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IN THIS ISSUE:
- Save the Dates
- REMINDER: early release Tuesday 12/13 @ 11:15am
- See you tonight at the PTO Meeting, 6pm, cafeteria
- Tomorrow is the Deadline for Holiday Helper Gifts and Donations!
- Brackett Annual Appeal - Make Your Gift Before the End of the Year!
- Art Friday tomorrow, cardboard tube decorations
- Brackett School Savings Bank opens for 31st year!
- Hour of Code event next week
- Thank you Brackett Book Fair volunteers and shoppers
- Help Brackett PTO through Stop and Shop, AmazonSmile & Shutterfly
- The Holiday Teacher Appreciation Luncheon is next week, Weds. 12/14
- Boston Celtics Raffle drawing 12/21
- Brackett Community: Join the Winter Auction!
- Library early morning reading times today and Thurs 12/22, 'Snow' Many Great Books!
Community News:
- APS Parent Forum Mon., 12/12 : Anxiety Disorders in Children & Adolescents
- SEPAC Meeting, Tue. 12/13
- Arlington Community Education offers February Vacation Fun!
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SAVE THE DATES
12/8/16 - Early morning reading time (today)
12/8/16 - PTO Meeting, 6pm, Cafeteria (Thur.)
12/9/16 - Brackett Bank Open for 1st Graders (Fri.)
12/9/16 - Holiday Helper gift donations due (Fri.)
12/9/16 - Art Friday, cardboard tube decorations
12/12- 12/16/16 - Hour of Code Events- Comp. Sci. Ed. Week
12/12/16 - APS Parents Forum Anxiety Disorders in Children & Adolescents (Mon. 7pm)
12/13/16 - SEPAC Meeting Cutter House (Tues. am)
12/13/16 - Early dismissal at 11:15 AM (Tues.) no lunch
12/14/16 - Holiday Teacher Appreciation Luncheon (Weds.)
12/22/16 - Early morning reading time (Thurs.)
12/24/16 - 1/2/17 - No School, Winter Break
1/20/17 - Art Day Friday, salt and watercolor
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 See you tonight at the PTO Meeting, 6pm, cafeteria
Please join your fellow Brackett families at tonight's PTO meeting, 6pm in the school cafeteria. Hear presentations on plans to update the library and to install a rock wall in the gym. We will vote on moving the projects forward. All are encouraged to attend!
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Tomorrow is the Deadline for Holiday Helper Gifts and Donations!
We are still looking for a few gift card donations (Target and Stop & Shop!) and cash/check contributions to fulfill the wish lists of local kids in need. We're happy to do the shopping for you! Just leave leave a cash donation or check (made out to Catherine Fenollosa) in the school office.
If you've signed up for a gift, please deliver it to your child's classroom by TOMORROW!
www.signupgenius.com/tabs/33771D701A4CCE48-holiday
Thank you in advance for embracing the spirit of giving and making this holiday a little brighter for families in our town. - Catherine Fenollosa and Karen Fuhrman
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 Brackett Annual Appeal - Make Your Gift Before the End of the Year!
Thank you to all of the families who have already made gifts to the Brackett Annual Appeal - we are over 35% toward our goal because of you! And if you haven't made your tax-deductible gift yet, please make it before the end of the calendar year! The PTO spends $75 per child each year for enrichment activities and classroom needs. This year, we are also fundraising for a major update in the library and a new climbing wall in the gym. But these projects can't happen without your support. Make a gift via PayPal today at: http://brackettelementary.org/ |
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 Art Friday tomorrow- cardboard tube decorations
Art Squad hopes to see you tomorrow at ART FRIDAY starting at 2:30 in the Art Room, 3rd Floor. We will be having fun making cardboard tube decorations.
Art Days are open to everyone at Brackett. Younger students should be accompanied by a parent or care giver. We are not a drop-off program, instead students are free to come and go as they finish their projects. If your student is in BASP, please contact them about how your child can attend Art Days this year. If you have any questions or are interested the PTO Art Squad, please let us know! - Carolynn Vincent (and the Art Squad team) |
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The Brackett Sch ool Savings Bank opens for 31st year!
