Dear Overlook Families!

February was here and gone in no time! We are entering the spring stretch of the year! All in all, the winter has been quite mild except for these last couple storms. I guess Mother Nature is not letting New England off that easy!

We did celebrate our School Resource Officers for National School Resource Officer Day at Overlook in the School Counseling Office in February. We thank them for all their support and help with educating our students and families on important matters.

Grade 8 Monty Tech interviews are happening this month! If you have any questions, please reach out to the grade 8 counselor Katie Kilcoyne at kkilcoyne@awrsd.org.

As you may be aware from Dr. Stewart's email, Assistant Principal Kathryn Miville is out for an indefinite amount of time, caring for her son who has been in serious motorcycle accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mrs. Miville and her family. We do welcome (back!) Mr. David Uminski or "Mr. U" to AWRSD. He has graciously come out of retirement to help OMS during Mrs. Miville's absence and serve as our assistant principal. If you do notice a friendly, silver-haired gentleman around OMS, it is the infamous Mr. U. Mr. U has served AWRSD for 35 years as a middle and high school teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal. I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Uminski when I served as his assistant principal at Oakmont a few years ago.

It is important to note that MCAS season is upon us. We start testing grade 8 in ELA at the end of the month. Please note the MCAS dates below. At the middle school, every grade level takes an MCAS test in ELA and math. Grade 8 takes an additional STE (Science Technology and Engineering test). Please do not schedule doctor appointments during MCAS testing and make every effort to arrive to school on time, especially during these testing days!

Lastly, if you or a family is a MassHealth member, please scroll to the end of the newsletter for some helpful information about renewing your coverage as much has change since the pandemic.

Stay Well,

Kristina Bogosh

ELA

March 28-29 - Grade 8

April 11-12 - Grade 6

April 25-26 - Grade 7

STE

May 9-10 - Grade 8

Math

May 16-17 - Grade 8

May 18-19 - Grade 7

May 23-24 - Grade 6

🍀March 2023 Dates to Remember🍀

Monday, 3/1 Wingspan 2pm Room 121

Friday, 3/3 8th Grade/Monty Tech Interviews

Monday, 3/6 8th Grade Mandatory Parent DC Meeting/Team Room/6pm

Tuesday, 3/7 8th Grade/Monty Tech Interviews

Tuesday, 3/7 Soar Meeting/ Library/ 2:00-3:00PM

Wednesday, 3/8 Half Day/Professional Development/Dismissal 10:59am

Wednesday, 3/8 8th Grade/Monty Tech Interviews/AM only

Thursday, 3/9 8th Grade/Monty Tech Interviews/AM only

Thursday, 3/9 Yearbook club

Monday, 3/14 Last Day of Enrichment #5

Tuesday, 3/15 First Day of Enrichment #6

Wednesday, 3/15 Half Day/Professional Development/Dismissal 10:59am

Friday, 3/17 🍀St. Patrick’s Day🍀

Tuesday, 3/21 Student Council Meeting 2-3pm

Wednesday, 3/22 Wingspan 2pm Room 121

Wednesday, 3/22 District Chorus Night - Oakmont Auditorium🎼

Thursday, 3/23 Yearbook club

Friday, 3/24 Clubs & Superlatives Photo day📸

Friday, 3/24 Spring Dance/6-7:30pm

Tuesday, 3/28 MCAS/8th Grade/ELA

Wednesday, 3/29 MCAS/8th Grade/ELA

Wednesday, 3/29 District Band Night - Oakmont Auditorium 🎺

MONTHLY:

🧑‍🍪Quick Stop Café Every Thursday morning from 7:10am-7:30am

🎭 Drama Club every Monday & Wednesday from 2-3:30 pm

Saturday March 4 - Natick High School

Guard performs at - 4:04pm

Percussion performs at - 8:18pm

Saturday March 11 - Salem High School (Salem NH)

Guard performs at - 4:36pm

Percussion performs at - 8:58pm

Saturday March 18 - Dartmouth High School

Guard performs at - 4:54pm

Percussion performs at - 8:23pm

Saturday March 25 - New Bedford High School

Guard performs at - 4:44pm

Percussion performs at - 8:52pm

Saturday April 1 - Salem High School (Salem MA)

Guard performs at - 3:56pm

Sunday April 2 - Dartmouth High School

Percussion performs at - 4:20pm

All times are subject to change. You can always check nesba.org for accurate times as we get closer to shows.

Upcoming Washington Infomation

Washington DC News (5 weeks and counting)

A few updates from your Washington DC advisors:

Thank you to all families for completing their final DC payment. All accounts are paid in full unless you have been contacted by either of your advisors.

If you have decided not to send your child to Washington, please make sure you contact either Kristin Belkin at kbelkin@awrsd.org or Colleen Moran at cmoran@awrsd.org to let us know your child will not be attending. Cancellations between Mar 1, 2023 to Apr 4, 2023 will result in a Full Amount Paid Penalty.

If you participated in the Boon Fundraiser, the PTO has sent home a reimbursement check based on what your child's fundraising profit was. These checks were given to your children last Friday 2/17 by Mrs. Tobia (Purple Team) or Mr. Young (Orange Team). An e-mail was also sent as a reminder by Mrs. Belkin and Ms. Moran. Please ask your children for the envelope that they received or check your e-mail. It contains a check written out to the parents/caregiver of each child. At this time over $1300 has not been cashed or deposited. If you are not sure if you should have received a check, please contact Kristin Belkin at kbelkin@awrsd.org.

