Highlights & Spotlights

School Committee Meetings

Wednesday, December 4 @ 6:30pm -Hybrid from Town Hall

Wednesday, December 18 @ 6:30pm - LMS Collaboration Room (Hybrid via Zoom)

Schools & Offices Closed

Schools and School Offices will be closed Monday, December 23 through January 1 for the December school vacation.

Central Administration Offices will be closed on December 24, 25, 31 and January 1. Many Central Office staff take vacation time during school vacations. If you need to conduct business during the vacation, please email or call to make an appointment. 978-582-4100

The Special Town Meeting was held in the Lunenburg Middle-High School Auditorium on Tuesday, November 12. Special Town Meeting voted to appropriate the additional $31,882 in Chapter 70 funding that was allocated to Lunenburg Schools in the final FY25 State Budget to the FY25 school department budget.

We are still accepting donations through Friday, December 6th! Thank you to all who have already donated generously to support families in need of a little bit of help at this time of year.

The following is a list of meeting dates for the rest of this school year:

• Monday, January 6th
• Monday, Feb 3rd
• Monday, March 3rd
• Monday, April 7th
• Monday, May 5th
• Monday, June 2nd

The Lunenburg PTO meets monthly, on the first Monday of each month (with occasional exceptions for holidays) at LMHS in the Middle School Project Room at 7:00 pm. Attendees should use the main entrance and turn left. The Middle School Project Room will be on your left just before the cafeteria.

Meeting agendas are posted prior to each meeting and discussions generally involve community-building activities, fundraising and fostering communication between parents and caregivers and the schools in our district.

Tickets are still on sale for Sonic 3

Saturday, December 21 @ 10:00 am

at Entertainment Cinemas, Leominster

Doors Open @ 9:15 am

Concessions will be available

We will have exclusive access for this showing!

All ticket sales will take place in advance through the PTO website (link below).

There will not be tickets sold at the door.

Don't wait! Quantities are limited due to the capacity of the theater.

Upcoming PTO Events

Saturday, February 1, 2025 - Special Someone Dance - 3 to 5pm & 6 to 8 p.m. (Snow Date - February 8, 2025)

Friday, February 28, 2025 - Railers Game - Tickets will be available and Turkey Hill planning to sing!

Thursday, March 20, 2025 - Launch Trampoline Park Fundraiser

For more than 25 years, Box Tops for Education has given families an easy way to earn money for their schools with products they already buy! Learn more about how you can help your school receive donations through Box Tops for education at this link .

Learn more about this new organization just beginning to form here in Lunenburg and how you can be involved by visiting leafboardinfo.com (site coming soon).

Here are just a few of the things that happened across the district last month!

THES recognized veterans and expressed thanks through story, poems, and songs.

Turkey Trot was fun and THES collected canned goods and non-perishable items for the Lunenburg Food Pantry and started developing lifelong healthy habits. THES cares!

These are the winners of the LMS Peace Poster Contest.

Students in the LMS Drama Club take on The Book That Saved The World.

Honor Roll Breakfast is a wonderful quarterly event where families can join their LMS student to celebrate their academic accomplishments!

LMHS held a mock election on election day, November 5th.

Students in Mrs. Clarke’s science class created models of elements, compounds and mixtures using Legos!

The National Honor Society welcomed 36 new members on Thursday, November 21st in a beautiful induction ceremony coordinated by NHS advisor Mrs. Jennifer Miller.

The annual Powderpuff Football game featuring the staff vs Student Council, juniors vs seniors, and cheerleaders! The staff prevailed over the Student Council and the senior girls also won.

High School students enjoying learning new things!

Here are a few things coming up in December!

Lunenburg Primary School will host the "Grand” Scholastic Book Fair the week of December 2nd.

Lunenburg Primary School is partnering with the Lunenburg Public Library to host a Book Swap on Friday December 20th at school and help students get their library cards!

We are collecting gently used or new books for the Book Swap. Donations can be dropped off at the office by December 18th. Our goal is to collect at least 400 books so every student leaves with a book in hand for the holiday break.

The annual LMHS winter concerts will be held in the auditorium on Tuesday, December 10. The Choir will perform at 5:30pm and the band will perform at 7pm.

LMS Student Government will be running the annual Candy Cane-grams sale the week of December 9th-13th.

The Annual Tree Lighting at the Gazebo is always held on the Thursday after Thanksgiving. This year that date is December 5th. Please mark your calendar and join us! More information will follow.

Here are messages from our district department leaders!

December

Family engagement is vital to student growth and learning. In our continued efforts to support at home discussions about school, we have created two new websites: one for the Primary School and one for Turkey Hill Elementary School. Each website is organized by grade, which is then organized by subject area. Unit descriptions and the ways you can support your student’s learning are included on each subject page. As the year progresses, students move through the units. Our educators and Building Leaders also have many ways that they keep you informed of the learning happening throughout the school. We hope these two sites provide you with ideas to talk about your student’s day and to deepen their learning.

