September 20, 2024

Weekly Information for September 20, 2024

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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

This week’s topics: 
  • Parker 101 for Parents/Guardians
  • Parker Concert Band Begins!
  • School Photo Retakes
  • Financial Aid Night
  • AP Exams for Seniors
  • Support Our Seniors Potluck
  • Community Connections Night
  • Parent/Guardian Access to Homework
  • Hourly Substitute Opportunity
  • Parker 5K Fun Run Volunteers Needed
  • Flu/COVID Vaccine Clinic
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 (deb@theparkerschool.org) or Matt Smith (matt@theparkerschool.org) 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 jdesmond@theparkerschool.org or Marena mcole@theparkerschool.org.

 

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 firstname.lastname@theparkerschool.org. 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 mbeganski@theparkerschool.org 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.

Parents of Athletes

Do you know how to find your way to Parker’s playing locations? We have a GREAT feature on our website with interactive Google maps - just enter your address to receive directions to any of our game and meet locations. Find this feature by clicking HERE.

Upcoming Dates of Note:
Wed - Sep 25 School Photo Retakes (morning)
Thu - Sep 26 Parker 101 - Part 1
Tue - Oct 1 Support Our Seniors Potluck
Tue - Oct 1 Community Connections Night
Tue - Oct 8 Parker 101 - Part 2
Wed - Oct 9 PSATs and SATs at Parker
Thu - Oct 10 Board of Trustees
Sun - Oct 13 Parker 5k Fun Run
Mon - Oct 14 Fall Holiday - NO SCHOOL
Tue - Oct 15 ACTs at Parker
Fri - Oct 18 PLP Conferences - No Classes
Looking for help with or concerning: Please contact:
a specific class or assignment the teacher of that class (see Parker email list)
technical support email: helpdesk@theparkerschool.org
your family's or student's health email: lzick@theparkerschool.org
mental health/emotional support needs email: skelly@theparkerschool.org
food insecurity/free and reduced school lunch needs email: mmckenna@theparkerschool.org

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.

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Weekly Information for January 16, 2026

By Cindy Johnson • January 16, 2026
Dear Parker Students, Families and Staff, I often find this time of year provides a reminder to me to have hope amidst the short, dark, cold winter days we endure. By mid-January, I can start to see signs of more light, and sometimes we experience an unseasonably warm day or two—and these changes, though small or temporary, remind me that little by little, every day, tangible things are changing. The Winter Solstice had 6 hours and 12 minutes less daylight than the Summer Solstice. That’s a pretty dramatic difference—but it happened a little bit at a time. Going the other direction works the same way; first we gain only a few seconds of light each day, but by early January, we are gaining a minute of light each day, and by early February, several minutes a day. Change is funny like that—sometimes it happens so gradually we don’t see or feel its impact right away and sometimes it barrels in so we are acutely aware of it. The physical shock of greeting students at the front door this morning in much colder temperatures than yesterday morning is a fine example of the latter. This was a change not to be ignored, and even though I knew to expect it, that didn’t mitigate the jarring effects. Still, that brief respite of days edging toward 50 degrees can fuel my hope that warmer days are coming. Learning is rarely a predictable increase like the amount of light we gain daily moving from winter to summer, but it is often an incremental shift. Sometimes the slow building of skills starts to become evident only with what feels like a lot of effort and time. If you have a student about to complete a mid-year Gateway, you will soon see this sort of change and growth in their work right before your eyes. If your student is working toward a June gateway, or even a gateway next January or June, I would encourage you to look for those small, incremental changes between here and there. Those sometimes-tiny changes are like the extra moments of light in a winter day; they are adding up to something bigger that will be well worth the wait, and I hope that can give us all a little hope this time of year. Best wishes for a restful weekend and a meaningful celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday on Monday, January 19. Bex

