| Mark your Calendar |
Dec 7:
Book Fair, 8am-11am
Dec 7-11:
Inclusive Schools Week
Dec 12:
BOOYA Bake Sale at the Auburndale Community Library, 11am-1pm
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Volunteer
Opportunities |
Juice Pouch Recycling
Science & Engineering Discovery Week
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 Dear Families, Anti-bullying work: In our continuing effort to create a safe and positive learning environment, one third, one fourth, and two fifth grade classes at Burr are piloting a bully prevention program called Steps to Respect. A Newton Public Schools committee working under our "Safe and Healthy Schools Grant" chose this curriculum and asked for volunteer schools and classrooms to try it out or "pilot" it this year. This program (just for grades 3-5) is designed to prevent bullying and to promote responsible, respectful student behavior. Students in the pilot classrooms will learn:
- How to recognize, refuse, and report bullying when it happens to them or someone else.
- Friendship skills that reduce the risk of being bullied, including how to make friends, join group activities, and manage conflicts.
- Emotional skills, such as understanding the feelings of others and managing emotions.
- How to use positive values (responsibility, respect, and caring for others) as a guide for behavior.
Piloting teachers (Ms. Lawton, Ms. Robinson, Ms. Cooley, Ms Moran) will teach these lessons a few days a week starting in December or January, and these teachers will send parent letters home to inform you of the topics students discuss in school.
Even though only 4 of our 17 classrooms are piloting this new curriculum, all other classrooms are having anti-bullying lessons. The Open Circle curriculum in grades K-1 has several effective anti-bulling lessons. In addition, teachers in grades K-3 teach lessons from "Quit It" and teachers in grades 4-5 teach lessons from "Bullyproof," both effective anti-bullying curricula for these age groups. Typical lessons/topics/themes include learning about "connecting and disconnecting" behaviors, inclusive and exclusive behaviors, identifying bully/bullying situations - conflict vs. bullying, empowering the target, empowering the bystander, and taking responsibility. In upcoming issues of the Burr Bulletin, I will share more information about our anti-bullying work this year.
Inclusive Schools Week December 7-12: Our Respect for Human Differences Committee has planned some classroom activities, such as read alouds and having students share what makes them feel included for Inclusive Schools Week this week. In addition, our Inclusion Facilitator, Tia Marola, trains and works with therapy dogs. She has offered to bring her dog to school to show students what a therapy dog can do to help children and adults be and feel more included in a class or situation. She is willing to do short presentations in classes this week. Please let us know if your child is either allergic to dogs or is fearful of dogs, so that we can make alternative arrangements for some classes. Thank you.
UNICEF: Our final total for UNICEF this year is $1,000.40! A big "Thank You" to Ms. Robinson and her class for organizing and running this very important community service project, and thank you to all of the students, families, and neighbors who collected, donated and took part. It's wonderful to experience the generous spirit of the Burr Community. As you can imagine, we collected thousands of coins; thank you to parent Shohreh Harris who tackled the Coinstar machine with all of these coins!
Additional Community Service: Thank you in advance to our three third grade classes for conducting our holiday food drive for the Newton Food Pantry again this year. These classes are collecting canned goods from classes each day, organizing and categorizing the food, reporting on progress, and packing up the food for delivery. Because of the struggling economy, this year, more than ever, food pantries are in huge need of food and supplies, so we are very grateful to our grade 3 organizers and to everyone who is making contributions.
And....we have a new community service organization at Burr - BOOYA! This is Burr Organization Of Youth Action, organized by David Gaita, Julie Canning and several parents and open to all Burr students grades K-5. The purpose of BOOYA is to look for community service projects that need to be completed and to gather Burr students to make it happen. On December 12, BOOYA will be helping out at the Auburndale Library. Fifth grade Burr students are the "ambassadors," and so far there are over 25 fifth graders who are interested in this project!
