Greetings FitzGerald Families!

While a very chilly week, it was filled with sunshine here in the walls of FitzGerald!

Grade 5 Safety Squad is Ready to Begin!- This week, the Grade 5 FitzGerald Safety Squad took part in their pledge, and received their safety sash and badge from Officer John (FitzGerald's School Resource Officer). This is a leadership role that helps Officer John, Mrs. Santillo, and Mrs. Lamoly with monitoring safety during arrival and dismissal times each day. We are looking forward to these students beginning in their official roles next week!

Cold Weather Accessories- During these colder winter months, please make sure that students are coming to school each day with a warm jacket, hat, and gloves. If any financial assistance is needed in purchasing these items, please contact Mrs. Santillo and we will make sure to provide these items for any student in need.

FitzGerald BINGO Night- Friday January 24, 2025 from 6pm-7:30pm we will be playing BINGO at FitzGerald! Join the FitzGerald Equity Team as they host a free, fun family event. There will be lots of laughs, winners and special prizes. Tell your friends and let's make it a night to remember! A notice went home in the FitzGerald Folder today.

Thank you for your partnership and collaboration!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Santillo, Principal- jennifersantillo@walthampublicschools.org

Mrs. Lamoly, Assistant Principal- julielamoly@walthampublicschools.org

Dear Fitzy Family,

Happy new year! I hope this update finds you well as we barrel into 2025 with big hopes, dreams, and plans in Drama!

I would like to thank all of our students for their hard work on the Winter Concert. It was amazing seeing - and hearing - the fruits of their labors in their Fine and Performing Arts classes leading up to the big performance. It was wonderful to see so many family members in attendance! Our 5th graders will soon have the opportunity to travel to McDevitt Middle School to attend a different type of student performance - the musical performance of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown! They will hopefully be amazed to see how many opportunities await them on and off stage in middle school. This field trip is a wonderful opportunity for our students to not only see students in almost all production roles, but also to be in community with other 5th graders from the city who will become classmates next year. Thank you to Mrs. Santillo for continuing to support this field trip!

As we dig into our Drama curriculum for the winter months, we are lucky to welcome Nanxi Gong to our classroom from Emerson College. She will be a student teacher with us as she completes her MA in Theatre Education. Ms. Nanxi brings a wealth of experience to us from her home country of China, and I am sure we will learn as much from her as she will learn from us. Please help us make her feel welcome if you see her at Fitz!

Speaking of our curriculum, our department continues to collaborate on the development of a shared scope and sequence to ensure similar experiences for all Drama students across Waltham. If you are curious to see our “big plan” as a team (subject to revisions as needed) it can be found on our district website at:

https://www.walthampublicschools.org/o/wps/page/elementary-drama-cg

As always, I welcome you to reach out to me at KateKelly@WalthamPublicSchools.org at any time. I continue to be so grateful to be a part of our FitzGerald community and wish you a happy and healthy start to 2025!

Kate Kelly

(She/Her/Hers)

Drama Specialist

FitzGerald Elementary School

Member, Connected Arts Network (CAN)

https://learn.schooltheatre.org/edta-partnership-the-connected-arts-network-grant

What are Principal Coffee Talks?

Principal Coffee Talk times have traditionally been offered once monthly for the last several years at FitzGerald. This is an informal conversation time where family members can connect with Mrs. Santillo and/or Mrs. Lamoly and ask any questions about FitzGerald School that they may have. This year, we are going to try to hold these monthly informal conversation times at different times of day, so that there are more options available for those that would like to join.

Next Coffee Talk Time:

Date: Thursday January 16th, 2025

Time: 5:30-6:00pm

Location: This will be a virtual meeting. A virtual link will be sent out that day.

The FitzGerald School Council is an advisory group for the Principal that includes parent, staff, and community representatives. The council discusses items such as budget, School Improvement Plan, etc. Approved meeting minutes are posted in the Fitzy's Flyer office communication.

Please see below for the agenda from January 9th's School Council Meeting and the approved meeting minutes from the last school meeting in November.

Next Virtual Meeting*: February- Date TBD

Time: TBD

*Please reach out to Mrs. Santillo if you would like the meeting link.

*Breakfast and Lunch are available for free for all students this school year!

** All students should bring one snack and a water bottle to school each day.

Every Friday is "Fitzy Friday" at FitzGerald! Everyone is invited to wear Fitzy Spirit Wear or the colors blue and/or yellow to school, if they would like to!

Thursday January 16th- Virtual Principal Coffee Talk, 5:30-6:00pm (link will be sent out that day)

Monday January 20th- No School

Wednesday January 22nd- Early Release Day, 1:00pm

Friday January 24th- FitzGerald BINGO Night- 6:00-7:30pm- SAVE THE DATE!

Wednesday January 29th- Early Release Day, 1:00pm

Friday January 31st- Harlem Wizards Game, 7:00pm

February 17th- February 21st- February Vacation

--

Clever is an app we use at school that makes it easy for students to access many online learning programs and resources with their Waltham Public Schools Google account. Students can also access Clever at home on a personal device. Click HERE for directions.

Email: jennifersantillo@walthampublicschools.org
Website: https://www.walthampublicschools.org/o/fitzgerald
Location: 138 Beal Road, Waltham, MA, USA
Phone: 781-314-5680