Greetings all!
Here is some *good news* (in case you need some) from our Dr. Martin Luther King Jr School parent group, MLK Friends:

1. Look at Books: Book fair a success!

Our Scholastic and Chinese Book fairs were a great success! It was fun to see so many students so excited about books. We are so grateful to all the parents who donated to the All for Books program, and who volunteered at the book fair. We hope to share more updates on the final numbers from the book fair soon. By sponsoring the book fair, MLK Friends helps fulfill our school mission core value of Learning as a Process.

2. Make a Splash! MLK Friends purchased Splash Math, an app used by all classrooms.

Our school's math coach approached MLK Friends and told us about a program all teachers really liked, but that was not in the school budget. MLK Friends is thrilled to be able to fund the year-long license of this app for all our school's students! Funding this education app is part of MLK Friends' commitment to our school mission core value of Achievement for students. Here is more from the math coach:

"Splash Math is a quality web-based math program that is engaging to students and supports ongoing review of important grade-level math concepts. The school district provides 2 web-based math programs, Symphony Math and Fasttmath, which are appropriately focused on increasing number sense. Splash Math, however, reviews all of the grade-level content including geometry, measurement, etc. Teachers and students are looking forward to using this program. When the account is set up we will try to add it to our MLK access page so students can use it at home as well as school. Thank you!- MLK School math coach"

3. All is not lost! Find your child's belongings at our new Lost and Found.

MLK Friends loves connecting people through events and projects like the ones above, and we also like to help connect students with their lost belongings ;)
Check out the new! improved! school lost and found from MLK Friends at the school's morning entrance. We hope that this helps you and your child find lost items - please also remember to label your child's belongings.

4. Fits you to a T: School T-shirts are here!

MLK Friends funded a t-shirt for every student, teacher and staff member at the school (including our MLK Community School staff). The shirts arrived last week, and a group of awesome parent volunteers bundled them for classrooms (thanks volunteers!). Thanks also to our parent volunteer graphic designer for all her work on the shirts.
We heard requests for a focus on our school's namesake, so this year the shirts include this quote "Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of a true education." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Funding these t-shirts is part of MLK Friends' commitment to our school mission of building Confidence and Self-Worth for students.

5. History comes alive: MLK Friends helped fund trip to Plimoth Plantations

The third grade went going to Plymouth Plantations. While our school is lucky to have some funding for field trips through grants, MLK Friends is happy that we have the funding to supplement existing grants and allow our students enriching cultural activities like this trip, which we feel helps nee the school's mission core value of Learning as a Process.
We look forward to funding the Dr. MLKing celebration, the Chinese New Year celebration and other great school-wide events!

6. Food for thought: Backup snacks for classrooms from MLK Friends

Last year, MLK Friends conducted a survey of teacher wants. Some of the top wishes were school-wide cultural events and field trips, and help with funding snacks for classrooms.
As you may know, the school requests that all parents send their child in with two healthy snacks each day, but everyone understands that that cannot always happen for various reasons. Teachers often use their own funds to ensure that all students have a snack, because good nutrition helps students learn.
We encourage parents to donate extra snacks to classrooms if you are willing and able to do so. MLK Friends has launched our own "Food for thought" program to support our teachers and students by purchasing healthy "backup" snacks for classrooms. This is one way MLK Friends meets the school mission core value of building student's Confidence and Self-Worth.

7. Accidents happen... Extra clothes the nurse can use to help students

Younger students often have extra clothes sent in by parents in case of accidents. Older students often don't have extra clothes, but still sometimes have accidents. MLK Friends purchased sweatpants (on sale!) and underwear so Nurse Rollins can have these on hand to help students who have accidents get back to learning. Again, this falls under meeting the mission core value of Confidence and Self-Worth for students.

8. Family Fun: Connecting families at our school

MLK Friends loves connecting people through events and projects to fulfill the school mission core value of Connecting Families. One way we do this is to help organize room parents for classrooms. We still could use some more room parents- please email us if you are interested.
We also organize playdates - on October 29, room parents and MLK Friend members organized a playdate for all kindergarten classrooms - it was a big success! Thanks to all who attended, and to the parents who organized this event. We look forward to more fun community-building events.

9. Scholarships for students in need

One of our teachers hosts a free half-day title 1 camp at our school. Last spring she asked MLK Friends if we could fund a scholarship that would allow a few students attending the Title 1 camp in the morning to attend the MLK Community School camp in the afternoon. MLK Friends was happy to be able to fund that request. We hope to do more fundraising for scholarships this spring to help fulfill our school mission core value of Achievement for students.

10. Holiday gifts: MLK Friends gear

If you missed the holiday gift order, do not worry! We will have extra items for sale: two different mugs and a drawstring backpack. These items are not official school items, so they do have the MLK Friends logo on them. Any profits from these items go to fund MLK Friends programs like the ones described above.

11. How do we do it? Awesome volunteers and generous funding from people like you!

MLK Friends is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 47-5266434). We rely on volunteers and on donations from generous parents/guardians like you.
On 11/18/16 we will send out our end of year annual appeal letter - our biggest fundraiser of the year. There are several ways to donate - you can send a check in your child's backpack using the envelope provided, drop a donation off at the school's front desk or donate through PayPal online at our website, www.mlkfriends.com (click "Donate" on the top right). We are also planning some fun community-building fundraising events this spring like Sacco's bowling, a Brattle Theatre movie night, and (possibly) an indoor school fun fair.

Personally, I can say that volunteering with MLK Friends members and other parents is FUN! We are seeking more members for MLK Friends and more volunteers so we can continue all the work listed above. Please email us to be involved. We can create our own good news by making a positive difference in our communities- whether that be here at school or beyond. MLK Friends is so grateful for our committed teachers and staff, our engaged students and our generous parents/guardians! Together we can ensure our school has a strong community where people feel connected, supported and excited about learning.
Sincerely,
MLK Friends Parent Group
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School
Cambridge MA