• Welcome Back Picnic - Join the fun & volunteer to be a helping hand at the picnic.
• September PTO Meeting - Join us THIS WEDNESDAY, 9/10 at 6:30p in the library.
• Club Registrations - Bowman's Math Team and 100 Mile Clubs are starting up!
• Join the PTO - Register & make a donation today.
• Volunteer - Be a Room Helper, help in the Library, join the Bowman Site Council, or volunteer on the board as a coordinator or event lead!
• Corporate Matching - Double or triple your contribution to our PTO through your company’s donation matching program. Email matching@bowmanpto.org for details.

The Bowman Before School Math Team invites 3rd-5th graders to meet weekly before school at Bowman for math instruction, small group problem solving, competition best practices, and participating in monthly tests with the Continental Math League.

Register for the Bowman Math Team!

For more details, see this letter. Registration is due Thursday, September 18th, and classes start 1-2 weeks later. Reach out to mathteam@bowmanpto.org if you have other questions.

Bowman’s 100 Mile Club will be kicking off on September 9th, meeting Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:15 - 8:45am. The 100 Mile Club is a national program designed to inspire and engage students in walking or jogging. The goal is to provide children with the opportunity to walk or run 100 miles within the course of a school year. As with years before, a team of parent/guardian volunteers will be on site to supervise. The 100 Mile club is available for any student (K-5). For more information, read 100 Mile Club FAQs.

Register your child(ren) to be part of the 100 Mile Club by completing BOTH steps below:

1. 100 Mile Club Sign Up Form

2. Pay Club Fees on Membership Toolkit

Stay connected with our community and up to date on PTO-sponsored events and extracurricular activities by joining the PTO. Our goal is to reach 100% of our Bowman community, so please register and contribute to the success of our PTO. Note that PTO membership needs to be renewed annually. Thank you for your support and donation!

Did you know you could potentially double or triple your contribution to our PTO through your company’s donation matching program? Last year, just a handful of families unlocked over $5,000 in extra support for Bowman PTO simply by using their employers’ matching programs. When you donate or volunteer, companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft, Moderna, Takeda, Veeva Systems, and many more will match your generosity - turning every dollar or every volunteer hour into twice the impact for our students, staff, and community. Check with your employer about charitable matching programs. We are registered as “BOWMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PTO INC.”

To participate, you can either pay as usual in Membership Toolkit for all your PTO donations and submit your emailed receipt to your employer’s charitable matching program OR you can choose “Offline Payment” in Membership Toolkit, pay in your employer’s charitable program portal, then email matching@bowmanpto.org with your receipt. (This option is recommended for programs with long wait times for matching reviews.)

Email matching@bowmanpto.org with any questions or if Bowman PTO needs to be registered with your employer’s charitable program.

Room Helpers are the most vital volunteers in our school by supporting their classroom teachers, organizing volunteers for classroom events, and helping connect their classroom families with the Bowman PTO. It’s a great way to get to know your child’s teacher, classmates, and other parents!

Classes still in need of more Room Helpers:

• Kindergarten- Lee

• First Grade- D'Abreu

• Second Grade- Cannarozzi, Sawka, Curhan, Johnson

• Third Grade- O’Shaughnessy

• Fourth Grade- Bruff, Curran, Archibald, Udell

• Fifth Grade- Matthews, Studley, Taylor

PTO is staffed entirely by parent/caregiver volunteers and we have openings that fit any schedule and availability.  Many roles can be done remotely and on your own schedule. When you sign up to volunteer you get to connect with educators, show your child you value their academic success, and meet other parents in our community. Take a look at the volunteer position descriptions or email president@bowmanpto.org with questions or general interest. 

We are looking for one parent to serve on the Bowman School Based Site Council for a two-year term!  Meetings will be held once a month on a Friday morning at Bowman, most likely before the start of the school day. This is a great opportunity to learn about Bowman, contribute to the Bowman community, and work with the school administration. If you are interested, please send a short bio (maximum of 150 words) by Monday, September 15th at 10am to president@bowmanpto.org. If more than one person volunteers, an election will take place on Back-to-School Night on Thursday, September 18th.

As part of the Education Reform Act of 1993, Site-Based Councils were mandated as part of the Act’s decentralization of decision-making. The Site Council is composed of equal numbers of elected teachers and parents, together with the Principal and a community representative. The role of the Site Council is to advise the Principal. At Bowman, Site Council members meet once a month with Bowman teachers to plan ways to meet the diverse learning needs of students; establish a school climate of tolerance and respect for every individual; involve parents in the life of the school; impact safety and discipline; enhance extracurricular activities; and more.

Please remember that it is district policy that anyone who volunteers (lunch, Big Backyard, library, Room Helpers, PTO events, etc) in our school must have a CORI check completed by Lexington Public Schools.  CORI checks are good for 3 years. For any questions regarding the CORI check, please email Mrs. Ashness (cashness@lexingtonma.org) or Mrs. Barnes (bbarnes@lexingtonma.org) in our Main Office. Do your CORI check now so you do not miss the fun - this can take up to 30 days!

