PHA Family Newsletter

• 04/15/2024-04/19/2024: ALL Schools Closed: Patriot's Day and April School Vacation
  
• 04/23/2024: Grades 7-12 Talent Show (Essex)
• 04/23/2024: Board of Trustees Family Listening Session 7:00-8:00 PM via Zoom
• 04/24/2024 and 04/25/2024: 7th and 8th Grade ELA MCAS
• 04/30/2024: Thrive Market 3:00-4:00 PM (Franklin)
  
• 05/04/2024: International Night 5:30-8:00 PM (East Somerville Community School)
• 05/07/2024 and 05/08/2024: 8th Grade STE (Science) MCAS
• 05/14/2024 and 05/16/2024: 5th Grade Math MCAS
• 05/15/2024 and 05/16/2024: 7th and 8th Grade Math MCAS
• 05/21/2024 and 05/22/2024: 10th Grade Math MCAS
• 05/27/2024: ALL Schools Closed: Memorial Day
• 05/28/2024: Thrive Market 3:00-4:00 PM (Franklin)
• 06/04/2024 and 06/05/2024: 9th Grade STE (Biology) MCAS
• 06/09/2024: PHA Graduation 5:00-6:30 PM
• 06/13/2024: 6th Grade Bridge Ceremony (Franklin)
• 06/18/2024: 8th Grade Graduation 8:30 AM (Essex)
• 06/18/2024: LAST Day of School
• 06/19/2024: Juneteenth Day
• 09/03/2024: FIRST Day of School for the 2024/2025 SY

In March, PHA celebrated Transition Week with a series of events intended to help prepare our PreK, 3rd Grade, 6th Grade, and 8th Grade students and families for their transitions to Kindergarten and across campuses this fall. To provide a brief overview of what to expect in the next phase of their educational journey at PHA, we prepared these K and campus videos featuring school leaders and students. Enjoy watching them!

Earlier this spring, our PHA Meals Program Director Michelle Doyle was selected by School Nutrition Association of Massachusetts to attend the School Nutrition Association’s Legislative Action Conference this past weekend in Washington DC.

Michele joined 20 nutrition professionals from Massachusetts and over 850 others from across the nation in speaking with our state representatives in Congress. She is excited to continue advocating for nutritious and FREE school meals for all students!

PHA International Night is a celebration of the global diversity of our school community! Please join us on Saturday, May 4, 2024, 5:30 PM-8:00 PM, at the East Somerville Community School (50 Cross Street, Somerville). We invite ALL students and families from PreK to Grade 12 to join us for a buffet dinner featuring foods from around the world provided by families and local restaurants, and a stage show in a 300-seat auditorium featuring talent from students, family members, and local organizations connected to our PHA community.

Click here to volunteer to perform at the event, or dontate food.

That's a wrap on our Thrive Thursday Dinners! We hosted our last community dinner of the school year on Thursday. March 21st.

Thank you to our amazing partner Community Cooks, and thanks to all the PHA families who brought dishes to share.

Huge gratitude also to PHA Thrive co-founders Barbara Goguen and Aswita Tan-McGrory, who started this wonderful PHA tradition.

Early Childhood Campus Highlights

At the EC campus, we have been busy learning and fostering a sense of community and belonging. Teachers have been facilitating SEL lessons that support various character traits, and we hosted two character-building assemblies; one on Perseverance and one on Courage. Teachers then selected a student from each class who has shown these traits and who were awarded with a certificate for perseverance and courage.

At the start of March, third grade participated in an in-school field trip with The National Theatre for Children’s Energy Academy: The Power Squad. The show taught students through a theatrical performance.

We also celebrated Read Across America Day by dressing up as our favorite book character and inviting families into the classrooms as mystery readers. We were further excited to have a book fair in March. The proceeds will allow every child to receive a book for the summer, supporting our students' continued reading while on school break.

Later in March, the EC campus celebrated and acknowledged the beauty of our community by dressing in cultural attire, and by students and staff presenting songs, poems, and dances to celebrate our rich diversity.

As we continue to engage our families in their children’s education, families and teachers met in person to discuss grade-level progress. Teachers showed parents student data and each family received a folder with their student's individual performance data so they could assess how their student is doing and what they could do to support continued growth. In the next few weeks, families will be invited into the classroom once again to talk about student progress during conferences. In addition, families will receive a progress report about how students are doing.

