The Curtis Connection

In today's Connection:

• Mr. Mela's Message
• Mark Your Calendar
• Thanksgiving Recess
• Curtis Cares Gift Card Drive 2023 💚
• Food Drive for the Sudbury Community Food Pantry
• Sudbury's 2024 Project 351 Ambassador
• Cross Country Teams Conclude Season at 2023 State Championship Meet
• Thank you, CPO❣️
• ECMS MCAS Schedule
• Scholastic Book Fair
• Recent Halloween Candy Drive to Support Veterans and the Food Pantry
• Winter Sports at ECMS
• 2023-2024 After School Activity Packet
• Curtis 2023-2024 MATHCOUNTS Competition
• Recess Equipment
• Reminders from the Office
• A Message from the ECMS Health Office
• A Message from the Curtis Counselors
• Curtis Is Going to Washington in 179 Days!
• Curtis Schedule
• Lunch Menu for the Week of 11/20
• Lunch Menu for the Week of 11/27
• CPO News
• Curtis Core Values
• Contact Us
• Community Notices

Dear Families,

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is coming next week, and before long, the winter holidays. At Curtis, we are certainly thankful for our kind and dedicated students, our committed and invested staff, our caring and involved families, and our healthy school year. We have completed our 54th day of school and we are so pleased with the first months of the year.

Today we received some tremendous results from the US News and World Report, which ranked Massachusetts middle schools. Curtis ranked 13th among hundreds of middle schools. It's a great accomplishment and a real testament to our students and educators.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/massachusetts/ephraim-curtis-middle-262595

Please keep us informed about how we can work together to answer questions, support your concerns, and plan for the future.

Take care and thank you,

Jeff

Wednesday, November 22 - 12:45 Early Release

Thursday, November 23 & Friday, November 24 - No School: Thanksgiving Recess

Wednesday, November 29 - End of Trimester 1

Wednesday, December 13 - 12:45 Early Release

If your family will be traveling for the holiday and your child will miss any school, please call into our absence line -- 978-443-1071, press 1 or email ecms_office@sudbury.k12.ma.us. We must receive a notification from a parent/guardian in order to verify an absence.

Every year, staff and families contribute to “Curtis Cares,” a program designed to help Curtis families who are experiencing financial difficulties. We have been able to give back and help many families with necessary items such as groceries, winter clothing, holiday expenses, and gas. In the past, Curtis families have always responded generously and it has been greatly appreciated.

Curtis Cares is again seeking gift card donations of any amount. Gift cards to the following stores are most helpful:

• Target

• Amazon

• Walmart

• TJ Maxx/Marshalls

• Grocery stores (Market Basket, Shaw’s, Stop & Shop, Sudbury Farms)

• Gas cards

Gift card donations can be dropped off in the Curtis front office (no cash or checks, please). We would appreciate any gift card donations by Monday, December 11th so we have adequate time to distribute them.

Please email Ann-Noelle McCowan, School Adjustment Counselor, or you may call her at 978-443-1071 ext. 7107 with any questions or if your family would benefit from help through the Curtis Cares Gift Card Fund. You may also contact your child’s school counselor with questions or to request assistance. All inquiries and gift card distributions are kept confidential.

Ivar Henningson, 6th grade counselor x7510

Terry Miller, 7th grade counselor x7513

Jenn Hymes, 8th grade counselor x7512

Now more than ever families need our help! Please drop gift cards off in the Front Office by Monday, December 11th.

Thank you for your generosity,

The Curtis Cares Team

Curtis is currently hosting a Food Collection Drive that will run through Friday, December 1st. The collection drive, organized by the Curtis Angels, will benefit the Sudbury Community Food Pantry and the hundreds of families the Food Pantry supports.

Most needed items are boxed potatoes, large soups (Progresso, Chunky), stuffing, cereal, cake and brownie mix, frosting and boxed rice.

A collection bin is located in the front lobby at Curtis. Please contact Curtis Angels Faculty Advisor Ivar Henningson if you have questions. On behalf of the Sudbury Community Food Pantry, thank you for your support.

