| Mark your Calendar |
|
Color Day
June 3:
Color Day Raindate
June 3, 4:
Spring Concert
June 5:
Presentation on Instrumental Music Program
June 12:
"Explore the Ocean World"
Kindergarten classes
June 16:
Last day of School Store
June 19:
Last day for pretzels
|
Volunteer
Opportunities |
|
Back to School Picnic This Fall
We need one or two people to coordinate the Back to School Picnic in September. It is very time-limited and not complicated. Anyone interested can contact
Diana Fisher-Gomberg.
|
|
|
| PTO Letter |
|
Dear Burr Families,
A big welcome to our new PTO Board members Steve DeJesus (co-president), Weiqun Shi (treasurer), and Nancy Caulfield (fundraising coordinator), who were voted in at the last PTO meeting of the year. We look forward to working with these new folks and are so excited about the new talents they will bring to our school. If you run into them around school, be sure to congratulate and thank them! In the meantime, the next few weeks will provide an opportunity for our existing board to start to help them transition into their new roles.
At last week's PTO meeting we heard about next year's fundraising plans--the vast majority of our PTO programs require funding and we establish an operating budget in September based on what we anticipate we'll be able to raise. We also voted to carry over funds for next year, slated for the playground and technology. Finally, we decided to keep pizza lunch on the schedule for this year's Color Day, with Carey Ranta offering to organize the parent volunteers. As always, you can keep up-to-date on PTO business at the Burr PTO Website. As ususal, there's a lot of PTO business chugging along--big thank yous are in order to:
Tricia Bombara and the Blue Zone volunteers for running a successful safety reminder week,
Jill Greblick and Gretchen Becker-Cox who ran the Library Gift Book Sale; thanks to their efforts and YOUR generosity, we have a lovely selection of new books in the library,
Lori Wheeler, Jackie Gelb, Maria Ralph, and Dana Hanson for another year of fantastic Burr Buddies activities,
Kelly Brown, Eric Bobby, Ms. Moran and all the other parent volunteers on the Burr "Green Team" for bringing an environmental emphasis to Burr this spring,
Sara DeSimone Scott for updating our Burr Community Quilt,
and Beth Tierney, Allison Sharma, Dana Hanson and ALL the parent helpers who assisted in the Burr Classroom Garden last week.
We're looking forward to the final few weeks of school--lots of great things in store around Burr!
Susan Cassidy & Dana Hanson |
|
Burr Garden Classroom --
Watering Team Needed! |
|
|
 Many thanks to all the children, teachers, and parents who worked to plant our Burr Classroom Garden over the past couple of weeks. Our hearty gardeners persevered through all manner of weather conditions to plant some terrific gardens!
The fun has only just begun...we have an entire growing season ahead of us and we need help to keep our beloved garden growing all summer long. We are looking for our annual team of Burr Garden Club Members to help us keep an eye on the garden and make sure it gets plenty of WATER.
Burr Garden Club
(the Watering Team--no green thumb necessary!) One-week commitment (if we have lots of families volunteer, we'd love to have two families per week to share the load) Email Jessica Avery to let her know which weeks you are available during the summer. Once we have enough volunteers to make a schedule, Jessica will get back in touch with you with your assignment. It's fun to splash around with the hose on those hot summer days/evenings--we hope to have lots of signups for our Watering Team! Even if you can't commit to help maintain the garden, do stop by now and then with your children to watch the garden grow! Here are this year's garden themes:Kindergarten--planting a rainbow Grade 1--honeybee garden Grade 2--moon garden Grade 3--Wampanoag "three sisters" corn, bean, and squash garden Grade 4--BIG garden for returning big kids (sunflower house, HUGE pumpkins, tall-growing morning glory vines) Grade 5--Quick-growing "Graduation Garden"--Burr '09 in wheatgrass, cool weather veggies |
|
Get Ready for Color Day--June 2 |
|
 Here are a few reminders from Ms. Michna:
* Apply sunscreeen to your child before they leave for school.
* Pack a water bottle for your child.
* Parents can volunteer to help run Color Day stations.
