Grateful


                                                                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     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 



        

Thanksgiving Break :

Afterschool Registrations for School Year 2024-2025

Registrations for February and April Vacation Week Programs

Parent Resources

Please remember to 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 personal 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

 

Hi everyone! It is hard to believe we are already in November and the year is moving so quickly! This month’s focus is on stress awareness and the importance of prioritizing mental wellness for all of us. Student wellness includes strengthening social and emotional skills such as self-awareness, emotional regulation, responsible decision-making and healthy relationship building. Awareness and enhancement of these skills help us manage our stress and improve our emotional resilience. At Community Schools, we believe that the mental well-being of all our kiddos is essential for their overall success and happiness at school, at home, and with their friends. We hope your student is happy and enjoying their time with us as much as we enjoy being with them!




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, Chandler Timoleon

Happy November Argenziano families!! We are almost at the end of session 1, can you believe it?! The crisp chilly weather is here and it is darker earlier but we are still spending as much time outside as possible. The highlight of this month was our field trip on election day to the Museum of Science! The kids who attended the field trip had so much fun exploring all the different exhibits and seeing live science & animal shows. They really enjoyed the Arctic Adventure exhibit, Science in the Park, the big T-Rex, a robotic dog and many other interactive, hands-on activities. It was a fun-filled day! Let’s check out what each grade level is up to..


*Parents/Guardians: With the chilly temperatures, please make sure your children have warm jackets, gloves, hats, etc. Also some of our clubs this session are still in need of toilet paper/paper towel rolls, packing peanuts/foam, and small cardboard boxes. Thanks so much for your donations and support!! 



Pre-K (Ms. Keala):


Aloha Ohana’s, I am Keala, the lead teacher for group 1. During this past month, preschoolers were curious to learn about the human body; they learned about the lungs, heart, stomach, and brain. Our little learners were eager to understand how the brain communicates with the rest of the body through neurotransmitters. Children also completed fall-themed process art activities. Everyone had a wonderful time at the Museum of Science in Boston; children had the chance to view a beautiful Rainbow Brazilian Boa. I look forward to introducing the stem and social-emotional learning curriculum next month. Take care and stay warm.  

3rd-5th (Ms. Etta):


Group 4 has been enjoying the fall weather and fun clubs.  On Election Day some of us went on a field trip to the Museum of Science and it was wonderful to see the children excitedly exploring and enjoying the museum! We have also been learning new things in all our clubs.


In PokeWorld we made some fun projects such as an origami pikachu to go inside our pokeballs, which turned out really cute, pokemon evolution “flextangles”, and “hatched” poke-eggs.  The poke-eggs were made of baking soda and water that we molded into eggs around our (still undetermined) poke-rock.  Once the eggs were formed we “hatched” them with vinegar and watched as the egg fizzled away to reveal the rock inside.  The “hatching” was really surprising and fascinating for the children, and they wanted to make even more eggs. Next time we will be painting our poke-rocks to find out what pokemon each student hatched! 


K-2nd grade (Ms. Sana, Mx. Ileana, Ms. Ana, & Mr. C):


Ms. Sana- Nature Craft Club, This club offers students the chance to discover nature, collect fallen leaves, and make crafts with the materials they find. Each week, students are given a new theme to create nature-inspired crafts. We have a range of themes including leaf painting, nature suncatcher crafts, nature faces, and leaf hair! 

In Strong Women Strong Girls, we have been building community within the group and talking about who we are as people. We have also been learning about inspiring women who have made a difference in the world and broke new ground for women to follow. These women offer the girls great examples of what we can do as confident, empowered women. Each week we learn about a new woman and create something together as a team: One session the girls had a freeze dance competition, another session we made models of empowered women using clay, and in one of the latest sessions, the girls made bandanas in their own unique and creative style.  We are looking forward to what comes next. 


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

Happy November families!

 

As we wrap up the final few weeks of session 1 we are doing our best to enjoy as much outdoor weather as we can. We were lucky to start the month off with some beautiful weather, especially for our full-day programming on election day! Students enjoyed mid-60 degrees and almost a full day out in the sunshine at Assembly Row. Farrington Nature had us outside at the Blessing of the Bay park every Friday before it started to get too dark and then we began staying closer to the schoolyard. Groundworks is still utilizing the outdoor garden to make beautiful garden inspired artwork with the remaining flowers and leaves. The colder weather can’t stop Parkour from jumping all over the playground every Thursday. We love being outdoors here at the Healey and take advantage every opportunity we can to enjoy the beautiful play structures and fields on our campus. Continue reading to hear about some of the exciting indoor activities students have also been enjoying during this month!

