Hello Sprague!

We've heard your feedback — the Pulse is longer than a CVS receipt. 🧾 

So we've trimmed it down as much as possible. You'll find Sprague's community essential updates in the "What's Happening" section.

The "From the Community" updates are sent to us via WPS, so we can't control those, but we hope that by organizing news into sections, you'll be able to easily find what you need.

Looking for more? We've got you covered on our site!

Great Northern Eclipse Viewing & Festival 🌙 🌞

The day has finally arrived for this special event — thank you SO much to our CAS Chair Carolyn Kornwitz and teacher Margaret Flitsch for planning everything. We can hardly wait to celebrate with you!

April showers ☔️  bring May flowers 🌸 

Don't miss the chance to get your hands dirty with our Garden Committee as we clean up the Sprague Garden on April 27th. Tools and snacks are provided — this is a fun way for you and your kiddos to give back to their community. We hope to see you there.

Sprague School Community Update 🏫 

Ever feel overwhelmed by all the info coming at you from every direction every day? Us too! But we're going to make your Sprague lives easier by sharing the most important updates with you on Wednesday, May 1st right after Walk/Ride/Roll to School. 

Busy bee? 🐝  The meeting will wrap up within 45 minutes.

Best, 

Rose & Wendy

Monday, April 8th

2:45 - 4:00 pm

Please join us on the Sprague fields at 2:45 to enjoy some fun activities, eclipse viewing, and sun/moon-themed snacks (after 3:05).* For those wishing for their child(ren) to be dismissed at 3:05, normal procedures will take place. 

Why? A total solar eclipse will be taking place and we will be able to see it from our very own field! We will provide eclipse glasses so everyone can safely watch the eclipse in action. Activities, games and snacks (after 3:05) will be included!

*In the event of inclement weather, the event will take place in the gymnasium, where we will watch a live broadcast of the eclipse and enjoy some fun activities. 

*Please park in the lot as carline will be in use at 3:05.

Calling all outdoor lovers — spring is here and we need lots of helpers! Please join us on one or both days to start the garden season. Click the links below for details on each event. The location is our vegetable garden right by the bus loop.

Garden Spring Cleanup Day

Date: Sat. April 27th, 2024 (Rain date: Sun April 28th, 2024)

Time: 9:30-11:30am

Sign up: https://tinyurl.com/spgarden24-1

Planting Day

Date: Sun. May 19th, 2024 (no rain date)

Time: 9:30 - 11:30am

Sign up: https://tinyurl.com/spgarden24-2

Feel free to email SpragueGreenTeam@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Garden Committee

Sunday, May 19 from 12:00pm - 2:00pm

Join the Sprague community and show your school pride in this year’s Sprague float during the Wellesley Wonderful Weekend parade! 

Parents and kids are invited to help decorate the flatbed truck and participate in the festivities by riding or walking alongside the truck as it makes its way along the parade route. The route is a 2-mile walk up Washington and Central Streets (not a loop), starting on Washington St. right before the David Locke Bridge.

Sign up HEREto volunteer to decorate and/or ride in the parade.

The Hunnewell PTO would like to extend a very warm welcome to those families joining the Hunnewell community this fall. For those that would like to start learning more about Hunnewell now, we’d love to get connected! Complete this Google Form to share some information & we’ll reach out to guide you on accessing PTO communications and invitations to PTO activities.

Additionally, as we're filling PTO positions for the upcoming school year, we encourage parents from our redistricted schools to consider taking on roles. Explore our PTO and volunteer opportunities on our website at www.hunnewellschool.org and feel free to express your interest in the Google Form. For any inquiries, please email our co-presidents, Heather Conway and Lillian Lau, at info@hunnewellpto.org.

Purchase your tickets for the Sprague Spring Auction 

HERE

Alternatively, complete THIS FORM and drop it off with a check payable to Sprague PTO in the box labeled Auction Tickets in the Sprague Office.

* Smart Casual Attire includes shorts, slacks, and acceptable denim  (cargo or denim shorts of any kind are not permitted). For more details please visit the Charles River Country Club Guest Information page. 

WHO: 5th

WHAT:  The fifth graders enjoyed a nature walk led by Lisa Moore of the NRC. Lisa and the students discussed the evidence that the seasons were changing. She guided the students in inquiries about how the plants and animals know that spring is here and how the pieces of our local ecosystem fit together.

Can you volunteer for 45 minutes to help with Sprague Walk, Ride or Roll to School? This monthly event is a great tradition and the kids love collecting their footies! 

