PARKER WEEKLY BULLETIN

Good afternoon Parker Families,

It was a truly fantastic week at Parker Middle School. There was a great turn out at our annual Pizza, Pumpkins, and Paperbacks event on Wednesday with students and their families enjoying a scavenger hunt, pizza, pumpkins in the courtyard, and the book fair in the library. Many thanks go out to our amazing PTO who organized this community building event. It was outstanding!

Congratulations to our pumpkin carving winners:

1st place: Audrey Procko

2nd place: RJ Neville

3rd Place: Brianna Bradley

STEAM Design: Derek Curtis

This coming week we will have Costumes for a Cause on Halloween. Students are asked to consider donating $1 and come dressed in their costume. Please refrain from sending kids with masks that cover the face, inflatables, and weapons. All proceeds will be donated to the Newhouse Wildlife Refuge right here in Chelmsford.

Scholastic Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair ran all week and was a huge success! It is great to see our students get excited about reading! Special thanks goes to Brenda DeSimone and all the parent volunteers who helped make this event a success.

Parker Pride Winners

Congratulations to our PRIDE PAW winners who were selected from all the students who received recognition this month for demonstrating our PRIDE values. These students help us build a respectful and safe community. Congratulations to Cori Keohane, Theo Lebeaux, Emma Oun, Marnie Stone, Abigail Barton, Brayden Bicknell, Alyssa Hill, and Evan Murphy.

Social Emotional Curriculum through Second Step

We will be continuing our SEL curriculum next week with our 5th grade students continuing their unit on Bullying and Harassment while our 6th graders will continue their unit on Goal Setting. Please see some conversation starters below to discuss the lessons with your child.

Grade 5: Lesson 2: Recognizing Bullying

Summary: This week’s lesson will help your child understand the difference between bullying and joking around, and that joking can escalate and become bullying. Helping students understand when joking becomes bullying can reduce negative impacts on others.

Question: Tell your child about a time you witnessed or experienced bullying. Describe how this made you feel and ask your child what they might have felt

Grade 6: Lesson 3: Trying New Strategies

Summary: In this week’s lesson, your child will brainstorm different strategies they can try when they’re having trouble learning something new.

Question: Tell your child about a time you needed to change your approach in order to learn something new. Ask your child to tell you about something they’re working hard to learn and how you can help.

Lesson 4: Making Goals Specific

Summary: In this week’s lesson, your child will learn how to identify and set achievable goals by making them specific.

Question: Ask your child to tell you about a specific goal they’re interested in working toward and what makes it specific.

Have a great weekend everyone. Please reach out if you need support.

Josh

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Thursday, October 31st - Costumes for a Cause - see attachment below for details

Thursday, October 31st - Costumes for a Cause - see flyer below

Thursday, October 31st - Term 1 Ends

Friday, November 1st -Term 2 Begins

Tuesday, November 5th - Full Day Professional Development Day - No school for students

Monday, November 11th - No School - Veterans Day

Wednesday, November 27th - Early Release Day, dismissal at 11:10 a.m.

Thursday & Friday, November 28th & 29th - No School - Happy Thanksgiving!

We are excited to announce our 8th annual "Costumes for a Cause" event on Halloween, Thursday, October 31st, 2024. Students are invited to wear costumes to school for this fun Parker tradition. This year we would like to donate to Newhouse Wildlife Rescue.

Our after-school programs will start on Tuesday, October 15th. The Activity Fee is $50 per student. To pay PLEASE CLICK ON LINK My School Bucks or send in cash or checks made payable to Chelmsford Public Schools and turn into your child's homeroom teacher. The activity fee allows students to take full advantage of any clubs they wish to attend. The after-school activities run from 2:40-3:40 on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday throughout the year. Students also have the option of taking a late bus home. The routes are posted in the school and will not be posted publicly. We will work with students and the drivers to be sure students take the correct bus home. Since we only have 8 late buses, for both McCarthy and Parker the stops tend to be more spread out than the “regular” bus runs. After activities, students who are not taking a bus will exit the school into the Crooked Spring Road lot and can be picked up there.

See Clubs & Activities BROCHURE here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10fSdKRgUuamin-mEgMJbeLrUcsHo7dLMiSVEMC6RtLU/edit?usp=sharing

Tuesday - October 29th

Art Club - Ms. Annunziata - Room 4 - GRADE 6 TODAY

ASL-Ms. Fitzgibbons-VIRTUAL- join google classroom from home code:yqtuwha

Drama Club - Ms. Robertson - Room 230

Festival Orchestra - Ms. Tiano - Room 8

Homework Club- Ms. Larrabee - Library

Intramurals - Mr. McCarthy - Grade 5 TODAY

Jazz Band - Mr. Linsner - Band Room

Livesmart - Ms. Lyons - Room 102

Mindfulness & Crafts - Ms. Marino - Room 124

Running Club - Ms. Baker -Meet in the Cafe' (sneakers required)

Yearbook Club - Ms. Flanagan & Ms. Lococo -Room 219

Yoga - Ms. Macallister - Fitness Room

Wednesday - October 30th

Book Club - Ms. Beaudoin - Room 125

Game Club - Ms. Baker - Library

Dungeons & Dragons - Ms. Engel - Room PC4-GRADE 5 TODAY ONLY

Fitness Club - Ms. Fitzgerald - Fitness Room

Power Hour - Ms. Panneton - Room 213B - NEW CLUB, See description on Brochure in link above

Thursday - October 31st

Art Club - Ms. Annunziata-Room 4-Grade 5 TODAY

Drama Club - Ms. Robertson - Room 230

Fitness Club - Ms. Currier - Fitness Room

Intramurals - Mr. McCarthy - Grade 6 TODAY

Stand-Up Parker - Ms. Weinbeck - Conference Room 5

Friday - November 1st

Select Chorus - Ms. Robertson-Chorus Room 230 at 7:20 a.m.

