The Curtis Connection

In today's Connection:

• Mr. Mela's Message
• Mark Your Calendar
• Winter Holiday Recess
• ECMS Theatre Troupe
• Curtis Angels Food Drive
• ECMS Trivia Club
• ECMS MCAS Schedule
• Reminders from the Office
  
• A Message from the ECMS Health Office
• A Message from the Curtis Counselors
• Curtis Is Going to Washington in 158 Days!
  
• A Message for 8th Grade Families
• Curtis Schedule
• Lunch Menu for the Week of 12/11
• CPO News
• Curtis Core Values
• Contact Us
• Community Notices

Dear Families,

The Curtis Outdoor Space continues to make progress! It's fun and exciting the see all the work that is happening when the students are outside at recess. It's amazing to see how large and dynamic the structures are becoming.

As a reminder, please drive slowly and safely during the morning and afternoon pickups. Please pull your car forward in the line as much as possible, which will help with the flow of traffic. There are a lot of moving bodies and vehicles during these times and we always prioritize safety.

Thank you,

Jeff

Wednesday, December 13 - 12:45 Early Release

Wednesday, December 20 - 7:30 p.m. Mandatory Theatre Troupe Parent Meeting

December 25 - 29 - No School: Winter Break

Monday, January 1 - No School: New Year's Day

Wednesday, January 10 - 12:45 Early Release

If your family will be traveling for the holiday and your child will miss any school, please call into our absence line at any time -- 978-443-1071, press 1. We must receive a phone call from a parent/guardian in order to verify an absence.

Crew Interview sign-ups are posted on the Auditorium doors until Tuesday, December 12th.

Students choose ONE interview date: Monday, December 11th or Tuesday, December 12th after school with the intention of finishing by 5 pm. Location TBD and will be posted on the Auditorium door. Students must bring a completed Crew Interview Form with them. Click here for forms.

The crew list will be sent out by the school on Friday, December 15th.

NOTE: If your student was chosen for the cast or selected for crew, there is a Mandatory Parent Meeting on Wednesday, December 20th at 7:30 pm at Curtis.

ECMS recently hosted a collection drive for the Sudbury Community Food Pantry. The drive was organized by the Curtis Angels who collected donations at Curtis and also collected donations at Sudbury Farms on a Sunday a few weeks ago. 40 large boxes of food were collected along with $1,045 in cash donations. On behalf of the Food Pantry and the hundreds of families they serve, thank you to everyone who contributed to our collection drive.

Does your child know a little bit about everything? Do they want to? We are excited to offer the Trivia Club again this year at Curtis. The club will meet on Mondays from 3:15-4:15 pm and this opportunity is open to students in grades 6-8. Our first meeting will be held on Monday, December 11th.

We will host weekly games with questions on pop culture, geography, science, math, history, and more. Interested students should send Mr. Neagle a message in Schoology if they have any questions or would like to sign up. We will play in teams, but give it a try:

• Which award winning recording artist won a national poetry contest at age 10?
• What distinct cape stretches from Provincetown to Woods Hole in Massachusetts?
• In which body system do tapeworms make their home?
• The First Amendment begins a list of ten amendments known as what?
• According to Newton, how long would a feather remain motionless on a box if it were not acted on by outside forces?
• In what novel is a boy named Jonas selected to be the person to store all the past memories of the time before Sameness?
• The sum of odd integers between 1 and 99 (inclusive) is 2500. What is the sum of the even integers between 2 and 100 (inclusive)?

- If your child will be absent or tardy from school, please call 978-443-1071, press 1, and leave a message on the absence line or email ecms_office@sudbury.k12.ma.us. Please state your child’s name, the date(s) of their absence/ tardiness and the reason. If there is a planned absence, you are welcome to call ahead of time -- you do not need to wait until that day.

- If you will be taking your child out of school for an appointment or picking them up early, please write a note and have your child drop it off in the front office. You must come into the office to sign out your child; if they return to school that day, they may come back on their own and stop by the office.

- We do not need to know about a change in dismissal plans at 3:10 dismissal time (or 12:45 on an Early Release day).

- Students may only ride the bus to which they are assigned.

- We will interrupt class to have students pick up eyeglasses or Chromebooks dropped off in the office. All other items will be placed on the table outside the office. If your child calls and asks you to bring something to school, please tell them they must come to the office to retrieve.

- Students' cellphones are expected to be turned off during the school day, so they will not see a text you send them.

If you would like another set of free Covid tests, the website is covid.gov Each address may order up to 2 sets (8 sets) this fall.

Please encourage frequent thorough hand washing to prevent the spread of germs.

Thank you,

Anne-Marie Hultin, RN & Kiersten Varner, RN

If your child is applying to private school, please contact your child’s grade-level school counselor so that we can help facilitate the process. To ensure this process is efficient and expedient, please follow these guidelines:

• Prior to submitting any forms (electronically or on paper), please ensure that your child contacts their teachers and the counselor to ask for their recommendation.

