Dallin Digest Newsletter

Older Stories

Thank You from the PTO!

6/20/2025 7:10 am

A huge thank you to all of the Dallin families for supporting our school and community this year. Whether you volunteered in Art class, provided coverage for a teacher, organized gifting, went in for a Science Friday, gardened in the community garden, supported or attended a community event, contributed an article to this weekly newsletter, donated to the annual fund, or did one of a million other behind-the-scenes tasks that make our school community such a robust and joyful learning space, you are so appreciated! We look forward to seeing many of you back next year, and to those who are off to Gibbs, we wish you all the best!

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From the PTO Treasurer: Thank you for your support!

6/20/2025 7:09 am

As we end the school year, the PTO is grateful for all of the help from volunteers and donors this year. Did you child enjoy any particular Dallin events this year? A field trip, assembly or a school activity? Your support helped make those things happen!
 
Almost all of our income is from the Annual Fund and the Auction, so your contributions really made a difference! Because of your help, we were able to provide activities and enrichment for all Dallin students. We were able to provide support to teachers and staff through stipends for classroom supplies and teacher appreciation events throughout the year. 
 
Volunteers are essential to making this happen! Thank you for your help this year! If you have any questions about what the PTO does or how to get involved, please reach out to dallinptoboard@gmail.com. 
 
The list of things that the PTO helped provide this year is long! Click "read more" to see what we have been up to.
 
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Spring Picnic thanks!

6/20/2025 7:08 am

Thank you to everyone who volunteered for setup and cleanup!  Thank you to everyone who brought cupcakes!  Thank you to everyone who staffed tables, sold tickets, handed out pizzas and drinks!  Thank you to everyone who attended for a great evening!

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Help Needed: School Photo Coordinator

6/20/2025 7:06 am

We're looking for a school photo coordinator for next year. This job involves coordinating with the folks who take the school photos and our school staff to make sure student and faculty photos are scheduled each year. Usually the scheduling takes place during the summer, and it's not a terribly heavy lift. Please reach out to Jamie (jamiejacee@gmail.com) if you're interested!

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What Dallin Means To Me

6/20/2025 7:04 am

This is the last regular issue of the Dallin Digest for the 2024-2025 school year, but keep an eye out for one last email from the Dallin Newsletter  -- this afternoon, you will receive a link to "What Dallin Means to Me", a compilation of essays from the fifth grade class reflecting on their time at Dallin.

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Arlington EATS Summer Vacation Lunch program

6/20/2025 7:02 am

Lunch support from Arlington EATS will be available to any family with children in Arlington schools who would like extra help with food over summer vacation. For 6 weeks this summer, beginning Thursday, July 10 and running until Friday August 15, families are invited to shop at our market for free for nutritious and easy to prepare kid friendly foods. We will have sign ups for each week of the program; families will be able to select the weeks they would like to participate and if they would like to shop on Thursday or Friday.

 

Use this form to sign up for the program at Arlington EATS Market,117 Broadway, on Thursday,  from 4:00 - 6:30 pm or Friday, from 9am to 11am.

 

Note: if you already have a regular shopping time at EATS, you may shop during the vacation lunch times as well while your kids are not in school.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Shalini Sreedhar at ssreedhar@arlingtoneats.org.

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Question of the Week!

6/20/2025 7:00 am

Thank you all so much for answering our questions over the past three months! We hope this proves to be a valuable tool for our Dallin community.
 
For our final question of the year, we're looking for some feedback about the Question of the Week itself:
 
 
Thank you for participating and have a great summer!
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From the Assistant Principal: A Magical Visit from Tanglewood Marionettes

6/13/2025 7:11 am

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our incredibly supportive PTO for bringing the enchanting artistry of Tanglewood Marionettes to Dallin School and to Janine S. who scheduled the visit. Our students (and staff!) were completely captivated by the performances, and the buzz of excitement continued well after the shows ended.

 

Students in grades K–2 were treated to The Dragon King, a vibrant underwater tale that was as engaging as it was delightful—especially when the dragon entered the audience and gave kids a surprise splash of water! Grades 3–5 experienced An Arabian Adventure, an action-packed drama full of daring escapes, magical effects, and beautifully handcrafted puppets. After the show, students were invited to take a “behind-the-scenes” tour. They got an up-close look at the beautifully detailed marionettes, the raised platform used by the puppeteers, and the clever mechanics that bring each story to life. The opportunity to peek behind the curtain was an added bonus to an already unforgettable experience.

 

We are so grateful to our PTO for making these assemblies possible—these kinds of experiences leave lasting impressions on our students and remind us all of the power of storytelling and creativity.

Here are some videos and photos from the performances.

 

Best,

Sam

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Spring Picnic TONIGHT!

