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Friday notes is a weekly update from Superintendent Gary E. Maestas on the happenings within the Plymouth Public Schools.
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Plymouth Public Schools School Committee Meetings:
The next regular meeting of the Plymouth School Committee will be Monday, February 4th, 2013. School Committee meetings are held at Plymouth Community Intermediate School in the Little Theatre. Meetings begin at 7:00 p.m.
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Weekly quote:
"Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people."
- Leo Burnett
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Boston Globe Scholastic WinnersThis year Plymouth South High School participated in the 2013 Regional Boston Globe Scholastic Competition with great success. Six Graphic Design and Visual Communication Students won the following awards: Gold Key Ashley Williams Senior Photography Innocent Love  Silver Key Kelli Wagner Junior Photography Company B4  Jess Whiting Junior Photography Start-Up  Honorable Mention Aidan Callahan Junior Photography Eve's Demise 
Meghan Lambert Junior Photography Best Friend 
Alaina Tolland Junior Photography Waiting With Anticipation  Ten Art Students received the following: Gold Key Emily Belcher Senior Ceramics & Glass Octopus Connor Hanson Junior Ceramics & Glass Lantern Fish Silver Keys Maureen Riordan Senior Ceramics & Glass Cherry Blossom Honorable Mentions Brandon Burgess Ceramics & Glass Fish Arianna Griffin Junior Painting Red BulbCaitlin Hynes Senior Drawing Self Portrait Doug Kaake Junior Ceramics & Glass Lizard
Danielle Landquist Senior Ceramics & Glass Puffer FishDanielle Landquist Senior Ceramics & Glass Parrot Amanda Pang Junior Painting Christmas Bulbs The Gold and Silver Key winners will be honored at an awards ceremony on Sunday, March 11, 2013 in Boston at the Transportation Building. Their artwork will also be displayed in Boston at the Transportation Building. The display will be available for public viewing daily during the months of February and March. Weekday viewing hours are from 9am to 5pm and Weekend Days from 12 to 4pm.
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District news and information for all k-12 teachers, administrators, and parents from the Elementary Library Media Specialists.
Have you seen My Storymaker?
What story do you wish to tell? The Ghost Who Made Friends with the Genie or how about The Fox Who Wanted a Cupcake? My Storymaker is the perfect storytelling environment for confident and reluctant writers to tell these stories and hundreds more. As you control a character's actions, emotions, and interactions, the program writes the story. This is a great tool to use with kids who feel unsuccessful and frustrated during creative writing activities.
Go to: http://www.clpgh.org/kids/storymaker/
and see what it has to offer your students.
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The Science Fair is coming!The Plymouth Public Schools' Science Fair will be held on Feb. 12th at Plymouth South High School. Students who do well in the local competition will advance to the South Shore Regional Science Fair at Bridgewater State University on March 9. Winners there will advance to the Massachusetts State Science and Engineering Fair at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology May 2-4. Approximately 80 students from Plymouth North and South High Schools are expected to participate. Best of luck to those students! Check out the news about the Science Fair in the Old Colony by clicking the link below: Click here!
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West Elementary School NewsStudents at West Elementary School experienced an underwater fantasy adventure as the Tanglewood Marionettes performed "The Dragon King" to the entire school. Thanks to the PTA students were awed by over 40 handmade puppets, including a water spraying dragon. Tanglewood puppeteers stayed to answer several questions related to puppetry including making the puppets, recording the sound track and putting the entire show together. 
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South Elementary School News
Reading Rocks! Just prior to the holiday break, first graders at South Elementary were treated to a celebration of reading. Several guest readers - all retired Plymouth educators -- visited the classrooms to read with the children. "All educators enthusiastically responded to their invitations," says Mrs. Leach. Assorted books were read by former SES educators Rosa Cook, Donna Honkonen, Denise Welcker, Maggie Tavares, and Betty Infascelli. Also joining in the fun was Carmie Shea, retired Cold Spring educator and mother of SES First Grade Teacher Julie Hannon. Classroom groups moved through different classrooms with their teachers to hear seasonal tales and enjoy related movement activities. "It was a wonderful way to welcome the winter season and enjoy quality literature at the same time!" says Mrs. Leach.