Volunteer time 7:45 - 8:30am. Volunteers help with table setup, assisting kids with signing in, and table breakdown.

Our next Walk, Ride & Roll to school is May 1st - with a Sprague School Update meeting to follow.

SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER HERE

Questions? Contact Ezra Englebardt at ezra802@gmail.com or Alex Baker at alexander.baker@icloud.com

Please join us for a Sprague School Update, where you'll hear updates on all the wonderful events your child(ren) experience with our organization.  

DATE: Wednesday, May 1

TIME: 8:35 - 9:25am

LOCATION: Join us in the library or via Google Meet https://meet.google.com/xxg-fczg-otk

Spend your 1/2 Day Wednesday at The Painting Place now through the end of the school year! 

Mention Sprague on a 1/2 day Wednesday and The Painting Place will donate 15% of your purchase to our PTO!

ORDER SPRAGUE GEAR FROM 1ST PLACE SPIRITWEAR

Click HERE to access our Family Directory.

Instagram @sprague_pto

Share your photos with our Social Media Chair, Nicole Katz (nicolestacykatz@gmail.com)!

Interested in occasionally volunteering at Sprague PTO events? Sign the All Hands On Deck volunteer list.

You'll receive emails when volunteer opportunities arise (i.e., shifts at the Fall Fest, set up a teacher appreciation lunch, hand out popsicles at playdates, pick up groceries or a gift card to meet a Give From the Heart request, etc...). 

This is a great way to get involved when you can!

Sign the All Hands on Deck Volunteer List

As the weather gets warmer, consider turning off your engine while waiting in car line or for a school pick up. 

Idling is especially dangerous around schools because children are highly susceptible to air pollution from car exhaust.  Their developing lungs have a smaller surface area and a higher inhalation rate (can be over 3x that of adults), which means greater exposure and potentially permanent damage to lung function.  

Idling is also expensive and illegal.  So join your school community and make a commitment to "Idle No More in 2024!"

Parents & caregivers are invited to take part in a three-part workshop series, “Building Resilience: Supporting Youth Mental Health,” held at the Wellesley Free Library’s Wakelin Room starting this Thursday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m.

The series is sponsored by Thrive Wellesley and will feature guest speakers from Newton-Wellesley Hospital’s The Resilience Project. It is designed to help families - parents, guardians & caregivers - gain a better understanding of the skills, community support, and resources for developing positive mental health and connections within their families. Join for one, two, or all three sessions. Full details here.

• April 11  –  Supporting Mental Health Through a Lens of Resilience

• May 8 – The Continuum of Care from Prevention to Treatment

• May 22 – Building Resilience in Kids and Ourselves

Register through the WFL website  

Thrive Wellesley is an Initiative of the Kiwanis Club of Wellesley, in partnership with the Wellesley Youth Commision and Wellesley Health Department, and funded by the Community Fund for Wellesley.

Friday, April 26, 10:30am

Join the Wellesley Trails Committee for a spring trail walk in the North 40. Learn about the vernal pool and pine tree forest while meeting new people. This will be about 45-60 minutes on a relatively flat dirt trail. Meet on Turner Road trailhead entrance to North 40 (before the gate).

No registration required. Children must be accompanied by an adult. 

Meet at the Morses Pond beach parking lot. Questions: trails@wellesleyma.gov

The Wellesley Middle School PTO looks forward to welcoming you next fall. We are spreading the word that we are actively recruiting 2 Presidents and 2 Vice Presidents to serve on the board next year. 

If you are curious to hear about what volunteer opportunities are available, please reach out to Katie Sullivan and Annie Oh at wmsptoinfo@gmail.com. 

The WMS PTO website contains more information about volunteering in the “About Us” section, found here: https://www.wellesleymspto.org/. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday at the 5th to 6th Grade Transition Night.

Marathon Monday is coming soon! Best of luck to the following charity runners who are either members of the Wellesley Public Schools faculty and staff or community members running on behalf of WPS partners. They include:

Carolyn Livingstone, Hunnewell kindergarten teacher, on behalf of Wellesley’s War Memorial Scholarship Fund; Julia MacBlane, Schofield teaching assistant, also on behalf of Wellesley’s War Memorial Scholarship Fund; Glen Magpiong, WHS varsity girls basketball coach, on behalf of Wellesley’s A Better Chance (ABC); Sara Sullivan, Hunnewell psychologist, on behalf of the Wellesley Scholarship Foundation; Nezha Mediouni Bower, on behalf of the Wellesley Community Children's Center; Jayne Kim on behalf of Friends of Wellesley METCO; and Melissa Martin, on behalf of the Wellesley Education Foundation.

