Dear Parker Families,

As my colleagues plan for tomorrow to be a full day of curriculum planning, assessment, and the kind of teacher work that commands our attention at this busy point in the school year, I am willing to speculate that no one is more excited about this Friday than I. My day will begin with a half day’s worth of rehearsal with the twenty-five students involved in creating our production of The Water Engine, by David Mamet. While most of our students may have a plan to sleep a little later and move a little more slowly, the cast of the play, which includes student actors representing all three divisions, will arrive early to complete the blocking of the show and continue their work on the script that has them not only acting, but also experimenting as composers and adaptors.

Written in 1977, The Water Engine, captioned “an American fable”, tells the story of Charles Lang, a young inventor who designs and builds an engine that uses distilled water as its only fuel, and his attempt to bring his invention into the mainstream of American culture. In the process, he is pitted against big business, unabashed greed, and the harsh realities of the larger world that lies beyond the safety of home. Set in Chicago during the 1933-34 World’s Fair, the play was originally conceived as a radio play. The script fuses real and hypothetical events to create a kind of performance collage in which questions about scientific discovery and intellectual property, ethics, morality, and honor, about complexity and simplicity, and “progress” mix with images of a restless city during uncertain times. Set against the backdrop of “The Century of Progress” exhibition that so fascinated the world, Charles Lang is initiated into a world where good faith and honor render him naïve and endangered.  Like many great works of American literature, the play poses enduring questions about human nature in the face of personal gain and communal good.

Our production of this challenging play will take place in two weeks, on Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27, at 8pm in the Parker Auditorium. Presently, the piece, which is visually rich and physically demanding, is almost entirely “blocked”; that is, there is a score of physical action for the play. The next phase of the piece’s development will see us working to interrelate the main storyline of the play with the overall mood of the city, the times in which it is set. In addition to the demands of developing characters that must interact truthfully with one another, the production requires that actors disrupt the logic of a scene or a character to play various roles. In yesterday’s rehearsal, for example, Eli Schmitt realized he was a police officer, an onlooker at the Hall of Science, and a soapbox speaker in Bughouse Square in the span of three to four minutes. “Immediate Transformations”, the explosive shifts from one character to another are among the techniques we’re working on these days. This Friday, for example.

An original musical score, created through improvisation in rehearsal and thoughtful composition away from the set, is also under development by Parker student musicians Alex Dube and Paul Conant, (along with their guitar and cello).

I hope you will mark your calendars and join us for our production of The Water Engine in two weeks.  While the process of creating a piece of theatre is in itself a tremendous reward for those of us who marvel at what students can create together, there really is no substitute for the kind of transformation that a real live audience brings to a play!

Please use the form below to order your tickets for The Water Engine.

 

See you on opening night,

 

Teri Schrader

Principal

 

" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Water Engine

An American Fable

By

David Mamet

Friday, March 26, 2004 at 8:00 p.m.	Saturday, March 27, 2004 at 8:00 p.m.
Name: ____________________________________	Name: ____________________________________
Student Ticket ______ @ $5.00	Student Ticket ______ @ $5.00
Adult Ticket ______ @ $7.00	Adult Ticket ______ @ $7.00
Patron Tickets ______ @ $50.00/2 tickets	Patron Tickets ______ @ $50.00/2 tickets
Sponsor Tickets ______ @ 100.00/2 tickets	Sponsor Tickets ______ @ 100.00/2 tickets
Friday Total ______ Total Enclosed: _____	Saturday Total ______ Total Enclosed: _____

     

 

 

 

 

 

PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO THE PARKER SCHOOL

Tickets available from Nicky Dudensing

 

March, 2004

Friday, 12 - Faculty Work Day - No school for students

Wednesday, 17 - Spring Conference Day (no classes) No Jazz Band, Chorus or Driver’s Ed.

Thursday, 18, - PEF Board Meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the school

 

 

PLEASE  MARK  THESE  DATES!   (Subject to change)

March, 2004

Tuesday, 23 - Parker Matters, Session II - Letting Go…And Hanging on For Dear Life (7:00 - 8:30 p.m.)

