Burr Bulletin - September 26, 2011

Intl Walk to School Day Next Wednesday October 5 is International Walk to School Day! Burr School will once again join with students across Newton and around the world to participate in this great event. Make plans to leave the car at home and walk with friends and neighbors! If you can't walk with your kids (and they are not ready to walk alone) arrange for them to walk with a friend or another family in your neighborhood. Taking the bus also reduces the number of cars on the road and in the Blue Zone so kids riding the bus are participating too! Last spring, over 80% of Burr students walked, biked, or road the bus on MA Walk to School Day - that's twice the percentage we have on an average day! Let's see if we can get to 90% this time!

Please make every effort to participate on Wednesday October 5^th.

The goal of this event is to show how much safer, healthier, and more fun it is to walk to school, and the hope is that families will continue to walk whenever possible. If you are not a regular walker now you can start by committing to walk just one day a week on Green Wednesdays.

Remember - wear green and be green this (and every) Wednesday!

Do you have any questions? Want a cool "Walk to School Day" sign for your group to carry? Email us BurrSafeRoutes@gmail.com

Burr Flu Clinic
Coming October 5

medical symbol Get the flu vaccine at school, not the flu!

Seasonal flu vaccination clinics will be held during the school day at the Newton Public Schools in October and November.

The Burr School Flu Clinic will be on Wednesday, October 5. Each student to be vaccinated must have a parent/guardian complete two forms: a consent/screening form and an insurance/administration record. Forms are available in the school nurse's office, or may be downloaded at www.newtonma.gov/flu Forms are due to the School Nurse by Sept. 30.

Parents may choose the flu shot or the nasal spray flu vaccine for their child. Parents must indicate the type of vaccine they wish their child to receive by circling it on the form. There is no cost to receive the vaccine, but insurance information is requested.

Seasonal flu vaccine is offered at no cost to families because the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is providing vaccine to communities who choose to vaccinate school-age children. The City of Newton Health & Human Services Department is providing the vaccination supplies and staff time to run the program, with the help of Medical Reserve Corps volunteers. Some costs will be recouped through insurance billing. All students, regardless of insurance status, are invited to receive vaccine with parent permission.

Students are not required to receive flu vaccine, however the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends flu vaccine for all people age 6 months and up. There are many places to get a flu vaccine including at school, your primary health care provider or community clinics. For additional clinic dates for the whole family, visit www.newtonma.gov/flu.

In addition to vaccination, it is important to practice good hand hygiene and cough etiquette by washing hands often; covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the arm; and staying home when sick.

For more flu prevention tips, talk to the school nurse or check out these websites: www.newtonma.gov/flu and www.cdc.gov/flu

Buy Your Groceries and Give to Burr
Program Begins October 9

Stop and Shop A+ School Rewards The Stop & Shop A+ school rewards program begins October 9th! The program allows a portion of every purchase at Stop & Shop to accumulate points that turn into CASH for Burr School when you use your rewards card, but we need to get people enrolled and matched with Burr asap! Please note, this program requires that we register cards EVERY PROGRAM YEAR, so if you registered last year we will need to register you again this year.

There are 2 Stop & Shops nearby, one on Pleasant St (off North St.) and one on Watertown St. near Watertown Square. But you can shop at *any* Stop & Shop to accumulate points!

To join is simple: 1) request a Stop & Shop rewards card if you don't have one, and 2) e-mail your Stop & Shop rewards card number and the first 3 characters of the last name on the account to Margaret Crook at gmcrook@rcn.com and she can register your card. If you have a Stop & Shop rewards card number but don't know what it is, you can call the Stop & Shop hotline at 877-366-2668 and someone will help you.

Do your grandparents, parents, aunts, or uncles shop at Stop & Shop? Send their rewards card number too! Their purchases can also benefit Burr!

*Note* the card number should be a 13 digit number. It usually begins with a 22 before the barcode and then a single digit after the barcode. You need the number on your actual card and not the one on a store receipt.