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Manomet Elementary School News
On Thursday January 24th, Manomet Elementary hosted their second annual "Science Fair". Stations were set up around the school for all to enjoy. A huge "thank you" to all the presenters who donated their time and resources to help create an educational as well as fun event! The exhibits featured: Gr. 5 Science Projects (created by 5th graders as guided by Mr. Bell), Viewing Mars and Jupiter (presented by Mr. Petrasko), Star Gazing (presented by Mr. Grueter), Exploring the World's Oceans (presented by Mr. Franks), Learning about Birds (presented by Mr. Lloyd Evans), Portable Planetarium (presented by Professor Jeff), Lego Robotics (presented by Sam Ciaranca and Derek Salvucci), Simple Machines at Work (presented by Mr. Lemmee), Ocean Life (presented by Members of the Marine Sanctuary), Electrical Energy (presented by Mr. Yaeger), The Colors of Chemistry (presented by Ms. Ciaranca), The Oscillating Blue Reaction (on display thanks to Ms. Ciaranca), Instant Snow (on display thanks to Ms. Ciaranca), Electroscopes (on display thanks to Ms. Ciaranca), Bloodtyping (on display thanks to Ms. Ciaranca), Fingerprinting (on display thanks to Ms. Ciaranca), Some Really Cool Stuff!!! (on display thanks to Mr. Leblanc), Making Work Easier with Simple Machines (on display thanks to Mr. Bell), Sea Life Samples (presented by Ms. Brandt), Gr. 3 Ecosystem Projects (created by 3rd graders as guided by their teachers). Please enjoy a few pictures of the fifth graders with their creative science experiments!
Alex Braun shows soda's cleaning power with pennies!
A vibrant display shows Duracell as the best battery buy for your electronics!
Connor Richard also experiments with soda to find out which is the worst for your teeth!
Kevin Paglia designed his experiment to find the most successful crystal forming solute!
Liam Jenkins varied his crystal growth using the color spectrum!
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Hedge Elementary School News
Hedge School to Conduct Second Enrichment Day
On February 12, 2013, Hedge School students will participate in the second Enrichment Day. During the day, students will participate in three workshops that are conducted by volunteers and school staff. Workshops include: cooking, crafts, drumming, painting, set design, math and word games, ice cream making, scrapbooking, hands on Science, paper dolls, piano, baton, and yoga. Students have started to choose their top choices and will attend at least two of their top choices.
In addition, students will attend grade level assemblies and workshops with Jeff Nathan performing Curriculaughs and Greg Tang teaching math.
Curriculaughs is supported in part by a grant from the Plymouth Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. In addition, Jeff will be conducting a family event at 6:30 PM. Jeff's books will be available for sale both before and after his visit. Jeff has created a "unique set of hysterically entertaining children's assemblies that focus on EDUCATION THROUGH HUMOR. They get the right-brain to help the left-brain to open up and learn. Children, while learning poetry and language arts lessons from a different angle."
Greg Tang "is working to develop a more intuitive approach to teaching math, one that combines problem-solving and arithmetic and integrates math with language and art." Greg has written a "series of books that (he) hopes will give kids a better understanding of math, from counting all the way through calculus. Greg has written The Grapes of Math, Math For All Seasons, The Best of Times, Math Appeal, Math-terpieces, Math Fables, Math Potatoes, and Math Fables Too.
Students and staff are excited to participate in Enrichment Day.
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Guidance Department News
Grade 8 Parent Informational Evening
Monday, February 11 from 6:30-8:30 PM in the PCIS Cafeteria
The Guidance Department at PCIS and PSMS welcomes all parents and guardians of 8th grade students to attend this information session. The topics for the evening include:
The multi-step process of transitioning your child to the 9th grade
Review of the 2013-14 Freshman Academy Transition Guide
A day in the life of a 9th grade student at a Plymouth High School
Details regarding the Technical Studies Program
We look forward to your participation in this important information session!
