Message from the Principal’s Office
Walk-To-School Day - POSTPONED TO MAY 12th
May 5th is Massachusetts Safe Routes To School (SRTS) Walk-To-School Day and Martha Jones School will be participating this year. We are encouraging all students to Walk To School on May 5th. Link here for more information on meeting spots for most of our neighborhoods; Team Captains. who will be leading groups of students as they walk to school; and how you can volunteer to help out!
Parent/caregiver volunteers are needed to make this a safe walk for everyone. If you are willing to help out by walking your child and a group of students to school, PLEASE SIGN UP HERE as a parent/caregiver helper. This is a great way to encourage students (and families) to get exercise. Buses will run their regular routes for bus students that are not able to participate and all bus students will take their buses home in the afternoon (this is a morning event only).
Field Day - Yay! We Are Having Field Day(s) This Year. We are working hard to honor some of our end of year traditions within the COVID guidelines. This year we will be holding grade level Field Days on June 2nd (grades K & 1), June 3rd (grades 2 & 4) and June 4th (grades 3 & 5). Each grade level will have a field day morning or mid- afternoon with fun activities led by Mr. Foley and our MJ Staff. More info to follow.
Unfortunately, we are not able to have parent volunteers this year 😢.
Class Placement - In May, teachers, special educators, specialists, the school psychologist, and I will begin the process of class placement for the 2020-2021 school year. I recognize that this has been a challenging time for our students as they have dealt with a very unique learning environment with interruptions, changes, and challenges over the past 14 months as we have all naviaged living in a world dictated by COVID 19 restrictions, requirements, and regulations. That being said, I am confident our team will take each child’s needs into consideration during the placement process.
We review information about each child’s academic, social, and personal characteristics and use that information when making placement decisions. Our primary goal is to develop well-balanced classrooms and assign each child to a classroom in which he or she can develop academically and socially. I am confident that all of our teachers provide students with wonderful learning opportunities.
If you have specific information about your child’s learning needs that you would like us to consider during the process, please email me that information by Friday, May 7th. Only information provided to me, in writing, will be considered. Please email me with the subject, Class Placement, in the subject line of the email. Conversations with teachers during conferences that are not shared with me in writing, requests from previous years, and information from prior conversations will not be considered in the placement process. Please note that letters and emails are not kept from previous years since children change and grow and we make decisions based on current information. Westwood Public Schools does not allow parents to request their children’s teachers; therefore, requests for specific teachers will not be accepted or considered. Specific requests to have a teacher will not be honored and will result in your child not being placed in the requested class. Sometimes, parents assume that if one of their children had a teacher in the past, the other child will automatically have that same teacher. This is not true. Previous family placements are not considered in the placement process. If you are the parent of multiples (twins, triplets, etc.), you may specify whether you want your children placed in the same class or different classes. Please don’t assume we know this information, if you have a preference for together or separate for your twin/triplet placement, let us know. All class placements are final and will be shared with parents at the end of the summer. Please contact me if you have any questions about the process.
WARMER WEATHER - Please be sure that your child has on sunscreen and bug spray. They are outside each day and the sun gets hot in the middle of the day. Refillable water bottles are great. We have a filling station at school where students can refill their water bottles.
A Message from Westwood Youth and Families: We are happy to announce that Westwood Youth & Family Services is offering another round of our 6-week virtual Anxiety Coping Group for kids! It's called, "Calm & Cope." Based on results from our parent survey in the fall of 2020, we know that anxiety has been a struggle for many children during these unprecedented times. We are currently half-way through our first round of Calm & Cope and ended up running a long waitlist for this group. As a result, we decided to open another session starting the week of May 17th. The program will be available via Zoom in two groups: one for 2nd and 3rd graders, and one for 4th and 5th graders.
Please see the attached flyer here for more information.
Registration link is here.
Update - 5/4/2021
MASSACHUSETTS SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL (SRTS) WALK-TO-SCHOOL DAY
Postponed to May 12, 2020 at 8:15 a.m.
On Wednesday, May 5, the Martha Jones community will be walking to school as part of the statewide Safe Routes to School Initiative. Please see the email from Donna Tobin dated April 28 for more information. Parent/caregiver volunteers are needed to make this a safe walk for everyone. If you are willing to help out by walking your child and a group of students to school, PLEASE SIGN UP HERE as a parent/caregiver helper.
PTO BOARD MEETING
May 4 at 7 p.m.
Our final PTO meeting of the year will be held on Tuesday, May 4 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. At that meeting we will be voting in the PTO Board Officers for the 2021-2022 school year. We are still looking for someone to come on board as the Social Media Co-chair and shadow Megan Brenk, our current Social Media Co-chair. It is a two year position. Please reach out to Megan Brenk (mbrenk@gmail.com) if you are interested. We will email out the Zoom link to all parents next Tuesday.
5TH GRADE FACEBOOK CLAP OUT SHOUT OUT
To honor our 5th graders as they get ready to move up to middle school (can you believe it?), we wanted to offer a "5th Grade Clap Out Shout Out" on the MJ Facebook Page.
Jamy Sesselman will do one post for each 5th grader whose parent(s) would like a shout out for their child. This is, of course, completely voluntary.
All you would need to do is email Jamy (jamypombo@yahoo.com) a photo of your child with and a few sentences about him/her.
You could send a baby picture and a current picture if you'd like OR just a current photo.
You could include any or all of the following:
- Activities involved with at MJ, (For example Talent for a Cause, Band, Math League, Student Council, etc.)
- Hobbies/ Sports your child enjoys
- What they will miss most about MJ
- What they are looking forward to in 6th grade.
- Or any thing else you'd like to share about your special child
Jamy will post them on the MJ FB page as they are received.
MABEL’S LABELS FRIENDS AND FAMILY SALE
Summer camp is around the corner and Mabel’s Labels is having a friends and family sale! Click here to get 20% off their most popular products. 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.
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
If you have an event or notice for our PTO update, please email it to PTO Co-Secretary Amy Amatangelo at amyamatangelo@yahoo.com.