It was great to catch up with old friends and meet new members of our Bowman community at our first day of school Welcome Coffee! Thank you to everyone who came! Our hardworking PTO volunteers have also been busy revving up for the school year, connecting with staff, coordinating schedules and preparing to kick off a variety of PTO-supported activities, including the Library Volunteers, Room Helpers, 100 Mile Club, Math Team, and Girls Who Code, just to name a few. We hope to meet and connect with more of you at the Welcome Back to School Picnic on Friday and at other events such as the Book Fair or Fall Family Craft Night int he coming months!

 The Lexington High School building project did not slow down over the summer, and the Yes4Lex campaign is busily working toward the town-wide debt exclusion vote! But a “yes” vote is not guaranteed. This won’t pass without your support!Just an hour or two of your time between now and December can make the difference in whether this project succeeds.

And on Election Day, we need you—and everyone you know—to come out and vote YES! Without a massive community effort, the new high school will not be guaranteed to open in fall 2029 (when current 5th graders are freshmen). Find out how you can get involved and encourage your friends and neighbors to support and endorse the campaign today.

Here are some important project updates from this summer: 

• Mark your calendars - The debt exclusion vote is scheduled for Monday, December 8! Voters will be asked to approve a debt exclusion in order for the town to raise property tax revenue to fund the project. 

• In July, the project team presented a new estimate for the LHS building project. The updated projection puts the total cost at about $659.7 million — down from the December estimate of $662 million. In addition, the estimated MSBA reimbursement has increased to $111 million, up $11 million from the fall. 

Read our August newsletter for the latest project updates and ways you can support the campaign.

The ELA Curriculum Review is moving into the Development Phase for 2025-2026. Elementary schools will be engaged in a comprehensive Pilot of three curricula: Arts & Letters, EL Education, and the Revised Units of Study in Reading 3-5 & Writing K-2. 

We are now taking applications for the K-5 Development Phase Steering Committee, 2025-2026. The K-5 Steering Committee will support the K-5 ELA Pilot by: 

• collecting data on the K-12 ELA Research Questions,

• planning school-based lab sites,

• developing structures for educator, student, and community feedback, and

• synthesizing feedback for the community.

The District will select six K-5 ELA Steering Committee members in addition to the K-5 ELA & Literacy Department Head and a School Committee Member from the Elementary Subcommittee, including one K-2 Teacher, one 3-5 Teacher, one Special Education Teacher, one ELE Teacher, one Literacy Specialist, and one Elementary Parent/ Caregiver.

Please indicate your interest in joining the 2025-2026 Steering Committee here. For more information, please click here.

The New Legacy Cultural Center is partnering once again with Lexington Community Education this year to offer Mandarin classes at Bowman! These classes are fun, interactive, and open to all levels. Kids will learn Mandarin through stories, games, songs, and cultural activities—it’s a great way to expand their horizons while having fun with friends.

Afterschool Mandarin Classes at Bowman: Mondays+Thursdays | 3:30–5:30 PM

Leveled weekend Mandarin classes are also available Saturday mornings at Lexington High School. Visit Lexington Community Education for more details!

Children’s Community Chorus (CCC) is an inclusive and non-auditioned chorus for students in Grades 4 and 5. No auditions are necessary – ANY and EVERY student is welcome to join! CCC is a wonderful opportunity for excited singers to come together and share in the joy of making music together as a community! CCC operates under the umbrella of Lexington Community Education and is directed by Mrs. Angela Carpenter (K-12 Performing Arts Coordinator). Register here. Questions can be sent to Angela Carpenter (acarpenter@lexingtonma.org).

Youth Counseling Connection (YCC) a Lexington non-profit at 7 Harrington Road is dedicated to providing FREE and confidential accessible mental health support for Lexington middle and high school students and their families. One of their most accessible offerings is Walk-in Wednesdays from 3-4:30pm, where students (and families) can receive immediate, no-cost support without an appointment. This service is a great way to quickly connect with a trained counselor for concerns both big and small. Appointments are available Mon - Thurs.

In a wonderful show of community support, YCC was recently honored with a significant $75,000 grant from The Cummings Foundation. This generous award will enable YCC to expand its vital services and continue to be a cornerstone of mental health services in Lexington. For more information, visit their website at www.youthcounselingconnection.org. 

BUDA youth frisbee would like to invite you to join our youth frisbee program for grades K-12 here in Lexington, including really competitive teams (with zero travel) for HS ages. 

Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact sport that encourages a lot of running and teamwork. Instead of referees, players are encouraged to learn the rules and make their own calls. Not easy, but a valuable life skill. We use an assortment of adult and HS assistant coaches to give all players a great experience.

Our youth programs use "call your own fee". At checkout, you indicate the right fee for you. No questions, no emails, just your decision to pay what is right for you. We love having new players and don't want finances to stand in the way of young people learning and playing the sport. Click here for more info and registration.

Don't miss events - subscribe to the Bowman PTO Google Calendar:

• On iPhone/Android:Click here to subscribe.
• In Google Calendars, go to "Other Calendars" and use the "+" to add a new calendar "From URL" and paste the link: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/bowmanptawebmaster%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics.

Visit the Bowman School Calendar and Bowman PTO Calendar for all events.

http://bowmanpto.org

9 Philip Rd Lexington, MA 02421
Bowman Elementary School PTO, Inc. is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization. 
(Tax ID 86-1783422)