Our 31st year of Brackett Bank is kicking off! Students in grades 1st - 5th are invited to open an account and make deposits and withdrawals from their account on Friday mornings between 8:30 and 9:30 am during the school year. Interested 5th grade students may sign up to become workers at the bank. This is a great opportunity for our children to learn about saving their money!
Below is the opening schedule for the 2016-2017 school year.
Fri. 12/9 Bank Open for 1st Grade Only - Cafeteria, 8:30 AM
Fri. 12/16 Bank Open for All Grades - Cafeteria, 8:30 AM
Thank you to our parent volunteers who will be assisting 5th grade workers with deposit/withdrawal transactions and other bank activities.
If you have any questions about the bank or are interested in volunteering, please contact Patty at 617-407-9971 or brackettbank@gmail.com. Thank you!
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Volunteers Needed: Hour of Code events next week!
We are excited once again feature The Hour of Code events next week, 12/12-16 to spotlight Computer Science Education Week.
Hour of Code is a global movement to provide students with early coding experience. For more information, go to https://hourofcode.com/us . The entire student body will be participating, so we need more volunteers to complete this program successfully.
Please consider volunteering in your child(s) classroom(s) or during any time that you can fit in next week. Hour of Code is a tradition that we, Brackett STEM Enrichment Committee, have strongly supported in the past but this year we are low in volunteers.
Here's a link to the signup & schedule - Hour of Code - 2016 Parent Volunteers. Please contact Hour of Code coordinator Johanna Wood (jokrypel@yahoo.com) with any questions.
We really appreciate any help you can provide us with to successfully complete this program.
Karen O'Hagan and Atwood Cheung
Brackett STEM Enrichment Committee co-chairs
(kae.ohagan@gmail.com, atwoodcheung@verizon.net)
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Thank you Brackett Book Fair Volunteers & Shoppers! 
We want to thank all the wonderful volunteers who helped make the book fair possible.
From set-up, to coin counting and take down, the week was a tremendous success thanks to all of your hard work. We raised over $3,200 which will all go to new books for the library!
We also want to thank Mike Buglio, Brackett parent, from Fantastic Book Fairs who worked hard all week to bring our kids an amazing selection of books.
We feel so lucky to have such a vibrant, active and fun Brackett Library and love seeing students engaged throughout the year. Please consider volunteering during your child’s weekly library time to help students find books, or joining The Friends of Brackett Library Committee to help our great Library run as well as it does!
Thanks again, we hope all of the students are enjoying their new books,
- The Book Fair Co-Chairs
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Help Brackett PTO Through Stop & Shop A+ rewards, AmazonSmile and Shutterfly
Stop & Shop allows you to help Brackett with every grocery trip! Simply register your existing rewards card online or sign up here: www.stopandshop.com/aplus
If you have questions or would prefer to register your card via the paper form instead of online, please contact Brackett’s Stop & Shop A+ School Rewards coordinator and parent:
Amy Gear mail4gear@gmail.com.
AmazonSmile and Shutterfly/TinyPrints make it easy for you to earn money for the Brackett PTO while you shop! Use the following links while ordering your holiday cards from Shutterfly/TinyPrints, or shopping for the perfect gifts from Amazon, and we will earn up to 15% of your purchase, it's that simple!
http://brackettpto.shutterflystorefront.com/ https://smile.amazon.com/ch/56-2356830
 
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 The Holiday Teacher Appreciation Luncheon is next week, Weds. 12/14
Thank you to everyone who has signed up so far for this wonderful event! Each December, the Brackett PTO sponsors and organizes a Teacher & Staff Holiday Luncheon. This year’s event will be held next Wednesday, 12/14, 10:30 to 1:30, in the Teacher’s Lounge, which is now located in the cafeteria.
All of the food, beverages, and supplies are donated by parents. We still have space for a few appetizers, salads and help setting up, so please sign-up using the link below to contribute!
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/30E0A45ABAD2CAA8-20161
Thanks again, Alyssa Beck & Joanna Poole
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 Boston Celtics Raffle drawing 12/21
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for your favorite Brackett student?
We've got the answer! How about 2 tickets to see the Boston Celtics play the Philadelphia 76s on January 6th?!
