January 3, 2024
Alcott Newsletter
January 3, 2024
Happy New Year Alcott! I hope that everyone had a wonderful vacation. I enjoyed time with my own family and, while I very much appreciated being able to slow down for a week, I am excited to be back at school. With the holidays behind us, these next few months are a great time to focus on learning and growth. Not that the fall isn’t a good time for learning, but early in the school year, we focus on new beginnings, which then transitions into Thanksgiving and December vacation. In January, we get a really nice long stretch of learning, unpunctuated by vacation or MCAS or other interruptions. It is a time of year when everyone’s hard work starts to pay off and we really see students start to grow! And so, while I do love a good vacation, this is why I am excited to be kicking off 2024 with all of your children!
In this newsletter, you will find a new year’s resolution, a recap of December’s all school meeting, a reminder about smart devices, information about MCAS and more!
Alcott’s Core Values: As we ring in the new year, Alcott is making a new year’s resolution of sorts. The entire school community is going to be refocusing our attention on what it means to be a student at Alcott. Given all that has happened in the last few years (COVID, rebuilding from COVID), not all families are aware of Alcott’s school values, something which we intend to fix! You may be familiar with Alcott’s logo, but how closely have you looked at the words around the logo?
Our logo communicates our school’s values, namely that, at Alcott, we are a caring, cooperative, respectful community of learners. In the coming months, our school community will be exploring what it means to be caring, to be cooperative, to be respectful, to be a part of a community, and to be a learner. For the month of January, we will be focusing on our first value of caring. Even our Give a Hoots for the month of January will focus on acts of caring and kindness! We look forward to exploring what each of these values means and seeing them in action.
Recap of December’s All School Meeting: We had a wonderful all school meeting at the end of 2023. Led by Anna Anderson, our string ensemble shared two of the songs that they have been working on. Mr. Gaudreau presented the money that students raised from the Turkey Trot to both Open Table and Concord Recreation. Thanks to our amazing community, we raised $11,294.00, which was the second largest amount of money raised in Turkey Trot history! Our fabulous 5th graders shared a recap of the food drive that they organized. Our school chorus was led by Mr. Toland in a wonderful winter song medley. And finally, we had a special visit from Bronson the Owl! It was wonderful to be able to bring the entire school together in a joyful celebration of our community.
Reminder about Cell Phones and Smart Devices: The new year tends to be a good time for us to review the district’s policy on cell phone and smart device use. At the elementary school level, students may not use smart devices during the school day. If your child brings a smart device to school, they must keep them turned off and in their backpacks or lockers during the day. If you need to contact your child during the school day, you are asked to call or email the main office to relay the message.
MCAS Schedule: Alcott’s 2024 MCAS schedule has been posted to the school website: https://alcott.concordps.org/
Kindergarten Registration: Kindergarten registration is officially open. Please share this information with anyone who may have school aged children in the fall!
