Rosanna Paribello, Director
Main Office, 167 Holland St. Rm 132- Somerville, MA Adriana Guereque, Assistant Director
Phone: 617 625-6600 x 6970 Fax 617 629-5512 Gina Miranda, Student Services Coordinator Dana Gordon, Clinical Coordinator
Early Release Wednesday
May 8, May 22
June 5
Adventure Summer Program
July 7 to August 9
8:15 AM to 4:15 PM
Students register only
Parent Resources
Please read the updated Parent Handbook 2023-2024 for new tuition policies and rates.
Use this link to access the Parent Information Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1A-8IXov-vrimaWSVQTOjLTcSQDGEoyRh?usp=sharing
You can pay your child’s afterschool tuition online at: https://www.ezchildtrack.com/parent2/ParentLogin.aspx?c=esp&FromTab=Y
You can also pay by check to the afterschool coordinator or through your online bank.
In our commitment to making our program as available as possible, we continue providing financial assistance for families. If you need information, please contact
Adriana Guereque at aguereque@k12.somerville.ma.us You can also contact the Site Director in your student school. Thank you for all your support to Community Schools – being with your children makes us all happy!
Counselor’s Corner
Dana Gordon
Every May, we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Month to acknowledge and celebrate the commitment of teachers to their students and communities. This month, we at Community Schools wanted to give a shout-out to our staff as we are lucky to have a wonderfully skilled group of educators who are dedicated to ensuring that your students grow and have fun in a safe and caring environment. Our teachers impart guidance and inspire creativity that benefit all of our kids on their learning journey. The most inspiring part of our staff is how much they love being with your students. Please join us in honoring our teachers this month and tell them what you like about Community Schools!
Albert F. Argenziano
Site Director; Elizabeth Bell
Assistant Site Director; Brianna Arevalo
Sresha Pradhan, Anabella Pena, Makaila Witham, Yasmin Almeida, Ileana Perlera , Etta Resnick, Ana Cortez, Keala Arciero, Sana Kazemi, Gianna Bottiglio, Bryan Rodriguez, Lauren Quinn
Happy May Argenziano families!! We are almost to the close of Session 3, wow that went by fast! The end of the school year is quickly approaching as well. Students seem to have thoroughly enjoyed a variety of clubs this session- learning new skills, building teamwork, and brushing up on their crafting skills. They also continue to have lots of fun being outside on the playground & at Lincoln!
Let’s check out what each grade level is up to..
*Parents/Guardians:
With temperatures starting to get warmer (but with crisp air later in the day) please continue to send a light jacket or sweatshirt. Please label your child's belongings. Also, if you have magazines at home that you would like to donate to our college club we would appreciate it. Thanks so much for your donations and support!!
Pre-K (Ms. Keala)
Aloha Ohanas,
I hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather. Pre-K friends enjoyed going to April camp and had a great time making new friends and a visit to the Museum of Science; Our little learners also enjoyed celebrating Earth day and Safari themed crafts. As the weather continues to get warmer, they will learn about weather, temperature, and precipitation.
Take Care,
Ms. Keala
K-2nd grade (Ms. Sana, Ms. Ileana, Ms. Ana, & Ms. Lauren):
Ms. Ileana- In Astronaut Adventures students are given the opportunity to learn about some of their favorite interests: space and planets! Each week, students get to travel to two different destinations within our solar system, learn some cool facts about our solar system and get to create a craft centered on our solar system. Students enjoy getting to share out their favorite fun facts regarding their solar system.
3rd-5th (Ms. Etta):
Group 4 has been enjoying the gorgeous spring weather! We have been outside a lot and even had some club time outside.
In Lego Building the children have been making lots of interesting models from machines to logos and so much in between. We have enjoyed just hanging out and chatting with each other while building and just relaxing at the end of the day.
In Spanish is Fun the children continue to have so much fun learning useful Spanish words and some culture both inside and out in the playground. We have been learning numbers, body parts, colors, and animals through all kinds of games and songs. We also enjoyed learning about the history of Cinco de Mayo.
In Game World we have been working on our games. All of the games are looking fantastic and the gameplay and settings are very interesting and creative.I’m looking forward to playing these colorful and intricate games.
