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Need this newsletter translated? Please contact the Bilingual/World Languages Department at 617.349.6468. Questions about the G&P newsletter? Please contact Lauren Morse.
Dear G&P Community,
It is hard to believe that we are coming to the end of this school year. Between field trips, family celebrations, end of year activities, portfolios, 5th grade moving on day and more, our students and staff members have been busy these past few weeks!
The last few days of school are always bittersweet. Students and staff are ready for a break, but it’s also hard to say goodbye. As we head off into the summer, we’d like to take an opportunity to share our appreciation for everyone’s hard work and commitment to helping our students finish the school year on a strong and positive note. For all the ways you support our community, from formal events to individual acts of kindness and everything in between, we offer our sincerest gratitude for your partnership.
At G&P, we are fortunate to have such a large staff dedicated to our students’ growth and development. At the end of every school year, we say goodbye to a few of those staff as they move on to other opportunities. We want to take a moment to thank those who have shared they will not be returning to G&P next fall. We wish them all the best.
As many of you know, both of us will be saying goodbye to G&P this year and welcoming new leadership into the main office. We welcome Dr. Kathleen Smith, the next G&P Principal, to our community. We anticipate that the Assistant Principal and the Senior Clerk will be announced soon. We know you will join us in welcoming our new main office team!
We wish you all a wonderful summer break.
In partnership,
Claudie & Jen
Meet and Greet with Dr. Kathleen Smith, the new G&P Principal TODAY
Tuesday, June 28 | 3:45-4:45PM | G&P Courtyard, enter through the Main Entrance, 44 Linnaean St.
All Graham & Parks families are invited!
Families Celebrate Claudie's Retirement! TODAY
Tuesday, June 28 | 5-7PM | Raymond Park, at the Corner of Raymond and Walden Streets
It’s the end of an era: Claudie Jean-Baptiste is retiring from G & P! Please join past and present “Fans of Claudie” to celebrate her amazing teaching and administrative career.
Bring your own snacks/meal. We’ll supplement with some refreshments & CAKE!
Please RSVP so we know how much cake to get!! We’ll also post any updates on the website.
RVSP here >>
If you'd like to volunteer, please contact Mary-Ann.
We’ll have a memory book to sign. If you can’t make the party, but want to send along your best wishes, send an email to Mary-Ann.
We hope you can make it!!
Farewell from Mrs. D in the Main Office
 Dear Families of G&P,
As we approach the last few days of school I want to thank you for all the love and support you have given me. It has been one of my greatest joys working at Graham and Parks. Please say hello if you see me around Cambridge.
Love
Mrs. D.
Graham & Parks 5th Graders WOW with Clay Tile Creations!
G&P Students featured in CPS Newsletter!
Graham & Parks School's 5th graders took part in a clay tile project through a grant from the Cambridge Arts Council.
Emily Newmann, an art therapist and potter at Mudflat, received the grant, which supported her work with the students. Ms. Newmann helped them create clay tiles that reflect their experiences during the pandemic. She worked closely with art teacher, Ms. Trail, to help the children think about the pandemic and the feelings they experienced.
Mudflat supported this project through providing materials and firing the tiles. A celebration of the mosaic installation in the school's courtyard was held earlier this month. Beautiful job, kids!
Amazing End-of-Year Student Work and Family Celebrations!
 JK/Kindergarten
The JK and K classes had their end of the year Family Celebration on Thursday, 6/16. Students shared their published stories and art projects that celebrated their learning about the earth. The students also performed an end of the year ABC song and shared their drawing and writing books, poetry books and other works that carried throughout the year.
1st Grade
 First graders were excited to celebrate their bird unit with their families. Each first grader selected a bird to study. They researched one bird, collected notes about where the bird lived, what it eats, its important features, and some fun facts. They turned those notes into pages of writing in a beautiful All About ____ book. They then made a model of a bird and placed it in a diorama that showcased the birds' habitat.
 2nd Grade
Second graders took a deep dive into the ocean habitat to study the ocean zones and different habitats in it. They created models of each habitat to show the important plants and animals that live in each. Students also studied an ocean animal and shared what they learned by making an All About book and a diorama about their animal.
3rd Grade
 Third grade students showcased their work on marble runs, book reviews and their research on Wampanoag Artifacts on Monday, June 27th. There was a musical performance with a couple of songs connected to rivers and peace. 3rd grade scholars used their knowledge of forces and motion to create a marble run. For the book reviews, scholars analyzed our classroom library for diversity, and wrote persuasive book reviews of books they think could add more diversity to our classroom library. 3rd grade scholars also researched a Wampanoag Artifact, and wrote an informational piece about the artifact and what it can teach us about The Wampanoag.
4th Grade
 Throughout the year, 4th graders learned about the experiences of people in different regions of the United States during the 1800’s. We explored the Southwest through the eyes of the Navajo, the Northeast through the eyes of the Lowell Mill Girls, the Southeast through the eyes of African-American abolitionists, the West through the eyes of Chinese immigrants, and the Midwest through the eyes of the Lakota. To close our year, each table group took a “Road Trip” to one of these regions. They used sophisticated math skills to calculate their itinerary miles and their budget. They also did some research about different facets of the region, including the geography, history, economy, and tourism. Lastly, they mapped the region as it exists today – a contrast to their fall mapping project which focused on the Indigenous homelands of the Tlingit, Hopi, Lakota, Cherokee, and Haudosaunee.
