June 11, 2010 Newsletter

QUOTATION
-The more one worries, the older one gets; the more one laughs, the younger one feels.
~Chinese proverb

-Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you'll make a difference. ~Arie Pencovici

CALENDAR
June 13, 10 am- Spring Clean-Up at Dallin
June 17, 10am – Orchestra concert at Dallin
6:30 pm – 5th Grade Class Night
June 18 – Dallin End of the Year Picnic
June 23 – Last day of school-1:00 dismissal

Frozen Feast Fest after school today
A reminder that today's the last Friday Frozen Feast Fest to benefit Bridge the Gap Fund. So come on by at pick up. The sun will be shining and we'll have plenty of refreshing treats on hand. All treats $1 but additional donations always accepted. This is the LAST Blast so let's see if we can restore more vital positions and services.

The Dallin Art Show & Imagination Celebration
Thank you to all the students and families for coming to last night’s Art Show & Imagination Celebration. And a big thank you to Art Teacher Joni Boroda for doing such a wonderful job displaying all the beautiful and creative art work of our talented students!

Spring Clean-up this weekend
Come join us this Sunday, June 13th from 10:00 - 11:00 for our annual spring clean-up. Bring your gardening gloves, rakes, spades and gardening gloves! For more information call Lizzie at 617-281-3331. Hope to see you there.

Final Auction Update from Mary Horgan & Kim McIlvenna
The Auction Committee is proud to announce that the final tally of the auction proceeds is slightly over $31,000.00!!! We would like to thank ALL the people involved in this tremendous effort; we are thrilled that all this money will be able to spent at Dallin to continue great programs and support for the teachers, staff and students.

End of the Year picnic- next Friday night
The Dallin End of the Year picnic will be on Friday, June 18. Fun activities like "Cupcake Spin”, Bouncy Houses, Cake Walk (musical chairs with cake rewards), Raffle Baskets, Bikes Raffle, Richies Slush, Pizza and Drinks will be available for modest fees --all of which go to support the Dallin ASSIST fund. This fund supports Dallin families in times of need. Free Cake Containers will be available in the Lobby today at 2 pm. Request for some more volunteers for collecting money at stations and bouncy house helpers. If interested contact brandy_cler-kneissler@us.ibm.com. Sure to be a fun time!
Marion MacFayden Scholarship
Congratulations to Dallin alum Nicole Connolly and Kerryn Kane, recipients of the Marion MacFayden Scholarship this year from the Dallin PTO. Both students are pursuing careers in the health care field. And congratulations to all our other Dallin alum who received special awards at the Senior Award Night at the High School last night.


Here is an update on the Bridge the Gap campaign.
The campaign has raised nearly $500,000. As a result, last night the School Committee voted to add back 18 critical positions. They also voted to give the Bridge the Gap campaign a one week extension, until June 15th. We now have an opportunity to fund the next priority items by June 15th:
Elementary physical education
Middle school guidance counselor and math support
Reduce planned increases in High School athletics fees
Please help us make a difference for the children of Arlington by forwarding this email to your friends and neighbors who may not have given yet. Donations can be mailed in, dropped off at any of the elementary schools or given online via PayPal at http://www.arlingtoneducationfoundationma.org/donate.html Following is a list of what has been restored with the donations to the campaign to date. Thank you for helping make this happen and changing the lives of Arlington's students.

Elementary art and music (to current levels)
Elementary school library staff (to current levels)
One elementary school teacher and 3 Teaching Assistants
Exploratory world languages program in sixth grade
Part of the middle school ACE program
Part of middle school reading support
One aide to middle school physical education to help with large class sizes
One part time high school art teacher

A Special Thank you
The fifth grade would like to acknowledge and thank Mrs. J. for making a donation on our behalf to the Bridge the Gap fund. Mrs. J. will always be a part of our Dallin memories--thank you for everything!

And a new event to add to your calendar, featuring a Dallin Dad.
Movie Night to Benefit Bridge the Gap – June 24th, 7pm
The Arlington Regent Cinema will host a BRIDGE THE GAP benefit screening on Thursday June 24 at 7 p.m. of the award winning independent film ON BROADWAY starring Joey McIntyre (New Kids on the Block, Wicked), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse), Mike O’Malley (Glee, Yes, Dear) and Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Blades of Glory.) The film was written and directed by Arlington resident David McLaughlin and it was produced and features Dallin student Riley Greene’s dad, Lance.
The suggested donation is $15 and tickets will be available at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, Arlington – www.regenttheatre.com (781) 646-4849.

Community Events
Ottoson T-shirt Sale
Any Dallin parents who would like to give Ottoson Middle School t-shirts to their graduates as graduation presents, we still have some available. Since these have been part of our fundraising effort, once they are sold out, we may not have them again. Checks for the t-shirts are due by Thurs., June 17th to the teachers. The Ts are $15 each (proceeds will be used for books and other resources for the Ottoson Library and Media Center), and checks should be made out to the OPAC Media Fund. Please note the sizes are Adult -we have women's pink or grey with maroon bulldog mascot and OMS name in sizes small and medium and men's grey with maroon in sizes small, medium and large.
Thank you, Nancy Lowe


Have a great weekend!