In Design It, Build It, Sell It! we have made some impressive models and are improving our presentations. The theme this time has been plants and nature and the designs have been thoughtful and intricate. We also built and presented some of our projects outside because of the beautiful weather.
In Exploring Mythology we are wrapping up Greek mythology and heading into Norse mythology. We have also been making amulets for the deities of their own mythology. We are enjoying the creativity of building and explaining our own worlds as well as learning about the explanations of the ancient world.
All in all, Group 4 is looking forward to even more warm weather and exciting clubs as we race towards summer.
Arthur D. Healey School
Site Director: Amanda Oppman
Assistant Site Director: Alexander Walters
Nicholas Triant, Suri Gonzalez, Christopher Thompson,
Aidsa Rivera, Ishaya Williams, Jaqueline Medrano, Johana Maldonado, Ludwing Perez
Hello families,
We can’t believe how fast May has come and gone as we prepare for the last few weeks of the school year. Students are well into their final session of clubs and are enjoying the many beautiful spring days we have had. Please read below for highlights from this month.
Reminders to families:
Ms. Oppman will be starting her maternity leave at the beginning of June. For questions or concerns during her absence, families should reach out to Mr. Walters at Awalters@k12.somerville.ma.us or to the main office at 617-625-6600 ext. 6970.
Please check your balances on EZChildTrack and make sure your account is paid off.
Ms. Suri:
PreK had continued to practice being fair and kind over the last few weeks. We have read stories on how to show kindness to each other. We are continuing to work on kindness through various activities to make sure we are ready to be the best kindergarteners in the fall! We’ve also continued to explore the alphabet and learned more about the letters E and F this month. We counted frogs for some math exploration and turned the letter F into some beautiful fishes. We got to watch a show from when Ms.O was little and learned about elephants from our friend Stanley and his great big book of everything. We then got to make paper plates into some awesome elephant faces. We are experts at tracing our numbers too!
Mr. T:
Soccer Club: As we wrap up soccer club, students have been encouraged to try new positions on the field. It has been awesome to see the kids step out of their comfort zone and play in new spots. Additionally, we have taken advantage of the nice weather lately and have been using the beautiful, new soccer field at the Healey! I look forward to finishing strong with the kids and watching them grow each week!
Aquabeads: Students have loved coming to Aquabeads club each Wednesday to work on their creations! The kids have made new designs each week, ranging from different animals, to pyramids, to their favorite TV show characters . One of my favorite things about this club is the team work that the older students have displayed towards the younger students. When some of the 2nd/1st grade students have seen a Kindergarten student struggling, more often than not they have stepped in to help to the best of their ability. Keep up the great work!
Art with Fruit: In what has always been one of my favorite clubs to teach, Art with Fruit has been a blast this session. We finally made our hedgehogs using pears, grapes, and toothpicks, and it was super cool to see the attention to detail the kids put into their creations. Most importantly, I have loved seeing how excited the kids get to eat their designs before leaving. Throughout the session, students have discovered that eating “boring” food can actually be fun and delicious too!
Mr. Alex:
SMART Club:
SMART stands for Stories, Movement, and Art. So far this session, students have been having a blast hearing the best fairy tales. They get to see fairy tale animated on the screen while Mr. Walters reads the story aloud, and even adds in some silly voices and some background music. After the tale is over, students do either an art project or go outside and play a game based on the fairy tale! So far, we've read Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Peter Pan, King Midas and the Golden Touch, Aladdin and the Magic Carpet, and Alice in Wonderland. We've played Tinkerbell Tag, made Cheshire Cat paper plate crafts, learned how to draw the seven dwarves, and really enjoyed playing Golden Touch Tag.
Power Hour:
Power Hour has been a blast for the kids so far this session. We've played tons of different types of dodgeball, tag, capture the flag, and classic gym games you probably remember from when you were a kid! It's great for the kids to learn to work together as a team, get some exercise, and blow off some steam all at the same time.
Ms. Annie:
Outdoor club
Outdoor play club has been enjoying the warm weather. Students’ favorite game has been tiger’s eye, where the tiger guards the home base and players hide all around the playground. If the tiger spots someone in hiding, they go to the tigers lair- the group wins if someone runs from their hiding place and makes it to the lair before the tiger tags them! Another favorite is sardines, where someone hides and everyone else looks from them all around the playground. If you find them, you hide with them, and last to find the group is the sardine! We also did a neighborhood scavenger hunt where two teams of students and staff solved riddles, searching for the answer around the school and surrounding area.