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PCIS NewsPCIS Interscholastic Sports Entering the season, the crucial question presented to the PCIS wrestling team was evident; could the returning wrestlers and upperclassmen display the necessary qualities to lead a group of inexperienced sixth graders, which nearly doubled them in size? The answer proved to be an irrevocable-yes. With 20 sixth grade wrestlers (hailing predominantly from Ranger House), and only 11 from the seventh and eighth grades combined, the wrestling team embarked on a season that consisted of four major meets against noteworthy opponents. Without a doubt, it was because of the leadership of eighth graders Sean Campbell, Patrick Murphy, Sterling Pilkington, Kevin McManus, Joe Souza, Liam Lavin, Joe Aveni, Cody Rockwell, and Logan Lamborn that the season has been a complete success. The chief beneficiaries of such leadership, the sixth and seventh graders, have displayed an amazing ability to learn quickly, and they appear ready to carry on the torch as soon as it is passed down. One thing is for certain-with young standouts such as Joao De'Nobrega, Ty Alberghini, Seth Hobson, and Jack Daley the future of PCIS wrestling is bright. Thus far the PCIS boys basketball team has had a successful season. The season started just after Thanksgiving with over 70 students trying out. The team is lucky to have 14 dedicated student athletes and two student managers participating this year. They are off to a six and two record with six games remaining. The highlight of the season would have to be the game against Nauset where all 14 members of the team scored at least two points. Teamwork and character have been a focus for the boys this year. They have shown strong character on and off the court. The team looks to end the year on a positive note by continuing their intense effort during the remaining games. Good luck to the team for the rest of the season!!! The PCIS girls basketball team is also having a great season this year. Their record is currently seven wins and one loss, and the talented team has made vast improvements each game. The team has 18 players on the roster, including twelve 8th graders. The 8th grade student athletes are: Captain Leanne Galanek, Captain Joie Grassi, Delaney Bowen, Meghan Newcombe, Bianca Pagnini, Olivia Petrillo, Kate Fisher, Kerri-Anne Pendergast, Julia Burke, Meghan Snowdale, Julia Travassos, and Lilly Backlund. These young ladies display great leadership qualities both on the court and in the classroom. The 7th grade group is both hard-working and talented. They show lots of promise for the future. The six team members representing grade seven are: Abbey Chase, Ellie Guiliani, Ariana Bremis, Teigen Utera, Angela Nadeau, and Kelsey O'Connell. On the floor, key impact players include Joie Grassi, who leads all scorers. Joie's season high performance was an impressive 33 points! Kate Fisher, Teigen Utera and Ellie Guiliani also balance out the scoring offensively. Defensive specialists include Leanne Galanek, Julia Burke, Julia Travassos, and Kerri-Anne Pendergast. Each player contributes in their own way every game and they work together nicely as a successful unit. There are six games left in the season, with five of them on the road. The team will finish the season with the student-staff Basketball Bonanza on March 8th.
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PSMS News
Book Fair
We are excited to announce that our Annual Book Fair will be held in the library from February 7th - 15th. While visiting with their ELA classes, students will be able to browse a diverse and high quality selection of new titles for middle grades. The book fair is a fun and engaging way to promote literacy within our school, while also serving as a fundraiser for the building.
Book Fair Online: If you are unable to attend the book fair in person, there is the option to purchase books online. The URL will be posted on our school home page. Books can be ordered from this site any time during February 2nd - 22nd. All books will be delivered to our school and distributed to students in homeroom.
Book Fair Dates: February 7th - 15th
Hours: 8am - 3pm.
Online Fair: February 2nd - 22nd
URL: http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/plymouthsmidsch
Student Ambassador
Congratulations to McKenna Rivera-Concannon, an 8th grader at PSMS who recently served as a Massachusetts Project 351 ambassador for 2013. Project 351 is an annual celebration of youth leadership, the ethic of service and the power of community to uplift and unite. Each one of the 351 communities in the state nominates a representative.
The entire group met at the State House in Boston on Saturday, January 26th for a full day of activities where Governor Deval Patrick served as Honorary Chair of the event. Students began the day with a morning kick-off and reflections on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ambassadors also participated in variety of community service events in Boston, followed by a session of reflection and commitment with Governor Patrick later in the day. The event concluded with a community dinner and celebration for all participants.