Tuesday, 30 - MCAS Test for 7th and 10th graders

 

April, 2004

Wednesday, 7 - Senior Project Exhibition Night at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, 7 - College Admissions Panel from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, 13 - Parker Matters, Session III - Homework… HELP! Part II

Wednesday, 14 - Café Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

16 - Early Release (noon dismissal)

Monday thru Friday, 19 - 23 - Spring Recess

May, 2004

Sunday, 16 - Parker Classic Road Race

Monday, 17 - Friday, 28 - MCAS and Stanford 9 tests for grades 7, 8, 9 and 10

Friday, 28 - Early Release (noon dismissal)

Monday, 31- Memorial Day - No school

June, 2004

Wednesday, 2 - Café Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, 9 - Noon dismissal – Graduation, 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, 22 - Last Day of Classes (or earlier)

Wednesday through Friday, 23 - 25 - Faculty Work Days (or earlier)

 

 

 

 

 

Mini-Grant Application Form

 

Please return to the PEF Box in the office. Extended deadline to Friday, March 12

Dear Parker Community,

The PEF Board will be meeting soon to distribute funds from the recent holiday bazaar and other fundraising activities. If you have an idea for enriching the education of students at Parker, please fill out this form and return to the Parker office. Questions? Call Maryellen Grady (978) 486-4064 or Joan Shankle (978) 779-6301.  Please remember to obtain Teri Schrader’s signature prior to submitting this to the PEF.

Name: __________________________________________________________________________

Address:_________________________________________________________________________

Daytime Phone: ________________ Evening Phone: ________________

Project Title:  ___________________________________________________________________

Co-Sponsors  (if any):______________________________________________________________

A Brief Description of the Project and Benefit to Parker Students: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Total Amount Requested: _______________________

(Please attach an itemized budget for projects over $500 including 3 different estimates if applicable.)

Adjustments that can be made if project is not fully funded: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

 

If this grant is awarded it is expected that the recipients upon completion will provide a written report or other tangible demonstration of how the grant money was used and the benefits to the Parker School.

If funded, I (we) agree to carry out the goals of this project in accordance with the description and budget contained in this application or in accordance with any adjustment which is subsequently approved by the PEF. In the event that we do not carry out this project for whatever reason, we agree to account for and return all unused funds to the PEF forthwith.

Sponsors Signatures:  _____________________   _____________________   _________________

                                                _________________________   _________________________    ____________________

 

Principal’s Signature  (Required): _____________________________________________ 

 

Please add other sheets as necessary.

PEF Board Seeking New Members:

The Board of the Parker Essential Fund (PEF) will be meeting on Thursday, March 18th at 7:00pm.  As you probably know the PEF is responsible for fund raising at Parker and is always looking for new ideas.  If you are interested in serving on the board or learning more about it then please come to the meeting on the 18th!

 

Thank you to the families of Ian Senge, David Terrasi and other anonymous donors for their donations of snacks and supplies to the nurse’s office.  All contributions are greatly appreciated!

Volunteer Opportunities at Parker

The success of this Charter School depends heavily on the commitment and volunteer effort of the entire community: administration, faculty, support personnel, PARENTS, GUARDIANS, and students.  We have put together this request form as a foundation for coordinating and maximizing your contributions of time and talent toward the continued operation of the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School.  This will also be printed in Friday Announcements each week.

The following people have requested volunteer assistance.  If any of the days and times listed below work for you please contact the teacher or staff member directly by email or voice mail.

Requests for Volunteers:

Help Needed	Email Address	Voice Mail Extension
The Division II AH teachers are looking for some help making phone calls as they set up their next unit.	anthonym@parker.org charter@parker.org davidsm@parker.org triciap@parker.org	521 541 581 881
Drivers needed to help transport students to Math Competitions on March 3 & April 7	dinaz@parker.org	635

Monday is a big Senior Project due date: first drafts of products are due.  We recommend that Seniors use their Friday off as a “work day”.  Please mark your calendars to attend Senior Project exhibition night on Wednesday, April 7 (see box for more information).  This week’s course updates are from John Bohannon’s MST classes.

Calculus:

 Last week we transitioned from working with the derivative and its applications, known as differential calculus, into our study of integral calculus.  We started by deriving the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, which defines the integral and its connection to the derivative.  We will spend the next several weeks learning techniques of integration that will allow us to integrate a variety of functions.  This is challenging, and it takes a little bit of time for students to get used to "working backwards", which sort of describes the relationship between integration and differentiation.  It will take some time for students to get comfortable with the mechanics of this work, and practice outside of school is going to make a big difference in kids ability to be successful when, in a couple of weeks, we begin looking at the applications of integration, which are fascinating, by the way.