Holiday Time: As we continue in the holiday season, please remember the School Committee Policy: "No teacher in the performance of regular duties shall receive presents from the pupils under his or her direction." In addition, this year, there are new Massachusetts Ethics Reform laws stating that "Municipal employees may not accept gifts and gratuities valued at $50 or more" (per year). This includes a group gift for a teacher to which individuals contribute smaller amounts but the value of the gift exceeds $50. Classroom supplies/contributions do not pertain to this policy. In terms of PTO gift cards to staff (e.g. a gift certificate to New England Mobile Book Fair from the Literature Fund), if a letter accompanies the gift stating the purpose is to purchase books/supplies for the classroom, there is not an ethics violation.
Each year I remind Burr families of the "No Gift" policy, and each year most families comply. It is very natural for children and their families to want to acknowledge and thank their teachers at holiday time. What are the alternatives to giving personal gifts? There are several ways to acknowledge teachers by giving either to the classroom, the school community or the bigger school system community:
- Contribute to our literature fund
- Take part in our library gift program (buy a book for the library in the teacher's name)
- Help to fill classroom wish lists
- Contribute to the Newton Schools Foundation in a teacher's name.
As we approach the December vacation, the staff and I wish all Burr families a very special continued holiday season. The school year has been a strong one so far, with children and teachers working hard on our Balanced Literacy program, our writing initiative, vocabulary development, and differentiation in math. Our new staff members are fitting in very nicely, are working hard and are bringing their special talents to the children and our school. Parents have been active in our fundraising campaigns and our community-building activities as well as volunteering in very substantive ways in classrooms, the office and the library; we are all very grateful for your work and support.
We wish you a restful, rejuvenating vacation and a happy, healthy New Year.
Best,
Cindy Bencal
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Gift for Burr Campaign - There's still time! |
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 We're getting closer, but we need your help to reach our goal! We must reach this goal to ensure that the essential academic supports and enriching programs funded by the PTO do not disappear. If everyone participates, we will make it! Remember, every donation counts! There is still time to make a tax-deductible donation before the end of the tax year. Send in your Gift for Burr today, or donate now online. A BIG thanks to the 165 (of 296) families that have donated so far! |
Inclusive Schools Week has arrived! |
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Here at Burr the week will be celebrated by:
- An all school morning announcement challenging children to stretch their friendships in concrete ways, such as inviting someone new to play at recess or sit with at lunch.
- Read-alouds of books that celebrate differences in each classroom.
- An activity in which all children compliment and are complimented by their classmates.
- "Idea strips" in which each child will complete the statement "I feel included when... " These will be posted around the school.
Since its inception in 2001, Inclusive Schools Week has celebrated the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population, including students who are marginalized due to disability, gender, socio-economic status, cultural heritage, language preference and other factors. The week also provides an important opportunity for educators, students and parents to discuss what else needs to be done in order to ensure that their schools continue to improve their ability to successfully educate all children.
Stay tuned - in the Spring we will continue our observance of this week through the March PTO meeting and the Respect for Human Differences book group at which we will discuss You Can't Say You Can't Play by Vivian Gussin Paley.
Erika Drezner
Amanda Loftus
Co-coordinators of Inclusive Schools week at Burr |
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Dear Parents,
As you may know, we have been very fortunate this year to have an increase in the number of high quality social workers serving in our elementary schools. I would like to share with you a decision that we have made regarding a change in positions between two of those social workers that will affect some of the children in your school. This decision was made in an effort to meet the needs of some of our most at-risk students while best utilizing the strengths and interests of our staff. Towards that end, Meghan Merna will be working at Burr School starting on December 2. Marcie Akell will now be working at Franklin School, rather than at Burr, this year. This will not in any way disrupt the services children in the school have been receiving, as the amount of social worker time assigned to the school has not been changed. Both social workers have spent time planning for this shift in assignments, and they are aware of the various needs in each building.
I am confident that this change will not only maintain, but will enhance the services being provided to children and staff at Burr. Please feel free to contact Cynthia Bencal or me with questions.
Sincerely,
David Gotthelf, Ph.D., NCSP
Coordinator for Therapeutic Services
Brown Middle School
Newton Public Schools
617-559-6900 |
November School Council Meeting Summary |
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The Burr School Council met on Monday November 30, 2009. Ms. Bencal gave an update concerning the space issues at Burr. A Space Team met with the Superintendent to share our ideas for possible solutions to our problems concerning space in the building. Our concerns were heard and we were reminded solutions must be fair and equitable to all the K-12 schools. No timeline was offered.