Miss Suri:

Students worked hard learning the letters R and B this month. One of our favorite colors in PreK is RAINBOW and boy did we have a lot of fun getting to design our own rainbows! Students worked so hard to add the best colors to their rainbows and loved showing them to their friends. For the letter B, we got to make our own bumble bees. We also decorated our very own ballerinas and showed off the cool ballet moves we taught ourselves. Students have really enjoyed building with the giant blue blocks in the gym during free choice and have used such good teamwork to build some very big houses together.

Mr.T:

The Joy of Painting

Using watercolor paints and what they have learned over the course of the session, students have been working on free-style paintings of their own. Mr. T has been impressed by how well the students take care of the painting materials and clean up after themselves. I look forward to finishing up clubs on a strong note!  

 

Art with Fruit

In the past few weeks, we have been using several different fruits to make our creations. Students greatly enjoy using the skewers to make their own delicious designs. It has been a pleasure to see the kids learn how to safely handle using plastic knives and learn new cutting techniques to chop up watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, and more!  

 

Lego Engineering

In Lego Engineering club, students have been using motors to power their own designs. The kids have built boats, cars, along with other vehicles as well. Students have done an exemplary job of taking turns and sharing the materials with their classmates. Keep up the good work1 

Mr.Walters:

Beast Mode

The kids are having a blast in Beast Mode! Our new favorite game is “Castles and Dragons,” where “soldiers” use dodgeballs to siege a “castle” (made out of the blue foam blocks in the gym) protected by “dragons.” We have explored all the fall sports, and have enjoyed using our new turf field and basketball courts in the back. As the temperature drops and the sun disappears, we look forward to some awesome new gym games!

 

All About Autumn

Students have been enjoying All About Autumn. In the past month we have done a bug hunt, searching for as many species of bugs we could find around the Healey campus. We also made some observations about how the weather, temperature, and sun has changed since the summer and have each picked a tree in the back lot to check up on in another few weeks. We will see how they have changed! Last week we had some fun indoors doing fall jeopardy and leaf etchings, where students can use fall leaves to make beautiful art. We’re looking forward to enjoying a nice fall themed snack in club in the coming weeks as well. Happy fall!


Miss Annie:

Change makers

Students are continuing their jewelry projects each week. We make a variety of jewelry crafts- some of the students’ favorites have been beaded phone charms that attach to a phone case, earrings, and lots of bracelets. For our most recent project, we made flower rings out of pipe cleaners. As we approach the last month of this session, we are also working to get ready for our December sale for friends and family. All of the proceeds from the sale will be directly donated to the animal rescue league of Boston, which the students voted on as their charity of choice at the beginning of the year.

Graphic novels

Students are continuing to work on a variety of graphic novel projects, ranging from short comics, one-frame action shots, and even short novellas! This month we learned about how to use drawings and dialogue to build suspense and lead up to the story’s climax. Many students have also begun to add color and detail to their sketches, while others have focused their creativity on in depth depictions of characters or scenes of their design.

Outdoors

As the weather gets colder, outdoors club is still getting outside when we can. With the few unseasonably warm days that we got, we took full advantage of the sunshine with activities in the Healey garden and group teamwork games on the playground. To celebrate fall, a favorite activity was making leaf print greeting cards. Students searched the playground for their favorite leaf before using a crayon to make a pressing for the cover of a small greeting card. We wrote personal messages to be given to friends, family, and other school staff. Outdoors club has also taken advantage of the Healey playground, fields, and surrounding neighborhood, where we do activities like yoga, play outdoor games, and take walks to explore the nature and embrace the Fall foliage.

Benjamin G. Brown School

Site Director: Kelsey Kent 

Assistant Site Director:  Tamica Connor


Ashley Marks, Will Whelan, Marie Cheney, Katherina Dinka, Grace Barton, 

Kasey Hoebermann, Stephanie Idelfonso, Kelliann Marks, Karen Oppman

Happy November!

 

Benjamin G. Brown Elementary School is so thankful for our After-School Families! The days are getting shorter, and the weather is getting chippier, but that doesn’t stop our after-school activities from heating up! The month of October was a blast, and we know that November will be full of fun! This month our students are taking more moments to be present in themselves and think about the role that they play in their peers' school day. Brown After-School has been implementing various mindful activities and sessions with all of our students.