* Teachers/Burr staff will bring their class to each Color Day station. |
|
Library Gift Book Sale... |
|
 The Library Gift Book Sale has been a success for several years because of the commitment of Susan Cassidy and Stacey Moriarty. We will miss their dedication to the library. We would like to thank everyone who volunteered to help with the sale and purchased a new book for the library. It was a wonderful way to honor employees and friends at Burr School and a testament to the way the community feels about Burr. Our kids now have a new selection of interesting books to read.....Thanks again to all who made this event a success!
Jill Greblick and Gretchen Cox-Becker |
|
Help Welcome New Families to Burr |
|
Do you remember your first Autumn at Burr as a time in which you were a bit curious and confused, not feeling a part of things yet? This Fall, would you be willing to make a few small gestures to welcome a family with a child in your child's class? We are looking for volunteers who would be willing to simply introduce themselves and let the new family know they are available to answer any questions about Burr or the neighborhood. Meeting the other family for a walk, playdate, coffee, or a meal would also be lovely but it's not necessary. (And if you have a particular interest in being connected with new families who speak a language other than English please say so.) We started this program last Fall and it was easy and helpful. If you can help out in this small but important way, please contact Diana Fisher Gomberg at DFGomberg@gmail.com. Diana is also looking for a coordinator or co-coordinator for this nice, little project.
|
|
Green Team Update |
|
 Thank you to Ms. Moran and her 5th grade class for getting bins into every classroom!! The presentations were wonderful! It was amazing to see 5th graders polishing public speaking skills, classmates providing feedback and constructive criticism, and the halls covered in "Go Green" and "Recycle It- Do not Toss It" posters! Clearly this is about much more than recycling some plastic water bottles! In fact Ms. Moran's class received an award from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs! They all should be proud that they are the ones that got this effort going at Burr! THANK YOU!! You Rock!!!! We purposely did not address the cafetorium at this point as we did not want to be an additional burden on the lunch aides and there is no place to rinse items prior to disposal. For now we are encouraging all of you to use reusable containers when possible and follow the old camping rule--if you pack it in then you pack it out! Kids should pack out their recyclables from lunch in their lunch box. Thank you Stacey Moriarty and Louisa Hunt for starting a pilot program of collecting Capri Sun pouches. The bins are located in Ms. Moran and Ms. Littlejohn's rooms. It is a cool program with interesting items you can buy made from the used pouches. Check out this site. The proceeds are being donated to the MSPCA per the children's suggestion. Thank you to Pam Mc Vey for helping us solicit donated bins for the classrooms and a last minute email the Friday before vacation week! And thanks to those folks who donated a bin! We appreciate the support and community effort. Note: We are a new team and in the process of formalizing our mission statement and goals for next year. Our aim will be to support the kids, faculty and community at Burr with their green initiatives. Please see the attached link if you would like to read more about the accomplishments thus far and the rough plans for next year. If you would like to join our team, please contact Eric Bobby or Kelly Brown. RRR - (Reduce Reuse Recycle) - The Green Team
|
|
Health Update--May 27th release |
|
Absentee numbers for today show that there continues to be cases of flu-like illness throughout the Newton Public Schools. School nurses are monitoring absences and following up with families to determine if students are sick with flu-like illness or for other reasons. This allows us to determine the prevalence of the flu in each school.
At Oak Hill Middle School, the spike in absenteeism has dropped from last week and appears to have leveled off. Today, there were 46 students absent. Of those 46, four new cases of flu-like illness were reported, 24 students with flu-like illness remained absent in accordance with the strictly enforced 7-day exclusion guideline, and the remaining 18 students were absent for other reasons or could not be reached. We are encouraged by these numbers and feel optimistic that no schools in Newton will need to close. We will continue to evaluate the situation and will make an informed decision each day.
It is very important for parents to remember to let their child's school know if he or she will be absent and the reason for the absence. This is helpful as we work to track this illness and reduce its transmission throughout our community.
