March 1, 2026
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Students,
I hope you are enjoying the weekend. Spring is almost here, I promise! It is a busy time of year as we begin the month of March. We are back with a full 5 DAYS OF LEARNING this week! Let’s see what’s happening …
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: locke_middle_school
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” — English Proverb
SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
Monday – C Day – HW Club, Activities
Tuesday – D Day
Wednesday – A Day – 5A Field Trip, Advisory Schedule, HW Club, Activities
Thursday – B Day – 5B Field Trip, HW Club, Activities
Friday – C Day
BOOSTER-THON FUN RUN FUNDRAISER
Our biggest fundraiser of the year is here – The Locke Monster Fun Run! Registration is now open, and every student who registers prior to the kickoff on March 9th will receive the coveted Garas homework pass. This is a very special homework pass that can be used in any class! Be one of the first to register and help us reach our fundraising goal!
Our goal is to raise $15,000 for student enrichment, including field trips, end of year events and more and we need your help. Save the date and stay tuned for more details on how you can support our cause.
· Register online at MyBooster.com – 02/23/2026
· Fundraiser Kickoff in school – 03/09/2026
· Event Day – 03/18/2026
Stay tuned for more information about daily prizes and incentives for students, parents, AND teachers- there are lots of fun things in store, so don’t forget to keep your eye out so that you don’t miss out!
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!
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
If you were unable to attend last week’s BMHS presentation, please see the attached information that was shared with families. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
DISTRICT REPORT CARD
Please see the attached letter from Lori McDermott – assistant superintendent
RIDDLE/JOKE OF THE WEEK
This Week – 1. Why did the girl learn the trumpet in February? 2. Why was the calendar so busy before April?
Last week’s answers: 1. What did the wool hat say to the scarf? 2. You hang around while I will go on a head! 2. How does a North Pole carpenter fix something broken? Igloos it together!
MATH PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
Birthday Mode
Jaylen and Julia are in different classes at school. They both take a survey of the birth month of their classmates. They record each birthday month as a number, with January = 1, February = 2, March = 3, and so on. Here are their two data sets:
Jaylen: 4, 5, 4, 8, 9, 3, 5, 6, 3, 4, 11, 6, 5, 12, 10, 12, 3, 1, 2
Julia: 12, 3, 4, 3, 5, 7, 8, 3, 6, 4, 11, 11, 6, 5, 3, 9, 10, 10, 9, 3, 5
A new student comes into the school and joins one of their classes. After adding the new student’s birthday information to the survey results, Jaylen and Julia notice that the modes of the two data sets are the same. (The mode of a data set is the value that appears most often.) In what month was the new student born, and whose class did they enter?
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.
FROM BILLERICA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Kindergarten Registration for the 2026-2027 School Year
Online registration for Kindergarten will open on March 1. We have two in-person registration days where parents who would like some support with the registration process may come in person. Those dates are Monday, March 2 from 3-6 PM and Friday, March 6 from 8-11 AM in the Town Hall Auditorium. Details are available on our website.
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 — 978-528-8654
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.
UPCOMING DATES
All Dates are also on our master calendar on the Locke website.
· 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
· Wednesday, March 18th – Booster-Thon Fun Run Event
· Wednesday, March 18th – PTO Meeting 6:30 PM Library
· Tuesday, March 19th – Day 120, Last Day of Trimester 2
· 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
· Saturday, March 28th – Musical 2:00 PM Auditorium
· Friday, March 31st – Report Cards Published 2:00 PM
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