McKenna, who had the opportunity to help out at the Greater Food Bank of Boston while interacting with his peers from across the state, enjoyed the experience. This is the third annual Project 351 event and we are very proud to have had McKenna representing PSMS! Previous PSMS ambassadors are Matt Cappucci, 2011 and Emerson Randlett, 2012.
Mathletes Compete at the Regionals
The following eight PSMS students will compete at the Southeastern Regional Mathlete Competition at PCIS on Monday, February 4th.
Keegan Andersson, Gr. 8 Brianna Johnson, Gr. 8 Julia Studley, Gr.8 Devin Orgettas, Gr. 7 John MacVarish, Gr. 7 Brendan Murphy, Gr. 7 Olivia Slayton, Gr. 6 Ian Harrington, Gr. 6 Brendan Cassidy, Gr. 6 Shane Richardson, Gr. 6 The regional competition includes 20 different public and private schools from southeastern Massachusetts. The teams compete for the opportunity to participate in the State Competition at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA in March. The math competition is sponsored by the national Mathcounts Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to promoting math excellence among U.S. middle school students. Good luck to the team! Patriot Pen Winners Congratulations to the following individuals as this year's Patriot Pen Winners: 1st Place: Jacob Gates 2nd Place: Olivia Slayton 3rd Place: Madelyn Mallaghan The Patriot Pen Essay Contest is sponsored by the VFW and is open to all schools in the district. This year's Grade 6 winners are from Mrs. Cardin's, Mrs. Goding's, Mrs. Lybarger's and Mrs. McCartin's classes. Congratulations on a job well done. 
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Plymouth North High School News
PNHS Neon Dance
Senior Economics Jr Achievement Program calls for the students to run a class business. In this business, the student company has a President and Vice Presidents. They sell stock in their company to raise capital and must provide a return on the investment if the company is profitable. This year the students choose to combine the business with a donation. The students had a neon dance January 26th. 388 students attended the dance. The dance was under the musical guidance of local Dj's Brad and Tim Freeman of Little Pond Productions who donated much of their time. The class business made a profit and raised $1000 dollars for the Chad Kierstead Scholarship Fund. A great time was had by all and so much neon in one place was not seen since 1985.
    
DECA RECAP:
117 students, representing almost 10% of the student body from Plymouth North High School, competed at the District I DECA competition in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Of those who participated, 21 individuals and 7 teams all placed and are now moving on to the State competition. We had 4 students take home first place in their category. Senior team Vicky Gilmore and Anna Colbert received first place in Hospitality Team Decisions Making, Junior Mathew Moore received first place in the individual category of Marketing Management, and freshman Diana Riordan took first in Principles of Marketing.
PNHS Wrestling
Plymouth North wrestlers competed in the Annual Cape Cod Invitational Tournament at Sandwich High School on 1/19/13. The tournament included 10 public and independent school teams from the area. Plymouth won the tournament beating out the host school Sandwich, which resulted in the Plymouth North Eagles repeating as the tournament championship team from last year.
Helping Others Award
Saint Mary Conference, Society of Saint Vincent de Paul issued a "Helping Others Award" to PNHS students and staff "For Your Generous Support of Our Holiday Meals and Gifts Program".
Plymouth North Visual Arts
This year begins the 90th Anniversary of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Since 1923, the Awards have recognized the exceptional vision of our nation's youth, and provide a singular opportunity for students to be noticed for their creative talents. We are very excited that with a record number of entries this year, Plymouth North Visual Arts will be exceptionally well represented! Silver and Gold Key winners will have their work on exhibit at the Transportation Building in Boston from Feb 11th through April the 19th , and Gold Key winners will travel on to New York for the National show and awards.
