Dallin Digest Newsletter
STEAM through the year
6/13/2025 7:09 am
From the Dallin Library: Year-end Statistics
6/13/2025 7:08 am
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!
Join the Gibbs-Ottoson PTO!
6/13/2025 7:05 am
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.
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.
Read MoreArlington 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.
Read MoreQuestion of the Week!
6/13/2025 7:00 am
Volunteer Opportunities for Next Year
6/6/2025 7:10 am
Are you looking for some ways to get involved with Dallin, but typically have limited availability during school hours? With some of our current volunteers transitioning their kids to Gibbs, we're looking to fill a few key roles for the coming year. All of the following jobs are done from home and have some amount of flexibility in the timing. Please reach out to dallinptoboard@gmail.com if you're interested in learning more!
MTK Website Maintenance
Learn how to use the content management system that houses our PTO website (Membership Toolkit, or "MTK" for short). Provide occasional updates and troubleshoot issues with the site, or if you're interested in doing more you can work with the PTO board to add more content and features.
MTK Directory Management
Approve new members of the community to the Dallin Family Directory. The largest time commitment happens shortly after August 14th every year (grade roll-ups plus teacher assignments). Small amount of activity throughout the year, with many new kindergarten families joining in September.
Winter Online Auction
Solicit donations, manage the auction software, and publicize the auction to the Dallin community. All work takes place between November and early February. A large but manageable lift for one person, but ideally a project shared between two or three.
Newsletter Assistant Editor
Learn the ropes from our existing editor so you can serve as an occasional backup and provide additional help as needed. Ideally looking for someone interested in becoming the primary editor after a couple of years. Most work takes place between Wednesday evening and Friday morning.
Read MoreThe Dallin Spring Picnic is in one week!
6/6/2025 7:08 am
We hope you'll join us on Florence Field next Friday, June 13th from 5 to 7:30 pm for the Dallin Spring Picnic. We'll have bounce houses, face painting, pizza, Italian Ice, and the always popular You-Spin-and-You-Win Cupcake Spinner!
Please consider helping out in the following ways:
- Sign up for a volunteer slot
- Bake or buy cupcakes for the cupcake spinner
- Pre-purchase your pizza and picnic tickets
- Show up next Friday and have lots of fun!
From the APS Nurses
6/6/2025 7:07 am
Please click through to the APS Nurses's Newsletter for updates on the following topics:
- End of year message from your APS Elementary Nurses
- Medications at school
- Physical exams
- Safe tips for summer
- Summer resources
4th Grade Science Friday: Catapult Engineering Challenge
6/6/2025 7:06 am
APS Textile Recycling Competition results
6/6/2025 7:04 am
The results of our 2025 textile recycling competition are in! PEIRCE TAKES FIRST PLACE and BISHOP IS SECOND PLACE. These two recycling champions will each be receiving gift cards from Bay State Textiles.
Congratulations to the students, staff, and families at ALL THE SCHOOLS for donating an amazing 33,490 lbs of textiles during the competition period, which earns us over $2,000 for sustainability initiatives for the district!
Thank you all for participating in this annual competition. Remember you can continue to donate textiles throughout the year to your school collection bins.
Read MoreDallin neighborhood events this weekend
6/6/2025 7:03 am
Dallin/Florence Field cleanup, 10-12, Saturday June 7
Dallin neighborhood Free yard "sales", 9-12, Saturday June 7 (Rain date Sunday June 8, 9-12)
Read MoreAPS STRING FEST 2025
6/6/2025 7:02 am
Please join Arlington strings students in grade 3-12 on Saturday, June 14th at Ottoson Middle School Upper Parking Lot/Baseball-Softball Field (63 Acton St.) from 7:30PM-8:30PM for STRINGFEST 2025
This year's theme is a cosmic journey through space, featuring iconic film music from Star Wars, Interstellar, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Mandalorian. The concert will also feature the majestic "Jupiter Theme" from Gustav Holst's The Planets, along with other incredible pieces performed by our amazing faculty musicians! The concert will take place in the evening during dusk, illuminated by glow-sticks and vibrant neon lights.
This concert will bring students from grades 3-12 together to create ONE magnificent orchestra, showcasing the exceptional talent and musicianship of our string students here in Arlington. It is also an opportunity for us to celebrate all of their hard work and learning this school year.
Read MoreCheck the lost and found one last time!
6/6/2025 7:01 am
The end of the school year is just around the corner. Most winter items were purged from the lost and found, with the exception of a good collection of winter boots. With the warm weather we’ve also recently amassed an overwhelming amount of sweatshirts and water bottles. As you’re attending upcoming school events (spring concert, PTO coffee, class celebrations, etc.,) please stop by the lobby to reclaim items.
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