Congratulations to Alina Janigian, who has been selected as Sudbury’s 2024 Project 351 Ambassador. Project 351 is a youth service nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop “community-first” leaders through the engagement and enrichment of an 8th grade Ambassador from every town and city in Massachusetts. Ambassadors are chosen based on an exemplary ethic of service and the values of kindness, compassion, humility and gratitude. Alina is a model citizen at ECMS and has been involved with community service projects through the Curtis Angels since the beginning of 6th grade.

A school-record 31 students from Curtis raced at the 2023 Massachusetts Middle School Cross Country State Championships on Saturday, November 4th. The major meet, which was held at Willard Field in Devens, featured more than 2,000 athletes from 192 middle schools in the state.

The boys placed seventh in the Division 1 Team Championship race, which was also the second highest finish in school history and best since 2011 at the meet. Jackson Alderman led the Cougars by placing 27th overall and navigating the challenging 1.86-mile course in 11 minutes and 35 seconds. Ben Scanga, Elias Mould, Cameron Firth, and Brendan Atwater rounded out the team’s top five.

Competing in the Division 1 Team Championship race for the first time in program history, the girls performed admirably and finished 14th overall. Leah Larson crossed the line 39th in 13 minutes and 10 seconds to pace the Cougars. Defne Russo, Sophie Rip, Katelyn Arees, and Emily Anderson completed the team’s top five in the overall field.

Curtis also had students participate in grade races. Top finishers included Bella Rodrigues-Suneus and Zara Ghalib in the girls seventh grade race, Nikhil Kashem and Seamus Carmody in boys seventh, and Brendan Murphy and Connor Bonk in boys eighth.

The following individuals all proudly represented the school at the championship meet:

Students

Jackson Alderman, Emily Anderson, Katelyn Arees, Brendan Atwater, Connor Bonk, Seamus Carmody, Ryan Ciaccia, Cameron Firth, Nalini Fischer, Alex Galup, Zara Ghalib, Aaron Huang, Nikhil Kashem, Jeff King, Reid Kula, Anya Kuster, Leah Larson, Araceli Maldonado, Ben McKinney, Elsa Milburn, Faith Mkhabela, Elias Mould, Brendan Murphy, Ashmit Newman, Colton Parker, Sophie Rip, Bella Rodrigues-Suneus, Cole Rooney, Defne Russo, Ben Scanga, and Iris Wang

Thank you to our coaches and support staff for leading the way, Matt Chmura, Lauren Cummings, and Wendy Gilman!

Many thanks to the Curtis Parent Organization, especially Jen Greer-Morrissey, Emily Amico, Heather Larson, and Lauren Warren, for spoiling our staff once again. Everyone enjoyed the assortment of tasty pies -- cherry, apple, pecan, pumpkin, strawberry rhubarb - and cider, coffee and hot chocolate. Thank you!

Click here to sign up to volunteer at this year's Book Fair. Click here for online shopping and ewallet creation.

Thank you to all those who donated their extra Halloween candy for Veterans Inc. in Worcester and the Sudbury Community Food Pantry. Nine boxes of candy were delivered to Veterans Inc. last week. Donated candy will also be used to make treat bags for the Food Pantry to distribute to the families they serve.

Online sign-up for winter sports 2023-24 is now available! Tryouts will start after Thanksgiving break. If your child is interested in playing a winter sport, please sign up early. Tryout schedules will be posted by Nov.16, 2023 on the ECMS Athletics website

We are offering: 7/8th grade girls basketball and 7/8th grade boys basketball. These are travel teams. Registration is currently open and will close on November 19th. Please click here to access the online registration. All registrations need to be approved by our Health Office before a student can participate in a sport. Please make sure that your child has a current physical. This is mandated by the state and current physicals are valid for 13 months. There are no exceptions to this rule.

The ECMS Athletics website provides details on all of the sports that we offer, schedules, as well as tryout dates and practice times. Please check the athletic website to make sure your child can make the commitment to our sports schedule. If you have questions regarding the winter sports that are offered, please contact Athletic Director David Jurewicz.

