Friday Announcements                                Date:  March 26, 2004

Dear Parker Families,

“As many of you are likely aware, several Massachusetts legislators are calling for a moratorium on new charters schools, as well as a reduction in per pupil funding for charter school students.  While we have managed to defeat legislative versions of these proposals, there will likely be a strong push to include these provisions in the 2005 state budget.”

As you know, messages like this one from Marc Kenen, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Charter School Association, have been issued each and every year since the establishment of charter schools. Unfortunately, every year, in the face of shrinking resources and competing demands for those limited resources, charter schools are targeted by those who oppose their existence as being a reason for the difficulties faced by towns and communities in making ends meet. In some ways, neither time nor the success of many charter schools has lessened the proliferation of misinformation concerning charter schools, the nature of the Education Reform Act of 1993, and the means by which charter schools come into being and are funded. Our own school has been the subject of more than a few op-ed pieces throughout the past nine years, and we have learned some important lessons about the value of accurate information and our responsibility to contribute, when possible, to a substantive, truthful dialogue about school choice and a Parker School education.

As the discussion gears up in towns throughout the state concerning next year’s budget and as residents everywhere grapple with the complexities of dedicating resources equitably and responsibly, the debate over charter schools is likely to intensify.

The Massachusetts Charter School Association is urging the families of the thousands of children who are being effectively served by charter schools to contact legislators to make their experiences known and heard. As new proposals calling for moratoria and reductions in per pupil spending arise, there are mechanisms for accurate public discourse concerning the ways in which charter schools support our kids by providing thoughtful alternatives in public education. To this end, they have created a link through which to communicate with legislators:  http://advocacy.masscharterschools.org/target.asp?id=macsa:2204160

Even in the midst of such contentious times, however, we at Parker continue to experience unprecedented positive movement in the area of collaboration with schools, town, and educators around the region. At a time when the validity of public charter schools is under new attack, our school and Regional Teachers Center continue to forge meaningful relationships with colleagues representing all kinds of schools as we share our ideas and innovative practices for school change and student achievement.

Through our resolve to continue to deepen our ties with surrounding schools around the best interests of our mutual students, the real pulse of education can be discerned from the din of potentially inaccurate reporting and self-serving “spin.” These are indeed, interesting times.

Here’s to a wonderful weekend – hope to see you at the play!

Teri Schrader

Principal

 

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

Please join us -

Tickets available from Nicky Dudensing –

 

 

March, 2004

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

Wednesday, 31 - 10th and 11th grade Graduation Reception Committee meeting at 7:00 p.m. in Room 1

April, 2004

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

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

Thursday, 8 - Parker Road Race and Springfest meeting at 7:00 p.m.

 

PLEASE  MARK  THESE  DATES!   (Subject to change)

April, 2004 (Continued)

 

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

Wednesday, 28 - Parker Road Race and Springfest meeting at 7:00 p.m.

 

May, 2004

Wednesday, 12 - Parker Road Race and Springfest meeting at 7:00 p.m.

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)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to the families of Jessie Cass and Kate Ellenberger and the other anonymous donors for their contributions of snacks to the nurse’s office.  All contributions are greatly appreciated!

Thank you to the Brandeis family and the Yennaco family for their recent donation of new books to the library!  We will put them to good use! - Laurie Nehring, Librarian

Division I Student wins Gymnastics State Championships!

Congratulations to Carl Rossi for winning the championship for his age group in the recent State Gymnastics Competition.  Carl will now go on to the Regional Competition in a couple of weeks.  Good Luck, Carl!

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 Wednesday, April 7	dinaz@parker.org	635
We are in need of AAA batteries for graphing calculators.	dinaz@parker.org	635
Seeking donations of good 4-drawer file cabinets and a ‘secretary’s’ chair.	pat@parker.org	116

 

Just two weeks left until Senior Project Exhibition Night!!  Parents from all divisions, please come and join us to see what six years of a Parker education produces.  Our Seniors will be showcasing the work they have done for the last six months.  The kids need your presence and feedback and you will have a chance to see what all Parker students can do when they graduate - Wednesday, April 7, at 7:00 p.m.