Physics:

We are finishing up with our study of Work and Energy.  The big lab for this unit was one in which students explored the properties of springs, including a discovery of Hooke’s law and a formal derivation of the formula for the elastic potential energy stored in a spring.  We will be having a test on this content on Monday.  From that we will be moving on to a study of Momentum and its conservation, which students will also explore in a lab.  This will bring to an end our study of Mechanics.  We will be doing a "final exam" on this unit that will ask students to use what they have learned in the course so far to analyze a mechanical system.  The rest of the year will be spent looking at a variety of smaller units, including the properties of fluids and waves.

Senior Yearbook Pages

Senior parents (and any other family members or friends who would like to) are offered the opportunity to take out space in the back of the yearbook to create a message for their graduate.  Most parents choose to combine pictures and words to commemorate and/or congratulate their student for his/her accomplishments and/or rise to adulthood.  The tradition of parent pages in the yearbook has come to be very important to the graduates and it supports the yearbook as well!  All families of seniors have received a mailing with specifics about this recently.  This notice is to serve as a reminder or heads-up for anyone else in the Parker community who would like to take out an ad for a student in the yearbook.  Please contact yearbook@parker.org for the formatting specifics if you didn’t get the mailing at home. 

Prices:

Prices for parent pages are as follows. 

 

¼ page             $45.00

½ page             $70.00

full page            $125.00

late fee             add $15.00 (after March 26)

You can make out a check to the Parker School and send it to the school to the attention of Deb Merriam.

Deadlines:

We must have your materials by Friday, March 26.  There will be an added late charge of $15.00 for any materials submitted after this date, and we cannot guarantee that they will be included in the yearbook (your money will, of course, be returned if your ad is not included).

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at yearbook@parker.org.  Thanks for supporting the yearbook!

Division I will be going on a field trip to Roll on America on Wednesday, March 31 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.   Look for details about activity and cost in the permission slip coming home soon.  You can also retrieve the permission slip form from the Parker website’s link to the Division I page.  Please sign and return with payment on/before PLP conferences on Wednesday, March 17.

Division I A/H

Since this is a short week, it would be great if students --

especially those with a June gateway goal in mind -- could be working on revisions over the LONG weekend! This is the best time to catch up on work before the spring crunch.

Next week students will begin exploring activism projects and choosing one to research, although we will be using the school library, you might want to encourage your student to seek out additional resources at your town library once they have decided on a topic.

Literary Circles are scheduled every Tuesday.  Students need to have their assigned roles well prepared to participate that day since this is a reading assessment.  Encourage them to read ahead and complete their worksheets carefully!

Division I MST

This week in Division I we've been hard at work on COW 12 (due Monday).  We've narrowed in on the time that the subsonic and supersonic planes will meet on their transatlantic flights from Washington DC and London and London to Washington DC.  This week students have tried to solve this problem using different methods such as diagrams, tables and graphs.  Which produces the most accurate result?  What fraction of the distance has each plane gone after one hour, two hours, three hours?  On Wednesdays, for the next few weeks, we will devote time to practicing MCAS skills.  This Wednesday, we focused on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing and comparing fractions.

In science, we are continuing to interpret Distance/Time graphs so that students can describe the motion of an object based on its position, direction and time.  It is difficult to make the connection between actual motion and a graph, so we are using many examples!  Next, we will begin to explore Newton's laws.  Why are certain materials harder to move than others?  What is inertia and where do you find it?  Next week is a revision week for COW 11.  Students should be working consistently on their COW 11s next week for homework so that they can make substantive improvements ontheir work.

Division II MST

In science, students began to study Evolution on Thursday. We will look at fossil evidence, anatomical evidence, and biochemical evidence as it relates to Evolution. This unit will end in the beginning of April. The assessment for the Evolution unit will be a Protein Analysis lab.

In math, students are continuing with the study of geometric proof.  Students have completed angle puzzles, practiced identifying triangle congruence postulates, justifying reasons to proofs, and writing triangle proofs. On Thursday students received a take home assessment on Geometry Proof, which will be due on Thursday, March 18. To best budget their time, students should complete parts I and II of the assessment for Monday, March 15.

MATH TEAM

Varsity Meet #4 is on April 7, 2004 at Bartlett High School.  Topics include: 'Elementary Number Theory',  'Algebra I',   'Open Geometry', 'Logs, Exponents & Radicals' and 'Trigonometry'.

Practices are during Choice Block with Dina in Room 17 and Mondays after school with Dina and Amy in Room 24. Please see Dina or e-mail dinaz@parker.org  for more information.

We are looking for parent drivers for the April 7th meet.  Please contact Dina at dinaz@parker.org  if you are interested in driving.  The driving will count towards your volunteer hours.