 

We have established a “Friendship Workshop” and “Small Problems, Big Problems” lesson group. Each new week of Friendship Workshop, students are diving deeper into topics such as: making friends, kindness, including others, empathy, self-control and goal setting. Each class, students are introduced to a new area of study and are given extended learning opportunities to return to their school day with a mindful task to complete. In “Small Problems, Big Problems” students are learning how to be resilient towards things that they cannot change or control. This lesson group has seen great strides in their students' abilities to understand and comprehend their own actions as well as the actions of others!

 

This past week, our older students and their teachers took a spontaneous trip to Lexington Park! We took a moment to recognize that our days are going to be looking a little different due to the winter months, so we wanted to soak up all that fun outside before it got too dark!

 

Lastly, Brown School wishes all our families a warm holiday!

 

Here are some of our clubs in action this November!!!

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

November was a fantastic month at the East Somerville Community School, there are so many things to be thankful for this year. We’ve had great clubs, made new friends, and tried new things. This time of year, we start looking forward to the winter months and slowly transitioning to indoor activities and clubs. We got the opportunity to go to our first trip to Launch Trampoline Park and spend the day jumping and having fun with each other for Election Day! The kids had a great time and loved every minute of it.   

Pre-K- 2nd grade friends have been very busy with their clubs. Whether they are exploring the garden with the Farrington Nature group, learning about dinosaurs and the Jurassic period or participating in how to be one of them, we have seen great participation and fun attitudes from our students! They also got to experience a variety of craft activities and reading books about the holidays throughout the month. Our students continue to grow and prosper in everything they do, accomplishing goals they never thought to achieve before.   

3rd-7th grade students are given the opportunity to play different board games in groups and creating they own game to share. As well helping each other with homework and busy participating in clubs like soccer, Strong Women Strong Girls, science and much more! These students have been very dedicated during homework time to make sure they get all of their homework and reading done before going on to an activity. It is a remarkable pleasure to see them engaged in their astounding clubs, all of which enable them to make their days from 2:30 – 5:30 more fun, productive, and educational. Session One has already fulfilled all of our expectations of educational and they’re eager to know what next session will bring. Hand-outs for Session 2 clubs will be sent home in early December.  

As the months of holiday festivities begin, we at the East Somerville Afterschool Program are certainly thankful for having such a wonderful teachers and staff and for the opportunity to serve your family and be a part of your child's educational journey. November is a month of gratitude, and we are grateful for your ongoing support and partnership. Wishing you a joyful and memorable Thanksgiving break with your families and friend!!    

              REMINDERS

Please ensure to join our ESCS Afterschool class on the REMIND.COM APP, if you haven’t. It is the fastest way to get updates on sudden weather changes and news. 

 

With the change of weather, we would like to stress the importance of students wearing the appropriate outerwear. Our goal is to have students go outside everyday if weather permits. Students must wear a winter jacket, gloves, scarves, hat, snow boots etc. 


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

From spaceships to the stars, cornucopias and pumpkins, gardens and harvests, chickens and turkeys, after-school at the Capuano has been exploring, learning, and having lots of fun. As always, we play indoors with toys, games, puzzles and manipulatives of all kinds. We play in the gym in inclement weather, but we also try to get out to the playground as often as possible and will continue to go outside, so pack warm clothes!!

To give an idea of the activities that we have been doing aside from playing, we read books like Pumpkin Head by Eric Kimmel, in which beings with pumpkins for heads think that the world is only full of people just like them. They aren’t exactly sure, but they are open minded. One pumpkin boy decides to try to explore the world to find out and has a crazy adventure with squirrels. After reading Pumpkin Head, of course, we opened up pumpkins and explored what was inside. We read books like Vegetable Garden by Douglas Florian and Harvest Home by Jane Yolen and then, across a couple of days, we made cornucopias filled with the autumn harvest.

These are only a couple of activities. The photos show spaceships and outer space puzzles, foxes and flowers, different kinds of corn and lots of other fun stuff!

Parents will be seeing new faces among the staff. We would like to welcome Sarthak Khanal, “Mr. Sar”, the new Assistant OST Director at Capuano. We would also like to welcome Mamata Chalise who in addition to working for after-school, works in the kitchen at the Capuano.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Just an additional reminder, Wednesday November 22nd, there is no after-school program. The pick-up time for Pre-K is 11:30 AM and for Kindergarten is 12 noon.