Some families have overpaid the $860.00 total. If you are one of these families, you will be contacted by Kristin Belkin and Colleen Moran via e-mail. A reimbursement check will sent home with your child. Please check your e-mail or e-mail Kristin Belkin at kbelkin@awrsd.org to confirm.

Thank you to the PTO for raising money in order to make it financially possible for all 8th grade students to attend this trip. Based on the money raised the PTO has been able to purchase T-shirts designed by Sawyer Lashua and backpacks designed by Madelyn LaMarca for all students and teachers. They were also able to purchase “backpack pouch” filled with emergency essentials for walking through the city.

Mark your calendars for the mandatory parent meeting on March 6th at 6:00pm in the Team Room. We will be discussing the agenda, expectations for both parents and students, and health needs. We will also be looking for parent volunteers to help at luggage drop off. Please make every effort to attend. If you can not attend we will be sending home the power point presentation.

This meeting is for parents ONLY, not students. Due to space in the Team Room, we cannot accommodate both parents and students during this meeting. Students will have their own meeting at a later date.

Follow us on Instagram at www.instagram.com/eaglesgo2dc/ for updated information and pictures from our trip.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to email or call Kristin Belkin kbelkin@awrsd.org or Colleen Moran cmoran@awrsd.org

We see the school and home as a partnership. We ask to review these expectations with your child in an effort to create unified expectations from both the school and home fronts. Please see the matrix attachment below to review with your child.

Students are only allowed water for drinks in class. There have been some young business entrepreneurs at OMS that have been selling the popular "Prime" drinks (as well as other things such as candy). Students are not authorized nor allowed to sell anything at school. Moreover, these drinks are not allowed. Please ensure that your student is not bringing these drinks to school or buying or selling these drinks at school or on the bus.

Students should not be wearing pajamas or slippers to school. This is part of our dress code. We do on occasion have a spirit day where students are allowed to wear pajamas as a "treat" but appropriate, everyday school attire does not include pajamas or slippers. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for school. Thank you!

Students cannot enter the building before 7:20am as there is no supervision.

Classes begin at 7:35am.

Dismissal is at 1:50pm.

Please be sure to not park in the general parking areas to let students off or pick them up. Use the line that goes behind the school. This is a safety concern with students running through parking lots and parents disrupting traffic patterns.

Also, please pay attention to staff members directing traffic. Do not drive-by when they ask you to stop.

Passing busses with flashing lights is a $250 traffic citation.

Please check the Portal regularly. Google Classroom is not an accurate indicator of grades. Please reach out to the teacher directly if you have any questions.

Next meeting is March 14th at 6:00pm in the OMS Library.

All are welcomed to attend the meeting. Get the latest information about the school and how you can help from our Principal Kristina Bogosh.

We are still looking for eager parents to participate in committees to plan an MCAS cheering club, teacher appreciation week and concessions at the upcoming drama performance of “Legally Blonde” on May 12th and 13th . Come hear what it is all about on March 14th.

A huge thank you to Ashleigh Gelinas who chaired the Washington fundraising committee and raised over $12,000. This allowed us to pay for 12 student scholarships, t-shirts and backpacks for all students and teachers attending the trip.

We would also like to thank all of our generous sponsors for your support and help in sending our 8th grade Eagles to Washington. The PTO could not do what it does without the support of a caring community. Thank you again for your thoughtful gift to the Overlook Middle School PTO DC Field Trip.

Gold Sponsors

• Aubuchon Hardware Co.

• Gelinas & Ward, LLP

• Janis & Charles Gelinas Fund at CFNCM

• Prospective Realty

• IC Federal Credit Union

• Ray Hachey, Inc

• Batallas Electric.

Silver Sponsors

• Anderson, Bagley & Mayo Insurance Co.

• Smith’s Country Cheese

• Ashburnham Dental Arts

Bronze Sponsors

• Pelletier Properties

• Cushing Academy

• Rowe & Canary Orthodontics

• Westminster Cafe

• Athol Savings Bank

• Brother’s Pizza

• Green Tea

• Hampton Fish Co. (Kay’s Dairy Bar/SS Lobster)

• Yamin Orthodontics

• DJ’s Classic Cars

• GFA Federal Credit Union

Additional Donations

• Zen Yoga

• Marc Girouard Photography

• Lisa Cornwall

• Erika Andrews

• Rebecca Pelkey

• Lisa Rembetsy-Brown, M.D
  

Take a look at our website https://sites.google.com/awrsd.org/overlookmspto/home or our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram OverlookMSPTO for all the latest information.

General membership to the Ashburnham-Westminster Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is open to all AWRSD parents/guardians of children with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Section 504 Plans and other interested parties. We are in need of volunteers to help plan workshops, staff tables at local school and community events, become future leaders, assist other parents, and plan new activities and projects. We welcome you to learn more about SEPAC and our work on our website, https://sites.google.com/view/ashburnham-westminster-sepac. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ashwestsepac. Please contact the current co-chairs about getting involved with SEPAC at awrsdsepac3@gmail.com (Kim Caisse's email) and awrsdsepac4@gmail.com (Dorene Francis' email).

See attachment below for more information on renewing MassHealth coverage.