Superintendent Gormey releases updates for the week of September 23rd,2019

Read on for some of the latest updates on events, programs, and more going on in Milton’s public schools

I want to share with you that Milton has been awarded another Green Communities Competitive Grant. I have asked Director of Consolidated Facilities , Bill Ritchie, to share some history and information about the Green Communities Competitive Grant below.

The Town of Milton recently received $104,661 from the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) for two lighting upgrade projects – one at Collicot/Cunningham and the second at the Tucker School. In addition, we applied for supplemental incentive funding through Eversource and to date, have received $35,000. The Town will only need to come up with roughly $10,000 to pay for the project shortfall. Consolidated Facilities is working on better pricing with vendors and working to secure additional incentive funding to lower the Town’s obligation by another $5,000, possibly bringing the total out of pocket cost for the Town to $5000.

Since 2011, with these latest grants and incentive funding, the Town of Milton has received approximately $1,300,000 through a combination of Green Communities Grants, utilities incentives, energy program grants and other rebates. Because we installed these energy measures over the years we anticipate a yearly savings of approximately $350,000 town wide.

We have done very well as a Town in energy conservation measures and are recognized in Massachusetts as an energy leader. As a Town, we have to guarantee DOER a 20% reduction in town wide energy usage. This is not an easy task but one we have worked diligently at for almost a decade.

Thank you to the Town of Milton team who spends countless hours each year designing energy projects, applying for grants and utility incentives, negotiating procurement, performing quality inspections, overseeing project management and managing annual reporting. Town Planner William Clark, Operations Manager for Consolidated Facilities Robert Mayhew, Administrative Assistant for Consolidated Facilities Diane Colligan and Director of Consolidated Facilities , Bill Ritchie are to be commended for these successful efforts on behalf of our schools and the Town of Milton.

Milton GOES GOLD

Hopefully you know about Milton GOES GOLD for Childhood Cancer Awareness from September 16th-30th! Our goal is to raise awareness and funds and show support for children who are battling cancer.

HOW CAN YOU GO GOLD?

• DONATE YOUR GOLD: From September 16-30, send spare change in with your child to help fill the GOLD boots at all elementary schools. You can also donate directly to the Michael C. McHugh Memorial Foundation. We are also collecting items for the One Mission Resource Room from this list at Pierce and MHS.
• GIVE BLOOD – AS VALUABLE AS GOLD: We are holding TWO blood drives in Milton in September. Saturday 9/21 9am-4pm (75 slots) and Thursday 9/26 8am -3pm (75 slots). Sign up in the links above. See donation guidelines here. There are only 10 spots left for each donation day. One pint of blood potentially helps 4 children. If we total 150 pints/donors – that’s 600 lives impacted!
• WEAR YOUR GOLD: On Thursday September 26th, wear as much gold as you can! You can wear your own gold clothing/ accessories and/or purchase Milton GOES GOLD shoelaces ($3) in your school office NEXT WEEK or online here.
• CHEER FOR GOLD: Attend the MHS Football game on Friday, September 27th at 4pm for Milton GOES GOLD night! Support the Milton GOES Gold lemonade stand, cheer on our honor team captains who have been affected by childhood cancer, donate to the Michael C. McHugh Memorial Foundation and bring your donations for the Key Club collection. Due to our 6pm curfew (precautionary measures to lower risk of our students contracting EEE), the Walpole vs Milton Football Game on 9/27 will be played at 4pm instead of the previously listed 7pm start.

How can you purchase your Milton GOES GOLD shoelaces? We are temporarily out of stock at most schools. Good news – we have more laces coming next week! Please visit this website for your order to be delivered to school next week or purchase your laces in school next week. If you order online for delivery to school or wait to purchase until they are in stock at your school, you will get them on the same day.

Please join us as Milton GOES GOLD for Childhood Cancer Awareness from September 16-30th! All proceeds will be donated to Wicked Good Cause and the Michael C. McHugh Memorial Foundation.

