Placentino School News & Updates

Wednesday, March 13 & Thursday, March 14 - Book Fair from 2:00-8:00pm in the Miller Multipurpose Room

Thursday, March 14 - Mathapalooza Family Math/STEM Night from 6:30pm-7:30pm

Friday, March 15 - Term 2 ROSP Delivered to the Parent Portal

Friday, March 15 - Food Pantry Collection Day (Optional)

Monday, March 25 - Incoming Kindergarten Information Session at 6:30pm

Tuesday, March 26-Thursday, April 4 - Kindergarten Registration

Thursday, March 28 - Early Release Day for Students

Friday, March 29 - No School - Good Friday

*Please note: all of these dates can be found on the Placentino Family Google Calendar.*

As a reminder, walker dismissal is only for families that are walking onto campus to dismiss their child.

If you are driving to school to pick up your child(ren) we kindly ask that you join the car pickup line as our campus cannot safely accommodate the large influx of cars trying to park.

Please join us for a parent/guardian information session about kindergarten at Placentino on Monday, March 25th at 6:30pm. A Portuguese interpreter will be at school to assist families. Families can also join the information session virtually if they are unable to join in person.

After the presentation parents/guardians will have the opportunity to visit a Traditional, Montessori, and French Immersion classroom.

To be eligible for kindergarten in the fall children must be 5 years old by September 1, 2024.

March 26 - April 4 - Online kindergarten registration (Holliston residents only). The registration link will be posted on our website on March 26th after 9am.

April 4th by noon - An online registration form and all required documents must be submitted to be considered a complete registration and for any potential Montessori or French Immersion lottery

Report on Student Progress (ROSP) will be electronically delivered to the parent portal on Friday, March 15th.

To access your child's ROSP please login into the Parent Portal. If you have not already created an account please follow the directions listed below.

This year's raffle baskets are full of amazing prizes - you could win a Fore Kicks Birthday Party Package for 10, tickets to a Red Sox game or PGA tour, and gift cards to Marriott or AirBnB, just to name a few! Raffle tickets cost $1 each! Proceeds benefit the Holliston PTO which provides programs, funding, and resources to support our students, teachers, and staff.

Stop by the Live Basket Viewing on March 20th at the Upper Town Hall from 12pm-8pm to view all the awesome baskets, meet new families, enjoy light refreshments and family friendly fun!

We have noticed an increase in the number of electronic devices, including smartwatches and cellphones, in the elementary setting. In particular, we have noticed an increased use of smartwatches in unexpected ways during school hours (i.e, texting, playing games, used as recording devices). We ask that you speak with your child about responsible smartwatch use. Smartwatches should only be used as a watch when wearing them in school. Cell phones should be kept inside the students backpack and not used during school hours (including the bus). There should not be any texting, recording, or game playing during school hours. If a child needs to get in contact with a family member, they can come to the front office to make a phone call home. As per the school handbook, “No electronic devices are allowed at school during school hours or on the bus.” If your child’s smartwatch is interfering with the school day, a staff member will ask the student to remove the watch, turn it off, and place it in their backpack. If a student does not comply with these procedures the smartwatch will not be allowed at school.

Many smartwatches have a “Do Not Disturb” setting which prevents notifications from going off when in school. Additionally, Apple Products have the “Schooltime” feature to limit distractions in the school setting. Please read Schooltime Settings: Apple Watch to adjust your child’s smartwatch accordingly.

We appreciate your support and assistance with supporting our students in navigating the world of electronic devices.

Please continue to use the Main Office system for communication about any changes to your child’s day or dismissal plans or communication that you need to share directly with your child. Please do not text or call your student directly during the school day. Please also be aware that Holliston Public Schools are not responsible for lost or damaged devices.

Placentino Families:

• Parents & Guardians at Placentino can email the office (until 12:00) at pesattendance@holliston.k12.ma.us or call the office (508) 429-0647 and press 0.

Mathapalooza is a fun night for the Placentino and Miller communities to come together to participate in a variety of challenges testing their human strength, endurance and problem solving skills. Please join us on Thursday, March 14th from 6:30pm-7:30pm.

Add this fun, engaging and hands-on evening to your calendar today! Google Calendar and ICS

See the flyer and short video below for more details!

We will be having our annual Scholastic Book Fair from 2:00pm - 8:00pm in the Miller Multipurpose room on March 13th and 14th. Please see the flyer for more details.

