| Mark your Calendar |
May 26, 10 amBurr Spring Concert, Cafetorium
May 26, 7:45 pm
Burr Spring Concert, Day Middle School Auditorium
May 27, 3:10 pm
Bike to Burr Meeting
June 1
Color Day
June 2
Color Day rain date
June 4
Retirement Party for Cindy Bencal
UOD Breakfast
June 18, 9 am
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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Ms. Bencal's Desk
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 Dear Families,
"Better than a
thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher." (Japanese
proverb) Thank you to everyone who helped to acknowledge and thank our teachers
during Teacher Appreciation Week during the first week in May. Children brought
in lovely flowers throughout the week, and students and families wrote
heartfelt notes and cards to the teachers and found wonderful quotes about
teachers, similar to the one above. On that Thursday morning, the PTO arranged an expansive, elegant and
delicious breakfast for the staff, with a great variety of breakfast fare and
homemade, tasty treats. Thank you!
Once again, we enjoyed a wonderfully fun, varied,
community-building May Fair this year. Kids look forward to this event each year, and with the excellent
organization and planning, even with the rainy weather and needing to be
inside, everyone had a wonderful time. We imagine that many Burr mothers were the recipients of creative
Mothers' Day gifts made at this year's May Fair. The games, crafts projects,
play structures, plants, expert cooking and delicious food - all contributed to
making the afternoon a delightful one. While it is the involvement and hard work of many Burr parents that makes the May Fair successful,
special thanks go to the May Fair chairpersons, Jaye Schneider and Alex Swan.
Information about next year: We are projected to have 396 students at Burr next year. Right now we know of 387 students who
will attend Burr in grades K-5. We have been allocated 17 classroom teacher
positions. We will have 3 classes in each grade, K-4, and we will have two
fifth grade classes.
We will have no new classroom teachers for next year, and we
will welcome Ms. Melyssa Taylor back in
the fall.
We are saying good-bye, however, to some very special
teachers.
Ms. Kathryn Denneywill be teaching music at Bowen School next year, not at Burr. She applied for the open music teacher
position at Bowen because it is an .8 position (ours is .6), and because she is
going to be the All City Honors Chorus Director starting in the fall, and that
chorus has a home base at Bowen. Ms. Denney has taught music at Burr for 13
years, and has done a wonderful job of making music come alive for Burr
students. We will miss her very much!
Ms. Julie Kelly will
be teaching kindergarten full time at the Cabot School. As you know, Ms. Fitch
and Ms. Kelly have been sharing a kindergarten job at Burr for the last four
years. They are both ready to return to full-time teaching next fall, but Burr
did not have a fourth kindergarten class, and Ms. Kelly has the least seniority
of all of the kindergarten teachers at Burr. Ms. Kelly has been a beloved
kindergarten teacher at Burr School, and we will miss her very much!
Ms. Jen Toran, who
has been our part-time Instructional Technology Specialist for the past three
years, will be teaching grade 5 Math at Zervas School next year. Jen really
missed teaching students on a regular basis and wanted to return to the
classroom. Jen has been a terrific tech specialist, and we will miss her very
much!
Ms. Allsion Hutchinsonis expecting her second child mid-June. She wanted to teach part-time next
year, so she will be teaching at Burr, three days a week. We are slated to have
one of the learning center teachers from Williams, Michele Bilodeau, work at
Burr 2 days a week next year.
Burr will have the services of a math coach one-day-a week
next year. The curriculum coordinators and I will be interviewing candidates
for that position as well as the music teacher position, during the next few
weeks.
I look forward to seeing many of you at upcoming May and
early June events - our Spring Concert on May 26 at Burr at 10:00 AM and at Day
Middle School at 7:45 PM, Color Day on June 1, our garden party on June 4, and
our all-school meeting on June 7.
