Hardy Elementary School
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PTO President Post - Vol. 9 / Issue  6

12/20/2016

 
Picture
Hello everyone!

As the year winds down, I wanted to say a big thank you to Sarah Evans who organized the giving tags. Below you will see a picture of the pile of gifts that Pete Gast, Stephanie Hodge, Sarah Evans and I brought to the Senior Center. Thank you to all who got a tag and bought a gift and to those of you who donated money to sponsor a lost tag. Hardy is an amazingly generous school!

Also, thank you to Jillean Price and Mark Pattin for helping me out with the Gate Lighting event. The gate looks great and much fun was had by all who came to make a decoration and share in the holiday cheer. Thank you to Mr. Will for being our celebrity guest and Bobby for being there too.

Our Hardy music program is expanding thanks to our generous Hardy PTO donors. Mr. Ham has received 26 ukeles to start teaching 4th graders to play. He also received more drums and other real percussion instruments so that all 5th graders can have a real instrument to play on. Thank you, parents for your donations!

Tomorrow night, Wednesday the 21st, the School Enrollment Task Force will meet at 6 p.m. to discuss the results of the Hardy study. The meeting is in the School Committee room on the 6th floor of the high school. If you are interested in having a say in what happens and what Hardy looks like in the upcoming years (temporary versus permanent addition), please attend. Kate Leary has kindly been our liaison ever since the beginning of this enrollment crisis in East Arlington.

On Friday January 20th, we will have a movie night sponsored by the 2nd grade. Please contact Bonnie Walsh (arlingtonwalsh@comcast.net) if you are interested in helping her out. This is always a fun event held in our school gym.

Also coming up in February is our first ever Hardy Talent Show at the Arlington Town Hall. All acts by Hardy students and staff are welcome as long as rehearsals are attended and acts are within the time frame allowed (3 minutes, I believe). Moya and Chris Charig will be spearheading this event.

Patsy O'Brien is organizing a silent auction at the Sons of Italy. Mark your calendars and book your babysitters for March 4th; this is an adults only event. Please contact Patsy O'Brien if you are interested in helping her out. This is a first ever event for the Hardy school.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year,

Cédrine Bell, PTO President


Community Events:

Please join us for A CATpella Festival to Belt Out Cancer
Friday, January 20, 2017 @ 7pm
Lowe Auditorium 


Arlington High School - 869 Mass. Ave.

All tickets are only $15 - General Admission

​
Snow Date:  Sunday, January 22, 2017 @ 2pm
For more information and to purchase tickets, please go to -
www.catherinemalatesta.com/a-c atpella-festival


Six spectacular local a cappella singing groups will assemble for a beautiful tribute and benefit concert to honor the bright life and beautiful spirit of Arlington High School senior Catherine Malatesta who died in August, 2015 of sarcoma cancer. Headlining the program is Vocal Revolution, one of New England’s top-ranked male vocal ensembles and the Season 2 Champions of WGBH’s “Sing that Thing” amateur singing competition show. Tufts Beelzebubs, Tufts University’s oldest all male a cappella group and runner-up on NBC’s “The Sing Off,” will headline the collegiate and high school line up. The Master of Ceremonies will be singer and actress Alexandra Socha, Broadway actress and star of the Amazon Prime series, Red Oaks. All the proceeds from this amazing event will benefit the Sarcoma Foundation of America and the Catherine Malatesta Scholarship Fund.

PTO President Post - Vol. 9 / Issue  5

11/28/2016

 
Hello everyone!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The food drive conducted at our school for local families was a success. Please see Katie Garrett's note about it in the community announcements. Thank you, Katie, for organizing it and thank you all for donating food and gift cards.

I also wanted to thank the book fair committee, Sarah Boulet, Sarah Weintraub and Holly Rossi, for a successful event. The book fair brought in over $2000 of profit, some of which was used to buy new books on the spot by our librarian, Margaret Muirhead. Thank you to all who helped out during the days of the book fair and for the evening event.

This Wednesday November 30th, we invite you all to shop at Helena's (397 Mass Ave, Arlington) to benefit the PTO. Helena's has also organized a private shopping party from 7-9 p.m. Please make sure to print the attached flyer to present it at the time of purchase; a digital copy is also valid.

Next up are our holiday themed events. For the next ten days, you will find a giving wall with little tags hanging in the lobby of the school. Your family is invited to take a tag and bring back the unwrapped gift with the tag attached to it. If it is a larger gift, please feel free to have a group of families buy it together. Please let your children know that tags are to be chosen under parental supervision.

On Thursday December 8th at 6 p.m., we will have our Hardy gate lighting event. Come join us in front of the school to make decorations for the gate and drink some hot cocoa. At some point, our principal will plug in the lights to beautify our school grounds.