The School Council was updated about the Anti- Bullying curriculum being piloted in some classes in grades 3,4, and 5. The curriculum is called "Steps to Respect" and is part of the Safe and Healthy Schools Grant. The teachers who are working with this program like that it focuses on students who are bystanders.
The Council also worked on a second draft of our Burr School Improvement Plan for 2009-2011. Principal Cindy Bencal created the first draft with six goals in mind. The School Council is working together to edit and revise the first draft and to add additional goals. |
BOOYA Event!
Bake Sale at the Auburndale Library
Saturday December 12, 11:00am - 1:00pm |
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 Burr Organization Of Youth Action volunteers from all grades and their families will be at the library selling yummy treats and helping out around the library. We are looking for any baked goods for that day. Baked Goods can be dropped off prior to the event in Mr. Gaita's room on Friday or at the library (375 Auburn Street) on the day of the event. All proceeds will help the Auburndale Library. So come to the library and make a difference! |
Auburndale Community Library
Holiday Celebration Dec. 12, 11am-1pm |
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Please save some time on Saturday, December 12th from 11am-1pm to stop by our first annual ACL Holiday Celebration. We will have Crafts with Jillian, special activities, ACL items for sale, a gift book cart, a bake sale sponsored by Burr Elementary School students, and some local artisans selling their creations. And you can also check out books! What family member wouldn't be thrilled with an ACL tote bag stuffed full of goodies as their holiday gift!
For more information about our event, or for more information about our library in general, please visit our website: www.auburndalelibrary.org |
Youth pro Musica Winter Concert |
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Youth pro Musica (a greater Boston youth chorus) invites you to a Winter Concert Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 4:00 pm First Unitarian Society In Newton 1326 Washington St., West Newton
Artistic Director, Robert Barney
Accompanist, Yvonne Gobis
Featuring Recorder Quintet, Concordia Consort
Gloria By Antonio Vivaldi
French, Ukrainian and English Carols
Tickets: Adults-$15/$12; Seniors/Students-$10/$8; 12+under-FREE.
Order in advance + save $$.
Youth pro Musica will be holding auditions for their children's chorus in January. If your son or daughter loves to sing, please come to the concert to check us out!
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Newton Community Ed. Classes at Burr |
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Registration is now underway for winter classes with Newton Community Education. Coming up at Burr we have Chess on Mondays, Painting on Tuesdays, and Mad Science on Wednesdays. Check out our winter Saturday programs for families and just for kids: they include Chocolate with a Twist, Slippery Science, Math Mania Weekend Adventure, Indoor Soccer, Adult-Child Pottery, and more. We have lots of classes for older elementary and middle schoolers too, like Web Design, Game Design, Karate, Robotics, Sewing, and more, plus two new programs for pre-schoolers: Create a Fairy Tale and Basketball.
If you're looking for something for your kids to do during February or April vacation, consider Digging the Egyptians, Basic Engineering, Create a TV Show, Splat, or the ever popular Domino Physics and Marble Machine Madness. In addition we have a wide variety of classes at other elementary schools, and we welcome kids from all schools at all of our classes. For more information or to register, call our office at 617-559-6999 or visit our website: www.newtoncommunityed.org
If you're thinking summer, our catalog is coming soon - call us with questions!
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Help earn money to support building 21st Century Classrooms while you shop online! |
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Shop at the same websites you know and trust. Pay the exact same price you normally would and eScrip will contribute up to 16% of your purchase to the Newton Schools Foundation. All you need to do is register now and download "Autoearn" to accrue donations automatically.
- Log on to www.newtonschoolsfoundation.org and simply click on the eScrip Online Mall logo.
- Go to "sign up" and follow the instructions.
- Designate Newton Schools Foundation to receive your contributions by entering Group ID 500023242 or enter Newton Schools Foundation
- Download "Autoearn" to accrue contributions automatically.
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