CUE PTO Newsletter - FEBRUARY 2026

Brrrr! Warm yourselves up with a cozy read of what’s coming up for CUE…

Tech tip: Click "View entire message" at the bottom of this email to catch the full newsletter - in longer issues some content gets chopped off the email format.

Well done to all those working hard to finalize their projects.

To everyone else: COME JOIN!!

The Science Fair is on for two nights THIS WEEK:

Tue Feb 3 + Wed Feb 4 | 6:30-8pm in the CUE Cafeteria.

Come either night or both nights - there’ll be science-y fun for everyone!

And there’ll be food too:

Buy...

...Cheese PIZZA from Nick’s Place (CASH ONLY!! $3/slice $15/whole pizza)

...SNACKS from the PTO (cash/PayPal, please!). The snack sales will benefit the PTO, so eat up…

We’ve got our 2026 heads in gear and several dates fixed - book these events into your diaries!

If you’d like to help out with any of these events, we’d love to hear from you.

There are many different roles, from helping plan the event beforehand to helping with event set-up, sign-in, hosting a snack stand…. Basically there’s something for everyone!

Start grazing all the general knowledge you never knew you needed to know!

Come as a family team, buddy up with friends… For now just book this night in your calendars - and encourage all your friends to come too.

Come to Tori Jiro at 98 Arsenal Yards Blvd in Watertown on Tuesday MARCH 24 anytime 12-10pm - make an evening of it and see lots of familiar CUE faces :) 

Tori Jiro will donate 10% of all dine-in and call-in takeout orders (excluding alcohol sales) to the CUE PTO.

For those dining in, show this digital or printed write-up of the fundraiser to make sure your order qualifies.

For those ordering takeout, call to place your order (online orders won’t count) and mention the fundraiser.

Get your children polishing their talents to hit the stage! 

Full details to follow…

Also keep Wednesday April 15 | 5-7.30pm free for your student participants for a dress rehearsal at CUE.

Spring session activities coming next!

Next ones will be 6-7pm in the Large Community Room (LCR) at CUE on April 1 and May 13.

Join each month to hear direct from the Principal what's happening at CUE, ask your questions, offer feedback, and get to know other CUE caregivers.

Some in person, some virtual. Timing: 9.15-9.45am on select Fridays. NO Coffee in February!

March 13th: Grab a cuppa at home and join us virtually

April 10: Mr Kupperstein, BMS principal, will join us at the CUE to welcome rising 7th grade parents and caretakers

May date is still being worked out; we'll invite rising 4th grade parents and caregivers to this event; stay tuned as we lock this in.

Things are getting real! Chenery-branded clothing is well on its way…. The design will be revealed soon; the production side is shaping up.

Watch this space for plans and volunteer opportunities!

We are so grateful for all your donations so far- your generosity really is making a difference for our students, staff and whole CUE community.

And a special thank you to all those who secured employer matching donations.

We also appreciate everyone who’s contributed in others way, eg ordering food at our local fundraisers with Comella’s etc (good for CUE, good for Belmont :)); registering for After School Enrichment; buying raffle tickets at events... - it all counts!

…Organize Field Trips and make them affordable and accessible to all.

…Provide teachers with much needed supplies (our students' teachers often spend their personal money on classroom supplies - your donations help lighten that financial burden)

…Keep recess FUN! We bought new recess equipment - which will come in handy again as soon as the temperatures thaw out!

…Organize PTO Events like the Summer Popsicle Hangouts, Bingo Night, Trivia Night, Field Days, and all the rest to come…

That’s $11k towards our aspiration of $25k, which is great….but we can do even better!

Will you help us nudge that tally up to 50% or higher??? 

While sipping last month’s coffee (thanks, Starbucks!), we saw the big CUE news for ourselves out the window: Belmont Light and DPW vehicles were sweeping in to start the exciting Chenery Park renovations!

Attendees heard about…

…The Park Project: it’ll mean some patience and flexibility to get through the disruption before the whole Belmont community gets a wonderful outcome in the Fall. In the meantime, CUE has made necessary adjustments to things like fire drills, morning line-up…and has got ideas to help make recess just as fun in a smaller space, eg basketball hoop on wheels and other sturdy game equipment. Heads-up: recess may get muddy when the snow melts, get your students bringing spare clothing!

…Our New Year Resolutions: there was some shared solidarity about focusing on priorities, being more present, finding joy and calm…and even avoiding holding ourselves accountable to resolutions!

…Meaningful things happening at CUE: Idiom Day for fifth graders (dressing up as a phrase, like wearing a fluffy headband for “Head in the clouds”); treating MLK Day as a day on rather than ‘off’ by asking students to write encouraging notes to third graders approaching MCAS for the first time.

If you missed it, here are the slides

February is a busy/short month, so the next Coffee with the Principal will be a virtual version in March.

Kudos to the hardy half dozen who made it out on an arctic and hectic January evening for the PTO Meeting!

Official summary to follow, but here’s a quick lowdown:

You’ve got the message by now that the PTO is here to keep our CUE community thriving and connected.

The six Board members bring their individual skills and put in some collective effort - and we’ve realised we get a lot out of it personally too!

Spoiler alert: some of our key Board Members will be moving on next school year, so to keep up the CUE PTO momentum we’ll be looking for volunteers to step in.

To help explain why it’s worth joining the PTO Board or wider group of volunteers, here are some insights into why we’re enjoying it - and why you might too…?

Watch out for more profiles in March’s Cheetah Chatter - and come along to the next PTO Events and Meetings to get a feel for how things work - we’d love to have you on board :)

I have a 7th grader at BMS and a 5th grader at the CUE. For my day job, I manage teams of technical editors, data scientists, and survey (i.e., primary research) managers.

I’m the co-president of the PTO and love working with this amazing board and group of volunteers. We collaborate with the administration and staff at school to bring your ideas to life (and I’m quite slow to reply to emails - thanks for your patience!).

…I love bringing people together and seeing the kids in their natural habitat/among their friends/at school, and meeting the staff who spend more time with my children than I do! Being part of the PTO means seeing kids and teachers in action, meeting lots of families at the CUE, and building grown-up friendships. 

…It makes me really appreciate the community we live in, and that we bring so much joy - from small things like protective gloves for trash bashers to the big field trips and field days - to our students and staff.

I’m the mum of a 6th Grader at CUE and 3rd Grader at Winn Brook.

I’m also an illustrator/designer so creating flyers is my idea of fun. As Comms Coordinator I run the monthly newsletters and shoutouts.

…Last year CUE seemed like a ‘new’ school growing into itself - it deserved the same strong community we enjoyed at elementary. And with my daughter now taking the bus, I wasn’t getting the chance to catch the school vibe in person. One volunteer coffee later, the can-do team spirit was contagious—I signed up to help make a difference.

…I’ve made friends I wouldn’t have met otherwise! I feel more connected to CUE and see positive things happening that don’t catch the limelight. Best of all it’s rewarding to see the CUE community coming together at events, and to hear people say they notice a difference - it feels like CUE is growing in all the right ways.

See you all soon!!

- The CUE PTO Team 🐾

Cortney Eldridge (Co-President)

Sheena Patel-Roberts (Co-President)

Deepa Shakya (Vice President)

Georgina Lamont (Comms Coordinator)

Galdy Haces (Secretary)

Lee O'Neil (Treasurer)

✉️ Say hello: cheneryPTO@gmail.com

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