For more information on the event follow the link below
http://www.artandwriting.org/alliance/
Abbi Johnson Grade 12 Honorable Mention for The Seventeenth Year, Oil Painting 16x20
Billy Sears Grade 12, Silver Key for Plastered Palace, Photograph 13x19
Billy Sears Grade 12, Gold Key for Longing, Photograph 13x19
Emily Whynott (Grade 9), Silver Key for Vegetable Color Study Acrylic Painting 11x13
Eric Mearls (Grade 9), Honorable Mention for Still Life, Charcoal Drawing 9x12
Jordan Kaiser (Grade 11), Honorable Mention for Self Portrait In Doubt, Charcoal Drawing 24x36
Katie Cohoon (Grade 12), Honorable Mention for Self Portrait, Charcoal Drawing 24x36
Leslie Mor'on (Grade 12), Gold Key for Grey Sun, Painting 30x40
Elizabeth Tosi (Grade 11), Silver Key for Self Portrait, Charcoal Drawing 24x36
Samantha White (Grade 11), Silver Key for Self Portrait, Charcoal Drawing 24x36
Stayshia Cody (Grade 11), Honorable Mention for "Self Portrait", Charcoal Drawing 24x36
Trudy Bryant (Grade 12), Gold Key for "Goat"
Nicole Day (Grade 11), Honorable Mention for "Oreo Dispenser"
Kelsi Spencer (Grade 10), Silver Key for "Salt and Pepper Frog"
Trudy Bryant (Grade 12), Silver Key for "Screaming Octopus"
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Plymouth South High School News
PLYMOUTH SOUTH'S ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
The G & G/PSHS Female Athlete of the week is senior Rebecca Laudermilk. Laudermilk is an essential part of the success of the Girls' Basketball Program. As one of the captains, she has shown tremendous leadership. The ultimate role player in basketball, Laudermilk rebounds, plays team defense, makes great passes, and scores when given the opportunity. It is very difficult to remove her from the court, because she always helps the team play better and is always consistent. Congratulations and great job, Becca!
The G & G/PSHS Male Athlete of the Week is senior Kenneth Fantasia. Fantasia is a back-up goaltender, who has been with the team for four years and is the one player who is always positive through good times and bad times. In addition, he's always the first to help out younger hockey players, especially the goaltenders, even if it means giving younger goalies more game time than he gets himself. No one could ask for a better teammate. Congratulations, Kenny!
 Congratulations to Panther TV's Sydney Stelter. Sydney won an excellence in Journalism award from the New England Scholastic Press Association in their fall contest called "Localizing a National Issue." Sydney was honored for her story on Plymouth South's school lunch changes--which is part of a National and State-wide initiative to change School Lunches. Congratulations, Sydney!
This year Photographers' Forum Magazine held their 33rd Annual College and High School Photography Contest. Photos from several students in Plymouth South High School's Graphic Design and Visual Communications were among the 16,000 photographs entered. The Department is pleased to announce finalists Caitlin Hynes (senior) and Kaeleigh Ellis (sophomore). Their pieces will move to the next round of judging where winning photos are then entered into Nikon's Emerging Photographer's Hall of Fame. Work will also be exhibited at the Brooks Institute Gallery 27 in Santa Barbara, CA.
Congratulations, Caitlin and Kaeleigh!
PSHS Technology in the Classroom
by Jacqui Frongello, Technology Integration Specialist, PSHS
Contemporary Living Health Class: Mrs. Dorr and her students have been studying a unit on the various types of substance abuse and how it affects society. Mrs. Dorr asked her students to create a short video that focused on a substance, what the substance was, how it was ingested, facts on that substance, and the negative effects it has on one's body and ability to make decisions.
Students were split up in to groups and chose a substance to research and make a video on. Students created a storyline for each substance video and then used pictures, text and short skits they created themselves. For the creation of the video students used the app iMovie on the iPads. The groups took their video making very serious and came up with some great storylines to show the reality and seriousness of substance abuse in all areas of our society. The lesson of the videos was then followed up with speakers from the community that has suffered from a form of substance abuse. Great job to Mrs. Dorr and her Contemporary Living health class!
L-R: Anthony Schena, Derek Anderson, Jason Lamb, Dylan Oxsen with Anthony Loranger in the front.
The PSHS football members in the photo above traveled to Cold Spring Elementary School to present the team's ball boy, Anthony Loranger with an Official Team Jacket.
