Weekly Information for September 20, 2024

Dear Parker families, students and staff,

It was great to see everyone at Back to School Night last evening. I hope that you experienced Parker as your child does. Thank you for jumping in as if you were back in school. It made for a fun and meaningful evening for all of us. We look forward to seeing you again for PLP conferences on Friday, October 18th. Your child’s advisor will send details and an opportunity to sign up soon.

As you may know, this year we are celebrating Parker’s 30th Anniversary. We were founded in 1995 on the promise that we could get to know students well, to challenge and support students to use their mind well, prioritize depth over coverage, demonstrate mastery and support one another with a tone of decency and trust. We are proud of the tremendous success of our current students and 25 graduating classes!

We have a series of events and celebrations planned across the year. The goal is to reflect on the past, celebrate the present and prepare for a tremendously successful 30 years and beyond. We do all of this in the spirit of Parker – inclusive, welcoming and with students at the center. Please join us!

The first event is a Fun Run/Walk on Sunday, October 13th at 11:00 AM here on Devens. You can walk, run, hop, or skip the 5K – in-person or virtually – in costume or typical 5K attire. During and after the event, there will be family lawn games, a food truck, music, and more! Everyone who registers by next week will be guaranteed a Parker t-shirt designed by a talented graduate - and they are pretty cool shirts! Running, walking or cheering, we hope to see you there.

www.parker.school/run

Brian

Parker 101 for Parents/Guardians

Please join us for an orientation to Parker especially for parents/guardians who are new (or relatively new) to the school. These are intended to be companion sessions; you are welcome to attend just one, though we hope you can join us at both. Please contact Deb Merriam ([email protected]) or Matt Smith ([email protected]) with questions.

• Part 1: Academics, Thursday, September 26th, 7-8:30 PM
  This session will focus primarily on the classroom experience and academic structures/expectations at Parker.

• Part 2: School Culture and Communication, Tuesday, October 8th, 7-8:30 PM
  This session will focus on "everything else" about the school, including the advisory program, home-school communication, "discipline", extracurriculars & athletics, food programs, library and technology, and other important family and cultural aspects of the Parker experience.

Parker Concert Band rehearsals begin next week!

Parker’s Concert Band is starting soon! You can still join us provided you know the basics of playing a woodwind, brass, or percussion instrument. We even have 14 instruments in our collection that we can loan to you at no cost as well. Our rehearsals begin Tuesday, September 24th in Room 13. Rehearsals are held every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30-4:30 PM. We will perform at Café Wednesday in mid-January, and we plan to offer another term starting in the spring semester. The activity fee for each semester is $100, and need-based assistance is available.

The details for signing up are:

1. If you missed the informational meeting on Sept. 10, please fill out this sign-up form.
2. To pay the $100 activity fee for the semester, just complete your payment through Parker’s Unipay page, clicking the “band” and “fall” options from the list. You can also bring a check or cash to the office in an envelope with your name and “Band fee” written on it. Checks should be made out to FW Parker Charter Essential School.

Students can drop your instrument off in room 13 before advisory on rehearsal days. Please contact us with instrument requests, need-based assistance requests, or any questions you may have: Jim [email protected] or Marena [email protected].

School Photo Retakes

Students who missed having their photo taken on registration day and those wishing for a redo should visit the photographers in the morning next Wednesday, September 25, between 8 AM and 10 AM. These photos are used on school IDs, in Office 365, and in the yearbook, so please make sure you’ve had your photo taken this year. See Monique with questions.

Financial Aid Night

Attention Senior Families! Financial Aid night is Wednesday, September 25th at 6:30 PM. During this virtual event, Kevin Fudge from MEFA will be explaining the college financial aid process. Keep an eye out for an email from Jinnee that will include the meeting links for the event.

AP Exam

Attention Div 3 students! While Parker does not offer traditional AP classes, any student interested in taking an AP exam should see Jinnee by October 1st.

Support Our Seniors Potluck on October 1st

Seniors and their families are invited to join in conversation around the expectations, excitement, and challenges of the year ahead on Tuesday, October 1st from 5:30-7 PM in the Gym. Senior Seminar teachers/advisors will provide an overview of the senior year, Senior Project, and the graduation requirements along with this year’s installment of “Dear Diary”—a not-to-be-missed crowd favorite! Please bring a dish to share!

Community Connections Night on October 1st

We invite ALL members of the Parker community to meet with the Class of 2025 and learn about their Senior Projects on Tuesday, October 1st from 7-8:15 PM in the Gym! We hope you will offer suggestions for…

• resources they could access
• people/organizations with whom they might collaborate
• experiential opportunities they could pursue
• product ideas they might consider

Please feel free to bring guests from inside and outside the Parker community!

Parent/Guardian Access to Homework: School Connection app

Parker offers parental access to student class information through several mechanisms. Over the next few weeks, we will share more about those avenues of information here. Today, we are highlighting ‘School Connection’ which is a phone app (part of Microsoft Teams) you can download and then link to your student’s “Teams Assignments” account. This allows you as a parent/guardian to see nightly homework assignments, if that is information that would be helpful to you as you support your student’s success. Please follow the Parker instructions available here: School Connection Create Account.pdf. Note that you will need your student’s Parker email to link the account – the format for those is [email protected]. We will offer some parent “help sessions” to learn more about these resources later this fall, so stay tuned!

Hourly Substitute Opportunity

Parker is currently seeking responsible, caring adults interested in working with middle and high school students as classroom substitutes. Familiarity with Parker’s mission and academic program is preferred. Substitutes will be called on an “as needed” basis based on their availability and will support students in following plans left by classroom teachers. Please contact Monique at [email protected] if interested.

Last Call for 5K T-shirts

Register for the Parker 5K Fun Run by 9/25 to be guaranteed a t-shirt! www.parker.school/run. This will be a fun community event- come run, walk, skip, or jump the 5K in a Halloween costume or not! If you can’t make it to the run, signup to run virtually and still receive a t-shirt! T-shirts can be sent if not local.

Flu/COVID Vaccine Clinic

Our Flu AND COVID-19 (Moderna) vaccine clinic has been confirmed for Friday, October 18th, on PLP Day. This clinic is for staff, students, and family members (ages 5 and up). Please schedule your appointment from 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM by clicking this link.

The Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School is committed to equal employment and educational opportunity for all members of the school community and prohibits discrimination on the basis of the basis of race, color, gender, pregnancy or pregnancy status, religion, gender identity, age, national origin, sexual orientation, homelessness, or disability, in the operation of the educational programs, activities, or employment policies.