We are fortunate to offer a diverse list of clubs and activities this year to meet the interests of our students:

• Cauldron
• Strategic Games
• Computer Club
• Diversity Club
• ECMS Theatre Troupe
• Model UN
  
• Science Olympiad
• Speech & Debate Team
• (Unfortunately the Art Club has reached maximum capacity.)

Click here to go to the Activities & Clubs webpage, where you will find a description of each of the course offerings, along with applicable forms to print out, complete, and return to school. Please be sure to make all checks payable to Town of Sudbury. If you have any questions, please email the advisor of the activity.

Attention all math lovers! The MATHCOUNTS Competition is coming back to Curtis again this year! This competition series will be in person. All students in school at Curtis are eligible to participate in a school level MATHCOUNTS practice competition. Following that, a group of up to twelve selected students will be representing Curtis Middle School at the Chapter Competition.

What is MATHCOUNTS?

The MATHCOUNTS Competition Series is a nationwide middle school mathematics competition that provides students the opportunity to compete in-person against and alongside their peers.

The competition is held annually at the school, chapter, state and national levels. This will be the sixth year that Curtis Middle School will participate in the competition. Our goal is to have fun, build confidence, and improve our critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Registration and Cost

School Practice Competition

Date: TBD before end of December 2023 (after school time or weekend)

Cost: free

How/when to register: Complete the registration form here by Nov 30th

Chapter competition will be held in February 2023.

Registration fee for Chapter Competition: $30 / student

A group of up to 12 students per school will attend the Chapter Competition.

Who leads the Chapter team?

Either the school math teachers or the parents can coach the school MATHCOUNTS team. Again, this year, the Curtis team will be led by volunteer Curtis parents. There are no weekly meets. There will be online or in-person practice sessions before the chapter competition for the school group. This year’s coaches will be Mr. Yi Hou and Sophia Hou.

Please contact Yi Hou with any questions.

Our students would love to have more recess equipment! Please consider donating a used or new ball or jump rope to help our kids enjoy their recess time. Supplies needed:

• Rubber balls for 4 Square
• Basketballs
• Footballs
• Soccer balls
• Tennis balls
• Any other balls that are not hard
• Jump ropes

- If your child will be absent or tardy from school, please call 978-443-1071, press 1, and leave a message on the absence line or email ecms_office@sudbury.k12.ma.us. Please state your child’s name, the date(s) of their absence/ tardiness and the reason. If there is a planned absence, you are welcome to call ahead of time -- you do not need to wait until that day.

- If you will be taking your child out of school for an appointment or picking them up early, please write a note and have your child drop it off in the front office. You must come into the office to sign out your child; if they return to school that day, they may come back on their own and stop by the office.

- We do not need to know about a change in dismissal plans at 3:10 dismissal time (or 12:45 on an Early Release day).

- Students may only ride the bus to which they are assigned.

- We will interrupt class to have students pick up eyeglasses or Chromebooks dropped off in the office. All other items will be placed on the table outside the office. If your child calls and asks you to bring something to school, please tell them they must come to the office to retrieve.

- Students' cellphones are expected to be turned off during the school day, so they will not see a text you send them.

Regular hand washing is one of the best ways to remove germs, avoid getting sick, and prevent the spread of germs to others.

The flu shot helps prevent or lessen the severity of influenza, a respiratory illness, similar to COVID-19. As we have officially entered the flu season, keep yourself and others safe by getting the flu shot and the newest COVID vaccine.

Thank you,

Anne-Marie Hultin, RN & Kiersten Varner, RN

If your child is applying to private school, please contact your child’s grade-level school counselor so that we can help facilitate the process. To ensure this process is efficient and expedient, please follow these guidelines:

• Prior to submitting any forms (electronically or on paper), please ensure that your child contacts their teachers and the counselor to ask for their recommendation.

• Most schools are using on-line platforms for applications and recommendations. Please notify the grade-level counselor which schools your child is applying to and the platforms these schools use.

