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The Hastings Green Team will share a weekly Green Tip! Tip #4: Cartons are no longer recycled in the town of Lexington due to the difficulty of separating the lining from the paper. Milk cartons, juice cartons, and ice cream cartons all now go in the trash (The town website is being updated). | November 6, 2019In this Bulletin
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPALThe Lexington Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC), is a parent organization that seeks to support families whose children have identified special needs. The group holds meetings, open to all, that provide information about special education topics, services for children and families, and relevant community issues. Is your child on an IEP (Individualized Education Programs) or a 504 Plan? The LexSEPAC, is administering an anonymous parent survey to all parents with children in Special Education or with a 504 accommodation plan. All responses, including comments, will be kept strictly anonymous and will be collated by the parent LexSEPAC group. Complete the Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JSZLT9W We are interested in your perspectives on placement and service delivery, school partnerships and communication. Our aim is to provide some meaningful feedback to Lexington Public Schools, to aid in the development of the Special Education and 504 process and programming going forward. Results will be collected by the parent LexSEPAC group and presented to the LPS administration and school committee in early 2020. A parent Q & A will follow the public presentations in the Spring of 2020.For questions or more information, please contact presidents@lexsepta.org. To learn more about LexSEPAC and the work that we do, visit lexsepta.org.
Hastings NewsYour PTO $ at Work The PTO awarded a mini grant to Rachel Philippe for therapy games and books for use in all grades K-5. The books and games will be used to enhance students' therapeutic experience through unique variations of popular games including Operation, Apples to Apples and Hoot Owl Hoot. The full list of games and books are listed here. School Picture Retake Day School pictures were delivered last week and we hope you love your child’s portrait. But, if you are not happy, don’t worry! School picture retakes will be on Thursday, November 14th. On retake day, students who were absent will take their portrait photo. And, students who wish for a retake photo, please bring your pictures and provide any notes for the photographer. Thank you! If you have question please email Grace Lee & Christine Manavian at schoolpictures@hastings-pto.org.  Square 1 Art Fundraiser Deadline for paper order forms (to be returned to your child's teacher or the Square 1 Art folder on the PTO table) is Friday, November 15 at 3:00pm and deadline for online orders is Friday, November 22 at midnight. Celebrate your Hastings student's artistic talents with gifts from Square 1 Art! All students have received personalized catalogs, showcasing their artwork and the many products available for purchase. Water bottles, tote bags and mugs are popular gifts for the artist and for family members. Get a jump start on your holiday shopping and support Hastings in the process. The more you buy, the more our school earns. If we are able to reach our participation goal of 45%, we receive an even higher profit percentage, so every purchase counts! All products will go home with students by Monday, December 16th. Please email squareone@hastings-pto.org if you have any questions.    Spirit Wear Available Now - Open until Nov 11! Anyone in your family need a winter new hat or sweatpants? Here is your chance to show your Hastings and Lexington pride with the 2019 Hastings Spirit Wear sale!! We've added a couple of NEW items this year -- Lexington shirts, 10th anniversary Harvest Run gear, and a tote bag! Items make great gifts for the holidays, so start your spirit wear shopping today. Your student can proudly wear these items to show their Hastings school spirit!!! The online store (https://hastingsf19.itemorder.com/sale) will remain open until Monday, November 11. All major credit cards accepted and orders will be delivered right to your home before the holidays! Questions? Please contact Kim at spiritwear@hastings-pto. Acknowledgements LEF Trivia Bee A big thank you and congratulations to our Hastings Trivia Bee teams! The Lexington Education Foundation (LEF) Trivia Bee was Monday night and 40 teams competed well in the friendly battle of wits that raises funds to enhance educational excellence in the Lexington Public Schools. Thanks to Hastings Teams: Bee a Hastings Hero- Louise Lipsitz, Becky DeSantis, Brittany Medeiros Ha-sting-ers - Ryan Horvath, Chris Knittel, Ara Najarian Upcoming EventsPerfectly Puzzled Date: Thursday, November 14 Time: 7:00-8:15pm Location: Hastings Gym We will be hosting our fourth annual math night this fall, which is newly named Perfectly Puzzled! A team of Hastings' teachers will be facilitating the evening and we are thrilled to share these messages and resources with you! The event will be similar to last year as we will be focusing our evening together on facilitating math Perfectly Puzzled is November 14th, from 7:00 - 8:15pm. Doors open at 6:45pm! Please sign up using this link to the google form so that we can plan accordingly. Click above or copy and paste the link below. *Note: We welcome you to bring your children! Please only bring children that attend Hastings. You will be together all evening and puzzling through the tasks as a team. :) -From Hastings teachers across grades and roles
