The Curtis Connection

In today's Connection:

• Mr. Mela's Message
• Mark Your Calendar
• Pennies for Hope Fundraiser Competition
• Reminders from the Office
• 2024-2025 After School Activity Packet
• Curtis School Council
• ECMS Private School Application Procedures and Guidelines
• ECMS 2025 Yearbook
• A Message from the ECMS Health Office
• Curtis Is Going to Washington in 214 Days!
• Curtis Schedule
• Lunch Menu for the Week of 10/14
• A Message from the CPO
• Curtis Core Values
• Contact Us

Dear Families,

Congratulations to Mr. Greenaway, Art teacher, and all of the students who made wonderful contributions to the Art Gallery. This week, we celebrated the first gallery opening at the Sudbury Public School's Gallery of Student Artists. About 125 pieces of artwork were displayed, selected from each of the district’s five schools. It was a successful celebration of our artists and the dedicated teachers who inspire them.

We look forward to many more art openings to celebrate the creativity, vision, and ambitious work of our students. Thank you to everyone who helped contribute to the event and the planning of the gallery.

Enjoy the weekend,

Jeff

Monday, October 14 - No School - Indigenous Peoples' Day

Wednesday, October 23 - 12: 45 Early Dismissal

Tuesday, October 29 - Make-Up Day for School Pictures

Wednesday, November 6 - 12:45 Early Dismissal/PT Conferences

Monday, November 11 - No School - Veterans Day

Tuesday, November 12 - 6:30-8:00 pm Parenting Today's Super-Connected Kids

Wednesday, November 13 - 12:45 Early Dismissal/PT Conferences

The Pennies for Hope fundraiser competition at Curtis runs through Friday, October 25th. Collection jars for donations are located in each homeroom. On the 25th, donations will be collected and consolidated for each grade. The grade that raises the most money will win a movie to be shown at school the day before one of our upcoming vacations.

The money collected at Curtis will be presented to HopeSudbury in early November. During our last fundraiser, Curtis raised $1,600 for HopeSudbury. In the past, money raised by HopeSudbury has helped families cover expenses such as medical bills, household repairs and utility bills.

Please encourage your child to support this important fundraiser. If you have questions about the Pennies For Hope fundraiser competition, please contact Curtis Angels Faculty Advisor, Ivar Henningson.

Thanks for your support!

- 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 send an email to ecms_office@sudbury.k12.ma.us, stating 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/email 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 in 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.

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

• Art Club
• Cauldron
• Chess & Strategic Games
• Computer Club
• Diversity Club
• Model UN
• Science Olympiad
• Speech & Debate Team
• Theatre Troupe
• Trivia Club

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.

We are looking for School Council representatives for the Curtis School Council this year.

What is School Council?

A school council is a representative advisory group that collaborates in planning for and implementing school improvement. It is a form of site-based management that places the school at the center of planning, goal setting, and budgeting for improvement.

Who serves on a School Council?

It is composed of representatives of the school and community. Members of the council include:

~principal

~teachers

~parents of students attending the school

~community representatives

If you are interested in serving on the school council, please submit a brief statement about why you wish to serve on the Curtis School Council. Please send this information to Jeff Mela.

If your child is applying to private school, please contact your child’s grade-level school counselor so we can help facilitate the process. To ensure that 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 that 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 the forms 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 2, 2024 for a January 1, 2025 deadline

By December 16, 2024 for a January 15, 2025 deadline

By January 3, 2025 for a February 1, 2025 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.

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

Jennifer Hymes - 6th grade counselor

Ivar Henningson -7th Grade Counselor

Terry Miller - 8th Grade Counselor

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

ECMS Counseling Department

Hello, Curtis parents! Your children are creating memories this school year. The yearbook is created and designed with student input. With pictures taken all throughout the school, they are creating a memorable book for you and your children to look back on their year.

When ordering, please be sure to use your child's formal name. Jostens uses a computer database to produce the emails that are sent to you. If you order using your child's nickname, your child's name will not be removed from the list and you will continue to receive emails. After placing your order, please be sure to save your email receipt, if needed for future reference. Please email our yearbook coordinator, Liz Kerrigan, if you have any questions.

Let's remember this year together! The price is $45. Please click here to order your yearbook today!

Dear Parent/Guardian:

Vision and hearing screenings are conducted for all seventh grade students per Massachusetts law. They are designed to identify students who may need further evaluations.

The ECMS health office will be conducting vision and hearing screenings for 7th Grade students throughout the month of October.

If your child is already being followed by a provider for vision and/or hearing conditions you may opt-out of this screening by filling out this form. If you are planning to opt out your student please do so by October 11 2024, otherwise your child will be automatically screened.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact the nurses: curtis_nurse@sudbury.k12.ma.us or 978-443-1071 x7509 or x7508

Curtis Families,

Are you going through clothes to see what still fits? As you go through this joyful process, please keep the Curtis Health Office in mind for any donations!

In particular, we are seeking SHORTS, LEGGINGS and SWEATPANTS in solid colors, (please no jeans/pants that button/zip) to keep in the event a student needs to change clothing during the school day. Stretchy bottoms accommodate a wide variety of sizes. Sizes Adult S, M, L are appreciated! T-SHIRTS (no crop tops) and sweatshirts in adult sizes S,M,L are also great.

Thank you so much for keeping the Curtis Health Office in mind for donations!

With thanks,

Anne-Marie Hultin, RN, BSN & Kiersten Varner, RN, BSN

Curtis School Nurses

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

Click here to see the 2024-2025 Sudbury Public Schools calendar.

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

Update Family Info in the Directory and Support CPO

Review/Update Your Family Information:

● Log in to your Membership Toolkit at Curtis CPO website (curtiscpo.org)

● Review your family information in "Update Personal Info"

● In "Directory Publish Preferences", select what information you want published in the directory.

● You have the choice to opt out of the Curtis Directory as well

● Confirm if you would like to receive the CPO Newsletter

● Note for Incoming 6th Grade Families from Nixon:

○ Due to a technical issue you will need to add your students to the directory and indicate that they are 6th graders.

While logged in, please consider donating to the CPO through our Annual Fund and Purchase Curtis Online Directory. Your purchase and donation supports the CPO.

Questions? Email curtiscpodirectory@gmail.com

Support the Curtis Annual Fund

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to the CPO to help support Curtis’ cultural, creative, and educational programming.

The CPO supports 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. This is all possible because of the generosity of the Curtis parent community.

Your money goes directly to work for the students and the school, improving your child’s learning experience. Also, please check if your company offers a match to your donation.

Please support the CPO with a tax-deductible donation! We encourage a $100 donation, but welcome any amount. 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 Gear

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

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 2024-2025. Please reach out to the CPO at board@curtiscpo.org

Earn Money for the CPO

The CPO earns money by filling the textile bins located in the Curtis parking lot. A check is sent to the CPO based upon the weight of the monthly donations. The company takes footwear, clothing, linens, and stuffed animals. When cleaning out, bring those bags of textiles to the bins to earn money for the CPO! Please remember to bag your donations. For a complete list of items acceptable for recycling, please visit: Bay State Textiles – Acceptable Items for Recycling

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SPS Community Notices Page

Learning ~ Respect ~ Responsibliity

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