Oh, what an International Night! With gratitude to Ms. Williams (DL parent) and Ms. Panedigrano (DL parent liaison) for organizing the first annual International Night at Dual Language School which took place November 16th. A great time was had by all! Dual Language families and staff provided cuisines from a dozen countries around the world, including: Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Israel, Ireland, Korea, Hong Kong, The Bahamas, and Ethiopia. Afterwards, everyone had a chance to dance off their calories to music by DJ Shaw!

And Northeast celebrated with its annual Multicultural Night on Friday, November 18 to bring the community together and representing the diverse cultures and backgrounds of our community. They were more than thrilled to be able to host this event again after several years of a hiatus due to COVID restrictions. Families and educators signed up to share displays of cultural events, traditions and food that represent the many wonderful heritages that make up so many of our Northeast families.

Dual Language 2nd and 3rd grade students made Thanksgiving Cards for the Waltham Council on Aging’s Meals on Wheel clients. PTO vice president Roberta Muñoz with 2nd graders Martina Caruso and Elizabeth Joyal delivered them to Deborah Barry before the holiday break.

After solving the math component for area and perimeter, 4th Graders at Plympton program Dash robots to patrol the perimeter of a "garden" in the hallway and defend it against invading bunnies. During the programming process, students collaborate by practicing with angles and distances, sequencing (translating their ideas into discrete instructions in the correct order), and debugging issues that arise in their code.

The PE Health and Wellness Department took part in a half day Challenge Course, Rock Wall and adventure curriculum training on November 8th. In grades 6-12 Physical Education classes, we implement Adventure Curriculum throughout the year. The adventures pushes our students out of their comfort zones while focusing on communication, relationship building and facing the unexpected. It also supports groups of students to identify ways to grow, reflect and communicate. As groups develop in their understanding and acceptance of each other, they learn to adjust their thinking and solve problems together. This curriculum is a powerful form of social and emotional learning to help improve our students overall mental health. The training on November 8th was a fantastic day for our teachers to learn by doing so that they can better support our students in this Project based SEL curriculum, learn about Emergency Action Plans, Local Operating Procedures and the critical components related to maintaining our license to operate these courses with the State of Massachusetts Division of Pubic Safety.

Stanley had a busy but a fun filled month with a visiting artist for grades 3-5 called Women in Jazz- it was a great performance!

They also celebrated National Epilepsy Month by wearing purple and conducting a fundraiser in honor of one of their staff members.

And on November 16th, they celebrated National ESP (Educational Support Personnel) Day by delivering a small token of appreciation (a sweet treat) for all the hard work and service provided by paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers!

Members of the Bilingual and English Learner Parent Advisory Council presented to the WPS School Committee on November 16. They shared the goals of the council. "During ‘21-22 we met with our ESL teachers and offered to collaborate in school projects with students and their families as support. We conducted open public monthly meetings online with participation from the community and guest to address school and community issues and updates. As volunteer mothers we recognize the needs from our experiences and can identify with the community. We hope to continue our labor adapting to a new possibility of in person meetings, that can accommodate a more active engagement." Meeting dates are listed on the WPS website on the Multilingual Department page.

The Unified Hawks celebrated the end of their season participating in the Unified Basketball Jamboree at Lexington High School. It was a historic event as this was the first time the team participated. The Special Olympics Torch was carried around the field house by the host team Lexington followed by the other teams.

Although the Unified Hawks fell short in both games losing their second game in overtime to AB 34-32, they represented Waltham High School proudly showing amazing sportsmanship and courage as all four senior athletes Savenir "the beast" Pierre, Josh “Juice" Cadet, "Big Al" Velez and Marylynn Nansamba, along with "J-Lo" Rivas finished the last seven minutes against AB on the court by themselves with no assistance from the partners. They showed amazing teamwork and a will to help each other overcome all obstacles that stood in their way. It was a proud moment in Waltham Athletics to say the least. They finished the season 3-3 with every game going to the wire. A huge thank you goes out to all the other athletic teams for their support and encouragement!

The Music Department is pleased to announce the Holiday Concert Schedule for all of our schools in the district. All families are welcome to attend the concerts at their respective schools and celebrate in all the festivities!

Waltham High: Thursday December 8th at 7:00 pm

Northeast: Wednesday, December 14th at 9:30 am

Fitzgerald: Thursday, December 15th at 1:00 pm Grades K-2, and 2:00 pm Grades 3-5

Stanley: Friday, December 16th at 9:30 am

Whittemore: Tuesday, December 20th at 9:30 am

MacArthur: Wednesday, December 21st at 9:30 am Grades 3-5, and 10:30 am Grades K-2

Plympton: Thursday, December 22nd at 9:30 am Grades K-2, and 10:30 am Grades 3-5

Dual Language: Wednesday, December 21st at 9:15 am

Kennedy: Tuesday, December 13th at 7:00 pm

McDevitt: Wednesday, December 14th at 7:00 pm

The Special Education Department is accepting applications for the Integrated Preschool Programs at the Stanley and Northeast Elementary Schools for the 2023-2024 school year. Children whose parents or legal guardians reside in Waltham and will turn 3 or 4 years old on or before September 1, 2023 are eligible to apply. More information including the online applications for all Integrated Preschool programs can be found at this link on the Waltham Public Schools District website. Applications must be submitted no later than January 15, 2023. Preschool Information for 2023-2024 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ibUIg4xANQ0nrbJG9iqXjtcAeHqEWB8C?usp=sharing

We distributed four free COVID test kits to each student and staff to be used prior to returning from the Thanksgiving and winter holidays. If you need more test kits, please contact your School Nurse. Remember to wash your hands and monitor your children and yourselves for symptoms. If you have symptoms or concerns about exposure, please test!

Our COVID vaccine clinics were well attended in November. We were able to immunize 182 staff and students with the COVID vaccine/booster and gave 52 Flu Shots.

Please make sure to send your students with appropriate clothing to safely and happily participate in outdoor recess! Please contact your School Nurse should you have any questions. If you are in need of winter clothing, please contact your School Adjustment Counselor, or Linda Spruce in the T1/MKV Office at 781-314-5425, lindaspruce@walthampublicschools.org

December 26, 2022 - January 2, 2023