October 26, 2025
SPOOKY EDITION!!
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
I you are enjoying another beautiful fall weekend as we get ready for Halloween. We are back with 5 DAYS OF LEARNING this week, and a busy schedule ahead as usual. Let’s see what’s happening …
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
It’s as much fun to scare as to be scared. – Vincent Price
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday – C Day – HW Club, Activities, Talent Show 6:00 PM
Tuesday – D Day – Trinket sales at lunch
Wednesday – A Day – Advisory Schedule, HW Club, Activities, Trinket sales at lunch, PTO night at Danny’s Pizza
Thursday – B Day – HW Club, Activities
Friday – C Day – Happy Halloween
HALLOWEEN COSTUMES FRIDAY
On Thursday, students can wear Halloween costumes to school. Costumes must be appropriate for school; please do not bring in weapons or scary masks that cover the entire face/head. Also, please do not bring in blow-up costumes. A reminder that it is still a learning day and students need to be respectful. In addition, students should not bring in candy to share with other students.
TALENT SHOW
The Locke talent show will be on Monday, October 27th at 6:00 PM in the auditorium. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
TRINKET SALES AT LUNCH
The PTO will be selling Halloween Trinkets (toys, pencils, stickers, etc) at lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. All items will cost $1 or $2.
HALLOWEEN DANCE!
We had a successful Halloween dance last Friday. The students had awesome costumes and we had a fantastic time! Please check out our Instagram page for some photos. locke_middle_school
PARENT CONFERENCES
Parent conferences for the Locke and Marshall will be held in person on Thursday, November 6th and Thursday, November 13th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. We are using a computer program called PTC Wizard to schedule conferences. Conferences will be 5 minutes long and each teacher will have 48 openings. There is a possibility that a teacher will be booked and you will not be able to schedule a conference with a particular teacher. If that does occur, I encourage you to utilize email, meet individually with the teacher at another time, or schedule a team meeting.
The link to schedule conferences will be open on Thursday, October 30th at 6:00 PM. See the link below.
If you already have an account from last year, you can log-in. If you do not have an account, you will need to register and create an account.
- You will need to know your child’s teachers’ names in order to schedule the meetings. The site will provide a list of names for you to choose from.
- For ensembles, the teachers will split the days between the Locke and Marshall.
- Orchestra – Dr. Cardella will not be available, Ms. Harmon Locke on 11/6, Marshall 11/13
- Band — Locke on 11/13, Marshall 11/6
- Chorus — Locke on 11/6, Marshall 11/13
- If you have any questions or difficulty scheduling conferences, please contact me – tgaras@billericak12.com
PICTURE MAKE-UP/RETAKES
Picture make-ups and retakes will be taken on Wednesday, November 5th. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
6th GRADE SCIENCE PROGRAM
Thank you to the team from EMD Serono for coming in last week to work on a project with our 6th graders. The program is called “Bacteria Around You” and is teaching students all about how bacteria impact our daily living. The team will be back in this week to analyze the results from their experiments. Also, thank you to Ms. Tolleson and Ms. Santy for organizing this program.
HOMEWORK CLUB
HW club will continue throughout the year. It will meet in the library every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 1:45 – 2:45. (not on early release Wednesdays) Students do not need to sign up ahead of time for HW club. Students will report to the library immediately after school and sign-in. They can attend as many days as the parents/teachers believe are necessary. Students will receive help with assignments, organization, preparing for assessments, and are expected to stay for the full hour. Parent pick-up at 2:45 is required.
CHROMEBOOK INSURANCE
We are pleased to share that we are officially launching our new Chromebook insurance option for students. This program provides affordable coverage for accidental damage and other issues, helping families avoid unexpected repair or replacement costs.
Coverage will be available through our partner, Get Cover, and parents can access the enrollment portal here: BPS Chromebook Insurance.
Insurance Details:
· Dell 3100 Chromebooks (all units issued prior to 2025): $31.85 for 1 year
· Dell 3120 Chromebooks (new units distributed in August 2025): $76.85 for 4-years
· Coverage includes accidental damage, spills, and drops
More information can also be found on the BPS Helpdesk site.
RIDDLE/JOKE OF THE WEEK
1. Why don’t skeletons like Halloween candy? 2. What kind of bread do zombies like?
Last week’s answers: 1. What did the witch do when her car broke down? Witch – hiked! 2. What does Frankenstein put on his pizza? Monster – rella cheese!