Yearbooks are on sale! Please visit Yearbook Forever to purchase your yearbook now! No books will be available for sale in June...don't miss out on capturing this year's memories! Side note: Walsworth also sends emails to Parker families with order information . They are legitimate emails.

ENJOY 10% OFF your order!

CODE: F202410OFF

EXPIRES: July 31, 2025

Redeem Now

Don’t forget to order your FREE Digital SmileSafe card! More about the Smilesafe program here.

Dear Parker Families,

Please send in non-glass, non-breakable storage containers and/or water bottles with your students. We've had several instances of broken glass, creating a safety issue. Plastic or aluminum is preferred.

~Thank you for your help.

Happy Friday Parker Families!

Wow! What an amazing week for our Parker community?! It was so wonderful to see our families at Pizza, Paperbacks and Pumpkins this past Wednesday. We had over 100 pumpkins on display and sold 50 pizzas. The book fair is on track to hit record breaking sales! Many, many thanks to all of our parent volunteers and event coordinators. We truly could not host events without your support. Parker PTO has some more exciting family events/activities planned in November and December! Check out the highlights below:

📚 Scholastic Book Fair-Last Chance: The book fair will be staying open on Monday, October 28th for last minute sales. Students will be able to shop during their homeroom period. Click here to check out: Parker Book Fair

♻️ E Waste and Junk Day Recycle- November 2nd (8am-12pm): Center Elementary School and McCarthy Middle School PTOs are partnering to help you get rid of junk items that aren't easily disposed of in the trash (appliances, furniture, lawn equipment, grills (no propane), TVs, etc). This is a great way to support our schools--just drive through, donate a small fee & then leave your junk! Please click the link for more information including volunteer opportunities: 2024 E Waste and Junk Day Recycle Information

🏒 Riverhawks Hockey -November 9th @ 6:05 PM: UML Riverhawks will be hosting Chelmsford Middle School night Saturday, November 9th. Puck drop is at 6:05 P.M. Meet all your middle school friends at the Tsongas for a great night of hockey. Tickets are $15 each. Click link to order tickets: https://fevo-enterprise.com/event/Parkermccarthymiddle5

❄️☃️ Parker Craft Fair- Sunday, December 8th 10:00 am-2:00 pm: Parker PTO is proud to present our 4th Annual Craft Fair on Sunday, December 8th 10:00 AM- 2:00 PM. Stop by our school and shop local vendors. This is a GREAT opportunity to get a jump start on your holiday shopping and support local businesses. Adult and student vendors are welcome to join the fun. Table spaces are $30 + one raffle donation for adult vendors and $10 + one raffle donation for student vendors. Click link to sign up: 2024 Parker Middle School Craft Fair

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Parker PTO at PTOParker@gmail.com. As always, thank you for your continued support of our school!

Parker PTO

Dear Parents and Families --

To better estimate the demand for lunches on half days, CPS Nutrition utilizes online lunch ordering for HALF DAYS ONLY.

For the upcoming half day Wednesday 9/18/24 orders must be received by Friday 9/13/24.

2024-2025 CPS Upcoming Half Day/Early Release dates

● 10/24/24

● 11/20/24 (Elem & MS Only)

● 11/27/24

● 12/12/24

● 1/14/25

● 2/6/25

● 3/12/25

● 4/1/25

If you would like your child to have lunch on future half days, the online ordering is open for you to go ahead and select those dates. Set Up Your Account Now

Directions to set up your account and order: 1. URL Link: family.onlineordering.linq.com

2. Sign up now: Email, create password.

3. School District: Chelmsford Public Schools

4. Student ID: This can be found on x2- Child’s student ID number

5. Last Name: (You can also search and add siblings/family members at this time). Once this is completed, the student's name should appear on the page.

How to order meals

1. School Menu-select online lunch ordering (all schools)

2. Scroll to week of half day/early release date (top right of page)

3. Find date, select meal option

4. Add item to cart/Select Add to order

5. Click on shopping cart icon at top right of page

6. Click Check out

7. Select pick up location: Elementary pick-up location classroom. Middle/high school pick up location cafeteria.

8. Place order

Click on the link below to view the October Lunch Menu:

https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/webmenus2/#/view?id=66eac84ee96f1e8a8e33475a&siteCode=3370

Email: robinsond@chelmsford.k12.ma.us
Website: https://parker.chelmsfordschools.org/
Location: 75 Graniteville Road
Phone: 978-251-5133