This week’s class updates are from Becky’s A /H classes:

Art of the Essay

We started the semester with a discussion of the writing process--what makes it challenging and rewarding--based on what several professional writers have said about their experiences.  Students have also completed three essay cycles, each two weeks in length.  They have submitted personal narrative essays, description essays and definition essays.   

We have also reviewed parts of speech, parts of sentence and when to use which personal pronoun including who

and whom!  Students are currently revising one of their essays.

Politics, Protest and the Arts

After learning about the traditions of several genres of painting, students turned their attention to early modern art.  We considered how it built on traditions and broke them before discussing the impact this modern art had on audiences and their reactions to the Armory Show of 1913.  We are now in the midst of reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, considering it in terms of both controversies around it--who Huck was and how he spoke and how Jim is portrayed.  Students were able to choose to complete an optional Listening piece for the Armory Show Unit.  They are currently

working on reading journals for Huck Finn and have recently been given the assignment for an independent

research project due Monday, May 10.

*   *   *   *   *  *   *   *   *   *   *

Yearbook Parent Pages Overdue!!

Please get your submissions in!!

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 is going on a field trip to Roll on America on Wednesday, March 31.  Please see the permission slip for details.  Extra copies of permission slips can be obtained on the Parker Division I homework website.

Division I A/H

Assessment Alert!

Activism Research Projects are due this week for Alyssa and Emma's classes and Monday for Tassia and Matt's and Martha and Clay's classes.

Next week, students will be creating sculptures as artistic expression statements about what they learned in their activism research.  Next Friday, sculptures will be put into an exhibition for all to see. 

Thank you to Mohawk Elder, Onkwe Tase, and Micmac Cindy Martin, Director of the United Native American Cultural Center, for coming to speak to our students last Tuesday.  Along with explaining their work as activists developing the pantribal UNACC center, they offered students traditionalist and assimilationist points of view about their struggle to show that their heritage is still here. They invited the entire Parker Community to join in during their Annual Unity Days Powwow on May 15 and 16.

Parents are invited to view students’ sculptures during class time on Friday from 11:25 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. for Block 2 classes and 1:50 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. for Block 3 classes.

Division II A/H

This week students continued their research on responses to the Depression.  Resources have been found, notes have been taken, and research questions were created and revised.  Students are moving towards thesis creation and outlines of main ideas and will begin the writing process next week. 

Parents: look for a letter home soon about our next project: ‘Documentary Photography.’  Students will be studying the art and purpose of documentary photography and will apply those skills to their own communities.  As we do so, there are some logistics around cameras and film that we want to let you know about, so look for the letter soon! 

Division I MST

Wow, what a mind-bender week it's been in Division 1 MST!  For example, why does a curved line on a distance over time graph look like a straight line on a speed over time graph?  We've taken these past two weeks in math to practice interpreting graphs and understanding what motion looks like on different types of graphs.  Students turned in their commentary about the Hurdles Race today (COW 13).  In science, we have also been trying to understand and believe Newton's 3rd Law of motion, that any force (action) has an equal and opposite force (reaction).  A question to think about for the weekend:  Why don't we fall through the floor when standing on it?!

Next week is a revision week again.  All students should be spending next week's homework time working on revisions for COW 12.  Potential gatewayers can continue to re-revise work. 

Division II MST

In science, each class is studying the fossil, anatomical and biological evidence for evolution.  The assessment is a protein lab which examines proteins between aquatic organisms and a chicken.  All classes have completed the lab by this time and students should be working on completing the lab write up.

Students are studying statistics by examining scatter plots, lines of best fit, and learning about correlation, and residuals. Students will be using their graphing calculators a lot during this unit and should carry them to and from school daily. Students have received their assessment for this unit and should be working on it as they learn the material.  Everyone

should have picked their data by now and should be completing work for the first check in (dates vary depending on class).

Students should buy new batteries for their graphing calculators since many indicate "low battery."

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.

Emily’s 8th and 9th Grades

Students are completing and presenting their Tejano writing project. They are beginning the new unit this week.

