- Sep 18, Wednesday - PTO meeting, 7 - 9 pm *NEW DATE*
- Sep 18, Wednesday - K-3 Enrichment: Garbage Is My Bag Assembly
- Sep 27, Friday - Spirit Day: Thompson Pride
- Sep 30, Monday - NO SCHOOL
- Oct 1, Tuesday - Direct Donation Drive Kickoff
- Oct 2, Wednesday - Picture Day
- Oct 2, Wednesday - Walk/Ride to School Day
- Oct 2, Wednesday - Custodial Workers Day
- Oct 9, Wednesday - NO SCHOOL
- Oct 14, Monday - NO SCHOOL
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An Amazing Community Card Launch at Town Day!
 We’re pleased to announce that we sold 1,038 cards for our 2019-2020 Community Card launch: 917 at Town Day, 21 at Saturday soccer games, and 103 at Curriculum Night. That’s an instant $10,400 for our kids’ enrichment programming, amazing!
This launch would would not be possible each year without our Town Day volunteers who came down to sell the card (including kids—we had a whole bunch of students eager to sell!), the businesses that graciously offer the ongoing discounts, and our fabulous Community Card team members who negotiate the deals, design the card, and get us set up for a successful sales season. Thank you!!
If you still haven’t had a chance to purchase a card for yourself (or for the other wallets in your family!), you can now get them:
- At the Book Rack, 13 Medford St.
- Online via PayPal at www.arlingtoncommunitycard.org
- From Ms. Vicki at the front desk (she can take cash or check made out to Thompson School PTO; for credit purchases, go to one of the above locations)
What’s next? We expect we’ll sell another 800 or so cards by Nov. 30. How? Book Rack sales, online sales, and YOU! Take a shift at our Farmers Market table Sept 18 and 25, help hang posters around town this week, or sell cards to friends and neighbors with the Family Sales program.
 *Extra bonus: Anyone who volunteers in any capacity to help sell the card (Town Day included) will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Abbott’s Frozen Custard gift card! We’ll simply put your email into a hat and announce the winner in the Sept. 30 newsletter. Want a chance to win? Pick the task that works for you.
For more about the Community Card, go to arlingtoncommunitycard.org. Questions? Contact Co-Chairs Ashley Lorenz (ashley.e.lorenz@gmail.com) or Gaggi DeStefanis (gaggi@rcn.com), or Co-Chair-in-Training Cici Klein (j.ciel.wendel@gmail.com).
Pictured, left to right: Ashley, Principal Donato, Gaggi, and Cici
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National Box Tops Week Sept. 15-22: Double Earnings for App Users!
Earn double credit for Thompson on participating Box Tops for Education products purchased through Sept. 22. Receipts must be scanned within 14 days of purchase. Limit 20 claims per receipt. Download the app at https://www.boxtops4education.com.
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 Thompson Flu Shot Clinic, Sept. 26
Be a super germ fighter—get your flu shot! Keep an eye out for the student consent form, which will be sent home soon from Nurse Christina.
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Learning About Music at Thompson
 Find out more about music enrichment at Thompson directly from music teacher Mr. Fiorentini. Go to tinyurl.com/thompsonschoolmusic anytime for resources and links to interesting articles.
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Green Team News: September Is Zero Waste Month!
- Thompson Green Team is excited to support the International Youth-led Climate Strikes Sept. 20-27! Share their wisdom and courage!
- 4th and 5th graders are leading a postcard-writing campaign to Governor Baker and asking him to protect their future! Drop off your family's postcards in the Thompson school lobby by 8 am Sept. 20. Arlington families will deliver them to the State House that day as part of the Boston Climate Strike.
- Green Team will hold a Thompson Climate Rally at 8 am Sept. 20, near the playgrounds. Meet after school Monday, Sept.16, by the pineapple doors to prepare. Students are invited to dress as superheroes or animals and make their own signs for the rally.
- Arlington families can also register to attend the Boston Climate Strike or join us on our Facebook event.
- Green Team meets after school on Fridays. Join us!
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Mark Your Calendars for Picture Day, Oct. 2!
 Dress sharply! Packets will be arriving soon in your kids' backpacks with instructions on how to order school pictures. You can also order at coffeepond.com (under Order Central > School Portraits). We need parent volunteers to help the day run smoothly! If you're interested in helping out, please sign up at tinyurl.com/ThompsonPictures2019. Contact Kate Murphy (katejoycemurphy71@gmail.com) or Ema Rodrigues (emarod77@yahoo.com) with any questions.