Join us on Thursday, May 2nd from 9-10:30 for our monthly PAC coffee! The coffee will be at the home of Christine Mizzi at 16 Suffolk Road. The PAC supports families in town who have children (PAWS through WHS) that are receiving special education services from the district. 

If you are unable to attend, following are the dates for the 2023-2024 school year. Please feel free to bring a friend or forward to someone that you think may benefit from meeting others within the Special Education PAC community. 

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Are you looking for a new fitness adventure or have acrobatic experience and want to deepen your practice? Eastern Acrobatics & Circus (EAC) is now offering circus and acrobatics classes for adults and children in a beautiful refurbished church facility in Natick! 

EAC (@easternacrobatics on Instagram) offers a unique opportunity to work with expert coaches to build incredible strength and flexibility, discover hidden talents, and have playful fun in a motivational environment.

Ready to take flight? See EAC’s offerings below and sign up at www.easternacrobatics.com. You can also swing by at your preferred class time and sign up on-site! Please reach out to info@easternacrobatics.com or come by the facility if you need help signing up, have any questions, or don’t see a class that fits your interests and want to chat about other opportunities. Spread the word and join the EAC community today! 

Weekly Class Sessions: 

• Kids General Circus (Ages 7-10 or 10+) 

• Circus Tots (Ages 2-4 or 4-6)

• Group Acrobatics 

• Mongolian Contortion or General Stretch

• Handstands

• Aerials (Fabric/Silks, Rope, Straps)

Drop-In Classes: 

• Dance for Acrobats

• Juggling 

Please reach out if you are interested in a full or part time pre-professional training program. 

Thank you to Sprague mother Allison S. Baker, MD, Child, Adolescent and Perinatal Psychiatrist, for spearheading this initiative.

Did you know? The mere presence of one's own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity.

We all want our children and one another to thrive at school, at home, and in our lives. Being fully present and with all of our available cognitive capacities is an essential ingredient of health.

Join us in Sprague's Wait Until 8th Pledge

This is a national pledge that empowers parents to rally together to delay giving a SMARTPHONE* until at least 8th grade. When we band together as a Spraguewell community, it decreases the pressure to give our children a smartphone at an early age. Ten years old is the average age children get their first smartphone. We can change this as a community and directly improve the mental health of our children and families. 

More than 50,000 parents have said yes to waiting on smartphones for their children. 

Signing the pledge is easy - visit https://www.waituntil8th.org/, enter your information, and look up Sprague using the "*Find Your Child's Current School" tool to join our community.

*Flip phones, watches with calling functions, etc. are not considered to impact children's mental health in the same negative way as smartphones. 

Sign Sprague's Wait Until 8th Pledge!

Did you know Shopper’s Corner is a unique resale shop located right in the basement of Schofield Elementary School? The shop sells new and gently used clothing and accessories from infant through adult. 

Not only do they promote sustainability, their prices are rock bottom: items start at $1 and most are less than $5!  

The store is open during the school year every Wednesday that school is in session from 8:30am to 12:15pm and the first Saturday of most months from 9am to 11am. 

Co-Presidents: Rose Nolan & Wendy Englebardt

Vice President: Ezra Englebardt

Treasurers: Hande Alparslan & Jill Wells

Creative Arts and Sciences: Carolyn Kornwitz

Secretary: Ceren Bayulgen

Communications: Liz Sower

Social Co-Chairs: Dena Giggie & Tanya Johnson

Social Media Chair: Nicole Katz

Spirit Wear Chair: Inia Perez

Raffle Co-Chair: Bry Tartamella & Sneha Patel

Wellesley Wonderful Weekend Co-Chairs: Alejandra Tejada & Open Position

Yearbook Coordinators: Julie Covino-Vogel, Ambika Hoguet, & Hadley Stephens

METCO Liaisons: Kasia Schwarzman & Nicole Katz

Parent Advisory Council Rep: Nicole Katz

Walk-to-School Coordinators: Ezra Englebardt & Alex Baker

Green Team: Tomoe Harrison & Jenny Lee

Garden Masters: Tomoe Harrison, Rose Nolan, & Margaret Flitsch

Sprague Night at Fenway Coordinator: John Wells