Principal Update for the week of October 3, 2016

Dear Lincoln Eliot Families,

I hope you had a restful weekend.  It’s hard to believe that we have been back to school for a month.  I’ve been watching the sunflowers in the back garden unfold.  They make a beautiful frame to the Lincoln Eliot Grows sign.   Read on to learn about PARCC results, groundwater, high school start time and upcoming dates.  Please go to the Community News link at the end of the updates.

PARCC results for current Lincoln Eliot 4th and 5th graders will be mailed home some time in the next week.  Teachers will be analyzing results at the October staff meeting.

Groundwater Contamination: As many of you know, the state is conducting an ongoing investigation into groundwater contamination in the Nonantum area. An update on the investigation, in which the state identified a potential liable party, appeared recently in the Newton Tab.

http://newton.wickedlocal.com/news/20160927/state-identifies-likely-source-of-tce-contamination-in-nonantum

The state has provided information to the district demonstrating that the Lincoln-Eliot school is outside of the area found to have contaminated groundwater. Without contaminated groundwater, there is no vapor intrusion into the school.

The health and safety of our students and teachers is paramount and we will continue to monitor the state investigation as it progresses. Should you have any questions, please contact the City of Newton Department of Health and Human Services at 617-796-1420.

High School Start Time: Recently, you received an email from the superintendent detailing Newton’s work on high school start times. This fall, the district is asking for your thoughts on the benefits and costs of moving the high school start time later, as well as feedback on several potential scenarios. Some scenarios change only the high school hours, while others impact our school and others in the district.

Research, reports, and scenarios can be found on the district website: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/laterstarttime. I encourage you to attend the community forum at Angier on October 19th at 7:00 p.m. You can also provide feedback via laterstart@newton.k12.ma.us.

Upcoming dates:

10/4  at 8:30 in the morning PTO meeting.  The PTO will assess attendance and may choose to make all meetings in the evening

10/10  No school

10/11  Kindergarten classes are going apple picking

10/12  No school

10/14 Evacuation Drill – more information to follow

10/25 Flu Shots

10/25 and 11/1 Conferences

10/28  Halloween Dance

11/1  PTO Meeting at 6:30 PM

Communications Oct 1.docx