Damara's students have begun their new unit on ‘La Ciudad’ and ‘El Campo.’  Students should be making flash cards for the active vocabulary related to this unit. Revisions for the "Escribir" (writing) project are due Monday,

April 5, 2004.  No late projects will be accepted.

David’s 7th Grade

Students are learning the Parts of the Body.  8th grade sudents are preparing their Tejano writing project.

Starting this week and next in Wellness, we will be beginning a new unit on Emotional Health, focusing on grief, loss and change.  We will explore different ways that people respond to a loss, ways that cultures or religions have structured traditions around death and grief, and discuss healthy responses that we can have to death or loss in our own lives.  Our guest speakers will include funeral directors and hospice workers.  Although we are learning about grief and talking about death, we will also be focusing on loss as a natural part of life that encompasses "life changes" such as friends moving away, divorce in a family, changing schools, break-ups, etc.

We know that this is a sensitive topic, and for some students, exceptionally so, and we want to be sure to be aware of any students who have experienced recent or life-changing losses in their own lives.  If you have concerns or questions about the unit, or about your child, please contact your child's Wellness teacher, advisor or Joan Shulman, School counselor, or Mary Ann Gapinski, Wellness Domain Leader, this week or next.  Thanks for your support!

This week in Alan's classes:

This week in Alan's classes, students participated in Capture the Flag and relays with Laura's Wellness class and prisoner dodge-ball.  We tried a new activity called sling shot relay and also played Ultimate Frisbee inside.

Division I students displayed their health enhancing behavior (Posters) for their advocacy project.  Division II students continued their oral presentations that showed their advocacy for a health enhancing behavior as well.

This week in Deborah’s classes:

This week in Deborah's classes we finished up the ‘Disease and Injury Prevention Unit’ by completing all oral presentations and filing in Wellness portfolios.  As a reminder, all Division II students must ‘Meet’ the Standard

on all Wellness projects (at three per year)as well as in physical activity classes.  The next progress report will indicate your child’s status.  We will start our next unit next week, ‘Emotional Health.’ This unit will focus on grief and loss.  Monday the 29th we will have a guest yoga teacher, Sharon Ursch, coming in.  Students will have a choice of yoga, indoor soccer or track and field.  As the weather warms up, please remind your child to have a water bottle and sun screen.  Also, it is required that students bring a T-shirt to change into as well as a recommendation to carry a stick of deodorant!

This week in Laura’s classes:

In Laura's classes this week, we played a variety of games including kickball, KOOB, ping pong and DOINK.  We also began our new unit on ‘Emotional Health.’  For our first class, students brainstormed different types of loss that can occur as a natural part of our lives, and had a chance to think about gains that may come from losses.  Next week, we will

have a choice of activity on Monday (yoga, track/field, soccer) and will begin to look at children's books on grief and loss.

The Baseball, Softball and Track season is here.  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.   

Sports Schedule

				Dismissal	Bus	Game
Date	Parker Team	Practice/Game	Location	from class	Leaves	Time	Pick-up
Mon., 3/29	HS Baseball	Practice	School			3:30	5:30 at school
	HS Softball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:30 at field
	MS Baseball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:00 at field
	MS Softball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:00 at field
	Track	Practice	School			3:30	5:00 at school
Tues., 3/30	HS Baseball	Practice	School			3:30	5:30 at school
	HS Softball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:30 at field
	MS Baseball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:00 at field
	MS Softball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:00 at field
	Track	Practice	School			3:30	5:00 at school
Weds., 3/31	HS Baseball	No practice
	HS Softball	Practice	School			3:30	5:30 at school
	MS Baseball	No practice
	MS Softball	No practice
	Track	No practice
Thurs., 4/1	HS Baseball	Practice	School			3:30	5:30 at school
	HS Softball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:30 at field
	MS Baseball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:00 at field
	MS Softball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:00 at field
	Track	Practice	School			3:30	5:00 at school
Fri., 4/2	HS Baseball	Practice	School			3:30	5:30 at school
	HS Softball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:30 at field
	MS Baseball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:00 at field
	MS Softball	Practice	Willard			3:30	5:00 at field
	Track	Practice	Ayer High School			3:30	5:30 at Parker School

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 Tuesday, September 7.

