| Mark your Calendar |
May 18, 8:30am
Grade 3 Instrumental Music Program Presentation
May 19, 7:00pm
Final PTO Meeting of the Year
June 1
Color Day June 2
Color Day rain date June 4
Retirement Party for Cindy Bencal
June 18, 9:00am
Grade 5 graduation
June 19
Parents Night out at the Skellig
June 21
Last day of school
12:00 dismissal |
 Volunteer
Opportunities |
The Burr Bulletin Needs YOU !!!Think it would be cool to know how to create these snazzy emails? Join the Burr Bulletin editor team and you can do just that! Volunteers will be responsible for creating the bulletin about once a month, and the work can be done at home at whatever time is convenient for you. If you are interested and/or would like more information, please contact us at bulletin@burrpto.org |
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| Greetings Burr Friends, Since we last wrote a letter for the Bulletin, a lot has
happened at Burr! First, we are absolutely thrilled about our new principal for
next year, Mindy Johal. In the
brief amount of time that has passed since her appointment to Burr, Ms. Johal
has already visited our school to view the Atlantis Art Show, attended
an All School Meeting, and she has plans to informally tour classrooms with Ms.
Bencal today. We feel so fortunate
to have the "dynamic duo" of Ms. Bencal and Ms. Johal working together to
ensure that next year's principal transition is smooth. It is an exciting time for Burr! In addition to the big news of the announcement of our next
principal, we've had a couple of busy weeks of activities at Burr. Springtime is always a high-gear season
for PTO events, and we feel so fortunate to be a part of this thriving
community of dedicated people. From volunteering at the May Fair, to bringing in a flower or card to a
teacher, to baking goods for the Art Show, to packing a "zero-trash" lunch for your child, to purchasing
a library book to honor a teacher, each and every person makes our PTO work, no
matter how big or small the contribution. Thank you! As always, there are some specific thank yous for our teammates: Newton Serves: Nothing says springtime at Burr like our annual
Newton Serves day. Kelly Brown,
Bill Hoch, and Jeff Zabel led an army of parents and kids to help spruce up the
grounds. Many thanks to all the
Burr families and neighbors who lent a hand!
Art Show: Once again, the Burr Art Show was a
glorious success. There are not enough words to
thank our Burr art teacher, Diane Jaquith, for her work with
our children to transform the gym into a top notch art
gallery each spring! Many thanks to all the parents
who set-up and took down the show and/or provided snacks for the
reception.
Teacher Appreciation: Many thanks to
all of our families and room parents who brought in flowers, cards, and warm
wishes of appreciation to our Burr staff. Pam
McVey coordinated our room parent team and Tracy Carterand Amanda Loftus handled the teachers' breakfast. Many
thanks to the other parents who donated food or funds for the breakfast, or who
assisted with set-up and clean-up.
Walk to School: We had a
gorgeous spring day for last week's Massachusetts Walk to School Day. Tricia Bombara created a festive atmosphere
for all our walkers, kids and adults alike. Many thanks to
Tricia and all the families who supported the walk.
Library Booksale: Many thanks to Burr school
librarian, Laura Mayer, for selecting a diverse array of books to augment the
Burr student library this spring. Gretchen Becker-Cox and Trisha Kelleher have coordinated the logistics
of the book sale, including creating the online and paper order forms and
working with other parent volunteers to staff the book cart. Many thanks to all of the Burr families
who purchased books to honor teachers and staff at Burr--the kids and classroom
teachers will enjoy our new selections as soon as they hit our library shelves.
Zero Trash Day: A full report and thanks to all the day's participants is listed below, but we wanted to especially thank Eric
Bobby, Kelly Brown, and Liz Moran for bringing Zero Trash Day and so many other
"green" initiatives to Burr over the past year. Zero Trash Day was a very tangible way for the kids to work
together as a school community to be stewards of our environment.
May Fair: Even though the weather didn't
cooperate with us this year, the May Fair was a smashing success! A large
school-wide event like this involves MANY hands! Thanks to everyone who attended the event and a heartfelt
thanks to the mighty team of May Fair volunteers who
pulled the event off in style. We'll look forward to
a full run-down of the entire May Fair volunteer squad in the future, but for
the time being we'd like to thank co-chairs Alex Swan and Jaye
Schneider and committee members Kelly Brown, Diana Fisher-Gomberg, and Jenny
Heinstein, for being at the helm of the event.