We have noticed more new cases of flu-like illness in the first few days of each school week as compared to the last few days of each week. Anecdotal reports from parents suggest that many of the new cases have attended the same weekend social gatherings in the few days before they began experiencing flu-like illness. It is important to remember that if a child has flu-like symptoms, he or she should remain home for at least 7 days or for 24 hours after the child is better, whichever is longer. This Massachusetts Department of Public Health guideline applies not only to school attendance, but to other activities as well. Although this can be difficult, it is an important part of controlling the spread of disease. People can spread this illness for up to seven days even if they feel better sooner.
If this trend of stable flu activity holds steady, the updates to the community will be cut back to once or twice a week. Any significant new information will be communicated.
As always, speak with your school nurse if you have any questions or you may call the health department at 617-796-1420.
|
| School Store Open on Tuesday Morning |
|
|
If you haven't had a chance to stop by the school store on Tuesday morning, now is the time. The school store will officially close on Tuesday, June 16. Until then we'll have great stuff for sale at fabulous prices. The store is open before school from 8:20 to 8:35. |
| PRETZELS! PRETZELS! PRETZELS! |
|
 Only a few more weeks to purchase the biggest, softest, saltiest pretzel this side of Pine Street! Friday, June 19 is the last day for pretzel sales. Pretzels are just $1 each. Look for them by the flagpole on Friday afternoons after school. |
|
Mayoral Candidates' Forum in Auburndale
|
|
|
The Auburndale Community Association is hosting a Mayoral Candidates forum on Thursday, June 4 2009 at 7:30 pm at the Auburndale Library. This is an opportunity to hear the candidates make their case and for residents to highlight their neighborhood issues to the candidates. Ruth Balser, Paul Coletti, Ken Parker and Setti Warren will be attending. Moderated town meeting format. Mark your calendars!
|
| Auburndale Community Library to open
Saturday, June 13 !!! |
|
 A dedicated group of about 20 community members has been working to bring the Auburndale library back and we are thrilled to announce the opening of the Auburndale Community Library on Saturday, June 13. We will celebrate our opening with a small reception following the neighborhood "Rove the Cove" road race.
The Auburndale Community Library, Inc. is a community-based non-profit volunteer organization that will operate as a lending library independent from the Newton Main Library and the Minuteman Library Network. Our hours will be:
Tuesday 10 am - 3 pm
Thursday 3 pm - 8 pm
Saturday 10 am - 3 pm
Because we will be volunteer-staffed, we are still looking for community members who would like to join our team to help make our library a success. No library experience necessary--we're just looking for community-minded folks to sign on for one or two 2-3 hour shifts per month (this is a great way for a family to do volunteer work together). If you would like to learn more about the library or sign up to volunteer, please contact Dana Hanson or Liz Miller. |
|
School Committee Candidates Meeting -- Brown Library, June 2, 7pm-9pm |
|
|
Candidates in contested school committee races races will introduce themselves and speak with parents. The event is open to all. |
|
Nanny to Burr Family Available |
|
|
I'm a very experienced nanny seeking a part-time nanny position for the summer and beyond (would prefer long term position, though would also consider short term). I'm extremely reliable, responsible, kind, loving and great with kids. I have a bachelors degree and fabulous references. I'm upbeat, fun, outgoing and very energetic. I enjoy keeping kids busy and active with outdoor activities and am also very creative with indoor activities when the weather isn't so great. Your kids will love me! I have my own car,an excellent driving record, and am a nonsmoker. I would love to hear more about your needs and answer any questions that you have about me. Thanks a lot. I look forward to hearing from you! Please contact Debbie Zirman. |
|
Newton Public Schools 2009 SPACE Program -- It's not too late! |
|
The Newton Public Schools 2009 SPACE Program is still accepting applications for its summer enrichment program. SPACE runs from July 6, 2009 to July 31, 2009 for students entering kindergarten through 9th grade. You may choose from a morning program (9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.), an all day program (9:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.) or an extended day program (8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.). Please check the Newton Public School website www.newton.k12.ma.us or call 617-559-6150 for more details. Please make your checks payable to SPACE. Send to SPACE c/o Education Center, 100 Walnut Street, Newtonville, MA 02460. | |
|
|
|
