| Mark your Calendar |
January 11
Burr School Council Meeting, 3:30pm
January 11
Science & Engineering Week begins
January 14
PTO Meeting on Burr technology
January 19
Winter Concert at Day Middle School, 7pm January 20
Winter Concert at Burr, 10:30am
January 22
Parent-Principal Coffee, 8:35-9:15am
January 25
Burr's Respect For Human Differences Committee Meeting, 3:30pm |
Volunteer
Opportunities |
Juice Pouch Recycling
Understanding Our Differences
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 Dear Families,
Happy New Year, and welcome back to school. I hope that you all had some time to relax and enjoy time with your families and friends during the December break.
Since I announced that I would be retiring at the end of this school year, the Central Office, the PTO and the teachers have been very busy beginning the process of selecting a new principal for Burr School. I am not involved in this process, but I care very much about the future of Burr School, so I will be following the process closely. You will not be getting updates from me but should be hearing periodically from the Selection Advisory Committee (SAC).
The search process is in good hands. Central Office staff members were very impressed with the number of interested Burr parents who attended the first meeting and with the positive energy that parents demonstrated, and they are truly looking forward to working with the Burr SAC. Three teachers: Robin Cooley, David Gaita, and Kalpana Guttman have been selected by the staff to join three Burr parents to comprise Burr's SAC.
It is only January, and we have a lot of important work at school to undertake this year as well as many exciting upcoming events. I look forward to it all. I also look forward to working closely with the new principal so that the school can make a smooth transition over the summer and into the fall. Thank you for all of your support and your ongoing positive involvement in our school community.
Science and Engineering Week, January 11-15: We are all looking forward to the many presentations that parents, grandparents and friends are planning to give to classes during our Science and Engineering Week. Once again parents Michelle Fineblum, Michael Gevelber, and Joanne and Ken Kotz have done an outstanding job recruiting parent presenters and scheduling 4-5 presentations for each class during this very special week.
School Safety: We are always concerned with the safety of the students, and to that end we have many different procedures and systems set up to ensure safety for all. There are many ways that parents can help. Certainly following the recommendations for using the Blue Zone correctly and obeying driving and parking regulations creates a safe environment for students coming to and leaving school each day. I am delighted to report that the city's traffic commission voted on Friday to create a School Zone on Lexington Street on either side of the crosswalk. This means that there will be several signs indicating a School Zone and reducing the speed limit to 20 mph. There is also a request for flashing lights as part of the school zone, but that will be decided later by the engineers.
We also ask all parents and visitors to use our sign-in/sign-out system whenever they visit the school. We ask that all visitors check in at the main office during school hours as well as sign in/sign out and receive a visitor sticker. Any adult without a sticker, including parents, will be directed to the office. This helps us to have a record of who is in the building during the school day. In addition, we prefer that lunches, messages, and musical instruments be dropped off in the office, for this is least disruptive to the classroom. The office will call the child from the classroom at an appropriate time to come and get the item. If a parent prefers to bring an item to a child during the day, it is important for the parent to sign in, get a visitor badge, let the office staff know of the delivery, and not interrupt the class at work.
CORI forms: If you are volunteering or plan to volunteer in the classroom, library or on field trips this year or in the future, you are required to fill out a CORI form and bring it to the school office. Some of you have already filled out a CORI form either this year or in previous years for volunteering with an older sibling, but please note that these are only good for three years. We sent blank CORI forms home to each kindergarten family in December, and we just sent them out to next year's incoming kindergarten class to get a jump on this for next year. Please call the office if you need a blank CORI form.
Burr also has a Crisis Committee that meets during the year to review procedures and systems that we would follow in the event of a crisis. This is the group that plans our lock down drills and our evacuation to our off-site location. We will be having a lockdown drill in January or February and we will walk to our off-site location in April or May. We have monthly fire drills at school. If you have questions about any of our safety procedures or systems, please feel free to call or email.
We have set tentative dates for MCAS testing in grades 3, 4, and 5 this spring.
March English Language Arts tests:
Grade 3: March 26, March 31
Grade 4: March 23, March 26, March 31
Grade 5: March 22, March 24
May Math tests (and science for grade 5):
Grade 3: May 19, May 21
Grade 4: May 19, May 21
Grade 5: May 10, May 12, May 14, May 17
I hope to see many of you at one or more of our upcoming events:
January 11: Burr School Council Meeting at 3:30 in the library
January 14: Burr PTO meeting on Burr technology
January 18: Newton's Martin Luther King Citywide Celebration at Our Lady's Church at 10:00 AM
January 19: Winter Concert (grade 4 chorus and all instrumentalists) at Day Middle School at 7:00 PM
January 20: Winter Concert at Burr, 10:30 AM
January 22: Parent-Principal Coffee, cafeteria, 8:35-9:15 AM
January 25: Burr's Respect for Human Differences Committee meeting, 3:30 in the library.
