Classes resume on Monday, April 28th. We look forward to welcoming your student(s) back to class.
Below is a quick update on what’s coming up in our schools and community next week.
News & Notes

Parent/Guardian Forum to be Held April 29th at ESCS Auditorium
Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi, Chief of Police Charles Femino and Patty Contente, Manager of the Somerville Trauma Response Network, will hold a second forum for SPS parents and guardians on Tuesday, April 29th at 7pm, at the East Somerville Community School Auditorium to provide information regarding the recent arrest of a former Somerville teacher. Representatives from the Somerville Trauma Response Network and the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center will also be available that evening at the ESCS to provide additional supports.
On April 17, Somerville City and School officials received extremely disturbing news regarding the arrest of a former Somerville teacher. The U.S. Attorney’s Office notified Somerville officials that a current Cambridge school teacher had been arrested on charges of transportation of child pornography. The individual is a Somerville resident and former teacher in the Somerville Public Schools. Officials from the School District, Somerville Police Department, and other agencies and departments in the City are working with federal and state authorities on this complex investigation. An initial information forum for parents and guardians was held on Friday, April 18th at the East Somerville Community School. City and School officials will continue to reach out to the community as information becomes available, and to provide information on support services and resources. Additional information and resources for parents/guardians is available through this link.

Welcoming Spring with School Garden Planting Parties
Farm to School Project Director Karyn Novakowski and Sadie Richards, Garden Coordinator for Groundwork Somerville, recently hosted Garden Planting Parties at the Winter Hill Community Innovation School and at the Kennedy School. Morning showers on Wednesday paved the way for a fun afternoon in the school garden at the Winter Hill in the first of many exciting school garden events to come.

ESCS Wins ‘Building Project of the Year’ Award
The rebuilt East Somerville Community School opened its doors to much fanfare in September 2013, after several years of waiting. The stunning new facility is now home to ESCS students, teachers and families who are thoroughly enjoying a vibrant, new learning environment, and community members from throughout the City who are also enjoying beautiful state-of-the-art public activity and event space at this new East Somerville community hub.
Earlier this month, the City of Somerville was awarded the CMAA’s (Construction Management Association of America) 2014 Building Project of the Year Award for a project costing less than $40 million, in recognition of the outstanding work on the ESCS project. Congratulations! For a video tour of the ESCS, visit: http://vimeo.com/74377296.

What’s Happening

Saturday, April 26th: Somerville Spring Cleanup
Residents are invited to join the City of Somerville, Groundwork Somerville, Comcast Cares, Ward Captains and City officials for the 2014 annual Spring Cleanup and Community Barbecue, on April 26 starting at 10a.m. (Rain date set for Sunday, April 27.) Volunteers will help prepare the city for spring and summer by planting flowers, weeding open spaces, and otherwise cleaning the community following the long winter months. Refreshments and t-shirts will be provided to all participants from 10a.m. to noon at all cleanup locations. Participants are also invited to a community barbecue and SomerGreen Festival immediately following the cleanup from noon to 2pm at the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse on Shore Drive. For a list of meet-up locations, visit http://www.somervillema.gov/alerts/2014-somerville-spring-clean. For more information, contact Carlene Campbell-Hegarty at (617) 625-6600, x2615 or ccampbell@somervillema.gov.

April 26th: Final Chance to Meet “Charlie Bubbles” in Somerville
Just in time for baseball season, author Paul Carafotes introduces “Charlie Bubbles to Fenway,” a new book in The Adventures to Charlie Bubbles series. There’s still time to find out about Charlie’s visit to Fenway on: Saturday, April 26, 11am-1pm at the Somerville City Club, 20 Innerbelt Road (seating is limited; rsvp to charliebubbles3@yahoo.com); Saturday, April 26, 2:30pm at the Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Avenue. For more information about Charlie Bubbles, visit http://www.CharlieBubblesBook.com.

