DATES TO REMEMBER

 
SEPTEMBER

13

Family Picture Day-pre-registration required.

Ann-Marie Whalen at 781/863-5534 or whalenann@hotmail.com

18

Back to School Night

See below for details

23

Big Backyard Townwide Training, 9:30 – 11:30 am

Central Office,146 Maple Street, Room 2 in basement

24

Big Backyard Townwide Training 7:00 – 8:45 pm

New Harrington, 146 Maple Street, Art room

24

School Pictures – 8:45 am – 12:00 noon

To volunteer contact Ann-Marie Whalen at 781/863-5534 or whalenann@hotmail.com.

OCTOBER

3

Sally Foster Gift Wrap Sale Deadline

Please send order form in to classroom.

3

Jump for the Arts

6:30 – 8:30 pm in the gym

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Note about Back to School Night
from Louise Lipsitz, Principal

Please join us next Thursday, September 18th, at the Hastings School Curriculum Night. 

Please note that this is an evening for parents/caregivers only.

We look forward to reviewing curriculum as well as homework and classroom expectations.  If you have an individual question regarding your child's progress, we ask that you schedule an individual meeting.

The schedule for the evening is as follows:

6:00-6:45 Meetings in Kindergarten- Second grade classrooms

7:00-7:15 Adults meet in the gym ~welcome and introduction of specialist and student support teachers

7:30-8:15 Meetings in Third-Fifth grade classrooms

We look forward to seeing you next Thursday night!

 

 

A Note from Celeste Freeman, Guidance Counselor

MORNING PARENT GROUP AT HASTINGS SCHOOL

Come join a Hastings parent group based on the Open Circle program developed at the Stone Center, Wellesley College.

You’ll learn how to reinforce the social and problem solving skills all Hastings children will be learning at school this year. Sessions will be 5 consecutive Tuesdays starting on October 7th and ending November 3rd from 8:50-10:20. For more information or to reserve a spot, contact Celeste Freeman at cfreeman@sch.ci.Lexington.ma.us or 781 860-5800.

Celeste Freeman LICSW, MPH

 

PTA NEWS

Coming soon:  JUMP FOR THE ARTS!
Sponsored by ACT
(Arts Created Together)

 

What is Jump for the Arts?
ACT stands for Arts Created Together, a group of parent and teacher volunteers who work to bring visual, performing, and creative arts to Hastings’ to enhance the school curriculum for all students. ACT programs include special assemblies, artist residencies, author visits, and much more! Last year ACT programs included: Storytelling through Movement Dance Residency with Mass Movement, Brewster Bayside Skippers Jump Rope Team, and David Coffin -- Life at Sea: A Voyage in Song.

volunteers who work to bring visual, performing, and creative arts to Hastings’ to enhance the school curriculum for all students. ACT programs include special assemblies, artist residencies, author visits, and much more! Last year ACT programs included: Storytelling through Movement Dance Residency with Mass Movement, Brewster Bayside Skippers Jump Rope Team, and David Coffin -- Life at Sea: A Voyage in Song.

When: October 3, 2008 6:30-8:30 pm

What: A new fundraiser. Join your fellow Hastings families for a night of jump roping to live music. The donations generated will help to fund the great author and artist visits to Hastings. Pizza and beverages will be available in the cafeteria for a reasonable price.

Where: Hastings School

Who can participate?: All Hastings families. Come jump rope to live music!

Volunteers are needed for this fun new event. We need folks for a variety of duties from sign-in table to being one of the musical performers. Please contact Jane Hundley at 781-538-5388 or hundleyjane@gmail.com for more information. This event is a great way to get involved in the Hastings community!

Please note the Lexington Public Schools Policy: At any event outside the normal school day, the responsibility to monitor a student's food intake rests with the student's parent(s) or guardian(s)."

We will be serving Domino’s Pizza, cheese, pepperoni and vegetable, at this ACT event.

 

PTA Membership/Directory Sign-Ups!

If you have not yet sent in your membership form and check for the PTA, there is still some time! Your membership benefits our teachers and students in so many ways. In addition, your completed membership form is your ticket to the Hastings directory (coming soon)!

You can find additional forms at the PTA Table in the Lobby or else at this link: http://hastings.lexingtonma.org/Forms/Directory-Membership08-09.pdf.