We hope that everybody has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

John F. Kennedy Elementary School

Site Director: Allison Gills

Assistant Site Director: Emmaline Lipka

Kelly Lopez, Nicole Tolbert, Ethan Hallet, Savannah Paul, Maureen Nichols, 

Emma Oppman, Mary Lou Hodgdon

What has been happening with our students in After School this past month.

 

Craft and chat have been crafting away this past month! The older students finished their weavings and moved on to creating friendship bracelets. Learning new designs was a challenge but seeing the students come together and help each other out was great. We took a break the other week from our fiber crafts and had some fun making slime! The younger students made birthday cake collages and are now working on their own mini cardboard houses. I'm looking forward to the rest of the session and seeing what these artists create!


This past month, the Art Historians club has spent time learning about Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. We learned about their lives, what kind of art they make, and watched short videos about them. Students were amazed when they were shown pictures of the studio Matisse worked in and all the art covering the walls. We then created colorful paper cuts inspired by each of the artists.

This month, Pre-K has been working hard on our yoga with Ms. Maureen and challenging ourselves to do tricky poses such as tree and warrior 3. After read aloud time, we now do ten minutes of quiet meditation time before we go into yoga. Our pre-k friends have really benefited from this, and we can move into activities and choice time feeling more relaxed and refreshed!

Stories and art- we have read “ the true story of the three little pigs” and they got to color in pigs and a fox then glue materials and make the pigs houses, we also read “Three cheers for Catherine” and students drew a picture of their families. We have also read “The best time a day” and had to draw their favorite time of day, those are just a few of the books we have read.

 

Lego Club - In lego club students have had to use their creative skills and built a maze and had to have me try and solve it, students had 30 minutes to built a tower as tall as they could in that time period, students got to build whatever they wanted but they could only use one color. Students have also had to build a bridge and some even made theirs strong enough to hold books on theirs.

Board games- students have gotten to play and learn all different board games/ puzzles, such as chess/checkers, bingo, connect 4, Jenga, sorry, headbands, they also played a dog man board game.

 

Random fun- Students have gotten to make fall trees using tin foil and paint to make the leaves, they have gotten to be creative and make things using perler beads, students have had free play where they could color, play games or use legos.

 

In origami club students have been learning to make animals. We started this month with foxes and bookmark axolotls.

 

Disney club has been making masks and crows based on princesses such as Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White. They have also been creating mini royal crowns

Art from the heart club has been creating Henna art on gloves instead of skin. Students were able to use picture references and different colored sharpies to attempt this.

In art studio students have been exploring tape art with watercolor. They covered an image with tape onto the paper and then the water colored all over it after that they had a masterpiece that they could peel off the tape that was hidden underneath.

This month, Laura's groups have been busy with  fun projects. They have been working on game inventions that involve addition and subtraction, as well as, marble runs they conceived that start with a flat marble maze. They are finding out about trajectory, designing space station modules and creating beautiful art depicting astronomical objects. Kids have been learning about refuges through stories and discussions. They have made art projects and writing related to book themes. Some have been making Stone Age cave art,  Bronze Age metalwork and have made their own replica geodes. Kindness is Magic group has been busy collaborating on dance, set design and acting for their exciting performance in December!

Winter Hill Community Innovation School

Site Director: Deijah Euvrard

Assistant Site Director: Daniela Garcia

Latifa Mortady, Nathalya Castillo, Rue Romero, Tanty Koita, Rosa Palma, Teddy O'Brien , Mariah Jones, Maria Henriquez, Ariana Melendez, Leonardo Fuentes, Seline Pierre,  Nehemie Simon

Hello Families, Happy November! We excitedly await the vacation approaching us and the time we get to spend with friends and family!


Field Trip

This month some students got to enjoy our field trip to LEGOLAND! On the trip, we got to watch a 4D movie (and get wet), build mini figurines to take home, play in a jungle gym, participate in a workshop, and play outside!

Pre-k/ Kindergarten

Preschoolers and kindergartners are learning about thankfulness and what the definition means to the kids. Teaching them to say thank you to each other and to people who do things for them and make them happy, we are talking about things you are thankful for during the friendship circle. We did thankful books, cards, notes, prompts, appreciation stations, and daily story time/discussion about Thankfulness.

 CinemaKidz!

