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LION'S TALES: April 24, 2023

  • Order a field day t-shirt!  Field Day is in early June, but T-shirts will be on sale only through Friday, April 28.  See additional details below.
  • Come run with us on Friday mornings!  Running Club starts at 8:10am every Friday this spring.  See details below.
  • Footprint Fridays!  Walk, bike, or scoot to school on Fridays this spring.
  • Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week is two weeks away: May 8-12!  Keep an eye out for more info from your room parents on ways we plan to celebrate our outstanding teachers and staff!
  • April PTA Calendar HERE
  • April Lunch Menu HERE
  • Westport Public Schools 2022-2023 Calendar HERE
     

HAPPENING AT LLS…

FIELD DAY T-SHIRTS ON SALE NOW!  DEADLINE THIS FRIDAY!
Field Day is coming in early June! Don’t miss out - buy your child’s shirt before it's too late!  

Each grade has its own awesome color. While purchasing a shirt is not mandatory and your child can wear a shirt of the same color as their grade level, this is another fun way for the kids to show their Long Lots School spirit! 

The T-shirts are ONLY available through pre-order from NOW through Friday, April 28. Order directly from NICE THREADS, and they will be delivered to your child at school before Field Day. Tees are $14 each. 

If you are in need of financial assistance please do not hesitate to reach out to Mrs. Ambrosio (kambrosio@westportps.org) prior to April 28.  All requests are confidential.

Please note that the 5th graders have special t-shirts that they are currently working on creating.  Those will be distributed separately.

IT'S ALREADY THAT TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR! 
There are many opportunities to get involved in the PTA. We can only do all the wonderful things we do IF we have volunteers.  Wondering how you can help? Want to get more involved next year but not sure what there is available?  Fill out this quick volunteer form to learn more about certain volunteer positions within the PTA. We have many exciting opportunities available that vary in time commitment.
Click here to learn more about our available PTA positions.

CALLING ALL RUNNERS! 
Friday Run Mornings (i.e. Run Club) are starting up FRIDAY, APRIL 21 at 8:10 AM at the Soccer Field! No commitment necessary, if you find you have a child with boundless energy on a Friday morning, drop them off* with us, and they can show off their skills or just take a nice walk with their friends and of course collect and show off their beads!

No pre-registration required but sign-up HERE to get on our contact list in case of last minute changes. 

Please reference the attached flyer HERE  to get more details. 

Reach out to Veronica Tysseland and Bree Vandenberg  with any questions.

* Drop off is allowed for LLS students in grades 3-5.  Grades K-2 students and younger siblings of participating runners can participate only with a parent present.

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK 
Teacher and Staff Appreciation week will take place Monday, May 8th through Friday, May 12th.

This year, in addition to a school-wide luncheon that the PTA will provide to all teachers and staff on May 11th, each class will also be coordinating a special week to celebrate and show gratitude for their specific teacher.  Please keep your eye out for an e-mail from your child’s class parents for details on how you can help!

GREEN LLS - FOOTPRINT FRIDAYS
Green LLS is excited to announce the launch of FOOTPRINT FRIDAYS - starting Friday, April 21 and then every Friday until the end of the school year, walk or bike or scoot to school! Make your physical footprint on the sidewalks and remove your carbon footprint from the atmosphere for the day!  Keep an eye out for updates and reminders on our Long Lots Lions Instagram page!

PTA DEI MIX AND MINGLE AT THE WESTPORT MUSEUM FOR HISTORY AND CULTURE! 
Please join us for our next Mix and Mingle at the Westport Museum for History and Culture on Friday, April 28 from 7-9pm.  Spend some time with old friends and meet some new ones!  Explore the museum and get a tour of the Adairs of Westport exhibit.  Light refreshments will be served.  All are welcome!  Please RSVP here.  Hope to see you there!

KATE MESSNER, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, IS COMING TO LLS ON MAY 26
Please mark your calendar for this year's exciting visit with a New York Times bestselling author! Kate Messner will join students at LLS on Friday, May 26, to speak about her experience as a writer and to read from her books. Look for an announcement email right after spring break with more details about the event as well as ordering information. And when you order books through the web page we set up, Kate will sign and personalize those books for our students. 

*If you have any questions about this year's author visit or if you're in need of financial assistance to order books, please email Jen Swetzoff

REQUEST FROM THE LLS GREEN TEAM: SHOE BOXES
The LLS Green Team is requesting adult size shoe boxes in order to set up marker recycling in each classroom. If you have any shoe boxes to donate, please have your child bring them to the Science Lab.  

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
April is Arab American Heritage Month! 