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
PUMPKIN MATH!
Which pumpkin holds the most money?
an extra-large pumpkin filled with 400 pennies;
a large pumpkin filled with 87 nickels;
a small pumpkin filled with 43 dimes;
or a mini pumpkin filled with 17 quarters?
Last Week’s Answer: 20 ways the series could go
Send your answers to Mr. Garas – tgaras@billericak12.com – Show your work! You can win a Dunkin gift card and the highly coveted math certificate!! We will have prizes on Friday this week.
BEACON SANTA
Please see the attached application form for Beacon Santa. Beacon Santa provides assistance to families in need during the holiday season.
PTO CORNER
The PTO welcomes all families to the Locke. We will be meeting monthly to plan several events throughout the year. We had our October meeting last week. Please see the minutes attached here.
LOCKE GEAR is for sale! Go to this link to purchase. A portion of the price goes to the PTO.
UPCOMING PTO EVENTS:
Wednesday, October 22nd – PTO Meeting 6:30 PM
Tuesday, October 28th and Wednesday October 29th – Trinket Sales at lunch
Wednesday, October 29th – Dine-out at Danny’s Pizzeria. See attached flyer
Wednesday, November 19th – Ice Cream Social 6:00-7:30 PM
Our PTO Facebook page is: “Billerica Locke PTO”. Click on the link below to take you there:
REMINDERS
CELL PHONE POLICY
Our cell phone policy is that all student phones/smart watches are to be kept in student lockers and turned off for the duration of the school day. If parents need to contact students, please contact the main office.
SCHOOL TIMES
School starts promptly at 7:30. Students should be in their homeroom at 7:30. The car drop-off time for students is 7:10 — 7:25. Students will be allowed to enter the building at 7:10. From 7:10 – 7:20, students who enter the building will be supervised in the cafeteria. Students will not be allowed in before 7:10 AM.
ABSENCES
If your child is going to be absent, please call 978-528-8650 to report the absence. You can leave a voicemail at this number which goes directly to our secretary. You may also email our secretaries, Ms. Brewster at nbrewster@billericak12.com and/or Ms. O’Brien at lobrien@billericak12.com
BUS ASSIGNMENTS
Students who ride the bus can only ride on their assigned bus in the morning and afternoon. Students are not allowed to ride different buses to be with friends after school.
The bus routes for the year are listed at this link.
If you have any questions regarding bus assignments, please contact our assistant principal: Phillip Peters: ppeters@billericak12.com — 978-528-8654
LUNCH/BREAKFAST
All breakfast and lunches are free to all students again this year. Students will be receiving a 4 digit pin code that they will need to use when they get breakfast or lunch. Breakfast will be served beginning on the first day. It will be “grab and go”. Students can grab a breakfast in the cafeteria when they come in and then report to homeroom. They can eat breakfast in homeroom. Students are not allowed to bring in breakfast/drinks from Dunkin, Starbucks, etc.
FROM THE COMMUNITY
Donate Clothing, Shoes, and Books! Please see attached fundraiser flyer for the Billerica Scholarship Foundation
UPCOMING DATES
All Dates are also on our master calendar on the Locke website.
· Monday, October 27th – Talent Show 6:00 PM Auditorium
· Tuesday, Wednesday October 28th and 29th – Trinket Sales at lunch
· Tuesday, November 4th – No School
· Wednesday, November 5th – Day 45, Quarter 1 Unified Arts Classes End
· Wednesday, November 5th – Make-up Picture Day
· Thursday, November 6th – Quarter 2 Unified Arts Classes start
· Thursday, November 6th – Parent Conferences 6:00-8:00 PM
· Tuesday, November 11th – No School, Veterans Day
· Wednesday, November 12th – PTO Meeting 6:30 PM Library
· Thursday, November 13th — Parent Conferences 6:00-8:00 PM
· Friday, Saturday November 14th and 15th – Locke Play 6:00 PM
· Wednesday, November 19th – Ice Cream Social 6:00 PM
· Wednesday, November 26th – Half Day 10:40 Dismissal
· Thursday, Friday November 27th and 28th – Thanksgiving Recess
If you have any questions, please contact me at tgaras@billericak12.com or call at 978-528-8655. I look forward to a great school year!!
Warmest regards,
Tony Garas, Principal