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Take the Thompson DIG Survey
(available in 7 languages) 
The Thompson DIG wants to hear from you! Please share your experiences and thoughts related to equity, sense of belonging, and valuing diversity in the Thompson community using this anonymous survey in English, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, or Spanish. Your responses will be used to shape DIG activities that aim to foster a nurturing learning environment for all our students and welcoming all our families. If you would like to get involved with DIG, email ThompsonElementarySchoolDIG@gmail.com.
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Recycle Old Markers at Thompson!
 Since joining Crayola's nationwide effort in reducing plastic waste, the Thompson School community has collected more than 130 pounds of used markers to ship back to Crayola through the ColorCycle program! To participate, save markers that have been used up and drop them into one of the collection bins at school—one in the lobby area and one outside the library on the second floor. We collect used markers throughout the year, so there is no deadline. We accept all markers, any brand, including permanent markers (e.g. Sharpie) and dry erase markers. Please, no pens. For specific questions about ColorCycle at Thompson, email thompsoncolorcycle@gmail.com.
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 The PTO is always happy to have help for ongoing tasks! Specific needs will be posted here on an ongoing basis. And you can always check out the Volunteers page to see the most current volunteering opportunities.
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Community Card Volunteering:
(Anyone who does at least one of these tasks will be entered to win a $25 Abbott's gift card!)
- Sell cards at the PTO farmers market table, Sept. 18 and Sept. 25
- Sell cards to friends and neighbors around town with the Family Sales program
- Help put up posters at local parks and community boards
- Email Ashley Lorenz (ashley.e.lorenz@gmail.com) to learn more
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In addition to the Community Card sales and Direct Donation Drive, you can support the PTO (and Thompson School) with these year-round passive fundraisers!
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 Amazon Smile
Designate Thompson School PTO as your favorite Amazon Smile charity of choice, and Smile will automatically donate 0.5% of the purchase price of any qualifying products to the PTO. (As of April 2019, we are no longer part of the Amazon Associates program.)
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 Box Tops for Education
Box Tops can be redeemed year-round! The Box Tops program recently went digital with a receipt-scanning app, but clipped Box Tops will still be accepted for the near future. Scan and clip for double points to Thompson PTO. Learn more about the changes.
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 Maxima Gifts' My School Program
Every time you make a purchase, 5% of the pre-tax sale price goes to your school of choice. To sign up, see the My School webpage for details. Maxima will add an additional 2% of your purchase to your school when you sign up and make your first purchase.
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 Stop & Shop A+ Rewards
From September through March every year, your grocery purchases = points = dollars for Thompson School with the Stop & Shop A+ School Rewards program. Simply register your Stop & Shop card to Thompson. For a visual tutorial, watch this video created by our friends at the Gibbs-Ottoson PTO.
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Spy Pond Fun Day, Sept. 21 @ 10 am - 1 pm
Near Playground & Pond Lane; rain date 1-4 pm Sept. 22
Live music and demonstrations:
- Brass band: Lokensgard Blechbaser Ensemble
- Aunt Mimi: guitar duo covering classics from '50's through today
- Harmonators: great harmonies, fine guitar work, lively hand percussion
- Martial arts demonstration
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Arlington Hockey Club Registration Now Open
Registration is open for the Arlington Hockey Club's (AHC) 2019-2020 instructional league for both skaters and learn-to-skate, developmental league, and in-house full ice program. These programs are all no-checking, and practices and games are held at Ed Burns Arena in Arlington. To help defer equipment costs for new players joining the club in either the instructional or developmental programs, we will be offering free equipment while supplies last on a first-registered-first-served basis. Visit www.arlingtonice.com for more information and registration.
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Ashley Lorenz, Co-president
Christy Murphy-Macinta, Co-president
Danielle Gottesman, Communications Cochair
Lani Obermayer, Communications Cochair
If you have news to share with the community, please email ThompsonPTOevents@gmail.com by Thursday at 12 noon to be included in the next newsletter. The newsletter is sent out Monday each week that school is in session (or Tuesday when Monday is a school holiday).
Please note that we will only include news from the Thompson School and Town of Arlington. Announcements of interest to the Thompson community from other nonprofit organizations may be included at our discretion.
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