Monday, April 28th – Wednesday, May 21st: Introduction to Competitive Swimming
This program for students in Grades 3 through 8 is based around the four competitive swim strokes: Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. The first day of training will be developing and understanding a good Freestyle swimming stroke, and learning how to do starts and turns. Each day forward will introduce the next swimming stroke in the order listed above, while reviewing the previous day’s stroke, starts and turns, providing students with a good progression each day to develop strength and endurance while learning a new competitive stroke. The Introduction to Competitive Swimming class will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 3 – 4pm starting April 28 and ending May 21, 2014. This is a free program to Somerville Public Schools students! Program participants must:
(1) be able to swim 2 lengths of the pool using any stroke listed above; and
(2) bring a bathing suit, goggles, towel and swimming cap (or pull hair back into a ponytail) to each session.
Register by calling the Kennedy Pool at (617) 629-5445 or emailing rcheney@k12.somerville.ma.us.
April: National Poetry Month
Kid! and Snowflake! multimedia magazines are building their second annual online Poetry Wall. Students in grades K-8 are invited to submit one or more of their best original poems. Poems should include the poet’s name and, for contact purposes only, his/her grade, school and teacher’s or parent’s name. Please send all poetry to kid@12zine.com. The wall will be built during April, but submissions are welcome any time. Poems on the wall are eligible for possible selection for a future print edition of Snowflake! or Kid! magazine.

May 1st: Somerville High School Spring Concert 2014
The Somerville High School Music Department invites you to a spectacular spring concert on Thursday, May 1st, 7:00pm at the Somerville High School Field House (81 Highland Avenue). Event admission is free and includes refreshments and raffles! The evening will feature performances by the SHS Dance Team, SHS Chorus, SHS Band, SHS Orchestra, SHS Drumline, SHS World Percussion Ensemble, SHS Advanced Guitar Ensemble, and the SHS Jazz Band.

May 4th: Healey School 3rd Biennial Young Artists in Action Arts Gala (YAA!)
The Healey School is excited to announce the 3rd Biennial Healey School young Artists in Action Arts Gala (YAA!) as part of Open Studios weekend on Sunday, May 4th from 2:00-5:00 p.m. The event takes place at the Healey School, 5 Meacham St., Somerville. Free admission. Interactive family-inspired arts party with music performances, art activities, shadow puppets, refreshments, and large silent auction. All proceeds go towards funding Healey School enrichment and off-site learning activities. Information: lisanewton50@comcast.net.

Somerville Adult Evening Classes – Join the Learning Adventure!
Learn a new skill, or polish up on a particular interest. Enrollment is open, but HURRY. Some classes are under way!
· Lecture Series:
o Declutter your paperwork!: $20 – Tuesday, May 13, 7-8:30pm
o Extreme Couponing: $25 – Tuesday, May 13, 6-8:30pm ($5 discount for PTA members)
o Financial Planning and Beyond: $15 – Tuesday, May 20, 6:30-8:30pm
· Classes in:
o YOGA: April 29 and May 6, 13, 20; 7:45-8:45pm (drop-in $7/class)
o Gold Zumba: $25 for five (5) 1-hour classes: April 29 and May 6, 13, 20, 27; 6:30-7:30pm (drop-in $7/class)
o Furniture Making: 3-hour classes: May 15, 22, 29 and June 5, 12, 19; 6-9pm (drop-in $15/class)
o Sewing: $15 a class; Thursdays, 6-9pm; No sewing machine needed!
o Spanish: $15 a class; Tuesdays, 6-8pm; April 29, May 6, 13, 20, 27 ends with a Spanish dinner celebration.
o English, History, Math, Science, Medical Interpretation: $15 for most classes, others bundled for a bargain; both Tuesday and Thursday evenings; 6-9pm
Register by phone or in person. Call: Evening School Principal Sophia Carafotes at (617) 628-2594, M-F 8am-4pm or Tuesday and Thursday evenings at (617) 625-6600, x6100, 6-9pm. To register in person, stop by the Somerville High School Main Office (81 Highland Avenue) any Tuesday or Thursday evening between 6-8pm prior to the start of the course, or on the night of the course. Pay by check or money order made payable to Somerville Adult Evening School.