Lastly, our next  PTO meeting is on Tuesday, December 6th at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome!

Looking forward to seeing you around at the various holiday events,

Cedrine Bell, PTO President


Wed. Nov. 30th All day shopping at Helena's; Hardy private party 7-9 p.m.

Tues. Dec. 6th 11:15 a.m. Dismissal!

Tues. Dec. 6th 6:30-8 p.m. PTO meeting in the library.

Thurs. Dec. 8th Gifts with tags attached to them are due!

Thurs. Dec. 8th 6-7 p.m. Hardy Gate lighting

Tues. Dec. 13th 11:15 a.m. Dismissal!

Fri. Dec. 16th 6p.m. Arlington Children's Chorus and Elementary Chamber Orchestra Concert at Town Hall

Community Events

Hardy Food Drive
On behalf of the Board of Youth Services, thank you for your generosity with the food drive!!! Almost 200 families received food and gift cards according to family size. Collectively, the Arlington schools raised more than $4,500 in gift cards. Whole Foods-Arlington and Medford stores, Arlington Eats, and St. John’s Episcopal Church also generously donated gift cards.Food Link and the Boston Area Gleaners provided fresh produce, fresh bread, desserts and flowers. With the support of the Arlington Food Pantry, 150 dozen eggs were distributed this year.

Thank You Hardy Community!

PTO President Post - Vol. 9 / Issue 4 

10/28/2016

 
Good morning!
Happy Halloween! I wanted to send this post a bit ahead of schedule as there is a Waldo Park communityevent coming up. Also I needed to remind everyone of the PTO meeting on Tuesday, November 1st. Remember that everyone is welcome to the meeting.

Thank you to everyone who has donated to our Alternative Fundraiser. So far we have raised around $7,000. 

The Book Fair is our next big event coming up the week of Nov. 14th-Nov. 17th. If the flyer has disappeared from your house, all the information is posted right on the  homepage    of our website. Please consider volunteering in whatever way is easiest for you. We will again have 2 events for parents to shop, one after school Tuesday from 1-2 p.m. and one on Wednesday evening from 6-8 p.m. The evening event will feature our Starbooks Café in the cafeteria. Thank you to our Kindergarten parents who have taken charge of this event!

Remember that Arlington Orthodontics  will be buying back candy and supporting our Hardy PTO in doing so. Check out the information below if this is something your child might be interested in doing.

The  Thanksgiving Food Drive will be starting on November 1st. Check your child’s backpack for information as to what foods to send in.

Lastly, please check out the Arlington Youth Counseling Center  event coming up in November. This organization supports issues and challenges faced by our Arlington youth.

Enjoy Halloween and remember to use the Amazon button on the  Hardy website for all your shopping to support Hardy!
 
Cédrine Bell, PTO President
 
Tuesday Nov. 1st 6:30-8 p.m.  PTO meeting. All are welcome.

Thursday Nov. 10th 1:40-3 p.m. Book Fair set up.

Mon. Nov. 14th-Thurs. Nov. 17th Book Fair. Check flyer or website for hours and special events.

Wednesday Nov. 30th Shopping day at Helena’s to support Hardy PTO.

Tuesday Dec. 6th 6:30-8 p.m.  PTO meeting. All are welcome.

Thursday Dec. 8th 6-7 p.m. Gate Lighting.

Friday Jan. 27th            Movie Night! E-mail Bonnie Walsh to help (arlingtonwalsh@comcast.net)
 
 
Community Events
Halloween Event at Waldo Park, Monday, October 31st

All are invited to the 11th annual Waldo Park Halloween Party on Monday the 31st.  We’ll gather at the Park beginning at 4 pm, and we’ll have a costume "fashion show" that’ll start around 4:30 - 4:45 pm.  A light dinner (hot dogs and veggie items) will be served after the fashion show, so that all who wish can eat a meal before trick-or-treating.  (Waldo Park is located at the end of Teel Street, on the north side of Mass Ave, between Mass Ave and Broadway). Also, if you would like to receive announcements of future Waldo Park events, please send an email towaldoparkarlington@gmail.com.

Looking forward to seeing many of you on October 31st!

Alex Hoffinger
Friends of Waldo Park

Halloween Candy Buy Back Courtesy of Arlington Orthodontics
Halloween is approaching and we are excited to announce that we will be having another Halloween Candy Buy Back Event to benefit Arlington Elementary School PTOs and our troops serving abroad!
 
It was great having Hardy participate last year!  We sent over 800 lbs of candy to our troops and raised over $1500 for Arlington Elementary School PTOs!
 