Sincerely,
Cindy Bencal
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THANK YOU from the Gift for Burr Campaign! |
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 Together, we have raised more than $28,000 for the Gift for Burr Campaign, with another $2,000 expected in matching gifts, bringing our grand total to over $30,000! We are very grateful to the 182 participating families for their contribution to this tremendous success. In the coming weeks, we will be sending out a campaign report that will provide a full accounting of income and expenses. The report will include a simple list of everyone who participated in the campaign, in recognition of your support. (It will NOT include gift amounts.) If you did not mark the "Anonymous" box on your reply card, but would now prefer that your participation remain anonymous, please send an email to GiftforBurr@gmail.com. And remember, if you haven't made a gift or pledge, but wish you had, you still can! To make a pledge, send an email to GiftforBurr@gmail.com. To make a gift online, go to www.burrpto.org and click the Donate button, or you can send in your check (in an envelope marked "Gift for Burr") in your child's folder.
Thank you again, and Happy New Year! |
Volunteers Needed For Burr's Understanding Our Differences Program: 3 Units in January |
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The Understanding Our Differences Program is looking for parent volunteers to help with the three upcoming units in January. The goal of this program is to increase information, understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities and individual differences in our community. The program is brought to Burr by parent volunteers and takes place mostly on Thursday afternoons from 12:45pm - 3:00pm. Volunteers do not need to have children in a specific grade, teaching experience, or a medical background.
The January units at Burr School are as follows:
01-14-10 Physical Disabilities (5th Grade)
01-21-10 Intellectual Disabilities (4th Grade)
01-28-10 Blindness/Visual Impairment (3rd Grade)
Please check your calendars and consider volunteering. Parent participation is the great strength of this program. It is an excellent opportunity to get to know the kids at Burr as well as give back to the community. Can you help out? Contact Us: Carey Ranta: branta1@comcast.net or Stephanie Mamis: stephanie.mamis@verizon.net |
Burr First Grader Skates for a Cure |
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 On February 6th, Andrew Cerone, a six year old in Ms. Espinal and Ms. Lefever's class is participating in The Neely Sk8 Challenge, a fundraiser hosted by the Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care and the Boston Bruins Foundation. His participation in this skate-a-thon will help raise money for children battling cancer and their families. For Andrew, the #2 on his jersey represents two of the reasons why he will be "lacing them up" next month; his love for hockey and more importantly, his love for a close family member. Andrew is asking the Burr community for help and support. To support him, and to help raise money for someone you love that has been affected by cancer, please visit Andrew's fundraising page at www.firstgiving.com/andrewcerone |
Burr Cooperative Nursery School Annual Winter Concert, Feb. 6, 10am-12pm |
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 Get the whole family dancing at the 5th Annual Winter Concert & Festival featuring Wayne Potash! Join Burr Cooperative Nursery School for a fun-filled morning of live music from fabulous singer-songwriter Wayne Potash, along with various activities, crafts, a bake sale, and fantastic raffle prizes. Saturday, February 6, 10am-12pm at the Newton Cultural Center, 225 Nevada Street, Newton. Tickets: $8/person in advance (children under 1 free), $10/person at the door (based on availability). Advanced tickets are available for purchase until Monday, February 1st. Please contact Sarah Sian at tickets@burrcoop.org or 617-388-3132. All proceeds to benefit Burr Cooperative Nursery School, a non-profit organization. |
Register Now for Spring Kindergarten and Pre-K Soccer |
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 Garden City Kindergarten and Pre-K Soccer is now accepting registrations for our 2010 Spring Session. Children in Pre-K (4-5 years old) and students currently enrolled in Kindergarten are invited to participate. GCKS provides an introduction to the game of soccer; teaching a variety of basic skills in a fun, non-competitive environment. Team sizes are limited to 10 players in each group. Registration is limited to 80 players per league. Spring session runs from April 10, 2010 to June 12, 2010. Practice/games are held Saturdays from 9:30-10:30 am for the Kindergarten league and 10:45-11:45 am for the Pre-K league. Games are played on the field at Burr School, Pine Street in Auburndale. Volunteer parent coaches are needed. No experience is necessary and training will be provided. Cost is $60 per child. GCKS is a joint venture of Lincoln-Eliot & Franklin School's Parent Teacher Organization. Proceeds benefit both schools PTO programs. To obtain a registration form, email gardencitysoccer@gmail.com or download forms from the PTO website's at www.lepto.org or www.franklinpto.org. For more information, call L-E School parent Melanie Varady at 617-244-5773 or Franklin School parent Deb Rooney at (617) 630-8520. Registration deadline is March 12th. Space is limited. |
Think Spring! Think Softball! |
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Newton Girls Softball registration is underway for the 2010 spring season. This is a recreational league for over 500 Newton girls in grades 1-8. Players of all skill levels will have a fun and rewarding experience. Visit our website www.newtongirlssoftball.org for more details, on-line registration, and our ongoing winter indoor clinics. Register before January 31, 2009 to avoid a late fee. |
New Camp Database Resource for Newton Parents |
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The Planned Out-of-School-Time (POST) database is a single, centralized place to get free online listings of over 160 summer day camp programs in Newton, serving children from ages 3-17. This database is searchable by location, age of child, type of camp and specific camp activities. Additional information is provided, including hours of operation, cost, financial aid, availability of transportation and availability of programs for children with special needs. The website also has tip sheets and other resources for parents on specific camp and out-of-school-time topics. For more info or to search, go to: www.projectinterface.org/post. This is a program of The Newton Partnership and Project INTERFACE. Questions? Contact Jenny Gamson at jenny_gamson@newton.k12.ma.us or 617-559-9064. | |
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