Forms can be returned to school or to Heidi Pasternak at 51 Ward Street, Lexington, MA.

Sally Foster Gift Wrap Sale

This year’s PTA Fall Fundraiser will once again be offering parents, family and friends the opportunity to shop the Sally Foster Catalog. The sale will start this Friday September 12th and end October 3rd. This is a major fundraiser for our school. PLEASE support this PTA fundraiser. Our children’s teachers have lots of plans, but the PTA needs to raise funds to support these plans. Remember our children are the beneficiaries of our fundraising efforts. You can extend the sale to out of town friends and family by sending them the link to the online catalog www.sallyfoster.com and asking them to use our school account number 250075. Orders over $70 get free shipping. We will be offering the magazine catalog again this year. Once again the Boston Bruins are teaming with Sally Foster to offer a free ticket to the Bruins to families who order 7 items.

Remember if you want to support the PTA, but aren’t interested in the gift wrap you can simply donate directly to the PTA. Thanks.

Debbie Crooke (Chair)

Big Backyard- Hastings Nature Study Program- Needs You!

Participants need only bring curiosity, appreciation for the natural world, and a desire to help children enjoy nature. Volunteer trainings will be held at Hastings for each grade level at each season (three total for the year). Fran Ludwig, Lexington Elementary Science Curriculum Specialist will provide a Big Backyard Basic Training for new volunteers townwide. The General Big Backyard training is for parents new to the nature study program and those who want an overview of the program and a review of basic environmental science principles. Fran is an inspiring teacher. Her training will be held:

Tuesday, September 23, 9:30-11:30 am at Central Office ("Old Harrington"), 146 Maple Street, Room 2 in basement and again on Wednesday, September 24, 7:00-8:45 pm at "New" Harrington School, in the Art Room

Specific grade level trainings:

Kindergarten volunteers should attend town wide volunteer training (see above)

For those Hastings Parents who have already done BBY in the past we will be having Hastings grade level trainings as following:

Grade 1 -Thurs., Sept. 25, 9-10:00 am

Grade 2 -Thurs., Oct. 2, 9:00-10:00 am

Grade 3 –Tues., Oct. 7, 8:45-10:15 am

Please meet in the lower level lobby.

Grades 4 and 5 – stay tuned.

Picture Day Is Coming!
Wednesday, September 24th

Volunteers are needed for picture day - Wednesday, September 24th! Please contact Ann-Marie Whalen at whalenann@hotmail.com or 781-863-5534, if you are able to help out. Volunteer time slots are 8:45-10:15 am and 10:15-12:00 noon (or any time you may be available during these hours). This is a simple and fun volunteer opportunity. Join us and help your child’s class look their best!

PTA Tip #1

Outsourced Fundraising

If you shop at Target we would like you to know that our school ID number is: 59441. Families who have already used this number (and a Target charge card) have raised over $1,000.00 for Hastings. We don't want to be overly commercial -- however, in this tougher economy, where we have a very tight PTA budget, we will point out ways to support school that do link to commercial ventures. No pressure, just information! To activate this program, use this web address: https://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-005174

METCO Family Friends Program

Hastings is the home of 17 Boston students this year who show incredible commitment and dedication by waking very early every day and taking a long bus ride to attend school. The Family Friends program provides a wonderful opportunity for Hastings/Lexington families to establish stronger connections with the Boston students and their families by hosting a Boston student one Thursday afternoon (12:15-3:00 pm) a month (except December) for a play date.

At this time, we are looking for several Lexington families who can be Family Friends for our new 1st grade Boston students as well as a few continuing Boston students of other grades. We can pair each Boston student with one or more families (multiple families can alternate months). We particularly need Lexington families of students in Mrs. Sweet's 1st grade class. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Sion Kim Harris, 781-861-9154 or skh2008@rcn.com.

The visiting days for 2008-2009 are 10/2, 11/6, 1/8, 2/5, 3/12, 4/2, 5/7, and 6/4.

Bulletin Submissions

should be emailed to
hastings_news@yahoo.com
The deadline is Tuesday at noon.

Reminder:

The Hastings calendar is online at: http://calendar.yahoo.com/hastingsweb

For the Hastings website, please visit http://hastings.lexingtonma.org