PARKER WEEKLY BULLETIN

Good afternoon Parker Families:

I hope that this message finds you all doing well amidst all the hustle and bustle of the season! We had a tremendously busy week at Parker as students continued working hard, building skills, and developing independence.

The Parker Be the Change Project

This week marked the culmination of our month-long service project where we used the words of Gandhi to inspire our service, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Each 4 person team chose their service project, planned their activities, and made it happen!

Team 5A Explorers - Goodies bags with kind messages for the elderly and hospitalized

Team 5B Voyagers - Welcome folders for students new to the town/school. Information with helpful information about the school and community

Team 5C Navigators- Holiday cards delivered to nursing homes in town along with messages of kindness put on lockers of fellow students

Team 5D Innovators - Pediatric comfort care bags along with motivational cards made by the students to be delivered to Emerson Hospital

Team 6A Entrepreneurs - Food drive and cards made for the less fortunate to be delivered to the Chelmsford Food Pantry

Team 8B Engineers - Outreach to the Table of Plenty -Friendship bracelets/placemats/crafts for elderly

Team 6C Inventors-Linked to book - A Long Walk to Water-raise money to dig wells in Africa while raising awareness regarding use of water locally

Team 6D Architects - New/Gently used children book drive and making book marks to be donated to a local organization

I will be sharing more later on the projects including some great photographs. The spirit of giving was palpable in our hallways and classrooms this month. It is inspiring to see the good we can do when we concentrate our collective efforts!

Anne Frank Mural

Ms. Ashley Norman and her art students made a truly wonderful mural for the Be the Change Project. The mural of Anne Frank was created by different students making one of the panels to create the larger visage. Anne's message of service and hope is compelling and uplifting.

"How wonderful it is that no one has to wait, but we can start right now to gradually change the world!"

Parker STEM Fair

We are excited to announce that Parker will be hosting a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Fair on Thursday March 27, 2025. We have a working committee who are hard at work at planning this exciting opportunity for our students. The attached document has all the information you need including format and how to register. Let's motivate and inspire our future scientists!

Pride PAW Winners for December

We are excited to announce our December PRIDE Paw winners:

Grade 5: Cameron Bishop, Caroline Hanscom, Lina Morales, Owen Sweetland

Grade 6: Allie Bonaitu, Chase Cowan, Cole Muccini, Emilie Velazquez

These students were randomly chosen out of all those students who were recognized by a staff member this month for demonstrating our PRIDE values: Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Dedication, and Empathy. These students serve as role models to their peers!

We will have an unusually long winter vacation. I hope that you and your families are able to spend time together with family and friends enjoying the season! Please encourage your child to read at least one book over the break. I am thankful to work in a such a supportive school community. Your support of our service project was instrumental in its success. Best wishes and Happy New Year!

Warm regards,

Josh

Important Dates:

Monday, December 23rd thru Friday, January 3rd-No School-Winter Break

ENJOY THE BREAK!

arker PTO is working hard to create community building events for our students, families and staff members. Check out a few upcoming activities below:

🥳 Happy & Healthy New Year!

To help keep the schools germ-free upon the return of staff and students on January 6th, the PTO will be collecting donations to provide each classroom at both Parker and McCarthy with some tissues, clorox wipes and hand sanitizer. This is a big undertaking as there are 157 classrooms in total! If you would like to make a donation please send via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/ or Venmo: @McCarthyMSPTO. Donations can also be sent to your child's middle school office.

🏒🥅 🎁 Riverhawks Hockey -January 11th @ 6:05 PM: UML Riverhawks will be hosting Chelmsford Middle School night Saturday, January 11th. Puck drop is at 6:05 P.M. Meet all your middle school friends at the Tsongas for a great night of hockey. Tickets are $15 each. Click link to order tickets: https://fevo-enterprise.com/event/Parkermccarthymiddle51

🏀 🎁Harlem Globetrotters: Join Middle School families as we watch the Harlem Globetrotters at the Tsongas Center in Lowell on Monday, February 11th at 7 p.m.! Be prepared to see amazing basketball talent mixed in with crazy comedy, great choreography, and audience participation - great family friendly entertainment! Tickets can be purchased via the following link: https://fevo-enterprise.com/event/Parkermccarthymiddle8

🗓️ PTO Meeting Thursday, January 9th @ 6:30 in McCarthy Library:

Join us for our monthly PTO meeting! Parker & McCarthy PTOs work collaboratively to provide community building activities, provide enrichment programs for our students and families and support our teachers. We encourage any middle school parent/guardian to join us to learn about upcoming events and activities throughout the school year.

🏐🏀 i9 Sports Winter Session

i9 Sports is offering weekend indoor basketball & volleyball programs for kids ages 5-14 at Gametime Sports & Fitness in Lowell (open to families from anywhere to register for!) beginning Saturday, January 11th. Sign up using the promo code “MSLions!” at checkout and not only will you save $15 OFF the season registration price but you will also be supporting our school. For more information, see attached flyer or visit i9Sports.com

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Parker PTO at ptoparker@gmail.com. As always, thank you for your continued support of our school!

Best,

Parker PTO

Email: ParkerAttendance@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

Please Send Email: Prior to 9am on the day of the absence. Please Include: Child’s name, Grade, and Reason for absence. We encourage you to use the email option when reporting an absence, dismissal, etc. for efficiency.

**PLEASE READ**

We will continue to send automated emails home when students are absent. You will receive the email whether you notified the school or not. In order for an absence to be marked as "Excused", families will need to provide medical documentation. Please call the office if you have any questions or need clarification. ~ Thank you for your understanding.

The Parker Middle School Store is open for business on the last Friday of each month during lunches. Parker Student Council and Teacher Volunteers work at the store so students can enjoy a little shopping for laptop stickers, fun school supplies and many other little gadgets and gizmos. Items range in price from $.50 to $2.00. See store schedule below:

Friday, December 20th

Friday, January 31st

Friday, February 28th

Friday, March 28th

Friday, April 4th

Friday, May 30th

Yearbooks are on sale! Please visit Yearbook Forever to purchase your yearbook now! No books will be available for sale in June...don't miss out on capturing this year's memories! Side note: Walsworth also sends emails to Parker families with order information . They are legitimate emails.

Dear Parents and Families --

To better estimate the demand for lunches on half days, CPS Nutrition utilizes online lunch ordering for HALF DAYS ONLY.

For the upcoming half day Wednesday 9/18/24 orders must be received by Friday 9/13/24.

2024-2025 CPS Upcoming Half Day/Early Release dates

● 1/14/25

● 2/6/25

● 3/12/25

● 4/1/25

If you would like your child to have lunch on future half days, the online ordering is open for you to go ahead and select those dates. Set Up Your Account Now

Directions to set up your account and order: 1. URL Link: family.onlineordering.linq.com

2. Sign up now: Email, create password.

3. School District: Chelmsford Public Schools

4. Student ID: This can be found on x2- Child’s student ID number

5. Last Name: (You can also search and add siblings/family members at this time). Once this is completed, the student's name should appear on the page.

How to order meals

1. School Menu-select online lunch ordering (all schools)

2. Scroll to week of half day/early release date (top right of page)

3. Find date, select meal option

4. Add item to cart/Select Add to order

5. Click on shopping cart icon at top right of page

6. Click Check out

7. Select pick up location: Elementary pick-up location classroom. Middle/high school pick up location cafeteria.

8. Place order

Email: robinsond@chelmsford.k12.ma.us
Website: https://parker.chelmsfordschools.org/
Location: 75 Graniteville Road
Phone: 978-251-5133