LIFE AT THE LOCKE … Issue #32 2024-2025
April 27, 2025
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
I hope you had a great April break! Spring weather finally made an appearance. We are back with 5 DAYS OF LEARNING! Let’s see what’s happening this week…
FOLLOW US ON X @LockeMiddle and INSTAGRAM: locke_middle_school
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"May is the month of expectation, the month of wishes, the month of hope," -- Emily Brontë.
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday – D Day – HW Club
Tuesday – A Day
Wednesday – B Day – Advisory Schedule, Group Photos, HW Club
Thursday – C Day – HW Club
Friday – D Day
NOTE TO FAMILIES
As we return from vacation and head into the final few weeks of the school year, I want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support and partnership. Spring is an exciting time for students, but it is also an extremely busy time with activities and sports. With longer days, students will be sleeping less and the end of the year can be challenging. We ask families to prepare accordingly to ensure that students are well-rested and ready for school. We are encouraging all students to stay focused, be patient, and finish the year strong. Our school community thrives when we all work together to reinforce respectful behavior, responsibility, and kindness. Please take a moment to speak with your child about the importance of maintaining good behavior, following school expectations, staying positive, and treating others with respect. We’re so proud of what our students have accomplished so far and are confident they can finish the year with the same level of excellence and positivity. Thank you, Mr. Garas
HOMEWORK CLUB THIS WEEK
HW Club will be in session Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Parent pick-up is at 2:45.
QUARTER 3 UNIFIED ARTS GRADES
The last day of quarter 3 was Thursday, April 10th. Quarter 3 Unified Arts grades have been posted and can be seen on the Aspen portal and will appear on the final report card.
YEARBOOK – 7th Grade Information Needed
7th Graders -- Please log into your Billerica account and fill out the forms if you would like to include your vote for favorites and what you'll be doing in 20 years -- a little something fun to put in the book to remember your time at Locke!
PLEASE NOTE: the links will close May 16th for submission. Responses will not be accepted after that date.
Thanks!
Mrs. McAleer & Mrs. Hebert-YB advisors
PTO ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Dining Out Fundraiser – Friday, May 2nd at Cookie Monstah 4:00 -8:00, See attached Flyer
- Teacher Appreciation Week – May 5th – 9th, Please take a look at the attached sign-up genius, and sign-up if you can for an item or two to help the PTO make this an amazing week!! Monetary donations sent to the office by Friday, May 2 are also greatly appreciated.
- Yard Signs are in! -- Within the next two weeks, we will be making deliveries for those who elected for home delivery. For anyone who elected sign pickup - we will have a pickup event at the Locke from 6:00 pm-7:30 pm on Tuesday, April 29, and after school at the Locke from 2:00 pm-3:00 pm on Thursday, May 1. We will be scheduling one other date for pickup after school and will keep you posted on that date. If you weren't able to get your order in but still want one, please reach out to the PTO, as we have some additional signs available for purchase.
The PTO welcomes all families to the Locke. Our last meeting was on April 9th . Please see the attached minutes. Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 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/
NURSE UPDATE
- A reminder that as we enter (hopefully) warmer days, please have students bring refillable water bottles to school.
- For those students who suffer from seasonal allergies: The Health Office does not provide allergy medication, so please plan accordingly and medicate students before school.
- Please continue to send in or email updated physicals and immunizations to Ms. Roberts, jroberts@billericak12.com
MCAS TESTING DATES 2025
Math (All Grades) -- May 6, 7
Science (Grade 5 only) -- May 13, 14
LOCKE SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL
Our school council met on Monday, April 7th. Please see the minutes for the meeting. All related documents for the council can be found on our website.
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
Don’t Spread Gossip!
Imagine that each person in a group knows something that nobody else knows, but everybody wants to know all the gossip! When two people have a conversation, they gossip, exchanging all the pieces of information they have acquired. If there was only one person, no conversations would need to take place. And if there were two people one conversation would be enough.
a) What is the fewest number of conversations that would have to take place if there were three people?
b) What is the fewest number of conversations that would have to take place between four people?
c) What about five people? Six people? Make sure you are finding the fewest number of conversations possible!
d) Can you describe a general rule to find the fewest number of conversations that are needed to spread all the gossip to everyone in any-sized group?
Last Week’s Answer: a. 9 b. 90 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 – 1. Where do rainbows go after being arrested? 2. Why are shopping centers so boring?
Last week’s Answers – 1. What do you call a sheep who can sing and dance? Lady Ba Ba 2. What do you call a French man wearing sandals? Phillippe Flop
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.
UPCOMING DATES -- ALL DATES ARE ALSO ON THE MASTER CALENDAR ON THE LOCKE WEBSITE
- April 28th – Return to School
- Wednesday, April 30th – Group Photos
- Friday, May 2nd – Cookie Monstah Fundraiser 4:00-8:00
- May 5th through May 9th – Teacher Appreciation Week
- Monday, May 5th – Locke School Council 5:00 PM Library
- May 6th and May 7th – MCAS MATH, All Grades
- May 13th and 14th – MCAS Science, 5th Grade Only
- Tuesday, May 13th – Site Council Presentation to School Committee, 6:00 PM
- Wednesday, May 14th – PTO Meeting 6:30 PM Library
- May 19th through May 23rd – Book Fair
- Tuesday, May 20th – Early Release, 11:40
- Friday, May 23rd – Last Day for MCAS makeups
- Monday, May 26th – No School, Memorial Day
- Wednesday, May 28th – Last Day of Advisory
- Thursday, May 29th – Last Day of HW Club
- Monday, June 2nd – 5B1 Field Trip
- June 3rd and 4th – Grade 4 Step-Up Days
- Wednesday, June 4th – 5B2 Field Trip
- Monday, June 9th – 5A2 Field Trip
- Monday, June 9th – 7th Grade to BMHS
- Tuesday, June 10th – Field Day
- Wednesday, June 11th – 5A1 Field Trip
- Wednesday, June 11th – PTO Meeting 6:30 PM Library
- June 11th and 12th –Bionic Project for 6th Grade
- Thursday, June 12th – 7th Grade Canobie Lake Field Trip
- Wednesday, June 18th – 7th Grade Class Day
- Wednesday, June 18th – 7A Ceremony, 8:00-9:00 AM
- Wednesday, June 18th – 7B Ceremony, 9:30-10:30 AM
- Thursday, June 19th – No School, Juneteenth
- Friday, June 20th – Last Day of School, Half Day – 10:40 AM Dismissal
- Friday, June 20th – Final Report Cards Published
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