday – A Day – HW Club, Activities
Tuesday – B Day
Wednesday – C Day – Advisory Schedule, HW Club, Activities
Thursday – D Day – Report Cards Published, HW Club, Activities, Musical 7:00 PM
Friday – A Day – Musical 7:00 PM
Saturday – Musical 2:00 PM
TRIMESTER 2 REPORT CARDS
Report Cards will be published to Aspen on Thursday, March 27th at 2:00 PM. We ask parents to sign and return the report card envelope to indicate that they have seen the report. The report can be seen on your home screen under “published reports”. If you do not have an Aspen log in, please email portalhelp@billericak12.com and we will be able to provide this information to you as soon as possible. All student reports are published on the portal.
PTO RESTAURANT NIGHT
Our next PTO dining out fundraiser is today Sunday, March 23rd from 3:00 – 9:00 PM at Casa Blanca in Billerica. Please see the attached flyer for more details.
BOOSTER-THON FUN RUN FUNDRAISER – A BIG SUCCESS!
To all Locke Families,
A huge THANK YOU to our Locke families and staff who helped us raise over $21k at our Fun Run! A list of our Top 20 student fundraisers per grade is attached. All the funds raised will go a long way to help us provide events for the students, faculty and staff as the end of the year approaches. We also want to thank our teachers and staff who agreed to take a pie to the face during our Fun Run as an incentive for the top fundraisers in each grade: Ms. Miller, Ms. O’Brien, Ms. Morrison, Ms. Tolleson, Mr. Garas, Mr. Wesoloski, Ms. Hebert
Our top 5 students in donations raised are Presley Sitthirath, Alex Chaffins, Ava Thomsen, Chloe Mullen, and Jessica Morse. We will work with the students in selecting their prizes and with the families on getting the prizes home if necessary
Additionally, we want to announce the winners of our student and parent raffles:
Student raffle winners: Jonathan Trellopoulos, Caroline Richmond, Elliana LaPointe
Parent Raffle Winners: Parents of Dante Philippe, Parents of Ava Thomsen
Thank you, Locke PTO
MCAS TESTING DATES 2025
ELA (All Grades) -- April 9, 10
Math (All Grades) -- May 6, 7
Science (Grade 5) -- May 13,14
ROBOTICS FUNDRAISER
The Locke Monsters Robotics Team is partnering with What the Fork Catering on Wednesday, March 26th for a Dining Out Fundraiser to help raise money to go towards our trip to the VEX World Championships in Dallas, TX in May. This is a great opportunity to support our team as well as a local family-owned business. Their food is delicious and the portions are very generous! Please mention the Locke Monsters Robotics Team when you place your order. Thank you for your support. See attached flyer.
LOCKE MUSICAL – THIS WEEK!
Bye–Bye Birdie will be on the Locke stage this week for 3 shows. Thursday, Friday at 7:00 PM, and Saturday at 2:00 PM. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
FLOWER SALES FOR MUSICAL
The Locke PTO is pre-selling flower bouquets for the musical this week. Please see the attached flyer for the link to the ordering form.
MIDDLE SCHOOL SPRING ATHLETICS REGISTRATION
We will be offering two sports this Spring for students – track and field and girls' volleyball. Please see the information below:
- Registration is open Monday, February 3rd at noon.
- Start date of programs: Approx. April 1, 2025
- Families will register and Pay using Community Pass. (24-25 Athletic Programs)
- Fee is $140
- Link to Community Pass
- Need Help with Community Pass account email: communitypass@
billericak12.com - There will be more detailed information regarding practices and schedules at the beginning of March.
STUDENT ART SHOW
Please see the attached flyer for information on the student art show coming up at BATV.
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, March 3rd. Please see the minutes for the meeting. All related documents for the council can be found on our website.
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
March MATHness!!
The Men’s and Women’s College Basketball tournaments are each a single elimination tournament with 64 teams in each tournamrnt. How many total games will be played in both tournaments?
Last Week’s Answer: See Attached 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!! Congratulations to Eden Swift, Megan Hogan, Ava Harrington, and Tej Patel
RIDDLE/JOKE OF THE WEEK
This week – 1. What did the dirt say to the rain? 2. Why did the man sit on the clock? Last week’s Answers – 1. Why do leprechauns hate running? They would rather jig than jog! 2. How do you get a leprechaun's attention? Look clover there!
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. Our last meeting was on March 12th. Please see the attached minutes. We are always looking for volunteers to help plan great programs that will benefit our students. Our future meeting dates have been set. Please see the attached list. Our next meeting is Wednesday, April 9th 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.
FROM THE COMMUNITY
Please see the attached information for the Family Health and Safety Fair on April 12th.
UPCOMING DATES -- ALL DATES ARE ALSO ON THE MASTER CALENDAR ON THE LOCKE WEBSITE
- Sunday, March 23rd – Restaurant Night, Casa Blanca Billerica 3:00-9:00 PM
- Wednesday, March 26th – Robotics Fundraiser, What the Fork Restaurant
- Thursday, March 27th – Grades Published 2:00 PM
- Thursday, March 27th – Locke Musical, 7:00 PM
- Friday, March 28th – Locke Musical, 7:00 PM
- Saturday, March 29th – Locke Musical, 2:00 PM
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