• Most schools are using on-line platforms for applications and recommendations. Please notify the grade-level counselor which schools your child is applying to and the platforms these schools use.

• If the applications require paper forms, they should be dropped off at the ECMS main office to the attention of the grade-level counselor. Please do not send any paper recommendation forms directly to teachers; the grade level counselor will distribute these to teachers.

• In order to send records and recommendations to the private school, we must have a signed release from a parent or guardian. This is usually provided with the private school application form or may be part of the on-line platform.

• We request that you submit all forms as early as possible to allow teachers and counselors ample time to complete recommendations. Please be aware of the following timeline for submitting forms to the grade level counselor:

By December 1, 2023 for a January 1, 2024 deadline
By December 15, 2023 for a January 15, 2024 deadline
By January 3, 2024 for a February 1, 2024 deadline

• In early spring after you have heard from the school’s admissions department, please contact the grade-level counselor to inform us of the application outcome and private school decisions for your child.

Procedure for applications requiring direct mail:

• Include a large (10 x 13) stamped standard mailing envelope for each school with the forms, so that we are able to mail them out quickly when the applications are complete.

• On each mailing envelope, include a postage amount of $4.23.

• Print the specific name and address to whom we are directing the application.

• Leave the return address blank as we will fill this in indicating that the materials came from Curtis.

Please direct any questions about the status of recommendations to the following counselors:

Ivar Henningson - 6th grade counselor

Terry Miller -7th Grade Counselor

Jennifer Hymes - 8th Grade Counselor

Thank you very much for your assistance and cooperation with this private school application process.

ECMS Counseling Department

Read the latest D.C. Digest for reminders, deadlines, links, and more.

Please click here to view the SPS 2023-2024 School Calendar.

Please click here to see the complete Curtis schedule for this school year.

Click here to see the 2024-2025 Sudbury Public Schools calendar.

Calling All Bakers and Volunteers!

The beloved tradition of the Holiday Treat Sampler is coming up on December 13th! Please help us make this event a huge success by checking out all the ways to volunteer here.

Book Fair - Thank You!

The Book Fair is officially closed. Thanks to all who shopped and supported our school library with purchases. We earned over $1,400 to be spent on books and materials for the library at Curtis. A special thank you to the Book Fair Chair, Surene Pretorius, and the Book Fair Committee - Krista Bolduc, Maria Cincotta, and Scott Peterson, as well as all of the parents who volunteered to help run the fair.

Curtis Annual Fund This Holiday Season

Thank you to families who have already contributed to our 2023-24 CPO Annual Fund! Your donations help to support a variety of programs and initiatives, including cultural enrichment, Curtis Messenger, student scholarships, student social events, technology, end-of-year activities, classroom curriculum aids for teachers, UA supplies, recess equipment, teacher appreciation events, library furniture, the student counseling department, the tile project in the school hallways, outdoor beautification projects, and much more. These are all important additions to the Curtis community, and they truly improve the students’ experience at Curtis Middle School.

Our goal is to get 100% participation this year! If you have not yet donated, please consider a tax-deductible donation to the CPO to help support Curtis’ cultural, creative, and educational programming. Also, don't forget to check if your company offers a match to your donation.

Thanks in advance for your contribution!

Please note that donation acknowledgment letters will be provided by request only. If you require a letter for tax purposes, please email a request to cpotreasurer@gmail.com.

Curtis Online Directory

You can still purchase online access to the Curtis Directory and make a donation to the Annual Fund in one easy step. Online access is only $12 and is available as soon as you place your order. Click here to get Directory access today!

Questions? Email curtiscpodirectory@gmail.com

CPO Volunteers Needed

The CPO still has a few open volunteer committee positions. Limited, flexible hours involved for all positions:

Business Sponsor Liaison (1 person needed): Reach out to Curtis-family and local businesses to sponsor school initiatives.

Fundraising (1-2 people needed): Partner with local restaurants and boutiques for restaurant nights and shopping days. Promote in Messenger, Connections and CPO Facebook page.

If interested in any of the above positions, or if you'd like more information, please email cochairs@curtiscpo.org. To learn more about the CPO, visit curtiscpo.org. Thanks for your interest!

Business Sponsorship Opportunities

Are you a Curtis Family who owns a business or do you work at/know a business that would be interested in exposure to over 800 local families? Becoming a business sponsor of Curtis provides great marketing opportunities for businesses while supporting our school at the same time! We have very affordable sponsor opportunities available for 2023-2024. Please reach out to the CPO at board@curtiscpo.org.

Curtis Gear

Now is the time to make purchases for your holiday giving. The Curtis online store is now open with lots of Curtis spirit wear and gear, including clothing, hats, bags, and more!

Learning ~ Respect ~ Responsibliity

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