Weekly Information for January 9, 2026

By Cindy Johnson • January 10, 2026
Dear Parker Students, Families and Staff, We had the rare treat of a two-week winter break this year. It was great to welcome our well-rested students back to school on Monday. We have a busy three weeks remaining of the first semester. Students are completing assessments and many are preparing for Midyear Gateways. 68 students will Gateway, in every division and domain, on January 22-23. We look forward to celebrating this important milestone with our students and their families, teachers and peers. Second semester brings new electives for Division 3 students, new Community Blocks for all students, and the anticipation of end-of-year activities. We have officially kicked off student recruiting for next year. We have five information sessions scheduled in January and February, we are about to send postcards to prospective students, and we have a terrific group of student and adult Ambassadors. Thank you to everyone who helps to spread the word about Parker and welcome new students and families. Word of mouth has always been the most effective way that we introduce Parker to new families. If you have a neighbor or friend who may be interested in Parker, please share your experiences. We’d love your help boosting our school’s visibility. When you see our posts on Facebook or Instagram , please take a moment to like and share them with your networks. Your support helps us reach more families and celebrate the great things happening in our community. Additionally, remember, younger siblings need to apply to be eligible for admission. There is a sibling preference in the lottery, but you still need to apply. For additional details and a link to the application visit parker.school/enroll . We appreciate everyone who contacted their legislator and advocated for charter schools this fall. As you may know, there are multiple pieces of legislation under consideration that would lower the cap of charter-eligible students and limit funding for charter public schools. Many families are surprised to learn that students attending charter public schools receive less state funding than their peers in district schools. As lawmakers begin shaping next year’s state budget, we have a critical opportunity to make our voices heard and push for the equitable funding that our students deserve. We are about to launch Fair Funding Week 2026 led by the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. We hope that you will join us for this virtual week of celebration, advocacy, and collective action from February 2-6, 2026. Fair Funding Week kicks off with an inspiring virtual rally on Monday, February 2nd from 6:00–6:30 PM. Register now and stand with us Have a great weekend. Brian

Weekly Information for December 19, 2025

By Cindy Johnson • December 19, 2025
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By Cindy Johnson • December 12, 2025
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Weekly Information for December 5, 2025

By Cindy Johnson • December 5, 2025
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Weekly Information for November 21, 2025

By Cindy Johnson • November 22, 2025
Dear Parker Students, Families and Staff, We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. I had this quote on the whiteboard in my office several years ago, and every time I thought about erasing it and putting up different words of wisdom, someone would ask about it, refer to it, connect it to something they were doing or seeing or working on and I would decide to keep it up, feeling anew its pervasive relevance to the life of a school and the work of teaching and learning. I think what I appreciate about these words is that they acknowledge the connection between practice and performance, between the daily work we must do behind the bigger, public moments that showcase our work. Certainly, for our students these ideas are present in their classes with Parker’s emphasis on practice, feedback, and revision as the path to demonstrating mastery, but if you have ever trained at something—academic, athletic, musical, etc.—you likely know this relationship well from your own experience too. I admit I also find something a little unsatisfying about this quote in that it doesn’t seem to recognize the importance of celebration in this practice to performance loop. If we don’t take time to notice, acknowledge, and appreciate the work we do and the progress we make, we lose something important in the process. Research says not only should we celebrate the performances that go well, but we can stay motivated and make more progress when we pay attention to the places where our daily practice is demonstrating and contributing to growth. The importance of the practice-to-performance loop has been really clear in the close of the fall sports season and there are some notable athletic accomplishments to celebrate! Congratulations to Senior Emma Petricca who was selected to the 2025 Central MA Senior All-Star soccer team whose game will take place this Sunday (see additional info below). Last Saturday, the boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams wrapped up their seasons with impressive performances. The girls’ team finished 11th in the MIAA State Championships and the boys’ team won the MIAA State Championship! In addition to the team’s accomplishments, Parker senior Nathaniel Henshaw won the race and became the first individual champion in school history. Please join me in celebrating these students’ accomplishments—and take a moment to think about one of your own to celebrate too.  Wishing you a restful weekend, Bex