These are exciting times for our PTO and we invite you all to join us at our upcoming May PTO meeting on Tuesday
May 19 at 7:00 pm. (Remember, don't forget to let current PTO board members know about your ideas for next year's board nominations!) Our final PTO meeting will be a great time for all of us to come together to celebrate our
accomplishments for this year as well as start our planning for next. Two other quick Save-the-Date reminders for everyone...more details coming soon: Friday, June 4: Cindy Bencal's Bon Voyage Party
Saturday, June 19: Parents' Night Out at the Skellig
See you around school! Steve DeJesus & Dana Hanson Burr PTO Co-Presidents |
| Burr's First Ever Zero Trash Day | |
 Last Friday's Zero Trash Day was a low-trash success! For the day, the school reached our goal of 1 bag of trash. An extension of the recently implemented city-wide Single-stream recycling program and a Burr Green Team Initiative, the results were dramatically different than our daily average of 5 bags of trash. The program incorporated composting, snack and chip bag recycling through Terracycle, and Waste Management incentive prizes at lunch time. A grade by grade weigh-in took place at 2:45pm. The 4th graders just eeked out the win at 1/2 pound of trash. The rest of the grades were as follows: K - 11 lbs (low trash day couldn't stop Ms. Kelly's Messy Paint Day!); 1st - 3 lbs; 2nd - 2 lbs; 3rd - 1 lb. and 5th - 3 lbs. The winning 4th graders have won the privilege of planting a wall of flowers on the grounds. Parents, students and staff all worked together to make this day possible. Thanks to everyone for such a fun day and a special shout out to Jessica Avery, Kelly Brown, Eric and Liz Bobby, Dana Hanson, Danielle Lambrects, Liz Moran, the cafeteria helpers, Rich Lee and Waste Management and Jack Tobin. |
| Pretzels for sale Fridays after school! Just $1. | |
Find us right after school at the Flagpole! To help selling go smoothly, Blue Zoners should park legally while your riders make their purchase or plan to arrive five to ten minutes after 3 to give kids a chance to get their pretzels and be waiting for you. Ms. Bencal stays outside until 3:15, so no one will be left alone. Pretzels will be available to bus riders and BCAPers, too. Proceeds help to support the 5th grade end of the year activities and class gift to the school. |
| Treasuring our teachers! | | As this school year comes to a close, we reflect on how much our children have grown with the help of so many outstanding educators. Exceptional teachers motivate, educate and inspire our children everyday! The Newton Schools Foundation asks that you take this unique opportunity to thank the educators who have impacted your child and family by donating to the 13th annual "Honor Thy Teacher" campaign this spring.
Through the "Honor Thy Teacher" campaign, we celebrate our inspirational teachers and raise funds to support building 21st Century Classrooms across the city. "Honor Thy Teacher" celebrates our teachers in four ways:
1. Honored teachers receive a card of thanks in the donor's name
2. Our children and the community see his or her honored teacher in the annual "Honor Thy Teacher" spread in the Newton TAB this fall
3. Principals and the Superintendent are notified of all honorees
4. Your donation supports building 21st Century Classrooms in Newton.
The Newton Schools Foundation is a non-profit organization which raises funds to enhance the quality of education in Newton's public  schools, with a focus on supporting innovative and challenging programs. Currently, the Foundation is working to support the Newton Public School's strategic plan to invest in 21st Century Classrooms in all 21 schools. Please visit www.newtonschoolsfoundation.org to learn more or to donate.
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| Looking to give away a swing set to a Burr family | | We are a Burr family and we have recently outgrown our beloved swing set. We are looking to give it away to an interested Burr family. It is a nice solid wooden swing set with 3 swings, a table, slide & plank and a look out tower. It was a top of the line model (Rainbow Play Systems) when we bought it about 7 years ago.
You will need to be handy (or have access to a handy person) to come to our property to dismantle the swing set and then you will need to reassemble the swing set carefully on your own property.
If you are interested, please contact Pam at pammy2000@hotmail.com for more information. |
| Burr Dad (and Author!) Derek Gentry at the Auburndale Community Library: "Crashing the Book Party" - Thursday, May 20th, 7pm |
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First
grad  e parent, Derek Gentry, will host a discussion "Crashing the Book
Party" at the Auburndale Community Library on Thursday, May 20th at 7
pm. Derek will speak about writing and self-publishing his new novel Here Comes Your Man, confronting tough literary questions including:
"Isn't that a Pixies song?",
"Can you really do that with Froot Loops?", and
"Two hundred rejections? Seriously?"
Derek will also read selections from Here Comes Your Man
(or someone else's book, if you prefer) and bake chocolate-chip cookies
for everyone. To learn more about Derek, visit his website at www.derekgentry.com . The Auburndale Community Library ( www.auburndalelibrary.org ) is located at 375 Auburn Street and has copies of Derek's book available for borrowing. |
| Preparing for Summer Camp:
Creating a Positive Experience for Your Child | |
Parents of preschool and elementary students are invited to attend a free workshop to help prepare children for the transition from the school year to day camp. This workshop will be held on Thursday, May 27th from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Franklin Elementary School, 125 Derby St., Newton.
Participants in this workshop will learn how to best prepare for a new camp experience, such as: how to ease camper anxiety, how to best partner with camps regarding your child's unique needs and learn strategies to ensure a smooth transition to camp. Child care and a light supper for children will be provided at no charge. PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. To register, contact: Jenny Gamson, The Newton Partnership, 617.559.9064 or jenny_gamson@newton.k12.ma.us |
| Summer Classes at the Newton Cultural Center | |
Summer is almost here! The places are filling up quickly for our Summer Classes for children at the Newton Cultural Center. We have some spaces in the June Time for Families and the Time for Partners classes from 9:30 - 11:15. Don't miss out on the opportunity to share a special time each week with your child (18 months - 4 years) making art projects and singing with new friends in our cheerful, air conditioned classrooms. There is also Summer Swing, a drop-off program for 3 - 6 years olds from 9 am - noon from June 28 - August 5, with art, music and creative movement with a different theme each week. There is a lot of flexibility in the available days to fit your schedule. For more information, please call 617-527-8283 or visit www.newtonculturalcenter.org |
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