Our class is one of two second grades at the Peirce School in Arlington, Massachusetts, USA. We have 16 boys and girls in our class. You can find us on a globe or a map at latitude 42.4 N, longitude 71.2 W. Our school has approximately 240 children in kindergarten through fifth grades. This year we are housed in two schools (Stratton K-3, Brackett 4-5) while our school is being rebuilt! (Just like Justin in Tennessee!)

Our town has many special qualities, as does every town, but we have the special privilege of being the birthplace of Uncle Sam - one of the symbols of our country. Uncle Sam was a real person named Samuel Wilson and he was born on September 13, 1766. He was eight years old when Paul Revere rode by on his famous "Midnight Ride." His birthplace home was torn down some years back, but was replaced by a beautiful statue of him. It is found in the center of our town. That is the first photo you see above. Click here to learn more about Uncle Sam.

Arlington is quite old and full of history. During the Revolutionary War, it was known as “Menotomy.” The second photo is the Jason Russell House. Owned and operated by the Arlington Historical Society, it is a place where many school children learn about our town’s history.

The photo of the Native American statue is known as the “Menotomy Indian Hunter” and is Arlington’s icon. It was created by a famous sculptor in this area, Cyrus Dallin. You can learn more about him and his work here.

The Peirce photo is a part of history now, as well, as this entrance is gone with the rebuild of our school. We are saddened, but look forward to moving into our new school next year.

Our favorite foods at lunch are pizza and chicken nuggets. In Gym we like to play soccer and Seaweed Tag. We enjoy Frog and Toad and Jumpstart Spanish on the computer, but we're also proud of the Internet projects with which we've been involved.

You can learn lots more about our school, our class, our work, and our many projects at our website, entitled Days at Frog and Toad Road, (http://myschoolonline.com/MA/MsJacoby),
or at our new extension site Window to Our World (http://www.geocities.com/ljacoby_2000/window.html).

We are excited about Project Groundhog and are looking forward to learning lots about our country and North America.

Your friends,
Ms. Jacoby, Groundy, and Class
Email: [email protected]