PSHS has reinstated a Math Lab for students. Math teachers are available in the cafeteria Mondays & Fridays for grades 10 and 11 and on Tuesdays & Thursdays for grades 9 and 12 from 9:45 to 10:15 AM. Students should see their math teacher for a 'Red Pass' in advance of the Math Lab! Thanks to all Math teachers for their help.
Congratulations to the following students who received the Cabby Shack students of the term. Left to right: Mr. Loranger- Assistant Principal, Mike Churchill, Julietta Mascitelli, Jacob Gent, Sadie Perlow, Mike Armenio and Heather Brzykcy. They will receive a gift certificate from the Cabby Shack and will have their picture in the newspaper. They were chosen for this award by the freshman academy teachers. Great job!!!
Each year, the No Place for Hate Committee, local schools and Plymouth Area Interfaith Clergy Association sponsor a Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast which was held at Plymouth South High School on Monday, January 21st. Prizes are awarded to students in grades 1-5 for posters that depict images related to tolerance and equality. Prizes are also awarded to middle and high school students for their diversity-inspired entries in mixed-media, video, essays and poetry. Two scholarships of $300 each were awarded to Plymouth North and South high school seniors for their efforts supporting diversity. Haley Clark was the recipient of the award for Plymouth South. The Plymouth South High School Jazz Ensemble, the Pilgrim Festival Chorus and the Bethel AME Church chorus all performed.
In the VFW Voice of Democracy contest at the building level, the following students won prizes. Juliana Mori 1st Place ($150.00), Stephen Shea 2nd Place ($125.00) and Alexis Armfield 3rd Place ($75.00). These students and their families have been invited to a dinner at the VFW on February 11th to receive the checks and certificates.
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News from the Visual and Performing Arts Department
The Visual and Performing Arts Department would like to congratulate the following students who are recipients of Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards!
Trudy Bryant, PNHS- Gold Key, Silver Key
Stayshia Cody, PNHS- Honorable Mention
Kathryn Cody, PNHS- Honorable Mention
Nicole Day, PNHS- Honorable Mention
Abigail Johnson, PNHS- Honorable Mention
Jordan Kaiser, PNHS- Honorable Mention
Eric Mearls, PNHS- Honorable Mention
Leslie Moron, PNHS- Gold Key
Billy Sears, PNHS- Gold Key, Silver Key
Kelsi Spencer, PNHS- Silver Key
Elizabeth Tosi, PNHS- Silver Key
Samantha White, PNHS- Silver Key
Emily Whynott, PNHS- Silver Key
Emily Belcher, PSHS- Gold Key
Brandon Burgess, PSHS- Honorable Mention
Aidan Callahan, PSHS- Honorable Mention
Arianna Griffin, PSHS- Honorable Mention
Connor Hanson, PSHS- Gold Key
Caitlin Hynes, PSHS- Honorable Mention
Doug Kaake, PSHS- Honorable Mention
Meghan Lambert, PSHS- Honorable Mention
Danielle Landquist, PSHS- Honorable Mention
Amanda Pang, PSHS- Honorable Mention
Maureen Riordan, PSHS- Silver Key
Alaina Tolland, PSHS- Honorable Mention
Kelli Wagner, PSHS- Silver Key
Jessica Whiting, PSHS- Silver Key
Ashley Williams, PSHS- Gold Key
- EdTV has created a new series called "Round Table" where stakeholders in the Plymouth Public Schools discuss issues in depth. The inaugural episode is about The Arts in Education. We invite you to take the time to watch this episode and learn more about all of the Arts in the Plymouth Public Schools.
 | | Round Table Show 1 |
- Save the Date! The Plymouth High Schools' Chorus and Band present a Spaghetti Supper. The event will be held Friday February 8 at Plymouth South High School from 6:30pm-8:30pm. All proceeds will benefit the High Schools Music Performance Trip to NYC this April. We hope you can join us!
- Come enjoy a meal and support the Plymouth Public Schools High School Music Ensembles' trip to NYC! Print out the attached flyer and bring it to Red Robin at Colony Place on Wednesday February 6. A portion of your bill will be donated to the trip.
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Gary E. Maestas, Ed.D Superintendent
Plymouth Public Schools
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