MVMMS PTO

Welcome! Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School PTO Website

Mission Statement

The purpose of MVMMS PTO is to facilitate communication among parents, teachers, and school officials; and to support and provide programs that will enhance the academic and social environment of the school.

To View Solar Power Generated at MVMMS

Click Here

To View MVMMS X-Press Student Newspaper

Click Here

Welcome to our new Superintendent, Cyndy Taymore

Thanks our new superintendent, Cyndy Taymore for visiting us at our May PTO meeting, the last meeting of the school year. Thanks also to Maureen Buzby, from the Mystic Valley Tobacco and Alcohol Prevention Coordinator. She informed us on some disturbing trends with new tobacco products that are marketed to young people.

For more information about local alcohol and tobacco use see below.

Melrose Youth Risk Assessment Survey : click here

US. FDA Website on Tobacco Products : click here

EHow Mom : How to talk to teens about drinking : click here

* Parents of Eight Graders note the students will be spending the week of May 29th through June 1st in the MVMMS annual drug and alcohol summit. The schedule of programs can be found here.

Nominations Needed for the 2012/2013 School Year!

Positions Open are :

President or Co-President

Secretary

Treasurer

Popcorn Chairperson

Sportwear Sales

Knoll News Coordinator

All committees would be happy to have new members.

If you would like to nominate someone, including yourself, please email mvmms.pto@gmail.com

Cleaning out your Bookshelves? Donate Summer Reading Titles!

If anyone has summer reading titles from prior years that are no longer needed please donate them to the Victoria McLaughlin library where they will be put to good use and given to students who might be in need of them. Your students can drop them off with Mrs. Arnold any time.

May 23 Orchestra Concert

Say goodbye to Mrs. Weeks and enjoy the Melrose High School, MVMMS, and Melrose Youth Orchestra concert. Mrs. Weeks is retiring after 33 years teaching music in Melrose. To celebrate we will have a cake at the Orchestra Concert. We are asking our orchestra families to write a few lines about how music education has affected them, with words from current and former students especially welcome. There will be baskets at the concert to collect the cards. The public is invited to this concert. (Just a reminder, state law sets monetary limits on gifts to teachers.)

Eighth Grade Presents Snoopy!

On Monday, June 11th the eighth grade will present the musical production of Snoopy, in memory of classmate Courtney Beauchesne.

Proceeds from the show will go to the Melrose High School Scholarship Fund in her name. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and are available at Hourglass Gifts, Madison Avenue, Nicolo Hair Salon, online at melrosedrama.com, or at the door. Please join us for this wonderful show at 3pm or 6pm that evening. For more info. see flyer below.

Your Opinion Counts in our City The City of Melrose and Mayor Rob Dolan need your help in designing new policies and programs for Melrose. The "Our City" project is holding a series of community forums to give you the chance to tell us what you most like about Melrose and what city government can do to improve our quality of life. Our City is holding four forums segmented by different lifestyles – you may fall into more than one category so we ask you attend the session that you are most excited about participating in. The forums will be two hours in length and you will be asked to stay for the entire session. If you are unable to attend a forum, but would still like to be part of the project, alternative arrangements will be made to accommodate you.

“Everyone’s voice should be heard as we develop policy in our community. The Our City Series will give residents an opportunity to provide input into what they value about Melrose and where they would like to see future initiatives focused,” said Mayor Rob Dolan. For more information, and the dates of the forums, click here:

Flicks@Night - Thanks for another Great Season!

Thanks to all our sponsors and to our fantastic volunteers! The April World Cinema Night was our last movie of the 2011-2012 school year. Look for us in the fall.

World Cinema Night - Saturday April 28th

Flicks@Night in collaboration with the Melrose High School Global Education Students presented a World Cinema Film night on Saturday, April 28th. Two award winning films, one from Algeria, Masquerades, and one from Argentina, The Finger, were shown. Thanks to MHS student Winston C. for preparing the following video preview. This event is a good peek into what life is like in other cultures, just before the sixth grade United Nations Summit, which will take place from May 14th-17th. All sixth grade MVMMS students will be participating in an interdisciplinary Unite Nations-like simulation during which they will create and represent imaginary countries while examining real-life global issues.