Coloring Club
Many students have continued with their own coloring page designs, with some choosing to draw plant and animal inspired pages and others choosing characters from favorite movies, books, shows, games, and more. Others choose to spend their time relaxing as they color the pages provided, but both mindful coloring and personal projects are encouraged!
Book Club
Book club this month has continued to read the Mysterious Benedict society. Our main characters have embarked on an undercover mission at a school for gifted children, with the fate of humanity riding on their success.
Each meeting begins with a recap of what was read the week before, and then the rest of the club is spent by students enjoying snacks and listening to a few chapters read aloud before wrapping up with impressions and predictions for next week.
Benjamin G. Brown School
Site Director: Kelsey Kent
Assistant Site Director: Tamica Connor
Ashley Marks, Marie Cheney, Katherina Dinka, Grace Barton,
Kasey Hoebermann, Stephanie Idelfonso, Kelliann Marks, Karen Oppman
Hip Hip Hooray, it’s May!
We can’t express enough how much we are enjoying the beautiful spring weather! Lots of outdoor adventures across all our grades, nature crafts and awaiting our new blacktop! As the school year is winding down, we are taking the time to reflect on how our year has been.
Below are some reflections that our teachers wrote as we conclude our year!
Ms. Marie & Ms. Grace: We enjoyed watching the K group learn and grow throughout the year. They made many new friends. We had an amazing group of students this year, they get along so well! They work as a core team and they love keeping their spaces so clean and organized. Some of our K students are avid readers and took it upon themselves to read to a group and we thanked them!
Ms. Ashley: First Grade!! What a year it’s been!! I am so proud and impressed with this group of kiddos. They have learned so much in the months we have spent together. The kiddos learned how to be peaceful problem solvers with Ms. Kelsey and have gotten pretty good at it (although, we are still learning). They have also learned about their own inner peace. We have been doing a lot of guided meditations after club to help bring them to a calmer place.
Ms. Kelli & Ms. Karen: 2nd grade has had an awesome year in afterschool. They have been working hard, and enjoying their clubs, and they have been having fun with one another during center free block. We have also introduced meditation this year, and the kids seem to enjoy it when they first walk in, some of them even use the time to catch up on extra reading. This is a group that LOVES to read. A Lot of the 2nd graders have been asking for “Homework” especially science, and math worksheets. They have been preparing themselves for the transition into 3rd grade, they can’t wait to have homework!
Third Grade: The third grade classroom this year has had many achievements! They loved their teacher Ms. Emma who guided them to be the best versions of themselves. The third grade students this year were incredibly respectful to one another, all super close and it was a joy to see them grow from the beginning of the year to now.
They are truly engaged, as they lay on the floor, focus on their breathing and visually the stories that are taking place. This has been helpful during those hard times with friends, so they are aware of their own feelings and know when it’s time to take a break in the calm down tent. The kiddos also have been super engaging in clubs and other activities during after school. They are an energetic group, but they bring a lot of joy and effort towards everything they do!!
One activity that the third grade does is “beating their clean up time” from the day prior. When they do, they celebrate with a party! With a smaller sized group this year, it allowed for relationships to blossom! The third graders are ready and eager to move upstairs to the library where 4/5th graders are!
Mr. Kasey: What an amazing year 4th and 5th grade has had in afterschool! Some favorite memories of ours are sunny days spent at the park, building a giant stick fort on the bike path, playing in the snow, karaoke dance parties, and mini golf on our new turf field.
Monday, June 12th at 4:00 we will be having an end-of-the-year celebration Luau!
Families are invited to attend as each classroom has created their own slideshow of photos and videos from the past year, make paper leis and enjoy a potluck! We hope to see you there!
East Somerville Community School
Site Director: Yolanda Andrade
Assistant Site Director: Diana Posada
Raymond Corsini, Janice Pousland, Joanne Simon, Sonia Barahona, Mario Quiroz, Sarah McClelland. Estefani Medrano, Tashmeer Michel, Daniel Louis, Deni Matias Martin, Ashley Castro, Olivia Oliveira, Destiny Andrade, Sharon Castellon
The trees are just beginning to bud in the woods and there are signs of new and young life everywhere. May is here and another year is closing in, our students are flourishing like the tulips in our gardens!