6/13/2025 7:10 am

We hope you're all excited to gather on Florence Field at 5pm tonight for our favorite annual tradition! You can pack your own picnic dinner or purchase pizza, Italian ice, drinks, and snacks when you're there. Everything is paid for with tickets, so pre-purchase tickets and whole pizza by noon today to save time in the ticket line!
What else can you do?
  • We need your help! - Please sign up to give us some of your time and make the picnic a success.
  • We need CUPCAKES - No need to sign up, just bring them the day of the event and drop off at the cupcake spinner table.
  • We need you to grab your picnic blankets and come join the fun!
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STEAM through the year

6/13/2025 7:09 am

This was a great year for the Dallin STEAM Team!  Check out snapshots of some of this year's many events in the attached image.  A big thanks to the many teachers, school staff, parent volunteers and administrators that work with us to pull these events together!
Also, Dallin students made the monthly STEAM Quiz such a success this year!  Each month saw great participation across the school. Check out the image below highlighting this year's STEAM Quiz winners - congratulations!
 
-Dallin STEAM Team
 
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From the Dallin Library: Year-end Statistics

6/13/2025 7:08 am

Dallin students checked out 17,535 books this year!   This is more than in either of the previous two school years.  The second grade checked out 3,607 books!
 
Top-circulating books and series this year included:
The Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey
The graphic novel Babysitter's Club series, based on the novels by Ann M. Martin
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
 Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
Home in a Lunchbox by Cherry Mo
 
Amanda Troha
Library Teacher, Brackett and Dallin 

 

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What's buzzing in the garden

6/13/2025 7:07 am

Despite the rain, the Dallin Garden Team has been busy in the garden this spring.  The kindergarten classes planted peas and they're growing great - thanks to Vanessa Porter-Beaulieu for leading our littlest gardeners.  The 1st grade classes will observe their very tall garlic plants next week - thanks Jaclyn Kaster & Robin Van Voorhies.  The 2nd grade classes planted a salad garden - lettuces, radishes and carrots - thanks to Laura Wooley who led them in planting.  And the 3rd grade classes learned about seeds, made seed beads and planted them on the Dallin grounds this week - thanks Sunita & Erik Hett for this messy lesson. 

 

None of these activities would be possible without our amazing Dallin teachers and of course our many parent/caregiver volunteers who enthusiastically assist during the lessons - a huge thanks to all of them. This year we've also enlisted Stacie Greenland to bring some art into the garden.  She'll be working with the 4th and 5th grade students to decorate pollinator houses and paint river rocks to identify plants in our pollinator garden. Be sure to stop by and check out how our garden has grown!

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Join the Gibbs-Ottoson PTO!

6/13/2025 7:05 am

If you're heading to Gibbs next year, or already have an older student:
 
Join the Gibbs-Ottoson PTO!

We are looking for a new Communications Coordinator to join our team. This is a role that can be done entirely at home (save for attendance at the monthly in-person PTO meetings, which rotate between OMS and Gibbs). The main responsibilities of the Communications Coordinator are to send out the weekly newsletter and to manage the School Council election process at the beginning of the school year.

Being involved in the PTO is a great way to stay connected to your kiddo's schooling throughout the middle school years! Please reach out to the current Communications Coordinator, Valerie Geary, if you are interested in learning more about the role. Valerie can be reached at valerie.t.geary@gmail.com and will be available for any questions and help as the new Coordinator gets up to speed.
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Arlington Public Schools Travel to School survey

6/13/2025 7:04 am

Dear APS Families,

Arlington Public Schools is committed to supporting safe and efficient travel for all students. As part of this effort, we are partnering with Massachusetts Safe Routes to School to better understand how our 6,113 students travel to and from school each day.

We kindly ask you to complete a brief, anonymous Family Travel Survey, which will take approximately two minutes. Your feedback will help us improve transportation safety and planning across the district.

 

 Survey Dates: June 4–23
 Survey Link: MA Safe Routes to School Family Travel Survey
 The survey is available in multiple languages—please select your preferred language and school.

 

If at least 50% of your school’s families participate, your school will receive a safety incentive package provided by the state.

Thank you for your time and partnership in keeping our students safe.

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Arlington EATS Summer Vacation Lunch program

6/13/2025 7:03 am

Lunch support from Arlington EATS will be available to any family with children in Arlington schools who would like extra help with food over summer vacation. For 6 weeks this summer, beginning Thursday, July 10 and running until Friday August 15, families are invited to shop at our market for free for nutritious and easy to prepare kid friendly foods. We will have sign ups for each week of the program; families will be able to select the weeks they would like to participate and if they would like to shop on Thursday or Friday.

 

Use this form to sign up for the program at Arlington EATS Market,117 Broadway, on Thursday,  from 4:00 - 6:30 pm or Friday, from 9am to 11am.

 

Note: if you already have a regular shopping time at EATS, you may shop during the vacation lunch times as well while your kids are not in school.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Shalini Sreedhar at ssreedhar@arlingtoneats.org.

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