Parent Speaker Series

Our first event in the 2019/20 PARENT Speaker Series is almost here! Inclusion Specialist Maureen Blazejewski will discuss Supporting All Learners on September 24th at Milton High School.

Be a Cheerleader for Your Child’s Team! Strategies for Supportive Advocacy to Foster Meaningful Inclusion will be the topic for the evening.

Are you looking for ways to communicate with and support your team around developing inclusive educational opportunities? If so, then join us on September 24 as we explore strategies and tools that will help families articulate their vision, and help teams design a program that matches that vision. Effective communication is key in any collaborative partnership and this workshop will give you the tools to get there!

FREE and open to the public. This presentation is relatable to parents/guardians of ALL AGES.

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The PARENT Speaker Series is pleased to present PARENT University on Thursday, October 17th from 6-8:40pm at the Pierce Middle School. PARENT University will offer 10 sessions for parents and guardians to choose to attend throughout the evening.

PARENT University will offer a series of short educational and skill-building workshops for parents and guardians that will cover a wide range of topics. Workshops will focus on promoting the academic, social and emotional well being of children and teens. We will offer a total of 10 workshops in one evening, each lasting just one hour and each workshop will be offered twice–back to back—so that parents and guardians can attend their two top choices. We are excited to introduce our session topics and sign up details in the coming weeks.

Upcoming All MPS Dates

Sep 16-30 Milton GOES GOLD
Sep 19 Cunningham Open House
Sep 21 Children’s Hospital Blood Drive – Cunningham/Collicot Driveway
Sep 24 Inclusion Specialist Maureen Blazejewski, PARENT Speaker Series
Sep 25 Collicot Open House
Sep 26 Children’s Hospital Blood Drive at Cunningham Hall
Sep 26 Glover Open House
Sep 26 Tucker Open House
Sep 27 No School-Professional Development Day
Sep 27 MHS Football Game – Milton GOES GOLD
Oct 2 Milton School Committee
Oct 3 MHS 8th Grade Information Night
Oct 9 No School – Yom Kippur

School Committee

Recent School Committee meetings can always be watched on Milton Access TV. The next School Committee meeting is on Wednesday, October 2nd at 7pm.

High School Happenings

Bullying education continues K-12 at the Milton Public Schools. This week, Vice Principal Brian Mackinaw, aka Mr. Mack, presented to all MHS students on this important topic.

Later in the week, students attended a substance abuse presentation by Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of S.A.M. Smart Approaches to Marijuana. He spoke about not only the dangers of marijuana to young people, but also the tactics corporations are using to get kids hooked. His goal is to help kids make the right decisions. This speaker was sponsored by the Milton Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition.

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MHS Guidance wants to share information about a FREE seminar, the 11th annual “College Readiness for Parents: What Every Parent Needs to Know” seminar being held at Framingham State University. It is scheduled for Thursday, October 17 from 7-9 PM. The focus of this event is not on financial aid but rather on helping parents and guardians understand the difficulties students have with the transition to college in order to help build the habits needed to become successful. This free event is geared towards parents and guardians of students in grades 7-10.

Pierce Pages

Ms. Devin’s sixth graders recently worked as archeologists as part of a unit of study in ancient civilization. During this activity, students dug up artifacts and drew inferences about the function and origin of what they found.

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PASS classes are an opportunity for Pierce teachers to identify an interest, talent, or a hobby and create an e​ight week​ after school experience for students. PASS classes begin the week of September 23, 2019 and end the week of November 11, 2019. Each class is a total of eight sessions and costs $50 with the exception of the Pierce Soccer Program, which costs $100. We want all Pierce students to have the opportunity to participate in after school activities. If your family requires financial assistance, please contact Mr.Fish via email​. ​There will be a late bus with limited stops for bus students only on Wednesdays and Thursdays beginning the week of September 23, 2019. The late bus will pick up at Pierce at 3:25 p.m. All details on our PASS classes can be found here.

