Dear Downey Community,
It’s finally April and hopefully there are sun filled days ahead with warmer weather! The month of March felt long at times, but it was nice to have 4 weeks of uninterrupted learning time. The Downey staff also surprised the students with a week-long “Staff Secret Spirit Week”. Downey ITC, Mrs. Kress took photos each day and put together a video of the week. You can view the video by clicking HERE. Enjoy the video!
Congratulations to the Downey Grade 4 Math League team who took home the first place trophy last week at the district wide Math League competition.
Last Wednesday, the 5th grade students performed in their annual spring chorus concert in front of students and parents. It was a lovely concert and the students sounded beautiful! Thank you to Mrs. Goldman for preparing the students for the concert and thank you to Mr. Goldman for playing the piano during the concert!
Today was the first day of "Girls on the Run" for students in grades 3-5. This is a parent led program that students absolutely love and look forward to each spring! Thank you to parent JoAnna French who has been involved in the Downey program for several years!
Lastly, author Loree Griffin Burns spent a day at Downey on March 3rd. She met with every grade level in the library and also signed copies of her books that students pre ordered ahead of time. Ms. Burns was a wonderful guest and was so impressed with the Downey students, staff, and the building culture! A big thank you to the PTO for supporting our author visit!
As you can see, we are staying very busy at Downey! Below you will find important information about upcoming events this April. Please take a few minutes to read through the information. Thank you for your continued support and happy spring!
Sincerely,
Principal Deb Gallagher
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A few updates:
Book Drive: Westwood High School’s Key Club is hosting a town-wide book drive from March 31 to April 14. We would graciously appreciate the donation of new and used books for all ages! Donations will go to the More Than Words organization, a used bookstore in Boston that provides houseless people aged 16-24 with a job opportunity. Find the donation bins in the lobby! Thank you for your contribution!
*Former Downey student Emma Young-Hong is leading this book drive. Let’s support our Downey alum!
Westwood Youth and Family Services: Westwood Youth & Family Services is excited to offer a one-time parent/caregiver workshop focused on teaching caregivers to talk to their children about emotions, through the lens of the characters from the Inside Out movies. This workshop will include watching clips and discussion to enhance parent’s vocabulary and comfort in the topic. Childcare availability is being assessed in the registration. Click HERE for the flyer.
Save the Dates….
April 2nd and 3rd-Grade 3 ELA MCAS
April 7th and 8th-Grade 4 ELA MCAS
April 7th-School Committee Meeting at 6:30 p.m./WHS auditorium
April 9th-Early Release/Parent Teacher conferences
April 10th and 11th-Grade 5 ELA MCAS
April 18-25 School Vacation. Enjoy!
April 30th: Evening Parent Teacher conferences
April 30th: PTO sponsored Book Fair. *will be open during the day for students to shop and in the evening for parents to shop!
May 1st-PTO sponsored Book Fair