This week in Alan's classes:

This week in Alan's classes, students participated in team handball and a variety of new games including, Kubb (Finnish game), color tag, and thieves.   Students were introduced to the high jump and viewed a video on technique before attempting to jump.  Division one students are working on their Poster Campaign and are designing posters that will advocate a health enhancing behavior.  Division two students are preparing for oral presentations that will show their advocacy for a health enhancing behavior as well. 

This week in Deborah’s classes:

This week in Deborah's Wellness classes students have enjoyed the space of Devens Fitness.  We have gotten back into the swing of stretching, thanks to several students who focused on that in their behavior change project.  Students then chose between basketball or pinball, an alternative game.  We will be enjoying Devens Fitness through April.  In Health, students have started on their Health Advocacy Oral Presentations, these were presented on both Tuesday and Thursday and we will finish up on Tuesday the 16th.  Please support your child to have their work completed on time. 

The Baseball, Softball and Track season is fast approaching.  Please be sure that your student athlete is prepared to participate.

To start practice all athletes must have:

·         A parental permission/ health information form

·         Current physical exam on file in the nurse’s office and

·         $175 (payable to the Parker School) Sports User Fee paid before the first game.  See below for more information.

Parents/ Guardians: Please note a change in the collection of Sports User Fees: 

To participate in all after-school sports programs, students must have their sports user fee paid to the school office (attention: Cathy Pearlman) before the first scheduled game.  A change has been made in the collection of this fee because of the number of students with unpaid user fees.  The sports user fee is $175/ sport/ per student with a family cap at $700.  Financial assistance is available through the Student Assistance Fund.  (Contact Mary Ann Gapinski, the School Nurse, for more information concerning financial assistance).  If financial assistance is required, a request must be on file in the Nurse’s Office prior to the first game of the season for your student to play.  Please contact Ben Benoit, Athletic Director, for more information.

Track and Field will have meetings next week AT THE START OF LUNCH, in Room 26. 

Boys will meet on Monday, March 15

                                Girls will meet on Tuesday March 16

Ben says:  Start running, if you haven’t already done so!

Middle School Softball will have a meeting next Thursday, March 18 at lunch in Room 26 with new coach,

Michael LeClair.

Sports Schedule

				Dismissal	Bus	Game
Date	Parker Team	Practice/Game	Location	from class	Leaves	Time	Pick-up
Mon., 3/15	HS Baseball
	HS Softball	Practice	School			3:30	5:30 at school
	MS Baseball
	MS Softball
	Track
Tues., 3/16	HS Baseball	Practice	School			3:30	5:00 at school
	HS Softball	Practice	School			3:30	5:30 at school
	MS Baseball
	MS Softball
	Track
Weds., 3/17	HS Baseball
	HS Softball
	MS Baseball
	MS Softball
	Track
Thurs., 3/18	HS Baseball	Practice	School			3:30	5:00 at school
	HS Softball	Practice	School			3:30	5:30 at school
	MS Baseball
	MS Softball
	Track
Fri., 3/19	HS Baseball
	HS Softball	Practice	School			3:30	5:30 at school
	MS Baseball
	MS Softball
	Track

Please note:  All basketball uniforms are due back to Ben ASAP!

 

Overdue notices were delivered to students on March 8th--many, many overdue notices!!  Please check with your student to see if they received a green overdue notice from the library.  Books were due back by Friday, March 12.  Outstanding overdues will be shared with parents at PLP conferences.   Thanks for helping us maintain our collection.

Laurie and Maura

SCHOOL CALENDAR:

The Trustees voted to accept the school calendar for 2004 - 2005.  A full calendar will be posted soon but we did want you to know about the starting date for school.  Registration will be on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 31.  The format for this day will be similar to the one we have been using and you will receive more information about this in a mailing at the end of the school year.    There will be school for students on Wednesday, September 1 (1:30 p.m. dismissal) and Thursday, September 2.  School will be closed on Friday, September 3 and Monday, September 6 (Labor Day) and classes resume at 8:30 a.m. on September 7.