Abdullah Hammoud was elected mayor of Dearborn, MI in Nov 2021.  He is the city’s first Arab American and first Muslim mayor.  Dearborn, MI is also home to the Arab American National Museum, described as the “...first and only museum dedicated to telling the Arab American story.”  Learn more about the museum here.

Arab Americans have played a role in the shaping of US culture for a long time- from the foods we eat to the books we read.  Watch this video to learn how a lot of the music we listen to owes credit to Arabic music!

PLEASE HEED CROSSWALKS
As the weather gets nicer, more people will be walking to school.  Please use extra caution and yield to pedestrians navigating crosswalks within the parking lot and surrounding streets.  

JOIN THE LLS PTA
Still haven’t joined the PTA? Membership registration is still open! MobileArq Next is our new school directory, which is how you can access class lists and contact information. By signing up, you are also joining the LLS PTA. Sign up here! Westport Directory 2022-23

If you encounter any difficulties signing up, please email our membership/directory chairs: Kristen Rossi and Sally Cressey at lls_pta_membership@westport.org 

ROARRRING ACCOLADES go out to…

… everyone who generously donated snacks, drinks and treats for the LLS Bus Driver Appreciation Day gift bags - they were very well received by our wonderful bus drivers!

… Veronica Tysseland, Bree Vandenberg and Jess McCullough, for a successful kickoff to the spring session of running club!

… Kalyn Jahansouz, Nicole Luciani, Suzanne Slade, Tina deGroot, Veasna Suchotliff, Amy Cook, and the entire Green LLS committee for organizing our 2023 Earth Day initiatives -  Footprint Friday and LLS Community Clean Up (stay tuned for a rescheduled date for the LLS Community Cleanup)!

IN THE DISTRICT...

NEXT BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING: May 1 at 7pm in the Staples Cafeteria

TO VIEW MEETING: live streaming HERE/ Optimum Government Access Channel 78 / Frontier Channel 6021

Full Agenda: HERE 

As always, your attention and feedback is important and you are encouraged to address any comments, concerns, or suggestions to the Administration and Board of Education. Please send your emails to:

CAPACITY STUDY IS NOW AVAILABLE
At the March 20th meeting of the Board of Education, architectural firm, SLAM, presented their final “Space Inventory and Capacity Study” of all five elementary schools in the district (the study, in the form of a slide deck, is available HERE, at pages 13-35).  If you’d like to watch the full presentation, including discussion by the Board and the Administration, the video is available HERE.

IN THE COMMUNITY...

WESTPORT LITTLE LEAGUE AND STAPLES BASEBALL COMMUNITY FUN DAY 
Westport Little League and Staples Baseball are hosting the 2nd Annual Community Fun Day on Sunday, April 30 at the Staples Baseball Field. The day will include fun events including Wiffle Ball, Long Toss Throw, Home to First Sprints, Pitching and Exit Bat Velocity Competitions and the Staples Hit-a-Thon. Ice Cream, Hot Dogs and other refreshments will be available. Come enjoy the day and win a chance to become the Staples Bat Boy/Girl! To learn more and to register, please visit http://www.westportlittleleaguebaseball.com.

DROP-IN STUDENT TUTORING AT THE WESTPORT LIBRARY
Staples High School students will be on hand at The Westport Library now through Thursday, April 27, for drop-in tutoring in a range of subjects for grades 2-8.

Tutoring will take place starting at 4 pm in the Children’s Library, on the Library’s second floor, covering the following days, grades, subjects, and times:

  • Mondays – Grades 2-8 – History and Math (4-6 pm), Language Arts (6-8 pm starting on March 20)
  • Tuesdays – Grades 2-8 – Language Arts (4-5 pm), Math (5-6 pm)
  • Thursdays – Grades 2-5 – Language Arts and Math (4-6 pm)

Please bring homework for which and workbooks with which you need assistance. And check back to the day’s schedule on the Library’s website for any cancellations or changes in schedule.

Adults with students under the age of 12 are required to stay in the Children’s Library while their child is being tutored.

Tutoring Schedule: https://westportlibrary.org/series/student-tutoring/

Story: https://westportlibrary.org/drop-in-student-tutoring-at-the-westport-library/

WESTPORT CONTINUING EDUCATION - SPRING AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS AT LLS
See Flyer HERE.

WESTPORT/WESTON YMCA - AFTER SCHOOL CHILDCARE
See Flyer HERE.

AND FINALLY…

And as always, we want to make sure that LLS PTA reflects every parent, student, and staff member in our community so please always feel free to reach out to us with any questions, concerns, or ideas in person or at lls_pta@westportps.org. We welcome it all. 

Paula and Julie
LLS PTA Co-Presidents