Upcoming PACSAL Meetings

PACSAL will be meeting Thursday, 12/5/24, via Zoom, at 6pm.

Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/78813215134?pwd=SkQrMXZ5ejltcURJSlc2S1FxZDRldz09

Meeting ID: 788 1321 5134

Passcode: C7Ec0X

This meeting will be run as a Support Group meeting with an open agenda and ability for parents to meet, ask questions, and get advice from each other. Cheri Cordella, the PACSAL Chairperson will be hosting this event. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to her at
lunenburg.pacsal@gmail.com

Here is also the link for the PACSAL web page for more information and information on the first meeting of the new year on January 2, 2025 @ 6pm - PACSAL - Zoom only

Department of Developmental Services (DDS) Update

We are happy to announce that the Guide for Family Support Services is finally online, formatted to browse through on the website and also to download! This guide was written with members of our statewide Family Support Council. It is meant to be a companion to the Family Support Program Manual and Guidelines which was written primarily for professionals. This guide is written in plain language and is translated into the 5 most commonly used languages in the Commonwealth. It can also be viewed in different languages using the “select language” menu at the top of our website.

Here is the link to the page on the DDS website: https://www.mass.gov/guide/supporting-families-a-guide-for-family-support-services

Topics included in this guide:

• About Family Support: Overview of Family Support Services, guiding principles, Flexible funding procedures
• About DDS: including eligibility, how DDS is organized, relationship to provider agencies
• Contact information for DDS and Family Support Centers
• Tools: tips from families for families, worksheets and helpful links

School Meals are free to all students school year 2024-225.

LINQ Connect

All meal account balances have transferred from PowerSchool/RevTrak to LINQ Connect accounts. Please note that food service is no longer using PowerSchool as point of sale or RevTrak as a payment platform. Families will not find meal account balances on either of these sites. Families can find up to date meal account balances on LINQ Connect.

How to Register

Download the LINQ Connect app from your app store or visit linqconnect.com. Click “Register” to create your account. If you have any questions or need assistance at any point during the registration process or while using LINQ Connect, please do not hesitate to reach out to the LINQ Connect support team at support@linqconnect.com or 844-467-4700. For faster response, try the new online web chat support feature at linqconnect.com.

Ingredients

8 ounces carrots, peeled and cut into

1-inch pieces

3 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole

2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup

extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.

2. On a small-rimmed baking sheet, toss together the carrots, garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil

and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover with aluminum foil and roast until the carrots and garlic are

both tender and soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.

3. Place the carrots, garlic and chickpeas in a food processor. Pulse to combine and break

apart slightly. Add the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, cayenne and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Puree

until smooth and an even pale orange.

Congratulations to our girls soccer team on their fantastic season! The team lost a tough 1-0 decision at Tyngsborough in the sweet 16 of the MIAA state tournament. They represented our community well.

Our football team wrapped up our fall athletic season on Thanksgiving morning at Oakmont Regional High School. This year's game was a loss, but we will get them next year! Go Blue Knights!

With the end of fall, our winter athletic seasons begin on Monday 12/2. Here are some reminders for all who will be trying out for a winter sport:

1. Make sure that you are registered on Final Forms https://lunenburg-ma.finalforms.com/students

2. You must have an up to date physical to participate.

3. You will receive all information pertaining to your try out times, etc on the Sports You app. See the corresponding sport code below:

Boys basketball ZD9H-74QP

Girls basketball LGCXWRNX

Boys Ice Hockey 7UZD-ZLPD

Indoor Track 3P5Z-CJDH

Ski - WN58-KB99

Middle school basketball FRU4-G4AQ

Boys & girls basketball will kick off the winter slate of games. Both teams will be competing in the Bud Tackett Memorial Basketball Tournament.

Boys Hockey will open its season at the Lowell Tournament on December 14th.

Indoor Track will travel to the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston for the MSTCA Winter Festival on December 14th as well.

Middle School Basketball will open on the road at Clinton on December 17th

Our girls hockey co-op at Leominster HS will open their season against Marblehead on December 14th

Stay tuned for the ski schedule!

December is Gift of Sight Month; National Giving Month; and Worldwide Food Service Safety Month

1 National Sock Day

8 Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day

10 National Civics Pride Day

13 National Violin Day

13 National Cocoa Day

22 National Short Person Day (my favorite!)

22 Mathematics Day

28 National Call a Friend Day

Do you know someone in the community who is retired and looking for a new way to stay engaged with the community? Are you are a parent, guardian, or family member of one of our students? We have lots of opportunities to engage in our school community by volunteering! On the district website, we have posted a flyer with just some ideas for the ways in which you can help the schools through volunteer work.