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Welcome to May, everyone!

I am so excited to see the flowers beginning to bloom and experience a bit of warm weather to start the month. This newsletter is jam packed with important district information and community events such as the annual Pride Day Celebration and an opportunity to join the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, & Justice (DEIBJ) Task Force.

This month, we also celebrate our wonderful teachers who diligently serve all of our students every day. I am grateful to serve a district with such caring and devoted educators. Please help me wish all teachers across the district a very Happy Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6-10)!

Please take some time to enjoy the beautiful weather this month! The photo above is from Spy Pond near the Minuteman Trail. Happy May!

Sincerely,

Dr. Elizabeth C. Homan

Superintendent, Arlington Public Schools

The Department of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice (DEIBJ) is opening applications for those interested in serving on the DEIBJ task force. Staff, students, families, and community members are welcome to apply. Click Here to apply and see the flyer below for more information.

On May 9th at 6:30 AM the Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is on the agenda for its annual report to the School Committee. This takes place during the School Committee Regular Meeting.

On May14th at 9:00 AM, SEPAC will hold its May business meeting. This meeting includes nominations for board positions for the coming year as well as a round table with the principals Mme. Fabienne Pierre-Maxwell of Gibbs and Mr. Brian Meringer from Ottoson Middle School.

Meeting held on Zoom.

The election for the board will be held at the June meeting on June 11th at 7:30 p.m.

Come to this free celebration on May 18th! Registration is required. Please use the QR code on the flyer below, or click here.

AHS Performing Arts Parent Association presents: AHS POP 2024 Concert!
Saturday May 4th, 7:00 PM and Sunday, May 5th, 2:00 PM

The AHS Pops Concert is a fun community event that showcases many talented performing arts students, including all instrumental and choral groups. It is the primary fundraiser for scholarships to be awarded to graduating seniors who have contributed to the performing arts at AHS. Click photo for ticket purchase link.

Come to AHS for the opening reception for the Spring Art Exhibit, May 16th, 5-7 PM. Enjoy arts, music, and refreshments!

Enjoy a free Mothers' Day weekend musical performance at Arlington High School, May 11th, 2 PM. This performance will also be shared with APS elementary students; this initiative is in its second year and is designed to inspire our young students' love of the performing arts!

Join AHS students for the EcoFair on May 10th. Arlington EcoFest began on Earth Day, April 22, and runs through mid-May. Highlights include town-wide litter cleanups, a Deconstruction Workshop for grades K-5 on April 27, a Youth EcoSummit for middle and high school students on May 4th, and a student-led EcoFair outside AHS on May 12th. Details on the EcoFest Website

Arlington High School principal, Dr. Matthew Janger, is doing a few tours for new and prospective students (aside from the 8th grade visit in June). Interested parents can contact Morgan Cummings (781-316-3658) or email, if they are interested in attending. The next tour date is Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at 3:30PM.

Important links for registration:

• Kindergarten Registration Letter
• Registration Checklist
• Register Here
• Registration Website

Every year, as part of our efforts to encourage intercultural learning, we invite international students to join us at Arlington High School and we've hosted students from all over the globe. We've had a blast getting to know these students and they've added so much to our community. I am writing to you because our wonderful families are an important part of this program. Families who open their homes and hearts to these students make this intercultural learning experience possible. Past families have told us how much they have gotten out of the experience. Connections are made that last well beyond the duration of the visit.

We have wonderful families who have hosted in the past returning and we are looking for a few new families as well. Our current needs are for host families starting fall 2024. In our effort to attract great families, we are working with a company called Educatius Group. Host families are paid a monthly fee for hosting and will receive 24/7 support. If you would like to learn more about being a host parent, you can contact Maria Ribon from Educatius Group at maria.ribon@educatius.org or call/text her at 617-970-1999.

If you would like to know more about the visiting international student program at Arlington High School, you can contact Judy Duffy. Please consider hosting an international student! You'll be supporting this great program and past host families will tell you what a wonderful experience hosting an international student can be for everybody involved. Thank you for your help and support with this amazing program.

The district shared this guide for communicating and addressing concerns with staff earlier in the year, and we are sharing it again as a reminder. APS staff are dedicated to meeting the needs of students and listening to families' concerns, and we welcome the opportunity to address concerns directly when they pertain to our classrooms, schools, or areas of immediate impact and focus. Thank you for helping us close out the school year collaboratively during these last two months!

Highlighting school events from the previous month

Please join us for our bi-weekly regular meeting that will be held in person at the District Offices in the School Committee Room located at 14 Mill Brook Drive Arlington and online via Zoom or on ACMi at 6:30PM on the following dates:

• Thursday, May 9th at 6:30PM
• Thursday, May 23rd at 6:30PM

All members of the school district community have the opportunity to address the School Committee on issues that affect the school district and are within the scope of the Committee's responsibilities during the Public Comment portion of the School Committee Meeting and/or through written correspondence to the Members. For full school committee calendar and more information please visit the School Committee Website. If you have any questions please contact Liz Diggins via email ediggins@arlington.k12.ma.us.

Please join us for a session on Saturday May 31st @ 11:00 AM, held remotely via Zoom.

• May 1st - 23rd - MCAS testing across the district
  
• May 1st- Early Release w/lunch (Elementary Only)
• May 2nd- Math MCAS Begins
• May 3rd - School Lunch Hero Day
• May 6th-10th - National Teacher Appreciation Week
  
• May 8th- National School Nurses Day
• May 9th - Regular School Committee Meeting
• May 12th- Mother's Day
• May 14th - Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) Business Meeting
• May 15th- Early Release w/lunch (Elementary Only)
• May 23rd - Regular School Committee Meeting
• May 27th - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
• May 28th- Menotomy Conferences; early release at 11:30
• May 29th- Early release w/lunch (Elementary Only)
• June 13th - Last day of school - Kindergarten (Full/regular day)
• June 14th - Last day of school, 11:30 AM dismissal - Menotomy Preschool
• June 18th - Last day of school, 11:30 AM dismissal - Elementary, Gibbs, Ottoson, and High
  School

During the month of May, we also celebrate Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, National Mental Health Awareness Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Haitian Heritage Month, Older Americans Month & National Physical Fitness & Sports Month.