Sincerely,
Cindy Bencal
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Bike to Burr Initiative
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 The Burr School Council, Safe Routes to School, and the Green Team will be coordinating an initiative in the fall to promote biking to school. The program will include safety training, safe routes, promotion, grade appropriate guidance and options, safe storage, racks, etc. We have a planning meeting scheduled for Thursday May 27th at 3:10pm in Ms. Moran's room. Anyone interested in helping to plan or implement is welcome to join us at the meeting; or, let us know of your interest and we will keep you posted on developments. Feel free to contact dfgomberg@gmail.com, ericpbobby@hotmail.com, kellyebrown@verizon.net, tricia.bombara@gmail.com or branta1@comcast.net with any questions or suggestions. |
BOOYA Update
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BOOYA spent Saturday morning, May 15th, at the West Cambridge Youth Center helping athletes train for the Summer Special Olympics. Dana Collins, Ross Friedman, Janey Bombara, Susanna Torres, and Laura Anderson all came out to help. After a short bus ride the BOOYA AMBASSADORS met new friends and even ran races with the athletes. They really made a difference. Mr. Gaita will be volunteering there on Saturday mornings if anyone else is interested in making a difference. Thanks AMBASSADORS
GO BOOYA! |
| 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. |
Understanding Our Differences Breakfast
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Calling UOD Volunteers for the "Breakfast for Champions"! Come to the Newton City Hall War Memorial Friday, June 4, 8:30 - 10:00 to celebrate our delivery of this wonderful program in our schools throughout Newton. Mayor Setti Warren and the UOD Board and Staff want to THANK all volunteers for their efforts to increase understanding of disabilities, making our community a friendly place for all. Come enjoy a bagel and pose for the "UOD Family Photo" with volunteers from across the city! RSVP volunteerbreakfast@understandingourdifferences.org |
Summer Performances
| | Bring your families to enjoy the outstanding free performances for children this summer in Newton Center Playground, Tyler Terrace. These shows are sponsored by the Mayor's Office for Cultural Affairs. The performances are 1 - 2 pm on Tuesdays, and the rain location is in the Mason Rice School, 149 Pleasant Street. On July 6: Double Vision "Pantomonium" - a hilarious mime theatre, circus illusion act. On July 13: David Polansky, a high energy, fun performance of children's songs, by our beloved Time for Partners teacher. On July 20: Wayne Potash, a master of kids' music with audience participation. On July 27: Bonaparte, captivating magic and fun from Boston's Hottest Magician!
Equally excellent are the free performances on Thursdays from 1 - 2 pm at Ware's Cove, Auburndale. The rain location is the adjacent field house. These shows are generously sponsored by the Village Bank. On July 8: Gerwick Puppets perform "Aesop's Fables". On July 15: Jaime Lewis, a delightful, engaging singer. On July 22: Marcus Gale, music and puppets for everyone. On July 29: Michael Zerphy, clowning and fun. For more information, please contact 617-527-8283 or visit www.newtonculturalcenter.org.
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Boys and Girls Club Fashion Show
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 Please consider joining us for our 13th Annual Fashion Show on Wednesday June 2, at Brae Burn Country Club. Hosted by Cindy Stumpo who you will recognize as the star of "Tough as Nails" on HGTV, this years event will once again feature both men's and women's fashions and a basket raffle with top notch items. It is not to be missed. If you would like tickets, please call or email Nancy Jacob, Special Events Coorinator, at 617 630-2066, ext. 111 or njacob@newtonbgc.com If you, your business, or someone you know would like to donate items for the raffle, there is still time! Don't miss this chance to do something to help the young people of our community. |
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Rove the Cove - June 12
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The Auburndale Community Association is hosting the 4th annual Rove the Cove 5K road/trail race on June 12. The race starts and finishes in the picnic area of The Cove in Auburndale. Cotton t-shirt to the first 100 registrants. Prizes raffled at the end. All fitness levels welcome! You can walk or run. All finishers 14 and under receive official finishers medal. Start location: "The Cove" Auburndale Park, West Pine St, Auburndale, MA (Commonwealth Ave to Melrose St. Left on to W.Pine). Start time 9:30 am. Check in 8:45 am. Registration forms available at www.auburndalecommunity.org. |
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Summer Reading Lists