4th and 5th Grade SEI Classrooms
 SEI 4th and 5th grade students celebrated the completion of their last writing projects, informational reports about their countries. Students chose topics and researched their countries, creating (in some cases) brochures or multi-paragraph essays. This was the first and only family breakfast for their 4/5 SEI class, and it was fantastic. Families really pulled together to provide excellent food, like crepes and bagel sandwiches. The classes broke into two groups. One group read and shared outside, while another ventured inside for gallery walks and scavenger hunts. For all families this was a first glimpse of our classrooms. For many it was their first time in an American school! The two groups switch places after 30 minutes. When all the students had shared, we enjoyed our breakfast together. It was wonderful.
5th Grade
 Fifth grade students shared their best work and their reflections on elementary school in individual Portfolio Panels on June 13 and 14. Each fifth grader presented to an audience of family members and G&P staff members. We are so proud of their learning, growth, and leadership!
On June 28, we celebrated again with a Moving Up Ceremony on the G&P field, followed by a fun parade around the school and a Family Breakfast in the courtyard. Students will share their newspaper, We the Children: a collection of research-based writing they have completed throughout the year.
“ I Am…” Project
By Beverly Rogers, G&P Social Worker
The “I Am…”Project is the creation of positive affirmations on post-it notes by students and staff in two dedicated spaces at Graham and Parks School. The displays are located in the main lobby and cafeteria. The goal of this project is to remind ourselves of our worth and strength as individuals and as a community. This project was created by School Social Worker, Beverly Rogers who facilitated and encouraged both staff and students to submit their strengths to the walls. Beverly went into classrooms and helped students create either a word or drawing to help with these submissions. Other classrooms and staff submitted to the wall on their own and continue to submit to the project. As the submissions were added to the wall they were placed on a mirror in order for staff and students to see the reflection of themselves when reading the affirmations. Please see the photo below to see the reminder of worth and strength created by the students and staff of the G & P community.
Summer Reading
 Your children have made so much progress in reading and literacy this year! It is important to support this progress, and avoid the "summer slide" of loss of reading skills, by encouraging your child to read (or be read to) at least 20 minutes each day. The CPS Language Arts Department is giving two books to every JK-4th grade student that your child will be choosing this week at school. They will be sent home with students at the end of school. In addition, your child will bring home a list of resources and information about reading from the G&P library and from the Cambridge Public Library. To support your child with reading this summer please:
- Encourage your child to read every day!
- Visit the Cambridge Public Library often and participate in their summer reading programs. The librarians there can help your child choose wonderful books that are "just right" and of high interest.
- Ask your child to read the books that are being sent home.
- Have your child complete the star chart that will be sent home to show that they read each day. It has lots of fun ideas about what to read and where to read!
- Send the star chart back to school in September with your child.
Please see this wonderful video from the Cambridge Public Library about summer reading!
Watch video >>
We hope you have a wonderful summer filled with reading adventures!!
Summer Math and Math Night!
Summer Math Calendars
The CPS Math Department has created summer math calendars to help students continue to practice their math skills over the summer. Although these are setup to be used over the summer, students can also use these as ideas to strengthen their mathematics over the school year.
Students should use the calendar for their UPCOMING grade. For example, students leaving Grade 5 and going into Grade 6 should use the Grade 6 Summer Math Calendar. Students should share their completed calendars with their teacher on the first day of school in the fall.
View Summer Math Calendars >>
Math Night
What a wonderful turnout for our 2022 Math Night! The theme of the night was joy in math and we sure heard the joyful buzz in classrooms. Students were able to see & talk about the math in board games, card games, coding, and more. Math is a tool to open doors of opportunity and we want to continue fostering math identities for all the students at G&P! Looking forward to seeing you all next year!
Book Joy! From Ann and Jen
 Hot off the presses is Gibberish, by Young Vo. This picture book is perfect for SEI groups and anyone who’s been a new language learner. “It’s Dat’s first day of school in a new country! Dat and his Mah made a long journey to get here, and Dat doesn’t know the language. To Dat, everything everybody says sounds like gibberish. How is Dat going to make new friends if they can’t understand each other. Luckily there’s a friendly girl in Dat’s class who knows that there are other ways to communicate.” (book flap)
Juneteenth was on Sunday, June 19th. Here are some great books about Juneteenth! Juneteenth: Jubilee for Freedom by June Prezler is a straightforward nonfiction book, useful for providing basic history and information about the holiday. All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson and E. B. Lewis is a poignant, free verse story from a fictional narrator who is an enslaved child. She captures a moment in time when suddenly, inexplicably, everything changed. Our newest book, Opal Lee and What it Means to Be Free: the True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth is by Alice Faye Duncan and Keturah A. Bobo. The setting is a Juneteenth community celebration, as real-life activist Opal Lee tells stories to a group of children about the history of the Juneteenth holiday, her own family’s fight for civil rights, and the importance of the children continuing the fight for racial justice today. Beautiful illustrations and an engaging story make this a great read-aloud choice. Additional resources: YouTube video of the author reading Opal Lee. There is also a fascinating website about Opal Lee’s activism and efforts to make Juneteenth a national holiday. At 94, she’s still going strong!
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