At the start of April, we hosted an MCAS Pep Rally where families and the entire campus created signs and chanted encouraging words of affirmation to support the third-grade students in taking the MCAS test for the first time. Teachers prepared the students to take the stage test through fun activities such as MCAS secrets.

What's Ahead

This week, students will dress up as they want to be when they grow up. During our Career Day, families are invited to share their profession with their class. Then in May, families will be welcomed into the campus to look at student artwork through the EC annual Student Art Museum. In addition, we will conduct a musical performance at the end of May; families are welcome to attend.

It has been an exciting last few months on the Upper Elementary Campus. Every grade is engaged in meaningful learning. Civil rights is a theme across campus right now, including the following units:

• Fourth graders are diving deeper into exploring the women’s suffrage movement.

• Fifth graders are building their understanding of the civil rights movement and the preceding laws and constitutional amendments that began to establish the rights of African Americans following the abolition of slavery.

• Sixth graders are exploring the intersectionality of women's and civil rights through reading Hidden Figures and studying contributions of three brilliant African-American women who were instrumental to NASA's success during the Space Race.

All classes have further been busy preparing for the MCAS exams. On April 8, we held an MCAS Prep Rally while also observing the solar eclipse. Check out the video here.

The spring is always a very busy time at the Middle and High School with many end of the year events, exciting projects, exhibitions, field trips, college decisions, sports and graduation!

It is hard to believe that the 4th quarter has begun!

PHA's college admissions season is in full swing. Although not all college have announced their decisions, to date our seniors have been accepted to 44 colleges and universities! See the full list below.

We are incredibly proud of the class of 2024 and look forward to sharing more updates as they are busy reviewing financial aid packages and applying for scholarships as they make their final decisions.

On March 14, PHA's Middle and High School held the first in-person Exhibition Night since the start of the pandemic. Students presented class projects of their choosing and explained their learning process to an audience of family and community members. Throughout our students' time at PHA, we provide frequent opportunities for students to meaningfully display and present their learning and their work to the broader community.

Each project presented at Exhibition Night is evaluated by PHA faculty, as well as outside judges which include subject-matter experts, Board of Trustee members, families, teachers, and select community members. Students are evaluated according to a rubric which incorporates content measures as well as presentation skills.

Commented Ben Spencer, Middle School Assistant Principal/Director: "It was a highly successful night with lots of great moments and awesome family turnout. I saw so many students presenting confidently and clearly, taking pride in their work, and connecting with and answering questions from their classmates' family members."

PHA is still accepting applications for PreK through Grade 9 for next school year! Learn more about enrollment and apply today at www.phacs.org.

For April School Vacation Week 2024 (April 15-19), we are excited to both broaden and introduce new partnerships across Massachusetts. From Cape Cod to Worcester, Spring Week represents the geographical diversity of our arts & culture community and we hope there is an activity for everyone!

*Please note that some places are still requiring advanced registration*

Calendar and additional information: https://www.highlandstreet.org/spring-week-2024

What’s your favorite play memory? Riding a bike outside? Camping out in a fort that you constructed? Playing with blocks, dolls, or games? Spring into Play at Boston Children’s Museum this April and during April Vacation Week, April 15 – 21, 2024! Painting with Pencils, Mystery Bags making projects, Marble Maze Workshops and Building with PVC pipes will be happening during the month as well as a special Cardboard Play! experience.

Create, dress up, dance, sing, laugh, and have a pretend tea party in a monthlong celebration of all things play. Join the fun during April and enjoy creative, hands-on, open-ended play! Come and experiment with familiar and unfamiliar materials, create with cardboard and enjoy special performances in our KidStage theater.

Welcome to the Arnold Arboretum. The 281-acre landscape in the heart of Boston, features over 15,000 accessioned plants is open daily and free for all to explore. Whether you are coming for a stroll, on the lookout for wildlife, or interested in learning the stories and science behind our plants, we value accessibility as an institution and offer something for everyone. Explore our program catalog, virtual walks, guided tours, Expeditions mobile app, and digital learning resources. If you're visiting with kids, check out a variety of self-guided family activities.

StoryWalks are a wonderful way for families to read and talk about nature in the Arboretum landscape. Walk from page to page, learning about season, plants, and animals from a children's book.

https://www.citypass.com/boston?mv_source=museumofscience&campaign=waystosave

Pick up free grocery items while picking up your students! The markets will be held on the last Tuesday of each month, 3-4pm in the school yard or cafeteria at the Upper Elementary campus.

• April 30, 2024
• May 28, 2024