Pre-K – 2nd grade students are currently investigating the seasons. With spring here, it is a great time to examine our world and explore the predictable cycle of events that happens with the changing of each season. They will begin to look at the seasons, exploring how changes in the environment occur in a regular pattern, including changes in weather, animals, plants, sunlight, and temperature, and how these things affect our lives. They will tie this unit back to our examination of plants and animals, as we will observe some real-life changes in trees, plants, and bugs that we can see in our schoolyard when winter turns into spring.
Science Cub for Girls is an exciting way for students and enthusiasts to explore and engage with the world of science and the students had a wonderful time.
This club provided an opportunity for students to learn about different scientific disciplines, conduct experiments, and participate in various scientific activities.
Students had to enhance their scientific knowledge, develop critical thinking skills, and cultivate a passion for science.
Our popular Spanish is Fun program took the time to expand our knowledge of the reasons behind celebrating Cinco de Mayo and its significance in cultural history. We believe that understanding and appreciating diverse cultures is an essential part of a well-rounded education, and Cinco de Mayo provides a meaningful opportunity for our students to engage with Mexican heritage. Everyone was also able to enjoy a piece of authentic sweet bread called “Conchas” that are popular in Mexico at the end of the valuable lesson.
Older students are all taking it easy and enjoying their playground time especially with all of their hard work in this MCAS season. We are ensuring that after their long testing days, they come to afterschool to enjoy their time with friends by playing board games, different sports, or making some art.
We would also like to take a moment to give a shout out to our CTE students in the Early Education and Care program at Somerville High School who come and enjoy some time with our PreK students every Fridays. The students absolutely love them and are a great asset to our program! Thank you to Suzanne Antoine, Somerville Highschool Early Education & Care teacher, for partnering up with us this year.
Clubs are beginning to end and we are all very proud of everyone’s efforts this school year like every other. We are working hard to make sure that our awesome children will feel the pride in achieving success. With this, we are pleased to announce our End of the Year Sundae Celebration that will take place on June 11, 2024 from 4:00-5:00pm. Come and enjoy some ice cream with us!
Michael E. Capuano Early Childhood Center
Site Director: Micheal Horowitz
Assistant Site Director: Sarthak Khamal
Bryan Convey, Ana Treska, Neelam Sehil, Mei Idris, Jaqueline Gaffney, Alaa Bautkhourst, Joao Detoledo, Ana Taveira, MamataChalise
The sun is climbing higher and higher in the sky as each day passes. Beautiful warm weather and blue skies mean that we spend more time outdoors in the playground. It sounds marvelous and it is, but more outdoor time as we approach the summer solstice means increased risk of sunburn. Please pack sunscreen especially on May 22nd and June 5th when Capuano afterschool may be out in the noonday sun.
Since April vacation, themes have run along the lines of “Healthy Eating”, “Fruits”, “Birds”, “Zoo Animals”, and “Butterflies.” Classes have read books like Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears, Bring on the Birds, 1,2,3 to the Zoo, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and From Caterpillar to Butterfly. Projects related to the readings have included sampling a variety of healthy foods, making fruit baskets, bird puppets, Do-A-Dot zoo animals, and coffee filter butterflies.
We continue to have lessons on big feelings and dealing with big feelings. We also focus on what it means to be kind, and how to solve problems with your friends.
Mother’s Day fell in the midst of this period. We talked about how our mothers are special people, and made Mother’s Day presents and cards.
In about a month, the school year will be ending. We hope that you are beginning to look forward to the summer month ahead, we are!
John F. Kennedy Elementary School
Site Director: Allison Pelletier
Assistant Site Director: Emmaline Lipka
Kelly Lopez, Nicole Tolbert, Ethan Hallet, Savannah Paul, Maureen Nichols,
Emma Oppman, Mary Lou Hodgdon, Laura Modhal, Silvana Dinka, Jolene Charles, Nicolee Chavez
Hi everyone!
