Greetings MacArthur Families,
We hope you had a wonderful start to March! We excitedly kicked off the month with some Read Across America fun including our DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time on Monday and our “Cozy up to a Good Book” Pajama Day on Friday. In addition, we are greatly appreciative of our special guest readers who have begun to come in and join our classes to share their love of reading.
We also wanted to take the time to thank all of you, our students' first teachers, for sharing your love of reading and words at home. Our vibrant MacArthur learning community is stronger because of the efforts of our families to nurture the love of reading at home. We are so thankful to all of you for taking the time to read with your children to help build their vocabulary, allow them to hear fluent reading, make predictions or talk about characters or the events of the story to deepen comprehension, and simply share in your enjoyment of stories. If you are looking for ideas for ways to help engage your children with reading, enjoy this article from the NEA: Raising Readers: What Parents Can Do, or reach out to your child's teacher or kevinkmiec@walthampublicschools.org to begin a conversation about reading. If you are looking for book recommendations, Mrs. South will point you in the right direction. She can be reached at stephaniesouth@walthampublicschools.org. Additionally, you can visit the Children's Room at the Waltham Public Library to speak to their wonderful team.
As the month continues, Mrs. South is coordinating a special March Madness “Reader’s” Bracket competition to select the MacArthur Book of the Year! In addition, don't forget to plan ahead for our upcoming Read Across America Spirit Fridays! See below for more information.
Upcoming Read Across America Spirit Fridays
March 14th - Reading Knocks our Socks Off! (Wear your favorite socks!)
March 21st - Wild about Reading! (Animal Print / Mix and Match Day)
March 28th - Character Dress Up Day! (Dress up as your favorite book character)
Next Week - Our March PTO meeting is on Tuesday, March 11th at 7pm. In addition, our monthly Principal’s Forum will take place at 12pm on Wednesday, March 12th. Links for these virtual meetings will be shared in a separate message prior to the meeting. Join us on Tuesday or Wednesday to learn more about the exciting upcoming events the PTO has planned, as well as our regular update on the learning taking place at MacArthur.
Later This Month - Join us for our biggest event of the year - PTO’s Rafflemania on Friday, March 28th. Click here for more information on how to help out. Visit the PTO website at macarthurpto.membershiptoolkit.com for more information. The PTO is also preparing for our 2nd annual MacArthur 5K on Saturday, April 12th. See sign up information below.
On behalf of the 5th grade students, staff, and families, thank you to all who contributed to the coin drive throughout the month of February! The Coin drive brought in just over $400 for the 5th grade class. Our 5th graders set the mark with the largest amount raised. As the highest fundraisers, Grade 5 will be rewarded with a special extra recess in the days ahead. Thank you to Melanie McDonough and Shannon Juliano for coordinating this fundraiser.
Have a wonderful weekend!
In Partnership,
Mr. Kmiec and Mr. Howes