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You’re invited to join the Kindness Friday Movement! For the past three years, we have promoted the wearing of the color red or our Kind is the New Cool t-shirts on Fridays to build community and promote kindness as a school. This isn’t just a movement for our students — teachers, staff, and administrators will wear their Kind is the New Cool shirts and families should feel welcome to join in too! The last day to order shirts is Friday, September 20th.

Inside Our Elementary Schools

Collicot families, students and staff came to the Back to School Picnic on Friday, September 13th at Cunningham Park. It was a beautiful late summer evening to see old friends and meet new ones. The children had so much fun dancing to the music played by the Boosterthon team and had a blast playing games of football, tag, and soccer in the field. What a great way to kickoff the new school year!

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5th grade Glover students kicked off their 1st unit of the year “Sun, Moon and Planets” by tracing their shadows outside. Students trace their shadows in the morning and afternoon. They use this information to draw conclusions about the position of the sun as it moves across the sky each day.

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Ms. Fradette’s Tucker students began their Energy and Electromagnetism unit by introducing students to electricity and energy. In alignment with the science standard         “Make observations to show that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents”, students discovered how to make a complete circuit using a D-cell, wires and a lightbulb. Upon successfully lighting their bulbs, students discussed the electricity’s pathway in the circuit and the function of each of the system’s components. They also took a close look at the anatomy of the lightbulb. By the end of the lesson, students were able to answer the focus question: What is needed to light a bulb?

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Tucker kicked off its fall running club with an unprecedented 60 students this week. The biggest group yet is led by coaches and Tucker faculty members Stephanie Young and Rachel Spitz. Look for many of these athletes at the MFE Monster Dash on October 27th!

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The 5th grade gift from the Cunningham class of 2019 class is complete. These positive messages greet all visitors and students on multiple stairways at Cunningham each day.

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Glover 3rd grade teacher Sarah Hammond has implemented “Full Flex Seating” in her classroom with the support of Occupational Therapist Sarah Whitten who attended a workshop this summer about “Hacking the House”. “Hack the House” refers to redesigning classroom space to encourage a collaborative environment and asks the question ” How can you redesign your space to encourage student centered learning?”

Milton Foundation for Education

The Milton Foundation for Education is thrilled to announce the 2019 Monster Dash 5K run/walk and Kid’s Fun Run. Sunday, October 27th at Cunningham Park, 75 Edge Hill Road, Milton.

The Monster Dash, now in its 21st year, benefits the Sam Cichello Memorial Fund. The Cichello family created this fund in memory of their young son, Sam, who died tragically in a 1999 playground accident at Tucker Elementary School. Sam’s Fund supports the science curriculum in all Milton schools. Register now for this fun family event! 

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The Milton Foundation for Education is looking for artwork to print on the front of race t-shirts for the Milton Monster Dash. Create your best design and submit one entry by Wednesday, September 25th. The winner will see their drawing on race t- shirts, and help start the runners on race day, October 27th.

• Artwork should have a Halloween theme
• Children living in or attending school in Milton are eligible
• Entries must be on white, unlined 8 ½” x 11” paper
• Entrants should use a black, thick Sharpie for their artwork
• Include child’s name, school and age on back of artwork
• Submit the artwork by Wednesday, September 25
• Deliver drawing and entry form to the main office of your school
• Artwork will not be returned
• All decisions of the Milton Monster Dash Committee are final
• Contact Liddie Sutter with any questions .

Health and Wellness

Help your kids make choices that will support their well being. Participate in the SUPPER Project to learn how!

• Are you a parent or guardian of a child in 5th – 8th grade?
• Do you live with your child or are you in the same place as your child at least five days a week?
• If YES, you may be able to participate in a research study
• Families will be paid for their time
• The purpose of this research study is to understand how to help young people make choices that will support their wellbeing.

Please take a moment to read through the details found here and consider participating in the SUPPER Project. If you are interested, simply email the SUPPER Project team at with the subject line “Interested in the SUPPER Project” and in the body of the email include your name and the name of your child’s school. A member from the study team will reach out to you with next steps. You can also give them a call at (617) 636 – 3587.