We are coming to the end of this wonderful school year! It is hard to believe. We have had a lot of fun this year; and made a lot of memories and friends. Enjoy reading about all the fun things we have done in May.
Newspaper club has been working on our second edition of the After School Kennedy Gazette.
We have been lucky enough to have access to chrome books this session and are enjoying the benefits! Students have been interviewing, writing articles, taking pictures and designing.
We are looking forward to sharing our final paper of the year with everyone!
Ms. Emmaline’s Clubs:
May has been a busy month after school and we are so close to our end-of-year activities. The gardening club has been enjoying the beautiful spring weather. We have been playing with worms, raking the soil, and were finally able to plant some seeds. Students have planted radishes, carrots, marigolds, onions, and peas! We also dedicated an entire garden bed to pollinator wildflowers. Students enjoy watering the plants and watching the sprouts come up. We are hoping to at least have some radishes before the end of the year.
Ms. Kelly’s Clubs
Artistic View Club- students are creating items to sell in our end-of-the-year upcycled craft fair. They have been hard at work painting and designing.
Debate club- students have debated other various topics that capture their attention in wanting to defend their side. The judges are students who are chosen for the week to decide the winning team.
Random fun club- the students have also created crafts such as birdseed ornaments to sell in the upcycled craft fair coming up soon.
Journaling club- the students have been able to write letters to their mothers in their journals, while also sketching out the art display pieces they will have present to sell in the fair. They are very excited for their projects to come to life.
Recyclable art club- students have been able to create paper art, CD painting, and creating items to sell in our end-of-the-year upcycled craft fair. They have been hard at work painting and designing.
Ms. Emma’s Clubs
Arts and crafts- We have made mother’s day cards to give to our moms, students got to make 3D water lilies that turned out beautiful. Students have also worked with clay and got to design and paint their creations. Students also got to make so fun art like, pattern landscapes where they had to draw a picture and had to practice using all the different patterns they know to color in their pictures.
Movie Critic- We have read and watched a lot of books and movies and we have found a lot of similarities between them and a lot of difference between them, We have read and watched The Lion King, Toy Story, Bolt, Bambi, Finding Nemo,and Inside-Out, and more to come. Students have been very good at paying attention and comparing the books to the movies.
Beading- Students got to work with new beads called Aqua beads and have loved using them to create their bead art. Students have also used bracelet beads to create bracelets or necklaces for themselves, friends and family members.
Pre-K
This month, pre-k learned all about insects. We read books featuring various insects such as fireflies, click beetles, and ladybugs. We even created our own insect books! Pre-k loved learning about different insects and how they live. They love sharing the fun facts they’ve learned from the insect books they made.
Ms. Laura’s Clubs
In May, Laura’s groups were busy preparing for the upcycle fair, having a tallest building contest and playing chess. They had fun making beautiful things!They created birdbaths, fairy doors and toad stools.
Mr. Ethan’s Clubs
Our 3rd-5th grade group has had a great Spring at afterschool as we gear up for the end of the school year! Stem Club has been running some fun experiments and projects including seed bombs and making s'mores in solar ovens.
The Hobbit Book club has continued our audiobook journey through middle earth as we adventure with dwarves, hobbits and dragons. Gym Class Heroes have continued to practice good physical education through kickball, dodgeball, soccer, and more great games. Board game club has expanded their repertoire to include great new games like "Joe Name It," "Risk," and Dungeons and Dragons.
Finally, our Magic players have continued improving, working together to craft fun and creative new decks to test each other's skills. We're all looking forward to what the rest of the year has in store!
We have had a wonderful year in After School and hope you all have a great summer 🙂
Winter Hill Community Innovation School
Site Director: Deijah Euvrard
Assistant Site Director: Daniela Garcia
Latifa Mortady, Maria Henrique, Nathalya Salmeron, Teddy O’Brien, Tanty Koita, Nehemie Simon, Mariah Jones, Seline Pierre, Leonardo Fuentes,Rosa Palma, Devin Adrande, Miranda Flores, Ari Melendez
Hellos Families!
As the weather has begun to warm up and we’ve welcomed Spring, we have been spending a lot more time outside! This transition has also brought about a new spout of energy for the kiddos and staff!