This Week in the schools:
Visit your child’s school website, http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us/schools, and click on the “calendar of events” link at the top of the page for a complete list of all the activities happening at school this month.
Monday, April 28th to Friday, May 2nd: Healey School Book Fair, at the Healey School (5 Meacham Street)
Monday, April 28th, 5:00-8:00pm: Friends of Healey Fundraiser at Redbones Restaurant (Davis Square)
Tuesday, April 29th, at 8:30am: Healey Student of the Quarter Breakfast, at the Healey School (5 Meacham Street)
Tuesday, April 29th, 6:00-8:30pm: Kennedy School PTA Conferences, at the Kennedy School (5 Cherry Street)
Wednesday, April 30th, 8:30am-1:00pm: AFAS Grade 5 Visit to Otis House
Wednesday, April 30th, 5:00-7:30pm: Next Wave/Full Circle PTA Conferences (8 Bonair Street)
Wednesday, April 30th, 6:00-8:30pm: SHS PTSA Conferences, at Somerville High School (81 Highland Ave.)
Thursday, May 1st, 8:30am-12:30pm: Somerville High School NACAC College Fair Field Trip
Thursday, May 1st, 1:15-2:15pm: Healey School Grade 4 Science Fair, at the Healey School (5 Meacham St.)
Thursday, May 1st, 6:00-8:30pm: AFAS PTA Conferences, at the Argenziano School (290 Washington St.)
Thursday, May 1st, at 7:00pm: SHS Spring Concert, at the Somerville High School Field House (81 Highland)
Friday, May 2nd, at 6:30pm: Somerville Council of PTA’s 40th Annual Dinner Dance, at Anthony’s Function Hall, Malden
Sunday, May4th, 2:00-5:00pm: Healey School 3rd Biennial Young Artists in Action Arts Gala (YAA!), at the Healey School (5 Meacham Street)

Upcoming School Committee Meetings
You can find the complete School Committee schedule, agendas and meeting minutes (as approved) online at http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us/school_committee.
Monday, April 28th, at 7:00pm: School Committee Regular Meeting, in the Board of Aldermen’s Chambers of Somerville City Hall (93 Highland Avenue)

Community Events
· Saturday Homework Help for Teens at the Somerville Public Library: FREE math, science and writing support at the Somerville Public Library (SPL) Central Branch. Saturdays, 1:00-2:30pm in the SPL Teen Room. No appointment is necessary. Teens just need to bring your work.
· Saturday, April 26, starting at 10:00 a.m.: Somerville Spring Cleanup. For a list of meet-up locations, visit http://www.somervillema.gov/alerts/2014-somerville-spring-clean. For more information, contact Carlene Campbell-Hegarty at (617) 625-6600, x2615 or ccampbell@somervillema.gov.
· Sunday, April 27, at 1:00 p.m.: Cat Mountain, presented by Behind the Mask Theatre at the Geological Lecture Hall (24 Oxford Street, Cambridge). Original adaptation of a magical Japanese folktale featuring puppetry, dance, masks, and Japanese theater styles. After the performance, join the actors in the Peabody Museum for a mask-making workshop! Ages 4 and up. For tickets and information, http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/family. $5 advance registration includes free Museum admission.
· Sunday, May 4th: Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger. Register and Pledge to make a difference in your community at Project Bread’s annual Walk for Hunger. Every May, more than 40,000 people walk a 20-mile course through Greater Boston, raising awareness of the reality of hunger in Massachusetts. To find out how you can get involved and make a difference in your community, visit http://www.projectbread.org/walk.
Looking Ahead
Check our online Calendar of events (www.somerville.k12.ma.us/events) for more information.
· Monday, May 5th: Rules Management Subcommittee Meeting
· Monday, May 5th: WSNS PTA Conferences
· Monday, May 5th: School Committee Regular Meeting
· Tuesday, May 6th: Brown School Council Meeting
· Tuesday, May 6th: ESCS PTA Conferences
· Tuesday, May 6th: 2nd Annual World Language Awards Night
· Tuesday, May 6th: ESCS Museum Night
· Wednesday, May 7th: Half Day of School
· Wednesday, May 7th: SHS Vocational Senior Awards Banquet
· Thursday, May 8th: Demystifying the Common Core Standards
· Thursday, May 8th: Healey School PTA Conferences
· Thursday, May 8th: Spring String Fling
· Thursday, May 8th: School Committee Meeting for Finance & Facilities
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Susana Hernandez Morgan
Coordinator of Grant Writing & Information
Somerville Public Schools
42 Cross Street
Somerville, MA 02145
617.629.5221
Internal office extension: 6013
http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us
@SvilleSchools