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In our effort to bring you as much information as we can about vaping and the accompanying health risks to your children, I wanted to share this recent article from the Boston Globe, entitled Why the vaping lung illness crisis is exploding now, according to Boston doctors.

Professional Development

On September 27th, MPS will host an “ed-camp” style conference for all of our MPS educators and colleagues from surrounding communities. Our administrators, teachers and paraprofessionals will participate in a Keynote Address from Dr. Kenneth Wesson (“The Neuroscience of Learning: What Works, What Lasts and Why?”), and then choose from a menu of 85+ hour-long sessions to attend, facilitated by MPS teachers, administrators, community members and other education professionals. In addition to 85+ professional learning opportunities, lunch and snacks will be provided throughout the day. Next week, the conference website will be up and running, and all participants will sign up to choose the sessions they would like to participate in throughout the day.

Questions? Please contact: Ben Kelly, Vice Principal, Milton High School; AJ Melanson, Educational Technology Director, MPS ; Amy Tom, Science Department Head, Milton High School

Food and Nutrition

Breakfast provides benefits to our students – make it a priority! Did you know that Milton Schools serves hot breakfasts everyday school is in session?

Your child can get a healthy, balanced meal with whole grains, fresh fruit, skim or 1% milk and 100% fruit juice at school. They can choose from whole grain muffins, cereals, pancakes and breakfast sandwiches. They will also have more energy and get important nutrients like calcium, Vitamin D, protein and fiber.

• Higher Test Scores: Research has proven that children who eat breakfast have higher math and reading scores. Students who eat school breakfast score 17.5% higher on standardized math tests. Source: Share Our Strength
• Improved Attendance: Studies show that students who eat breakfast are absent and tardy less often. Students who eat school breakfast attend on average 1.5 more days of school per year. Source: “Share our Strength”
• Fewer Trips to the School Nurse: When students eat breakfast, nurses report fewer hunger related office visits.
• Improved Classroom Behavior: Principals confirm that they see fewer discipline problems when students have eaten breakfast. Students who participate in school breakfast show improved attendance, behavior, standardized achievement test scores as well as decreased tardiness. Source: Food Research & Action Council
• Better Learning: Students are better able to pay attention in class when they have eaten. When students have eaten, they are better able to concentrate and behave in the classroom. This allows teachers to spend more time on teaching and less time on discipline.

Eating breakfast gives each student in the Milton Schools a chance to be their best throughout the day. Save yourself time in the morning and get your child out the door faster knowing they will have a nutritious meal when they get to school. Breakfast is $1.25 for a complete meal and children who receive free or reduced lunch also receive free breakfast. Drop in any day, 20 minutes before school starts. Questions about school breakfast? Email Director of Nutrition Services Jackie Morgan.

Transportation

The MPS Transportation Department is excited to roll out the FirstView Parent App provided by First Student, our bus company. FirstView is comprehensive and secure bus tracking and parent communication app. The FirstView app is easy to download, set up and use to provide estimated bus arrival times, transportation messaging regarding delays or issues and customizable alerts for when your student’s bus is a chosen distance or number of minutes away.

Please visit FirstViewApp.com or find FirstView in the App Store or Google Play to download to your smartphone. Additionally a desktop version of FirstView is available at FirstViewApp.com.

Be on the lookout for emails from the transportation department with specific instructions and school codes to upload your student’s route into your app.

Arts and Music

The work represented below is from Mrs. Hughes’ Foundations of Arts class (grades 9-12). This project asked students to personalize their sketchbooks, which are used throughout the term. The sketchbook cover is a collage representing a student’s life, identity, culture, and experiences. Utilizing the elements and principles of design, students construct compositions using a variety of images and text.

Do you have an instrument collecting dust in your home? Donate it to the music program in the Milton Public Schools! Small size violins are especially needed. Contact [email protected] to donate.