Please see this year’s event details below:
Children will be invited to drop off their leftover Halloween Candy at our office November 4th and 5th.
We will give the child or parent $2 / lb (max $10).  We will then make a matching donation to the child’s school PTO.
 
Be on the lookout for the flyer coming home closer to Halloween.
 
Annual party to celebrate the work of AYCC
This year, the “Out on The Town" Gala will be held on Thursday, November 17, from 7-10 pm, at Town Hall.   We are very excited about our keynote speaker, David Axelrod (former Advisor to President Obama and current CNN Senior Political Commentator), who is sure to lead a lively discussion just a week after the election.  In addition to his remarks, the Gala will include hors d’oeuvres, live jazz, raffles, silent auction items, and a cash bar.  It is a fun event and great opportunity to connect with members of the community.

Mugar Property Update   (Hardy Parent contact Courtney Horowitz, courtneyhorwitz@gmail.com)
The Mugar Wetlands is a 17-acre private property in East Arlington that has remained untouched for over fifty years. Oaktree Development plans to build a five story, 207 unit apartment building on this property, as well as 12 townhouse units. Recently, Oaktree applied for an Affordable Housing waiver as a way of bypassing several zoning laws that would normally make such a construction impossible, but were denied by Arlington’s Zoning Board of Appeals (because Arlington has already met the minimum percentage of affordable housing). Oaktree Development will now appeal to Massachusetts, and there is a high likelihood that the Housing Appeals Committee will grant them their waiver.

Any housing built on Mugar Wetlands will be zoned for Hardy Elementary School, which is already at risk for overcrowding. This new construction also will have an impact on Lake Street traffic and potential flooding issues of surrounding neighborhoods. If you have any concerns or comments on how this construction will affect you and your family, please write a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals at the address below. 

Zoning Board of Appeals
51 Grove Street
Arlington, MA 02476
 

PTO President Post - Vol. 9 / Issue 3 

10/17/2016

 
Good morning!

I hope that everyone has gotten to enjoy these beautiful Fall days. Again, our Harvest Fest was an amazing success bringing in $1300. Thank you, Moya Charig for organizing this event and Joe Marshall for lending us all the tents. Thank you to everyone who was there to help out on the day of the event, unloading the pumpkins and organizing them under the pouring rain, helping sell pumpkins, donuts and cider and then cleaning up.

Also, thank you Alex Bilsky and all who helped him with the Walk or Bike To School event. It is so nice to recognize most of our school kids who walk back and forth almost every day no matter what the weather.

The Hardy Book Fair is just around the corner. Mark your calendars for the week of November 14th. We will need help setting up on Thursday, November 10th  right before the end of the school day. Please sign up  here   to help out and look for the flyer coming home in backpacks this week. The evening event will be on Wednesday, November 16th and the book fair will wrap up at the end of the school day Thursday November 17th. Profits from the book fair go back directly to the library allowing our school librarian to buy new books. The library does not receive any money from the town or the state for the library.

Lastly, I hope that everyone noticed the flyer regarding the PTO’s alternative fundraiser in your child’s backpack. If not, do not fear. Visit the  Hardy website  for the information. As we approach the holiday season, remember to visit the Hardy website to click through the Amazon button before you pay for your Amazon purchases. Your cart will follow you and Hardy will receive about 3% back from your total. Another easy way to support your child’s school.

Have a wonderful day,
Cédrine Bell, PTO President
 
Tuesday Nov. 1st 6:30-8 p.m.  PTO meeting. All are welcome.

Thursday Nov. 10th 1:40-3 p.m. Book Fair set up

Mon. Nov. 14th-Thurs. Nov. 17th Book Fair. Check flyer or website for hours and special events.

Tuesday Dec. 6th 6:30-8 p.m.  PTO meeting. All are welcome.

Thursday Dec. 8th 6-7 p.m. Gate Lighting.
 
Community News

Arlington Children’s Theatre
2016 Short Play Festival this weekend! Go check the children this weekend
Arlington Masonic Temple
Friday October 21st, 7 pm
Saturday October 22nd, 2 pm
Sunday October 23rd, 2 pm
 
Halloween Candy Buy Back Courtesy of Arlington Orthodontics
Halloween is approaching and we are excited to announce that we will be having another Halloween Candy Buy Back Event to benefit Arlington Elementary School PTOs and our troops serving abroad!
 
It was great having Hardy participate last year!  We sent over 800 lbs of candy to our troops and raised over $1500 for Arlington Elementary School PTOs!
 
Please see this year’s event details below:
Children will be invited to drop off their leftover Halloween Candy at our office November 4th and 5th.
We will give the child or parent $2 / lb (max $10).  We will then make a matching donation to the child’s school PTO.
 
Be on the lookout for the flyer coming home closer to Halloween.
 
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