Hastings Multicultural Potluck Date: Wednesday, November 20 Time: 6:15-8:15pm Location: Hastings School The Hastings Multicultural Potluck is a fun annual event where we all get to celebrate the diverse cultural background of the Hastings community. In addition to a potluck dinner, the event will include the opportunity to visit cultural booths, watch/participate in a Parade of Many Cultures and a multicultural performance. (If you prefer to dine at home, you can still join for the rest of the event.) Festive/cultural attire is appreciated. All types of food welcome (pizza, take-out and macaroni and cheese included) but due to allergies at Hastings, please be sure that your dish does NOT contain any nuts, nut products, nut oils, etc. or shellfish. RSVP here with number of participants and preferred seating time (don’t worry if something changes in the last moment - you can switch times or come without an RSVP, but getting a rough idea will help us plan). https://forms.gle/oqxzDvnPKmPSoXJ89 Volunteers needed - If you are available to assist with event set up (5-6:15pm) and/or clean-up (8:15-8:45pm) please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080C4CADAF2FAB9-multicultural or if you would like to host a cultural booth, please write to us at potluck@hastings-pto.org. Early Literacy Coffee with the Literacy Specialists Date: Friday, November 22 Time: 8:15-9:00am Location: Hastings Library Join the literacy specialists, Dr. Reinhart, Miss Muzyka, and Ms. Densmore, to learn about what early literacy learning looks like in Lexington Public Schools and what you can do to support your student at home. If you have questions please email Ms. Densmore at adensmore@lexingtonma.org.
PTO Meeting with Superintendent Julie Hackett Date: Tuesday, December 10 Time: 7-8:30pm Location: Hastings School Please mark your calendars for the next general meeting on Tuesday, December 10th. We will be joined by Superintendent Julie Hackett, who will speak about the Lexington Public School District and answer any questions you may have. Please look out for an opportunity to rsvp soon. Babysitting will be provided. If you have questions, please email president@hastings-pto.org. School CommitteeRedistricting Hearing:
Upcoming Meetings:
All meetings are at 7pm in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room (1625 Mass. Ave.) unless otherwise noted. Full schedule is posted on the town website. Redistricting information & Timeline October 1: Redistricting Announcement Proposed Redistricting Recommendations were presented to the School Committee on October 1 for review. All of the 6 Elementary Schools and the 2 Middle Schools will be impacted by these proposed changes, and Hastings will grow from 439 students to 646 students. More information is available in the School Committee Packet and Redistricting Update Website (now with searchable maps). October 15: Redistricting Update The School Committee agenda packet for the October 15 regular School Committee meeting is available here. It contains updated redistricting information and FAQs both in the superintendent's report and in the redistricting section (updated slides). October 16 and 24: School Committee Hearings Opportunities for public comment held. October 31: Superintendent Dr. Julie Hackett sent out this letter Redistricting Letter - Oct 31, 2019 outlining a revised timeline for LPS Redistricting.
More information on redistricting can be found at Redistricting Updates on the LPS website. November 5: School Committee Meeting. The agenda and materials are here. The meeting was broadcast live and will be available to watch on LexMedia. Please note: All questions about redistricting can be sent to president@hastings-pto.org. We will send a message to Superintendent Julie Hackett who will answer questions. There is also an online form to submit comments in addition to the hearings listed above. School Committee Liaisons Upcoming Month's Calendar
Community EventsLexington Human Rights CommitteeUpcoming EventsPanel Discussion: The Impact of Hate and How We Combat It Date: Monday, November 18 Time: 7-8:30pm Location: Cary Library Please see this link to view the latest Community Events. These events are announced through the PTA Presidents' Council (PPC). Community Events are also emailed out to the Hastings Families Google Group approximately twice a week. Other members of the Hastings Community are welcome to post to the group as well by sending an email to hastingsfamilies@googlegroups.com.
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