Athletics

Swim beat Braintree tonight 96-82, winning every event except for one. Joe Pezzini, Christian Bartiewicz, Andrew Tran, Rose Gillooly and Madison Crummey all won their individual events. They made another boys state cut in the 400 freestyle relay, sophomore Kevin Carberry made his first ever sectional cut in the 50 freestyle, and freshman Liv DiSandro made two sectional cuts in the 200 and 500 freestyle events.

Football is 2-0 after beating non-league opponents Bishop Feehan and Framingham. They have a bye this week and will take on Walpole at 4pm to start divisional play next Friday, September 27th. Note the 4pm start time next week due to EEE restrictions.

Volleyball is 3-1 with wins over Braintree, NDA and Framingham.

Boys and Girls Cross Country both started with wins over Framingham last week. The Girls improved to 3-0, beating Needham and Brookline last night. The Boys are 2-1, having lost to Needham but beating Brookline for the first time in over ten years!

All game schedules can be found on our MHS Athletics website.

News Around Town

BID- Milton will hold its Annual Community Benefits Meeting on Wednesday,
September 25 from 5:30 – 7 pm in the Nangeroni Education Center. At the meeting, the hospital’s 2018 Community Health Grant recipients, including Tucker School and Milton Public Schools, will present the results of their grant funded programs.

The hospital will also present an overview of its new Community Health Needs Assessment and Implementation Strategy, which will guide the hospital’s Community Benefits Program for the next three years. The public is invited and refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to via email Laureane Marquez or at (617) 313-1590.

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The Milton Public Library has terrific children’s programs all through September.

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A special collaborative partnership of South Shore synagogues and Jewish organizations recently announced the launch of Shalom Children Activity Program (SCAP). SCAP is for families with children up to age 8 who are looking for fun, social, engaging activities infused by Jewish values and experiences, whether it’s about taking care of our planet, going on an archaeological “dig,” being kind to animals, helping others, and more.

SCAP’s opening event, entitled “Hey World – Happy Birthday 5780!” will be at Blue Hills Trailside Museum, 1904 Canton Avenue, Milton on Sunday, September 22nd from 1:15- 3:15 p.m. It is for families with children up to 8 years old (siblings welcome), and is FREE, but registration is required. Celebrate the beauty of nature with other families with young children as you experience a hands-on Presentation of Animal Habitats led by a trained naturalist, go on a nature scavenger hunt, and eat apples and honey to mark the earth’s 5780th birthday.

This event has a maximum of 50 children, with priority by date of registration. Check in from 1:15 -1:40 p.m. in front of the Trailside Museum building. The program begins promptly at 1:45 p.m. Registration here for this event. All information can be found on their website.

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Milton Early Childhood Alliance event cancellation notice: Unfortunately, The Milton Early Childhood Alliance has to cancel their workshop, Beyond Remote Controlled Childhood due to the speaker, Dr. Diane Levin, being ill. The event was scheduled to take place this Thursday, September 21, 2019. They hope to reschedule it soon. Please visit their website at www.miltonearlychildhoodalliance.org where further announcements will be made.

Ambassadors

As part of our E-blast, we highlight students, teachers or members of the community whose hard work deserves recognition. Please read about some of their accomplishments below:

VOLUNTEERS: I would like to recognize Martha Cusick for her donation to Glover in honor of her aunt. Ms. Cusick’s aunt, Claire Mullin, taught 3rd grade for 39 years, mostly at Glover. When Ms. Mullin died this past January, at the age of 93, Ms. Cusick decided to donate $300 to Glover in her name. Principal McDavitt and her team have put the money to good use with the “Our Wish for You” bulletin board pictured below. All staff at Glover are represented on the bulletin board and all teachers, paras, specialists, and more shared a wish that they have for all Glover Kids this year. Glover has had assemblies about trusted adults and a visual reminder of all of the grownups who surround and support our students every day. Thank you to Ms. Cusick for this generous gift which funded this welcoming and beautiful bulletin board.