Falcon Family Flyer

Greetings, Forestdale families!

Happy first week of summer break!

Just last week, our building was buzzing with celebrations. Classrooms across the grade levels were enjoying their last few days together, and revisiting all that they had learned. The Kindergarten team held a very meaningful moving up ceremony that brought both a lot of laughs and a lot of tears. We were also able to celebrate our 8th graders as they move on to high school in the fall!

This particular group of 8th graders holds a very special place in my heart. When I was last working here at Forestdale, they were in 1st grade! Being able to be in their classrooms with them back then brought me a lot of joy. The opportunity to be back here for their final year as their Principal, to make more memories with them, to celebrate their successes, to help them learn from their challenges, and to remind them how loved they are, is something I will always be thankful for.

Mrs. LoPilato, Mrs. Carpenito, Mr. Foster and I are already in the office planning away for next school year, and the building is pretty quiet. It won’t be quiet for long though! Forestdale will be home to 5 (that's right, five!) summer programs this year. So, if you drive by and see a lot of activity, there will be just as many kids here during July as there are during the school year. If you need anything in the meantime, we’re here in the office, and you can always reach out.

Have a wonderful summer break!

Mr. Weldai

The Malden School Committee has selected Dr. Timothy Sippel as our next Superintendent. Dr. Sippel will begin in Malden on July 1. Dr. Sippel is a lifelong educator with over three decades of experience in urban public-school districts. He currently serves as Executive Director of Schools in Worcester Public Schools, responsible for overseeing 13 elementary and secondary schools in a district that educates over 24,000 students. He is excited to join the Malden Public Schools, and get to know our families and community! The full press release can be found here: https://www.cityofmalden.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=917

The Malden Public Schools are pleased to share the comprehensive summer reading list for students as we prepare to start the 2024-2025 school year! Summer reading is a vital component of our educational curriculum, designed to engage students in enriching literacy experiences that enhance their skills, broaden their perspectives, and ignite their imaginations. We fully support our students participating in summer reading and keeping their skills sharp, and if you need any support or assistance please let us know! The full list is in the link below.

This year, the MPS food services department will again be providing free summer lunches! Between July 1 and August 16, 2024 lunch can be picked up at sites all around Malden. The schedule is listed in the image attached here!

The Spring Concert for grades K, 2, and 4 choral arts/singing was held on June 5, and it was spectacular! Ms. Kim Barber put her all into two performances that day, one for students and one for families. The kids were amazing!

Thank you to Urban Media Arts (formerly MATV) for recording the show. The link to the performance can be found here: https://shorturl.at/CeSlb

The Spring Band/Instrumental Concerts for grades 6, 7, and 8 was held on June 4 in the auditorium, and was a great show! Thank you to Mr. Greg Waite for all the work he put in with our students to make it a great success!

Thank you to the Forestdale PTO, Physical Education teacher Mr. Bill Hanifan, and DJ Zeke, for putting on some wonderful field days for our students last week! The kids had a great time, the weather was beautiful, and the memories made were priceless!

At Field Day, we had the wonderful opportunity to recognize PTO leader Renee Dean for over a decade of service to the Forestdale School and the Forestdale PTO! Renee has been a driving force in the success of the PTO and worked tirelessly to organize events, raise record sums of money, and engage parents in connecting with the school community. Her leadership afforded students opportunities that they might not have had otherwise, and she did it all while bringing an immense amount of joy to those who know her and had the good fortune to work with her. We thank her for all her tireless work and support, and thank her family, Jim, Nathan, Andrew and Astro for their support as well. Thank you, Renee!

Celebrate and honor the legacy of Juneteenth Freedom Day - Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day, Black Independence Day - at the Ferryway School (150 Cross Street) in Malden! Come on down Wednesday, June 19 at 11am for the Juneteenth flag raising, find a good seat and enjoy the amazing performing arts program, join in the hands-on activities for all ages, and, of course, stay for the free community meal!

Come celebrate the 2024 Summer Reading Challenge Kickoff on the front lawn of the Malden Public Library on Thursday, June 20th between 1pm and 2:30pm. There will be music, ice cream, and opportunities to get involved in summer reading!

Malden Recreation and The Great Malden Outdoors have launched an opportunity for 240 kids from Malden to learn to ride a bike for just $5 this summer! Check out the information attached, and register on the website here: https://shorturl.at/ev0GB

The City of Malden invites all who are interested to the 2nd public town hall meeting discussing Malden's diversity, equity and inclusion goals. The event will take place on Thursday, June 27th between 5:30pm and 8pm. There will be a remote/zoom option as well. Details are in the attached flyer!

We know this is a change from previous years when you received your next year's homeroom/classroom teacher on your report card, but please be on the lookout for communication from the school during the summertime with plans and updates for next year! We plan to have a letter mailed to each student with classroom placement and a note from their teacher before the 1st week of August!

