This Week @ Gates
November 12, 2017
Upcoming Events

Monday, 11/13/17: Gates Information Forum (School Building Project)
Monday, 11/13/17: Gates PTO Meeting
Saturday, 11/18/17: The Gates Spelling Bee
Thursday-Friday, 11/23/17-11/24/17:  Thanksgiving Recess

The Gates Spelling Bee is This Saturday!

Our second annual Spelling Bee is this Saturday, November 18th. Starting in the Gates cafeteria at 9:00 am, the Spelling Bee has both a written and oral round. Students will be divided into two groups: Group 1 will be grades K-3 and Group 2 will be grades 4-6. Please download a copy of the word list for Group 1 and Group 2 . Every participant will receive a certificate signed by Principal Newman, and the winners from each group will receive trophies. Flyers have been sent home with registration details.

If you have a middle or high schooler that would be interested in being a pronouncer at the Spelling Bee, please email Irfan Syed now. Interested in volunteering? Then please sign up here.
The Student Council is Collecting Winter Clothes

The Gates Student Council is being run by Mrs. Melbourne and Mr. Wadsworth this year. The Gates Student Council will be collecting items for donation to the Acton Clothes Closet, a charitable organization run by the Acton Food Pantry. We are collecting new winter hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, and socks. There will be a collection box in the school lobby or items may be dropped off in Room 11. Please bring all items in by Monday, December 11, 2017. Please contact Mrs. Melbourne and Mr. Wadsworth with any questions.

School Building Project: Town Meetings and Informational Forum

The ABRSD community is in the middle of a large-scale school building project and the first phases of an existing conditions study and development of a master plan have been completed. The School Building Committee is in the process of planning for a new twin elementary school, in partnership with the MSBA, to replace some of our aging buildings.     

Special town meetings are scheduled in both Acton and Boxborough on December 4, 2017 to vote on funding for a feasibility study for this project. A series of community forums will be held to provide more detailed information about the building project. The Gates informational forum will be held in the Gates cafeteria on Monday, November 13th at 7:00 pm. Please consider coming to both the special town meetings and the Gates informational forum.

Please note there will be babysitting services for parents that want to attend the special town meeting coordinated through Alycen Nigro. More details are coming soon. For more information please review the flyer, visit the School Capital/Space Planning website or email ABBuilding@abschools.org.

Gates PTO Meeting is Coming Up

To accommodate the Gates information forum for the School Building Project in the Gates cafeteria, we are starting our PTO meeting at 8:00 pm in the Gates library on Monday, November 13th.

We highly encourage parents to attend both the Gates informational forum and the PTO meeting. Hope to see you all there!

The holidays are approaching and soon we'll all be busy shopping for gifts, decorations, and more. If you are an Amazon shopper, please shop at smile.amazon.com to support Paul P. Gates School. Every time you shop, AmazonSmile donates 0.5% of your purchase price to the Gates PTO and every little bit helps!











Shop and Support Gates

Donelan's Receipts for Education
Donelan's Supermarkets proudly sponsors the Register Tapes for Education Program to make a difference in local communities. Simply collect Donelan's receipts and deposited them in the collection center outside the Gates school office. These receipts are then converted into points and redeemed for equipment and supplies for Gates School.

AmazonSmile
Shopping on AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Gates school. Just sign up at AmazonSmile and register Paul P. Gates School PTO as your designated charity. Then every time you shop, AmazonSmile donates 0.5% of your purchase price to the Gates PTO. Don't forget to bookmark the website.

Box Tops for Education
The Box Tops for Education program is an easy way to earn cash for Gates school. Simply clip Box Tops on hundreds of products at your local grocery store and place them in the collection box outside of the Gates school office. For each one, Gates receives 10 cents and it really adds up.

"This Week at Gates" is distributed at the beginning of each week. If you have a submission you'd like to have included in the weekly email, please be sure to email it to the Senior Co-chair Naomi Phaneuf by noon on Wednesday. 
This newsletter was created solely for the purpose of communicating school related events to parents and students.