Your student and a friend will be chaperoned at the game by Brackett teachers Guy Shiavone and Nicole Schwartz.
If you want a chance to win this amazing experience for your student, please look for raffle tickets in your child's backpack. The Brackett PTO is excited to hold this raffle to benefit the purchase and installation of a rock wall in our gym. Drawing will be held on December 21st. Good luck!
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 Brackett Community: Join the Winter Auction!
This winter, we're planning something new at Brackett…. an online auction to raise funds for some exciting school projects, including an updated library and a rock wall in the gym!
We know our community is filled with folks who have incredible professions, hobbies, talents, and passions. We’re hoping to harness this energy to create an exciting and diverse list of auction items. This is where you come in!
Do you have season tickets to the Red Sox or Bruins and can donate a pair of tickets to a game? Are you a personal chef or own a restaurant and want to donate a dinner? Got a vacation home and can donate a long weekend or week? Calling all Landscape Architects, Contractors, Personal Trainers, Organizers, etc. Share your talents! Gift certificates to local stores and events, all ideas welcome! Donate an item or suggest a donation idea at the link below: Donation Form
All donations are tax deductible! Thanks in advance for helping to make the Brackett Auction a success!
Thanks!
Karianne Noble - mom to Will (3rd) and Owen (K)
Seville Meli - mom to Nolan (3rd) and Lucas (1st)
Caitlin Sweeney – mom to Sonia (1st)
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 The Brackett Library has 'Snow' many great books!
Exciting things are happening at Brackett Library! Come with your child to enjoy our early morning reading times starting at 7:30am Thursday 12/8 and 12/22. Your child will get a Library Passport and receive stamps every time they visit the library for a special event. Five stamps = a prize from the treasure box! If you have questions or would like to be involved, please contact Erin Hajduk, erin_hajduk@mac.com.
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Arlington Public Schools Parent Forum, Mon. 12/12, Anxiety Disorders in Children & Adolescents
Arlington Public Schools invites you to the next Parent Forum, Mon., 12/12, 7-8:30 p.m at The Ottoson Middle School. We will feature Dr. Dan Geller discussing Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents.
Dr. Dan Geller is a developmental pediatrician and child psychiatrist with specializations in anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and tourette’s syndrome. This program will help parents to develop insights and strategies for helping children who are challenged by anxiety disorders.
Dr. Geller is the recipient of several honors and awards in medicine and developmental pediatrics, notably from the American Academy of child and Adolescent Psychiatry,Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation and Tourette Syndrome Association. He is triple-boarded in Pediatrics, General Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry. In 1992 he was recruited to McLean and Massachusetts General Hospitals where the Pediatric OCD program was established. Since 2003 he has worked at MGH full time in the Pediatric Psychopharmacology Program and the Psychiatric Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit.
Dr. Geller Forum
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SEPAC Meeting next Tues., 12/13 at 8:30am
Please Join us for an Arlington Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) Meeting at the Jefferson Cutter House on Tues., 12/13 at 8:30 am.
Agenda items will include Outreach Items for Parents (continued) and Recreation Fair Discussion, as well as planning workshops for the coming year.
Arlington Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is a parent group that acts as a resource for parents and advises the district regarding meeting the needs of students with special needs. We provide support and networking opportunities for parents and guardians of children with special educational needs, offer workshops and guest speakers to help parents become better informed about special education issues and meet regularly with school officials to participate in the planning, development and evaluation of special education programs in town.
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Arlington Community Education offers February Vacation Fun!
Registration for KidZone, TeenZone, and February VacationFun! opens today. See our Winter 2017 Youth Catalog with an exciting mix of new classes plus old favorites, and students are welcome to attend programs at any location. The winter term of KidZone after-school enrichment starts the week of January 23. VacationFun! runs February 21-24 at Arlington High School with full- and half-day classes in Lego robotics, cooking, art, drama, Parkour, dance, yoga, LARP and more. ArlingtonCommunityEd.org
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 For up to the minute updates please visit the Brackett Website at http://brackettelementary.org/
and like the Brackett PTO Facebook Page
Send your news to TheBrackettEnews@gmail.com
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Facebook Page and visit the Brackett Website for the latest updates 