Join HEF for a night of family fun, giggles, and epic dance moves on Friday, March 22nd from 7:00pm-9:00pm – all for a good cause! Get ready to groove with the lively DJ Ooch, who will be dishing out beats and keeping the party spirit high!

Please see the flyer for more information about the event and how to purchase tickets.

March is Enrollment Month for Extended Day 24-25 and Summer Oasis 2024.

Families can enroll online or in-person.

Walk-in Enrollment is open Monday through Friday from 3:45pm – 5:00pm in the Miller Cafeteria

If you have any questions please reach out to Dion Puleo.

We are excited to invite you to our first ever Unified vs Varsity Basketball Game!! This game will be held on Tuesday, March 12th at 6:00pm at the HHS Field house. Please come wearing your Holliston colors and of course bring your school spirit! We hope to see students, families, and staff in attendance as we cheer on all of our athletes, and raise money for SEPAC Gives Back!

Tickets will be sold at the door- $3 students and $5 adults. Opportunities to win prizes during ½ time events and a shot at the 50/50 raffle. Concessions will be sold to include Pizza. We hope to see you there…Go Panthers!!!

This community event is sponsored by many local organizations. For more information please click the flyer below.

Holliston has begun a yearlong celebration of incorporating 300 years ago! One of the big events is scheduled for May 11, 2024 - Celebrate Holliston's 300th Parade!! You are cordially invited to participate in our parade. We are inviting all organizations, businesses, neighborhoods, sports teams, houses of worship, schools, friends of Holliston, and anyone else who may want to join the celebration.They are looking for groups to create floats, walking groups, and marching bands!

Please click here to review the registration form and rules and regulations.

Please feel free to reach out to the parade co-chairs, Jack LaFlamme and Peter Barbieri if you have any questions.

During the month of March teachers and students in preschool and kindergarten engaged in a read aloud of Pink is Just A Color and So is Blue by Niki Bhatia . You’re a boy who likes pink? Great! You like to play with dolls? Your best friend is a girl—and she likes to crash cars, build things, and play pirates? Awesome! Playing is about having fun, exploring and learning about the bigger world! Forget about what toys are for girls and what toys are for boys. How else would a boy decide he wants to be a chef one day? How else might a girl get the idea that she too could be a firefighter? We are all different and like different things. What matters is that we are happy and confident.

In this book, children like to play with different toys, use their imaginations for pretending who they want to be and explore different sports. Some of the discussion students engaged in class were based around the following conversation starters:

• What are some of the toys you like to play with?
• What do you like to dress up as or characters do you like to be?
• What types of sports do you want to play as grow?
• What is your favorite color? Colors are just colors.
• Do you know of any men or boys who like pink?
• Do you know of any women or girls who like blue?

During the month of March teachers and students in first and second grade engaged in a read aloud of Red by Michael Hall. Red has a bright red label, but he is, in fact, blue. His teacher tries to help him be red (let's draw strawberries!), his mother tries to help him be red by sending him out on a playdate with a yellow classmate (go draw a nice orange!), and the scissors try to help him be red by snipping his label so that he has room to breathe. But Red is miserable. He just can't be red, no matter how hard he tries!

Finally, a brand-new friend offers a brand-new perspective, and Red discovers what readers have known all along. He's blue!

Some of the discussion students engaged in class were based around the following conversation starters:

• Read the first page of the story (“He was red”) and ask children what they notice.
• Why did everyone expect Red to draw red things? Does it surprise you that no one noticed what he was really like?
• Pause after the page on which yellow and red try to make an orange that shows up green instead. Ask children why this happened.
• On the next page, Red’s grandparents speak. Ask children why they think Hall portrayed the grandparents as small silver and gray crayons.
• Pause after reading the opinions under “Everyone seemed to have something to say.” Do you agree with everyone’s comments? Why or why not?
• Read the pages about art supplies. How do you think the different art supplies can/should help Red?
• After reading “One day, he met a new friend,” ask children how Berry is different from everyone else.
• What does Berry help the others understand? Why is this so important?
• Until he meets Berry, Red cannot be himself because everyone believes he is different than he actually is. Do you make judgments about people based on their appearances? Do people make assumptions about you?

Please visit the HPS Food Services website to view monthly lunch menus access other helpful information.

Sincerely,

Dr. Slaney, Mrs. Cordero, and Mrs. Robinson