Message from the Principal’s Office
Dear Martha Jones Families,
As the year comes to a close, I just want to take a moment to recognize the dedication, hard work, flexibility, and unbelievable commitment of our staff. They have truly stepped up this year and gone above and beyond to make sure that the children at Martha Jones continued to learn, were supported socially and emotionally, and were engaged in their school community during this unprecedented time in history. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted all of our lives in profound ways, yet our teachers, instructional assistants, lunch monitors, bus drivers, administrative assistants, custodians, and are remarkable nurses and COVID team made it possible for many of our students to return to school sooner and for more days than most other public school students in Massachusetts. Our staff took on new roles, moving from math and literacy specialists to classroom teachers; they changed grade levels; moved classrooms, packed boxes, and made sure social distancing requirements were adhered to throughout the day. They continued planning thoughtful lessons, often in ways they had not planned before; learned to navigate new technologies; collaborated with colleagues to ensure best teaching practices were being followed in this new environment; and come to work every day to ensure that our students continued to learn new things, felt safe at school, and had some sense of normalcy in such an unusual time in history.
I also want to take a moment to thank our parents, caretakers, and families for all they have done to support our community during this time. Many of you not only supported our school community, but are first responders yourselves and continued to work to make sure that our students and their families were safe and cared for. Thank you.
And finally, I want to give a huge shout out to our students for their resilience, for their kindness towards each other, for their hard work in trying to keep each other safe by wearing masks each day, washing their hands all day long, and staying socially distanced even when it was so very hard to do so. They have learned much this year and I am confident that while this was a most challenging time for them in so many ways, they also had great moments of joy and fun, continued to learn so many new things, and truly felt the love of their families and their teachers.
I hope you all have a wonderful summer!
Report Cards - Report Cards will be available through the Aspen Parent Portal starting on June 18th. In addition to report cards, parents of students on Individual Education Programs (IEPs) will receive progress reports on IEP goals in the mail on or around June 18th. Directions for accessing the report card are linked here. (Need support? You can visit the Aspen self-help site or email our Aspen support team at aspen@westwood.k12.ma.us with questions.) Report cards will not be mailed home this year; they are printable through Aspen should you desire a hard copy.
Class Placement/Teacher Assignments - Teacher assignments for 2021-2022 will be mailed home in mid to late August. Just a reminder that teachers and I put a tremendous amount of time and thought into class placements and placements are final.
School Start Date: School starts on Wednesday, September 1st for Martha Jones students in grades 1-5. There will be full days on Sept. 1st & Sept. 2nd and then school will be closed on Friday, Sept. 3rd through Tuesday, Sept. 7th in recognition of Labor Day weekend and Rosh Hashanah. School will resume on Wednesday, September 8th. Kindergarten still will have an open house on Sept. 1st and a half day on September 2nd. All information on dates and times for the September calendar will be sent out in detail over the summer.
Stock Market Game Winners - Alexis Cahill, Reese Lipton, and Rocco Themistocles
Each year, under the direction of Mr. Goguen, Mr Bartlett, and Mr. Parkhurst our students participate in the SIFMA Foundation The Stock Market Game™
Our grade 5 students participate in the Stock Market Game by investing a hypothetical $100,000 in stocks and funds to build a virtual portfolio. The Stock Market Game is funded by SIFMA (Securities Industries and Financial Markets Association) and allows all students to participate at no cost. This is a competitive statewide contest and each year our students do amazingly well. Studying current events, previous stock performance, and past stock winners and losers to pick the perfect stocks have allowed our students to be successful each year that we have participated. This is an exciting time for the student winners (and teachers). Press Release
Martha Jones (3 state-wide winners this year!)
First place - full year competition: Alexis Cahill
Second place - full year competition: Reese Lipton
First place - spring 2021 competition: Rocco Themistocles
Update - 6/9/2021
AtoZ DIRECTORY
This year the PTO switched to a new online directory format called AtoZ. A new school year will mean a new school directory. Please be aware that you will have access to the current 2020-2021 school directory until August 15, 2021. When school resumes in September, you will receive information about rejoining the PTO and access to the AtoZ directory for the 2021/2022 school year.
PTO REIMBURSEMENTS
All Reimbursement requests due by June 15, 2021
Please submit any outstanding reimbursement requests to mjptotreas@gmail.com by June 15. The PTO Treasurers also ask that you deposit your reimbursement check as soon as possible so they can close out the fiscal year on June 30. Please use this form to submit your reimbursements.
5th GRADE SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Each year, the 5th grade class awards a $1,000 scholarship to a graduating Westwood High School Senior who attended Martha Jones. This year since the 5th grade was unable to raise the funds for the scholarship via bake sales (as they typically do), the PTO funded the scholarship. Congratulations to this year’s winner Katherine Hancock!
MARTHA JONES PARENT SOCIAL -SAVE THE DATE
March 26, 2022
After a two year hiatus, the MJ Parent Social will return in 2022! The party will be held Saturday, March 26, 2022. from 7:30 pm to 11:30 pm. at The German Club on the Westwood/Walpole line. There will be a DJ, cash-bar, silent auction and teacher experience auction. This will be a child-free event so book your babysitters now (we joke, we joke).
ENRICHMENT
We want to extend a special thank you to our Enrichment Committee - Laura Hall, Maddy Campbell and Lauren Bent - who have worked very hard to ensure that Martha Jones students had some amazing enrichment experiences this year. This week Curious Creatures visited all the Kindergarten classes and the Discovery Museum facilitated the “States of Matter” workshop for 2nd Grade.
THANK YOU AND HAPPY SUMMER
As we close out this school year, the PTO extends a special thank you to all the parents, teachers and administration who made this extraordinarily challenging year possible. The support we have shown for one another this year is a testament to the wonderful Martha Jones community. We wish everyone a wonderful and restorative summer and very much look forward to seeing you in person next year!
MABEL’S LABELS
Summer camp is around the corner! Get all the labels you will need for camp today! Go to campaigns.mabelslabels.com and enter “Martha Jones PTO” as the fundraiser you would like to support. You can even order the “combo label pack” with the MJ logo. By purchasing any of the labels via our fundraiser, you will receive free shipping (labels are mailed directly to your address) and the PTO will receive 20% of your purchase. Right now Mabel's Labels is having a 20% off sale on summer camp labels so order your labels today!
ELECTRONIC BOX TOPS - COLLECTION ONGOING
Download the Box Top App and scan receipts within 14 days of purchase. Click here for more information about how to download the Box Top app and scan your receipts. Each Box Top is worth 10¢ for our school.
SHOP AmazonSmile ON THE APP
Support Martha Jones with every purchase
The Amazon Shopping app now supports Amazon Smile! Simply download the newest version of the Amazon Shopping app, go to settings, turn on Amazon Smile and choose the Martha Jones PTO as your charity. After you’ve done that, every purchase you make will automatically support the Martha Jones PTO at no cost to you.
You will find the exact same prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to the Martha Jones PTO.
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
PTO CONTACT FOR EVENTS, NOTICES
IIf you have an event or notice for our PTO update, please email it to PTO Co-Secretary Cat Sonis at catkell23@yahoo.com.