Quarter 4/Final report cards for the 23-24 school year went home with students on the last day of school and are available for grades 5-8 in your parent portal! If you need any support accessing it, or need an additional copy of the report card, please reach out and let us know!

Congratulations to the Forestdale Falcon 8th grade class! As these students move up to high school and beyond, we know that they will continue to show their PRIDE (positivity, respect, independence, determination, and excellence) in everything that they do - and we'll be cheering them on each step of the way!

This past week, we were able to recognize and honor our 8th grade graduates as they finish their time as Forestdale Falcons and head off to high school! It was a great ceremony, followed by a dinner and dance for the students. Thank you so much to the 8th grade team, Ms. Kendra Rocca, Mr. Kevin Carpenito, Ms. Wendy Byrne, Ms. Andrea Jones, Ms. Jessica Brown, Mr. Alex Sacco, Ms. Diana Sullivan, Ms. Kim Sullivan, Ms. Lisa Davide, Mr. Lucas Friedlaender, Ms. Priscilla Cruikshank and Ms. Melissa Hambley for all their work with our students and the work they put into making this special night happen!

This past week we were also able to recognize our Kindergarten students as they prepare to become 1st graders next year! The ceremony was a lot of fun, and very moving for both the parents, and the adults. Huge thanks to the Kindergarten team, Ms. Johnna Hughes, Ms. Yvette Nolan, Ms. Suzanne Millet, Ms. Erika Clough, Ms. Carmen Garcia, Ms. Gail Casgrain, Ms. Kara Rock, Ms. Jill O'Brien, Ms. Renee Basteri, and Ms. Jessica Garrity for putting their whole heart into working with our students this year, and to Mr. Greg Waite for jumping in and playing piano for the moving up ceremony, too!

Curious Creatures were back at Forestdale last week! The 1st grade team had a lot of fun and learned a lot about some new creatures in the library. The students always enjoy when Curious Creatures visits our school!

Forestdale 5th, 6th and 7th graders all went to Fenway Park recently for STEM day! The Boston Red Sox in conjunction with Moderna, presented this opportunity to thousands of students across Massachusetts throughout the month of June. Our kids were able to participate in STEM activities in Fenway, and then able to watch some of the game that day. It was also a great chance to honor Ms. Meghan Bowe as an outstanding educator as she was given the opportunity to throw out the first pitch!

Our 8th graders had a great time at the annual Canobie Lake Field trip! They celebrated the end of the school year, created some memories, and had a great time with both their peers and their teachers!

Our second grade students had an opportunity in the last few weeks of school to teach their peers about a topic of their choice, and it was pretty awesome! Some brought props, some created materials, but each was meaningful and important to them - and they lit up the room being able to share their passion with their classmates. I had a great time over the last few weeks popping into their classrooms and listening to and seeing the topics that the kids chose to teach their peers about. Last week alone I had the opportunity to see Allaryah Silva teaching students about raising chickens and all the work that comes along with it, and Soren Ceide (who brought in his dad, Joel) to teach students about the French language and some basic phrases they could all use!

Last week, after a year of some enriching and meaningful activities and experiences, our 8th graders and their Kindergarten buddies had a fun popsicle party in the park to celebrate their time together! As the kids made their way around the park they played games, held hands, had a great time reflecting on the relationships they made with each other.

Last week, I had the great opportunity to be a guest "investor" with our literacy coach Ms. Kathleen Bracken in Ms. Lauren Gorse's 4th grade class as they debuted some of their inventions from their CKLA unit on inventors and their inventions! The students learned about the process of inventing things using problem-solving and logic, and created some inventions of their own that they were really excited to share.

There are a lot of wonderful things happening in our classrooms each and every day - many of those things get displayed around the building for students and staff to see! I'll try to share some of my favorite snapshots so you can get a chance to see them, too!

On the last day of school, our 8th grade students were able to do one last walk through the building with their teachers, passing by the classrooms that they learned in for the past 9 years, before all leaving through the door that they entered as Kindergarteners 9 years ago. It was one of the most heartwarming traditions to end the year that I have ever seen as an educator, and the kids sure felt the love. Here is a snapshot of the line leader, Jacob Oliveira Larchian, as he made his way out of the building for the last time as a student!

If there's anything that we can do, please don't hesitate to reach out to any member of our main office team. Our phone number is (781) 397-7326, and each of our email addresses are listed below.

• Mr. Adam Weldai, Principal: aweldai@maldenps.org
• Mrs. Karie Carpenito, Assistant Principal: kcarpenito@maldenps.org
• Mr. Kenji Foster, Assistant Principal: kfoster@maldenps.org
• Mrs. Megan LoPilato, Administrative Assistant: mlopilato@maldenps.org