This continues to be a fan favorite. The students work so happily on their skits. They have been learning to work together using different materials to film and edit their scenes.The harmonious collaboration on and off set, or the shared excitement of different points of view, the essence of childhood joy is embedded into these extracurricular moments

DEILAB/Build Wave

I think we may have mini engineers on our hands. Students are thriving in our STEM clubs like DEILAB and Build Wave. They have been working to beat the clock in Build Wave, solving various puzzles and creating anything they can imagine. In DEILAB students have been learning about the endless pieces of legos and how they can use these pieces to make virtually anything!


Veggie Circus/Hogwarts Heros

 Veggie Circus and Hogwarts Heros activities provide children with a vibrant tapestry of joy and growth. As they immerse themselves in various pursuits, from games to arts and everything in between, the radiant smiles and infectious laughter of children echo the sheer delight they experience. These activities become a playground of exploration, fostering not only physical skills but also nurturing their creativity, teamwork, and self-confidence. 


Reminder

● Students will not be able to enjoy outdoor play without a coat

● With cooler weather comes more layers! Please label your child's clothing, backpack, water bottles, etc. as items are often lost or left behind. Lost or forgotten items can be found at the school lost and found.

West Somerville Neighborhood School

Site Director: Joshua Leibovitz

Assistant Site Director: Seana Read

 Jane Fabiano, Darly Pierre, Gianna Amari, Rodrigo Rodriguez, Joseph Amari, Katherine Yanes, Riley Williams, Henry Duarte

Hello Families & Friends! Oh what a time to be in Afterschool! With the calendar year coming to an end, our friends have been enjoying themselves in Afterschool, indulging in new clubs/activities, and even discovering what cupcakes taste like. As you have seen, the night has been catching up to us sooner and it seems to me that the wind has been visiting the gym because it has been much stronger lately. Make sure when you arrive to Afterschool to bring a mug of hot cocoa with mini marshmallows and wrap yourself in the warmest blanket because our little friends seem to never want to leave our school.

Our older students in 3rd-6th grade are getting used to the chilly weather and not letting it slow them down. In Olympus Coliseum with Mr. Joseph, our older friends have been honing their athletic skills and had a chance to show off their agility in an obstacle course the size of the whole soccer field! It was a day of smiles and cheering on our peers as everyone raced to beat their best time. Students in Hollywood club started creating costumes and props out of recycled materials to help bring their performance to life and take home the Tony Award for “A Storybook Knight”, coming to a cafeteria stage near you soon! Dynamic Dribblers with Ms. Gianna is bouncing balls off the walls and sampling a new sport every week. Even with the frost approaching, Groundworks is still learning about how we can grow our own herbs and veggies in colder climates. December is just around the corner and we can’t wait for the fun the new season will bring!

Now entering into the newsletter, it's our youngest friends in the program. Our Pre-K friends made it a mission to take over our fridge and dry storage to create their own snacks for Afterschool. I must say, the food has been immaculate; even Rachel Ray couldn't make our spooky rice krispie dish in her 30 minute show. Ingredients include Rice Krispie treats, ketchup, eyeballs, and our secret ingredient that we cannot share. If our young chefs aren't cooking in the kitchen then our friends are training to become the next WSNS Ninja Warrior. During Election Day we went to visit Xtreme Craze in Woburn for our students to really practice their Ninja Warrior skills, & let me tell you, they did not fail. Our students decided it was a great time to jump off the cliff onto the bouncy floor, which was an incredible experience for them. They couldn't stop jumping, eating pizza, ice cream, and going back to jumping.

Now entering into the newsletter, it's our very own Kinder-2nd grade friends. Our kiddos have been enjoying themselves with the great selection of activities that has been offered to Afterschool. In Veggie Circus our friends have been learning all about veggies and fruits and why they are important to us. While learning about veggies, they also have been learning tricks and acts for their circus show coming up soon. As they prepare for the show, the host has been coming up with questions to ask the crowd, and one question that even I don't know the answer to is “Is ketchup is a smoothie?” We would love to hear everyone’s response to that. When our friends aren't practicing their routine, they are enjoying their time with a great book. No matter what grade you are in or how old you are, it's always a marvelous time for Ms. Jane to read to us. While our friends have been enjoying themselves there is never a dull moment. During Xtreme Craze they even tried to get Mr. Josh to jump off the mini cliff. I promise you it didn't go so well. I think Mr. Josh even forgot his age and forgot he is not young anymore. 

 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 warm apparel (Gloves, jackets, hats, etc.)!

-Packing extra clothes for our younger friends in case of an emergency

 Thank you!