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 The Children's Librarians of the Newton Free Library have put together a variety of booklists to aid patrons of all ages in finding books on various subjects and reading levels. In addition, the Children's Room maintains an extensive file of its booklists. For elementary through middle school booklists http://www.newtonfreelibrary.net/childrens/booklists/ click on "by level/grade" to view suggestions preschool through grade 8, or peruse 'great summer reads' or any of the other listed categories. If you need assistance finding any of the books or need further reading suggestions, please don't hesitate to ask any of the Librarians. More info is available at the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street. |
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Honor Thy Teacher
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As this school year draws 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. How to thank them? District-wide policy prohibits direct gifts to teachers. The Newton Schools Foundation offers an option that will allow your teacher to be thanked in a public way. By donating to the 13th annual 'Honor Thy Teacher' campaign, the teacher you wish to honor will receive a card of thanks in your name, the teacher's name will be included in the 13th Annual "Honor Thy Teacher" spread in the Newton TAB in the fall, Principals and Superintendents will be notified of all honorees, and your donation will help support building 21st century classrooms in Newton. The Newton Schools Foundation raises funds for all of Newton's public schools. For more information or to Honor the teacher(s) of your choice, go to: www.newtonschoolsfoundation.org |
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Riverside Development Community Meeting
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The developers of the Riverside T station have rescheduled the community meeting that was recently canceled. The next meeting will be held on Thursday June 17, at 7:00 p.m. at the Williams school. Please save the date and please come and hear from the developers. This should be an opportunity to learn more about the modified proposal for the development, to ask questions and raise concerns. Also - please feel free to visit http://www.riversidestation.info for information from the Riverside Station Neighborhood Coalition. As a reminder, that is the coalition that the Lower Falls Improvement Association, Auburndale Community Association and Lasell Neighborhood Association formed in order to monitor and influence the development of the Riverside T station. |
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Summer Childcare
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Looking for Summer Childcare? Dana Toomey has been an Aide this year at Burr and has a 16 month old daughter. In addition to having her own 16-month daughter, she has years of childcare experience. Please contact her at broslovsky10@yahoo.com if you are interested in setting up a summer schedule, or if you just need a sitter once in a while. |
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Summer Tennis
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 Summer Time for tennis! Newton Parks & Rec. offers Summer 2010 Tennis for everyone - kids and adults of all levels. Kids may enroll for one or several weeks, attend morning and/or afternoon! Half day programs also available. Week 1 begins June 22nd. Adults, choose one or more clinics, morning and/or afternoon, or join a round robin and play on Newton Centre's clay courts. Session 1 for adults begins the week of June 21st. Please visit www.newtontennis.com for more info or to download a registration form. Questions - send to newtontennis@earthlink.net (or call 617 661-PLAY). Classes are filling up fast. Register today! |
NCSC Summer Camps
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NCSC Summer Day Camp at Hale Reservation (Grades 1 - 8) Still have a gap in your summer schedule and you wish your child had something exciting to do? Openings are still available at NCSC Summer Day Camp at the beautiful Hale Reservation in Westwood (transportation from our West Newton location is included). Join us for fun-filled days of boating, Red Cross swim lessons and free swim, arts and crafts, fishing, archery, a ropes challenge course, nature activities, sports, cookouts, special events, overnights and more at our ACA-accredited camp. For more information and registration materials, visit www.NCSCweb.org. To check openings, please contact Megan Cap-Renzi at mcap-renzi@ncscweb.org or (617) 969-5906, ext. 224. NCSC Higher Ground Teen Leadership Adventures (Teens Entering Grades 8-12) Pick a week...Change a life. Teens become leaders at Higher Ground through a mix of outdoor adventure, team sports, group challenges, reflections, and self-discovery projects. One week residential sessions begin July 25, August 1 and August 8. Located on the grounds of Camp Frank A. Day in East Brookfield, MA. For more information and registration materials, visit www.NCSCweb.org. To check openings, please call (617) 244-1404, ext. 370. |
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