• If the applications require paper forms, they should be dropped off at the ECMS main office to the attention of the grade-level counselor. Please do not send any paper recommendation forms directly to teachers; the grade level counselor will distribute these to teachers.

• In order to send records and recommendations to the private school, we must have a signed release from a parent or guardian. This is usually provided with the private school application form or may be part of the on-line platform.

• We request that you submit all forms as early as possible to allow teachers and counselors ample time to complete recommendations. Please be aware of the following timeline for submitting forms to the grade level counselor:

By December 1, 2023 for a January 1, 2024 deadline
By December 15, 2023 for a January 15, 2024 deadline
By January 3, 2024 for a February 1, 2024 deadline

• In early spring after you have heard from the school’s admissions department, please contact the grade-level counselor to inform us of the application outcome and private school decisions for your child.

Procedure for applications requiring direct mail:

• Include a large (10 x 13) stamped standard mailing envelope for each school with the forms, so that we are able to mail them out quickly when the applications are complete.

• On each mailing envelope, include a postage amount of $4.23.

• Print the specific name and address to whom we are directing the application.

• Leave the return address blank as we will fill this in indicating that the materials came from Curtis.

Please direct any questions about the status of recommendations to the following counselors:

Ivar Henningson - 6th grade counselor

Terry Miller -7th Grade Counselor

Jennifer Hymes - 8th Grade Counselor

Thank you very much for your assistance and cooperation with this private school application process.

ECMS Counseling Department

Thank you to all who volunteered to help with the distribution of the items from the Frozen Fundraiser!

Read the latest D.C. Digest for reminders, deadlines, links, and more.

Please click here to view the SPS 2023-2024 School Calendar.

Please click here to see the complete Curtis schedule for this school year.

Curtis Annual Fund

Thank you to families who have already contributed to our 2023-24 CPO Annual Fund! Your donations help to support a variety of programs and initiatives, including cultural enrichment, Curtis Messenger, student scholarships, student social events, technology, end-of-year activities, classroom curriculum aids for teachers, UA supplies, recess equipment, teacher appreciation events, library furniture, the student counseling department, the tile project in the school hallways, outdoor beautification projects, and much more. These are all important additions to the Curtis community and they truly improve the students’ experience at Curtis Middle School.

Our goal is to get 100% participation this year! If you have not yet donated, please consider a tax-deductible donation to the CPO to help support Curtis’ cultural, creative, and educational programming. Also, don't forget to check if your company offers a match to your donation.

Thanks in advance for your contribution!

Please note that donation acknowledgment letters will be provided by request only. If you require a letter for tax purposes, please email a request to cpotreasurer@gmail.com.

Curtis Online Directory

You can still purchase online access to the Curtis Directory and make a donation to the Annual Fund in one easy step. Online access is only $12 and is available as soon as you place your order. Click here to get Directory access today!

Questions? Email curtiscpodirectory@gmail.com

CPO Volunteers Needed

The CPO still has a few open volunteer committee positions. Limited, flexible hours involved for all positions:

Business Sponsor Liaison (1 person needed): Reach out to Curtis-family and local businesses to sponsor school initiatives.

Fundraising (1-2 people needed): Partner with local restaurants and boutiques for restaurant nights and shopping days. Promote in Messenger, Connections and CPO Facebook page.

If interested in any of the above positions, or if you'd like more information, please email cochairs@curtiscpo.org. To learn more about the CPO, visit curtiscpo.org. Thanks for your interest!

Business Sponsorship Opportunities

Are you a Curtis Family who owns a business or do you work at/know a business that would be interested in exposure to over 800 local families? Becoming a business sponsor of Curtis provides great marketing opportunities for businesses while supporting our school at the same time! We have very affordable sponsor opportunities available for 2023-2024. Please reach out to the CPO at board@curtiscpo.org.

Curtis Gear

The Curtis online store is now open with lots of Curtis spirit wear and gear, including clothing, hats, bags, and more!

Learning ~ Respect ~ Responsibliity

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