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Work Hard, Be Your Best Self, Do The Right Thing
Welcome to the Martha Jones School. The core values of the school, which can best be summarized as academic excellence, respect for others, and personal responsibility, underlie all that we do. With the implementation of a rigorous academic curriculum in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and social competencies and high expectations for student and teacher engagement, our students thrive. I am delighted to welcome you to Martha Jones.
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Click Here For the Full Edition of Leaps and Bounds
Welcome to the new school year. We are off to an amazing start. A special thanks to all staff, students, and parents for a great beginning. It was fun to see so many families at the Martha Jones Picnic. It is always a thrill for me to see how much the students have grown over the summer and to hear about their summer adventures.
Tuesday, September 17th at 7AM - Mini-Course Registration Opens
Wednesday, September 25th - Early release: Students dismissed at 11:50 am (No lunch served.)
Thursday, September 26th - Picture Day/All Grades
Monday, September 30th - No School - Rosh Hashanah
Thursday, October 3rd - Curriculum Night
Monday, October 7th - 6:30 Room Parent Meeting, 7:00 PTO meeting
Wednesday, October 9th - No School - Yom Kippur
Arrival and Departure
Children may arrive on school grounds at 8:30 am when supervision begins. Students in grades 3 through 5 will meet on the playground in back of the school. Students in kindergarten through grade 2 will meet on the blacktop in front. All children will gather in the gym/dining room in inclement weather.
The bell rings at 8:45 am for students to enter the school.
Attendance is taken promptly in classrooms at 8:50. If your child will not be in school, please be sure to notify the office by telephone at 781-326-7500 ext. 6321 before 8:50 am. This helps to ensure the safety of all students. If the school is not notified, we will call home to inform you of your child’s absence.
Dismissal begins at 3:10 pm. Walkers and students in carpool are dismissed first, immediately followed by bus students. All students who are picked up must be picked up from the carpool lane. Please do not park on Spruce Drive or Locust Drive to pick up your child. If you must park, please park in the school parking spots to pick up your child.
Please save the evening of Thursday, October 3rd for Curriculum Night. Teachers will provide an overview of the content at their grade-level and plans for the year ahead. Classroom presentations for parents of students in grades Kindergarten, 1, & 2 will begin at 6:00 pm. The principal welcome and PTO meeting for all parents is at 7:00 pm, immediately followed by classroom presentations for parents of students in Grades 3, 4, & 5.
If you are not already involved in the PTO, please consider joining. The first PTO meeting will be held Monday, October 7th at 7:00 pm in the school library. The PTO coordinates many parent volunteer opportunities, organizes and holds family and student events, runs mini-courses, and coordinates fundraisers to ensure students have access to enrichment activities and other events.
The first PTO fundraiser is the Saver’s used clothing collection. The PTO fundraisers allow us to provide students with a variety of enrichment programs and field trip excursions. Your participation is greatly appreciated. PTO fundraising flyer
PTO volunteers are already beginning to work on this year’s Student Directory. As part of your PTO membership, families receive a directory of each participating student’s name, his/her parents’ names, and contact information. It is organized both by classroom and alphabetically. It is a great help when looking for contact information for birthday parties, playdates, or family connections. If you do not wish for your family to be included in the directory, or if you have additional information to include (i.e., parent with different last name or address), you must email the PTO (marthajonespto@hotmail.com) by Friday, September 13th.
PTO MEMBERSHIP 2019-2020
Registration is open for the 2019-2020 Martha Jones PTO. Dues are $45 for a family with one child and $55 for a family with more than one child.
All families who join the PTO will be given a copy of the school directory. If your family is new to MJ this year you will also be given a MJS car magnet. Both will be sent home with your child. Anyone who has lost their magnet can purchase a new one for $5. Please contact Ms. Santangelo at dsantangelo@westwood.k.12.ma.us or Rachel Lipton at rachelalyson@gmail.com
Please join by September 20 to ensure receipt of the Directory. Click here to join the PTO.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Library Volunteers
Duties consist of helping children find books, check out, reshelf and organize books. Mrs. Swinning asks that only one volunteer come for each shift but volunteers can share the schedule (for example, if four people sign up for a library time slot, they would work out a rotating schedule). Click here for the library class times and to volunteer.
Room Parent Volunteers
Duties consist of being the main line of communication between the teacher and classroom parents for things such as coordinating volunteer opportunities, classroom supplies, and teacher gifts. Click here if you would like to be a room parent.
BIRTHDAY BOOKS
Birthday Book enrollment is open NOW through September 20th. For $15, your child chooses a book during their birthday month and the book becomes a permanent part of the Martha Jones Library. The book will have a commemorative bookplate inside the cover with your child’s name. After your child is the first to borrow the book, it stays in the library for other students to borrow. If your child’s birthday is in the summer, they will participate at the end of May or early June. Click here for the enrollment form.
MARTHA JONES FALL FUNDRAISER
The PTO is partnering with Savers again to collect gently-used clothing and soft goods to raise money for our school. You get to clean out your closets and MJ gets money for enrichment programs and field trips.
To reach our fundraising goal, we are asking each family to fill 3 large trash bags. Drop off will be at Curriculum Night on October 3. For more information, click here.
Please click here if you can volunteer to help us out with this event on either October 3 or October 4.
FALL MINI COURSES
The Martha Jones PTO is pleased to announce the return of the Fall Session of the After School MINI COURSE Program.
The program offers fun, after-school classes that are held at Martha Jones. The classes include everything from karate, dance, sports games, painting, cooking and even a play!
The fall session will run September 30 to December 6. (Reserving the week of December 9-13 for make-up classes as needed) Click these links for details about the classes and schedule. A registration link will be sent out Tuesday, September 17 at 7 a.m.
LET YOUR AMAZON SHOPPING SUPPORT MARTHA JONES STUDENTS!
You can support Martha Jones PTO while you do your Amazon shopping with AmazonSmile!
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support the Martha Jones PTO every time you shop, at no cost to you.
You’ll find the exact same prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to the Martha Jones PTO.
Just log onto smile.amazon.com, choose Martha Jones PTO as your charity of choice and shop away!
MARTHA JONES PTO FACEBOOK GROUP
Did you know Martha Jones PTO has its own Facebook group page? Join the Facebook group to get the latest PTO news and updates delivered right to your news feed! Click here to join!
PTO CONTACT FOR EVENTS, NOTICES:
If you have an event or notice for our PTO update, please email it to PTO Co-Secretary Denise Cahill at denisepcahill@gmail.com.
OTHER IMPORTANT DATES:
Curriculum Night and Savers Fundraiser: October 3rd
First General PTO Meeting: October 7th
MJ Halloween Party: October 25th