 

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.

 

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

 

A big thank you to Joy Cooke, Dotsy  Murphy, Peter Urban, and Pam Gross, for spending this Thursday morning repairing about 50 books from our library collection.  Thank you to all our regular volunteers, whose help is essential in keeping the library up and running:  Angela Wilde, Dotsy Murphy, Betty Sushchyk, Stacey Lanier, Kathy Tappan,

Lori McDermott, Rosemary Losso, Pat Tyman Anderson, Carole Helwig, Gale Rossi, Martha Shethar, Mary Colby, Judy Ericson, and others.  We greatly appreciate your volunteering in the library!

 

 

 

 

Center Stage Youth Theatre, Westford, MA

Spring Session begins April 3 – (8 classes)

Several Parker students participate in this musical theatre program.  Lots of fun!  Conveniently on Saturdays!  For more information please call the theatre at (978) 392-3433 or Lois Greenbaum at (978) 264-0331.

 

BIG NEWS FROM FRANK'S!

As you may be aware, a school lunch program needs to be self-supporting.  In order for Parker’s food service program to become self-supporting, we are implementing some changes to our food service program.  Some of these changes will address the financial aspects of running Frank's, some will address nutritional issues, and others will be implemented to improve service.

Effective Monday, April 5, we are lowering the price of our full lunch to $3.50.  However, with this price decrease we are also eliminating the "a la carte" style of serving lunch, and will instead offer the hot lunch priced as a whole unit.  Students will have the choice of purchasing a "full meal" but may refuse any two out of the five items offered with each lunch.  This is in alignment with the USDA guidelines for lunch service in secondary schools.  As in the past, peanut butter sandwiches, bagels and cream cheese, and salads will also continue to be available.  We are considering adding a few new items to the daily menu, such as sandwich wraps, that will be priced separately in order to give students a wider choice of lunch options.

Also in the works is a "lunch ticket" program, which will speed up service in the checkout line by allowing students to pre-pay for their lunch.  Watch future Friday Announcements for this and other new developments!  Thank you for your continued support of Frank’s, Parker’s food service program.

Menu for week of March 29

 

Monday – Chili (vegetarian available)

                                Spanish rice

                                Corn

                                Cornbread

Milk

                                Fruit Dessert

                               

Tuesday – Sweet & Sour Meatballs

                                Buttered Noodles

                                Broccoli

Bread & Butter

Milk

                                Fruit Dessert

                              

Wednesday – Pizza Day

Thursday – Sloppy Joes (vegetarian available)

                                Curley Fries

            Carrot Sticks & Ranch dip

                                Milk

                                Fruit Dessert

Friday – Cheese Ravioli

                                Garden Salad

                                Garlic Bread                          

Milk

Fruit Dessert

Prices will be as follows: 

Complete meal $4.00, milk available, 2% and low-fat chocolate .35, Greek salad, Chef salad, or Hummus & Tabouleh salad $2.50, peanut butter sandwiches, snacks and drinks also available, muffins, bagels & cream cheese, and cereal with milk available at breakfast and break.

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.

 

Sponsorship for the Parker Road Race is really moving forward.  We want to thank all the companies who have contributed to date, including: 

MAJOR SPONSOR ($1000+)

Aubuchon Hardware

Dacon Corporation

SUPPORTING SPONSOR ($600-$1000)

Options Consignment Boutique 

Electronics Plus

J.P. Routhier & Sons, Inc. 

Knapp, Schenck & Co. Insurance

Gervais Ford

Welch's  

Carole Helwig of Keller Williams Realty

Aggregate Industries

Blazing Signworks

COOPERATIVE SPONSOR (Up to $300) 

Wilson Brothers Heating & Air Conditioning

Brian’s Home Repair and Remodeling

Century 21 Nashoba Associates

May and Halley Oil Co.

Fourstar Connections

Reichheld Family Orthodontics, P.C.

Industrial Cleaning Products, Inc

Century Carpet & Creative Floors

City Music LLC

New England Fabricated Metals, Inc.