Family Newsletter Week 11/2/2023

Dear Brackett Families,

Welcome to Fall! Wow – the temperature has dropped, and our students are still going outside for recess everyday. Please make sure to send coats and hats to keep your child warm. Most importantly LABEL EVERYTHING!! As students run around, they warm up and winter wear is discarded. We can return things to individual children if their name or family name is on them. Thank you for helping with this!

I look forward to seeing you at the PTO meeting this evening at 6:30pm either in person at or on zoom. 

To attend Virtually: Google Meet Video call link: https://meet.google.com/tky-yudo-ptj

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 470-241-4808‬ PIN: ‪728 858 524‬#

One last reminder that next Wednesday, Nov 8 is a full day. School will end at 2:30pm. There is also no school on Friday, Nov 10.

Best,
Dr. Vice

New Information Overview

• Annual Pumpkin Recycling
• Culture & Creativity Fair
• Holiday Helpers
• 101 Dalmatians
• From the Social Workers

All previous family communication including more information about tonight's PTO meeting can be accessed in the News and Announcements on the district website. 

We are still looking for volunteers to set up the Book Fair!

Annual Pumpkin Recycling Event

Tomorrow, Friday, November 3rd

Bring your pumpkins to school to be responsibly composted by Black Earth Compost!

Why are we doing this? 

Pumpkins cannot go in yard waste as they are considered food waste. They are heavy and water-filled and we do not want them going in the trash to be incinerated and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Composting pumpkins allows them to be naturally processed for helping gardens, trees, and new food to grow.

Volunteers Needed! We're still looking for parent volunteers to help toss pumpkins into the truck when Black Earth Compost arrives at  3:30pm. This is fun! Your children are welcome to toss, too. 

Please contact the PTO Green Team if you're available to help, so that we can notify you in case the truck runs late.

Pumpkin recycling drop off guidelines:

• Families should bring their pumpkins to the area around the flagpole at the front of the school during school drop off on Friday, November 3rd (or by no later than 3pm)
• Pumpkins and gourds of any size will be accepted
• Remove candles/tea lights.
• Pumpkins with paint or bling will NOT be accepted – if you cut those pieces off, Black Earth Compost will accept the rest.

5th Annual Brackett Culture and Creativity Night

We identify ourselves in so many ways - by language of origin, abilities, family structure, ethnicity, etc. This diversity of cultural identity enriches our school. We want to highlight and celebrate the various cultures reflected in our school community.  We’ll celebrate with “museum tables,” arts and crafts and a sampling of cuisines from around the world!

Full information can be found here.

SIGN UP LINK:  https://tinyurl.com/ykze2jsw

Help Arlington Families this Holiday Season

The holidays are just around the corner! Every year, the Brackett community comes together to support Arlington Health & Human Services (AHHS) Holiday Help Program. Holiday Help assists Arlington families in need to purchase gifts for their children during the holidays. AHHS had requested direct donations. Please donate at https://ahhscc.org/ 

If you prefer, AHHS will also accept gift cards in $25 increments from Target, Kohls, Amazon, Dick's Sporting Goods, or Henry Bear’s Park. Please drop gift cards off with Virginia Killeen in the Brackett Office.

Donations are requested by November 22 at the latest.

If you would like to sign up as a gift recipient, please fill out this form. 

101 Dalmatians on Dec 3!

Check out the flyer for information about this amazing production! Thank you to Nicole Antonakas for all her hard work supporting our Brackett thespians.

From the Social Workers…

We welcome you to check out the Cartwheel Caregiver Webinar – Raising Healthy Kids in a Digital World – that can be accessed by registering here. Here are the flyers from Cartwheel in English, Spanish, and Portuguese that give more information about this event.