World Cinema night is made possible by a grant from the Melrose Cultural Council and the sponsorship of Melrose Arts!

Global Film Night

Next Step Living Update

Next Step Living has reported two families who have signed up for a free home energy audit. Since I know one was me, that leaves one other. To ensure these numbers are accurate and that MVMMS PTO can receive credit, please email me if you have signed up at kmcgourthy@gmail.com and if you have had your audit. We needed to sign up through a link but it seems to have been not working correctly. Anyone who signs up for a free home energy audit from Next Step Living and mentions MVMMS PTO will allow $10 to be sent to our school.

Next Step Living has decided to extend the Melrose PTO Energy Challenge through April to allow for families who may have missed early opportunities a chance to access the Mass Save program through Next Step Living. In addition to the $10 per completed energy assessment PTOs are receiving, the bonus for the school that signs up the most households will now receive an extra $250 (previously $100). With April 22 being Earth Day, there’s a great opportunity to reinforce this program to Melrose residents, and share with them the value of the Mass Save program.

An additional opportunity Next Step Living is now including is focused on solar PV for homes. Roughly 15% of Melrose homes are ideally situated to go solar with no upfront cost. For every home that gets a solar visit, Next Step Living will make a $50 contribution to the PTO. Participants can be neighbors, friends or family members who live in Melrose, or even outside of Melrose. They just need to sign up via the link here for us to get credit. For more information, visit http://nextsteplivinginc.com/, or email Kathleen McGourthy at kmcgourthy@gmail.com

Math Homework Help Available!

Free tutoring by MHS National Honor Society students is available for any Middle Schooler needing homework help. Just come before school to the second floor project room, doors open at 7AM.

2011/2012 Enrichment and Faculty Grant Awards Posted

To see how your PTO dollars are benefitting our children click here.

Safety Issues on Lynn Fells Parkway

Please remind your students to cross the Lynn Fells Parkway only on the walk signal. The DCR has turned down our request at a recent meeting to add a crossing guard to the crosswalk in front of the Middle School. We are asking all parents to make sure students exit cars only on the street side of the road, and that they wait for the signal as well as eye contact from drivers to cross the street. Wearing earphones while walking crossing the street is dangerous!

MVMMS X-Press is here!

Read all the important news but those with the best point of view - the students! Click here to see the latest edition of the Melrose Veterans Memorial School newspaper of the 2011/2012 school year.

Magazine Drive Renewals

Over the past 30 years MVMMS has done a magazine drive to support things such as agenda books, and team supplies. Mr. Brow has decided that this year, the drive will be discontinued. If your family has renewals of subscriptions, the school can still get credit by logging into www.qsp.com, and go under the "Parents of Supporters" section and click "shop now". The school id # is 1152873. The PTO will need your support more than ever and we rely on parent donations for the bulk of our budget. You can send in a check made out to MVMMS PTO any time to the main office, or by mail to MVMMS PTO 350 Lynn Fells Parkway, Melrose, MA. Click here to see to view our budget and to see how PTO dollars are spent.

Popcorn Sales have begun on Thursdays at lunch.

For $1.00 you can give your kids a healthy snack and support Enrichment and Faculty Grant programs at MVMMS.

School Site Council Congrats to new parents reps Kristin Harvey, Stephanie Catalini, Ann Cambell, and Cindy O'Donnell who will work with Mr. Brow and teachers Naomi Baline and Wendy Arnold on this years School Improvement Plan for MVMMS.

Parents are needed to serve on the MVMMS School Site Council for the 2011-2012 school year. The role of the site council is to a School Improvement Plan (SIP).

Information on joining after-school activities can be found here

PTO Funds
For an updated list of where your PTO dollars have contributed to MVMMS Enrichment click here. To view our 2010/2011 PTO budget, go to the PTO documents page here.