Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Principal Notes
11/24/2014

The Thanksgiving Break starts this Wednesday, 11/26.  Students are dismissed at 11:00 a.m. and are certainly looking forward to the time off.  Mr. Goldstein and a group of volunteer students have taken what was our traditional food drive for the Reading Food Pantry before the Thanksgiving break, and has reenergized the entire school community with a hat-day and a homeroom challenge to increase the amount of food brought into Parker.  The challenge has not only reenergized students and teachers but has reminded us that that many of our students and their families not only donate, but benefit from the effort and services of the Reading Food Pantry.  In a season when we are all seemingly more busy than we ever have been, the need to support our students and their families has never been greater.  If you have an opportunity, we would encourage and be grateful if you would support the Reading Food Pantry, located at the Old Methodist Church, on Salem Street, open on Mondays 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Fridays 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.  If you are interested in visiting or finding out more about the Food Pantry please contact Kerry Valle at 781.942.6659.  Thank you all for the help and support and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!      

Antonio and Finn bringing donations to the Reading Food Pantry
Grade 6 Students Finn and Antonio make a delivery to the Reading Food Pantry
There are too many students, parents, and teachers to thank who have participated in our food drive.  But special thanks need to go to Eric Goldstein, Chris Copeland and Vonda Gauthier, as well as all of the student volunteers who participated in this service opportunity.


The Festival of Trees – December 6th and 7th, 2014
The Reading Education Foundation (REF) has graciously invited all members of the community to attend this year’s Festival of Trees.  The Festival of Trees has become a tradition that is fun for all members of the family.  It is also a great place to catch up with friends and members of the community.  Parker teachers will be donating trees and always comment that during the setup they enjoy seeing former Parker students, some at the high school, others home from college and just jumping in to help out.  The two-day fundraiser has become a significant part of the REF fundraising efforts and directly benefits all of the schools.  If you are interested in finding out more please check out http://readingef.org/ .