Resources and opportunities for families to engage in continued learning

ARLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

CAREGIVER ADVISORY COUNCIL 2023-2024

This is an opportunity for parents, guardians, and caregivers to meet with the Principal

for updates, feedback, and input on the annual School Improvement Plan and other topics around AHS .

Please check back at this site for schedule changes.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83380739062

May 7th: 6 - 7pm ZOOM

Session 1 - Laying the Groundwork: Brain Development, Decisions & All The Feels: https://bit.ly/3IzKMh5
Session 2 - Brain Recap & Risks: Substance Use, Social Media & Mental Health: https://bit.ly/3xoRkMQ
Session 3 – Brain 3-Peat & Protections: Sleep, Finding Calm & Promoting Joy: https://bit.ly/3U4GYdZ

YMHFA announces there will be two half-day training sessions (8am-12pm) on Thursday, May 23 and Thursday, May 30 at Arlington Youth Counseling Center. Here is the registration link and a flyer for all the summer dates.

In case you were not able to attend the April 23rd presentation by Dr. Elizabeth Englander on Healthy Social Relationships and Health Screens: Avoid Bullying and Conflict, a recording is available.

The recording is available on this link, and the passcode is N=hFRL01.

The Federation for Children with Special Needs is providing free workshops for special education families on the new IEP Form that MA is starting to use. To help families understand these changes, the Federation is launching a series of free workshops on understanding the new IEP form.

Introduction to the new IEP Form" is offered on the following dates. Click on your preferred date to register.

• Wednesday, May 8, 5:00-6:00
• Tuesday, May 21, 11:30-1:00 – Presented in Portuguese
• Tuesday, May 21, 12:00-1:00
• Monday, June 3, 12:00-1:00
• Wednesday, June 12, 7:00-8:00

In addition, a Skills Building Series is being offered this spring. Register here.

• Wednesday, May 15, 10-11am – Meaningful Accommodations vs. Instructional Modifications
• Wednesday, June 5, 6:00-7:00 – Bringing Forth Family Knowledge Through Data Collection

APS partners with Cartwheel to provide mental health services to all APS community members! Sign up here to receive emails about Cartwheel's webinars, including registration links and recordings. These webinars empower caregivers, family members, and school staff with practical and actionable information on mental health topics affecting youth and families today.

Upcoming Webinars:

May 7th at 7:30 p.m. - Finding the Words: How to Effectively Speak with Kids and Teens about Suicide and Mental Health

Families can also view recordings of previous Cartwheel webinars.

Black Print, on behalf of MA-DESE, wants to hear from you, families of district students!

If you have a child that receives Special Education Accommodations or services, please complete this survey. Survey available Kriolu, Haitian Creole, and Spanish also.

The APS Family Welcome & Resource Center is open and supporting the needs of families with enrollment, engagement, connecting with resources, and making referrals to local agencies as needed. Regular hours are Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. View the flyer below in other languages here.

The School News app by Edlio is an activity feed for alerts, news, and events from APS. It’s a simple way to view the school news feeds and calendars. The app is free to download to your iOS or Android phone and quick to set up:

• Go to the App Store or Google Play and search for “School News by Edlio” to install.
• Open the app and search for Arlington Public Schools; tap “Add School.”
• Enable push notification by going to the Alerts tab and tapping “Enable Notifications.”

Register today for the third annual AEF 5K Run to celebrate and support education in Arlington's public schools - it's students, teachers, and all staff who work to create enriching educational experiences. Proceeds will support the Arlington Education Foundation and fund innovative teaching and learning across APS.

Sunday, May 19, 2024 8:00am – 10:00am Hill’s Hill Field – behind the Ed Burns Hockey Rink, Arlington The maximum number of participants is 800, so register early!

Registration - $45 - Register here

Can't run on May 19? We need volunteers to help make the day a success. Become a Volunteer.

More information available on the AEF website.

The Arlington High School Track and Field Team will be continuing with their Youth - Masters Track & Field Meet community fundraiser meet this year! The meet this year will be held at 3:00 PM on Saturday, May 18th.

All proceeds will go to the Arlington High School Track and Field Team. Sign up here!

This year, METCO districts will host multiple local Advocacy Days with other districts in their region; these individual meetings have been scheduled around state legislators’ availability to ensure their presence. The goal of this format is to empower METCO districts with the tools they need to advocate for METCO’s funding and have advocates meet with legislators in a more personal setting outside of the State House. As a result, METCO is more likely to gain the funding we need in FY25 and less likely to be left out of critical state budget conversations at the House and Senate conference committees.

What Is METCO’s Budget Ask?

The METCO budget ask is $33 million for FY25; see our FY25 METCO Funding Request one-pager with all the information. Most critically, we seek a $3.6 million increase over FY24. This increase is equivalent to 0.28% — only one-third of a percent! — of the $1.3 billion projected FY25 revenue from the Fair Share Amendment (a.k.a. the Millionaire’s Tax designated to fund both education and transportation).

What Will the METCO Budget Cover?

• Respond to inflationary pressures from skyrocketing transportation costs and rising special education costs at the district level
• Support student services and close achievement gaps
• Deepen our racial equity and integration work through METCO 2.0

Metrowest North: Fri., May 3 from 10-11 AM

Click here to register

Location: Forthcoming, in the Metrowest North region