Pre-K/ K
Preschoolers and Kindergartners are learning about healthy eating habits with topics that include MyPlate, whole grains, portion sizes and more. Our Winter Hill Kiddos are learning how eating healthy food helps children get the nutrients their bodies need to stay healthy, active, and strong through daily reading nutrition books and Hand-on activities like; my Fruit kabob , my food pyramid, food collage, my healthy plate and more exciting games and activities!
1st-2nd Grade
The group has been keeping active as the sun begins to shine brighter! We’re winding down our clubs and getting to the best activities of all, sweet treats, trips outside, movies and more!
This month they’ve continued to travel the world in Ms.Maria’s Little Traveler’s club, as well as work in teams to beat the clock in Mr.Nehemie’s Minute to Win it club.
Meanwhile CinemaKidz has been putting all of their effort into creating the BEST short films for us to all watch at the end of the session!
OTHER REMINDERS
-Please Label your student(s) water bottles, bags, etc.
-Please bring sunscreen labeled with your child’s name!
-Please let us know if your student(s) will be absent.
Grades 3rd - 6th
Our oldest group of friends have been enhancing their friendship skills with some group playground activities.
Metro Rock has continued to be a crowd pleaser and fantastic incentive for the students.
The students in kidstock are taking time to learn and use their imagination with creative storylines. Friends in DIY Kids have been using their creativity to put together various materials and create projects that come to life.
West Somerville Neighborhood School
Site Director: Joshua Leibovitz
Assistant Site Director: Seana Read
Jane Fabiano, Darly Pierre, Gianna Amari, Joseph Amari, Rodrigo Rodriguez, Katherine Yanes, Riley Williams, Henry Duarte, Teodor Todorov, Frank Leone
Hello Families!
Welcome to our May Newsletter!
I cannot believe we only have one more month left of the school year. Just like that the year is about to end, the flowers are blooming, and of course the weather is becoming nicer. Our students are beginning to leave their winter jackets and welcoming the short sleeves and shorts. It's almost that time to begin planning for summer trips!
Our PreK kiddos have been enjoying outside time and making sure to spend every minute outdoors. While the weather is nice we decided to learn more about fruits and veggies and how they benefit us. We learned that when it is hot outside it is always great to enjoy an orange or a few grapes to cool us down.
We always heard that playing with our food is not always great, but we can either eat them or, instead, play with them and make silly faces with them. When we are making silly faces out of food we do love the smell of flowers, and love to help the garden.
This time we decided to actually make our own tissue paper flowers that never need any water. We realize that why not keep flowers alive forever and design them with our own favorite color.
Welcome to the center stage it's our K-2nd graders. Our friends have been enjoying themselves so much it's like they never want to leave school. Some are enjoying wall climbing, and jumping off the wall during Parkour Club.
I can promise you I think we might be raising future Power Rangers here at WSNS. Learning the fundamentals of parkour while being safe with our bodies. Our teachers have been making sure to let our students exert their energy and ready to go home for a nap. Others have been enjoying their time at Flatbread for a little candlepin bowling session each week.
With the beautiful weather we’ve been blessed with since the start of Spring, our 3rd-6th graders have been soaking up the sun every chance they get. Mr. Joseph’s Blooms and Brushes club went on a nature walk to draw artistic inspiration from the natural beauty of the freshly blossoming trees and gardens, and Mr. Teddy’s Sketch club learned about the types of leaves that are unfurling across Somerville, and then took a turn at sketching all of their diverse shapes. I know we all know who Taylor Swift is, but rumor has it there’s a new TSwift music video premiering in a few weeks. Our sequined pop stars in CinemaKidz are reimagining one of the songs that swift-ly (haha, get it) catapulted Taylor to stardom, so stay tuned for the video’s release! We can’t believe we only have one month left in the school year, but we’ll be sure to make the most of it!
Our young bowlers have gotten the chance to make sure they at least get one strike before the year ends. It's amazing to see how our kids are so much better at bowling than Mr. Josh. Mr. Josh requires bumpers to at least hit one pin, and he still misses.
REMINDERS
-Please make sure to join our WSNS Afterschool class on the REMIND APP. Please email me for the code! It is the fastest way to get updates on sudden weather changes and news.
With the change of weather, make sure to pack water bottles and Sunscreen
Packing extra clothes for our younger friends in case of an emergency
Thank you!