Destination Imagination

Destination Imagination ROCKS! Congratulations to the students involved in DI this year! One Parker Team, with Team Members Holly Bridges and Kristen Toohill from Parker; Christina Marcantonio from Lawrence Academy, and Kristin Harrington and Mike Camara from North Central Charter School placed second at the Region 2 Finals in Oxford last Sunday, March 7.  The team competed in the "Plot and the Pendulum", presenting an original play with a technical device powered by a mousetrap that set off 2 different technical reactions, one shooting a marble and the other changing time on a clock.  Team-made costumes, set, props, swordsmanship, poetry, and time travel were all combined in their presentation. Way to go!!  - Maren Toohill

"----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

We received 264 applications from students wishing to attend Parker for the 2004-2005 school year!  Of course we will be taking in a new class of “seventh graders” but we also have students on the waiting list for “grades 8, 9 and 10.  We are asking the parents of our current students to help us by indicating whether or not your child will be returning to Parker in the fall.  Please return the form below or telephone the office as soon as possible.  All information is for enrollment purposes only and will be kept confidential in the office.  Thank you – Pat Tuzzolo

 

Student’s Name: ____________________________________________________

                                (Please print)

 

____ Will be returning to the Parker School in September, 2004

 

____ Will not be returning to the Parker School in September, 2004      

 

____ Not certain at this time             

 

Please reply!  If we do not hear from you we will need to contact you by telephone.

 

 

The Constitutional Review Committee is awaiting approval from Teri to allow them to continue with the process of revising the Parker constitution to more effectively address the current Parker situation.

The Vandalism & Theft Committee has now been formed as a joint taskforce between the JC and the CC.  This taskforce is hoping to prevent vandalism and theft in the Parker community.  The taskforce would like to have more members.  If you are interested in joining this taskforce contact your CC representative.

The S.T.A.F. committee is working on a list of possible reasons for lending money and to set some guidelines as to where money should go.  The committee is waiting for people to start taking use of the money that has been set aside for both academic and non-academic reasons.

“Things are getting done,” says co-advisor Katie Jameson, “CC is going pretty well, as long as people do what they are supposed to do.”  The CC meeting room is a constant hum of ideas of ways to possibly improve any situations at Parker.

 

 

Also from Indian Hill, “Jammin’ On the Hill” a coffee-house featuring local artists.  Prospective performers should contact Rachel Edelman at IHMC to request a spot at (978) 486-9524, extension 113 or email Rachel@indianhillmusic.org.  Next coffee-house date is Friday, May 14, 7:30 – 10:00 p.m.  Cover charge is $5.00.

Parents!

It's Parker Road Race time again - Sponsors Welcome!

 

Last year the Parker Classic Road Race received over $8000 in sponsorships from local businesses and corporations.  Would you and/or your company like to help sponsor the Road Race? 

Sponsor Benefits:

·        Sponsor acknowledgement in press releases to all papers serving our 38 towns, in the weekly announcements sent to the 300 Parker families and listing on www.parker.org /PEF road race

·        Sponsor name in all race fliers

·        Sponsor signs and banners will be prominently displayed on race day

·        Sponsor Logo on race T-shirt given out free to runners

Classes of Sponsorship:  

·        Major Sponsor                         -$1000+          Front T-shirt logo

·        Supporting Sponsor                  -$600             Back T-shirt Logo

·        Participating Sponsor                -$300              Back T-shirt with smaller Logo

·        Cooperative Sponsor                -under $300   All the above benefits except the

     T-shirt

 

Any support is welcomed.  If you own or work for a business who would like to help by being a sponsor please contact Jane Matson at wjtmats@rcn.com  (978) 772-3742 or Mary Feeley at mefeeley@charter.net  (978) 433-9392.

It’s time to sign-up for the 9th Annual Parker Road Race and Springfest! 

We’ve attached entry forms to this week’s Friday Announcements.  The first 150 entrants receive a limited edition t-shirt designed by artist and Parker parent Sukey McDonough.

We can also use your help distributing information about the Road Race and Springfest.  Please pass this flyer on to friends, relatives, neighbors, and co-workers.  We’ll be happy to provide additional flyers for you to post at your athletic club, company gym, exercise club, or anywhere we might reach runners.

Please email tdolph@charter.net for additional flyers.

Menu for week of March 15

Monday – Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

                                Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

                                Carrot Sticks & Ranch dip

                                Milk

                                Fruit Dessert

Tuesday – Baked Tortellini Casserole

                                Garden Salad

                                Garlic Bread

                                Milk

                                Fruit Dessert

                             

Wednesday – Pizza Day

 

Thursday – Chicken Patties

                                (“Chik” patties available)

                                Curley Fries

                                Broccoli

Milk

Fruit Dessert

                                                           

Friday – Enchiladas

(Vegetarian available)

Spanish Rice

                                Corn

`               Milk

Fruit Dessert