February 22, 2026
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
I hope you had a great vacation week. We are back to work with a busy 5 (maybe) DAYS OF LEARNING this week as we close out February.Stay safe during the storm. Let’s see what’s happening …
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: locke_middle_school
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It is in your hands, to make a better world for all who live in it”. – Nelson Mandela
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Reminder – If we have a snow day, the letter days do not change.
Monday – B Day – HW Club, Activities
Tuesday – C Day — 7th grade math placement test
Wednesday – D Day – Advisory Schedule, HW Club, Activities
Thursday – A Day – HW Club, Activities
Friday – B Day
PENNY WARS ARE COMPLETE
The penny wars have ended and we raised over $3400!! Here are the winning homerooms:
240 – Ms. Apostolakes, 121 – Ms. Ruggeri, 110 – Ms. Roy
We had coins from 11 different countries/areas, including the U.S., Canada, Bahamas, Aruba, Bermuda, India, Bolivia, Israel, Italy, Japan, and Brazil. We also had 2 souvenir pennies from Seaworld & North Conway. Additionally, there were 5 random tokens, a button, a fake penny, and a battery. What a haul!
HOOPS FOR HEART TOURNAMENT FUNDRAISER – A BIG SUCCESS!
We had a fantastic basketball tournament and fundraiser before vacation. Thank you to our students and families for their donations to the American Heart Association. Also, a big thank you to Ms. Higgins, Ms. Cliff, and Mr. Flynn for organizing the events. Check out some photos on Instagram and the video of the epic halftime show with the D’Amato Dancers and special guest!
8th GRADE MATH PLACEMENT TEST
7th graders will be taking the math placement test in class on Tuesday, February 24th. For any students who are absent, the test will be given after school on Wednesday, February 25th.
MCAS CALENDAR
Please see the attached calendar for MCAS testing dates this year.
ROBOTICS UPDATE
Congratulations! Two of the Locke Monsters Robotics teams have qualified for the State Championships! The competition will be held at the Walsh Middle School in Framingham, MA on Saturday February 28th and Sunday March 1st.
VEX robotics is a student-centered program where the students are responsible for designing, building, coding, and driving their robots. In this event, each team will participate in numerous qualification rounds, skills rounds, and will also be interviewed by judges who ask them a variety of questions about their robot. Teams have also submitted Engineering Notebooks for the judges to review prior to the event/interviews. The majority of the students on the team this year are in their first year of Robotics and all of the teams/students have shown tremendous improvements since the beginning of the season!
If you would like to watch the tournament remotely, there will be a livestream hosted on YouTube by our host school/team Framingham Walsh Bot.
The Locke Monsters Robotics Team is also holding a Lottery Ticket fundraiser to raise funds for our team. We are selling raffle tickets for a chance to win a book of 100 MA State Lottery tickets ($10 version). We will be selling a total of 300 raffle tickets at $10 each. Once all of the tickets are sold, the winner will be selected and notified. You can Venmo Mrs. Tolleson (one of the coaches) @jmtolleson1 if you would like to buy a raffle ticket. The cost is $10 per raffle entry. Please include your name and phone number in the memo/note line so that you can be entered into the raffle and notified if you win.
7th GRADE PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT
BMHS will be hosting an information night for 7th grade parents on Thursday, February 26th. See the attached flyer for more details. Please note: This night is for parents only.
DISTRICT REPORT CARD
Please see the attached letter from Lori McDermott – assistant superintendent
COMMUNITY DISCUSSION ON SCHOOL FACILITIES
On Thursday, February 26th at 6:00 PM in the Locke auditorium, Superintendent Clery and the Director of Facilities will be hosting a discussion regarding a potential new school building project.
RIDDLE/JOKE OF THE WEEK
This Week – 1. What did the wool hat say to the scarf? 2. How does a North Pole carpenter fix something broken?
Last week’s answers: 1. What did the bacon say to the tomato on Valentine’s Day? – Lettuce be together! 2. What did one piece of toast say to the other on Valentine’s Day? – You are my butter half!
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
Shape Sums!
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.
CHROMEBOOK INSURANCE
Parents and Guardians, please see the attached flyer outlining the benefit of Chromebook insurance. We are encouraging families to consider insurance based on the frequency that we see students with Chromebook damage.
LOCKE SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL
Our school council met on February 9th. Please see the minutes for the meeting. All related documents for the council can be found on our website.
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 believes 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.
MESSAGE FROM OUR NURSE
One of the issues currently being addressed by the Health and Wellness Department, along with Billerica School Nurses, is chronic absence. Chronic absence — missing 10 percent or more of school days due to absence for any reason—excused, unexcused absences and suspensions—can translate into students having difficulty learning to read by the third-grade, achieving in middle school, and graduating from high school. This isn’t simply a matter of truancy or skipping school. In fact, many of these absences, especially among our youngest students, are excused. Often absences are tied to health problems, such as asthma, diabetes, and oral and mental health issues. Other barriers including lack of a nearby school bus, a safe route to school or food insecurity make it difficult to go to school every day. There will be a series of posts/links to help students and families surrounding the issue of chronic absence and the importance of regular school attendance over the next few weeks:
● 10 Facts About School Attendance
This week’s post: Another component of chronic absenteeism can be related to anxiety and other mental health disorders. Missing school due to anxiety, known as school avoidance, is common and involves intense distress about attending, often with physical symptoms like headaches or stomach aches, stemming from fears of failure, social issues, or separation. Addressing it requires understanding triggers (bullying, performance), collaborating with the school (counselors, plans), creating a supportive home, and seeking professional help (therapist, doctor) for underlying anxiety disorders, as avoiding school provides temporary relief but worsens anxiety long-term.
Is your child missing school due to anxiety?
CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR MORE INFORMATION
PTO CORNER
The PTO welcomes all families to the Locke. We will be meeting monthly to plan several events throughout the year.
LOCKE GEAR is for sale! Go to this link to purchase. A portion of the price goes to the PTO.
UPCOMING PTO EVENTS:
Wednesday, March 18th – PTO Meeting 6:30 PM Library
Our PTO Facebook page is: “Billerica Locke PTO”. Click on the link below to take you there:
FROM BMHS
Please see the attached flyer for a class of 2026 fundraiser.
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.
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 — 978-528-8655
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.
UPCOMING DATES
All Dates are also on our master calendar on the Locke website.
· Monday, February 23rd – Return to School
· Thursday, February 26th – Community Forum, 6:00 PM Auditorium
· Thursday, February 26th – BMHS Auditorium 6:00PM 7th Grade Parent Meeting
· Wednesday, March 4th – 5A Field Trip
· Thursday, March 5th – 5B Field Trip
· Monday, March 9th – School Site Council Meeting, 5:00 PM Library
· Monday, March 9th – Booster-Thon Fundraiser Starts
· Tuesday, March 10th – School Committee Student Presentation
· Wednesday, March 11th – Early Release 11:40 Dismissal
· Tuesday, March 17th – Day 120, Last Day of Trimester 2
· Wednesday, March 18th – Booster-Thon Fun Run Event
· Wednesday, March 18th – PTO Meeting 6:30 PM Library
· Friday, March 20th – Spring Dance 6:00 – 8:00
· Thursday, March 26th – Musical 7:00 PM Auditorium
· Friday, March 27th – Musical 7:00 PM Auditorium
· Friday, March 27th – Report Cards Published 2:00 PM
· Saturday, March 28th – Musical 2:00 PM Auditorium
If you have any questions, please contact me at tgaras@billericak12.com or call at 978-528-8655. Have a great week!!
Warmest regards,
Tony Garas, Principal