NPS News

Shop Whole Foods and Support Newton's Schools - Tuesday, October 4

On Tuesday October 4, Whole Foods Markets at 647 Washington Street in Newtonville and 916 Beacon Street at Four Corners will donate 5 percent of the day's net sales to the Newton Schools Foundation.

Do your grocery shopping for the week, prepare for the Yom Kippur break-fast, or get your fall pie ingredients on that day to help NSF support the Newton Public Schools' efforts to integrate technology throughout the learning and teaching environment.

Community News

Child Assault Prevention Program

Volunteers Needed

The Child Assault Prevention (CAP) program in Newton is looking for committed and dedicated child advocates to present its personal safety curriculum in local elementary schools.

Join up with current and experienced volunteer Prevention Specialists to teach children to recognize and respond to verbal, physical and sexual assault and abuse. Potential volunteers are community members who believe that children have the right to information, skills and the support of adults. We offer a flexible schedule to volunteers who enjoy teamwork and can make a yearlong commitment of three or four mornings a month.

To make it easier for people with busy schedules to train we have decided to offer 4 short morning sessions, 9 am to noon on Wednesdays and Fridays in October. The dates are 10/12, 10/14, 10/19 and 10/21. We are reserving the option to extend each session by an hour each day depending on the demographics of the trainees.

For information or to set up an interview call Gail Sommer, 617-969-5906, x143 or email, gsommer@ncscweb.org. Newton CAP is a program of Newton Community Service Center. Visit our webpage at www.ncscweb.org for a description of the program and of the volunteer Prevention Specialist position.

Newton Community Ed Classes at Burr

Registration is now underway for fall classes through Newton Community Education and we still have openings in the following classes: Drumming 101 on Mondays, Mixed Media and Chess on Tuesdays, and Mad Science on Wednesdays. We have many more weekday classes at schools throughout Newton, including Kids in the Kitchen, Fencing, Robotics, Brainatomy, Bridge, The Stockmarket Game, and the list goes on. We have many family classes, such as Cooking Wizardry, Chocolate with a Twist, Family Robotics Clinic, Family Night under the Stars, and more. We also have Saturday sports options for kids ages 2 and up, and weekday afternoon sports options such as Basketball, Archery, and Sports Jam. For more information or to register, call our office at 617-559-6999 or visit our website at newtoncommunityed.org. Be sure to check out our adult classes too!

Destination ImagiNation Informational Meeting
Tuesday, October 4

What: Destination ImagiNation informational meeting

When: Tuesday October 4^th, 2011 @ 7:00PM

Where: Memorial Spaulding Elementary School Library

Destination ImagiNation (DI) is an educational program in which student teams solve open-ended challenges and present their solutions at tournaments.

Teams choose challenges that are focused in either robotics, performing arts, engineering and/or design.

There is also a non-competitive Rising Stars! Challenge designed for students in pre-school through 2nd grade that introduces students to teamwork and creative thinking.

If you have questions, please email Matthew Miller at mmiller942@gmail.com.

The Newton Pumpkin Patch Is Back!

0.8888888888888888 The United Parish of Auburndale (UPA) is hosting its fifth annual Pumpkin Patch, from Saturday, October 8^th through Monday, October 31^st. Pumpkins large and small, gourds, and baked goods are for sale. The proceeds help the UPA support a number of programs in the New England area. Don't miss this fun family outing! Pumpkin Patch hours are weekdays, 10am-6pm and weekends, 9am-5pm.

The UPA is located at the corner of Woodland Road and Grove Street near Williams Elementary in Auburndale. For more information, please contact the UPA at 617-964-8516.

Newton North Little League Gala

Friday, October 14

0.847457627118644 Newton North Little League is celebrating 60 years of baseball with a gala event featuring food, raffle & live auction, Little League memorabilia, live band & dancing, and lots of celebration. Please join us on Friday, October 14^th, 7pm - midnight at the American Legion Post 440, 295 California Street, Newton. Take this opportunity to reconnect with past players, fellow parents and learn about the history of baseball in Newton over the past 60 years.

Tickets: $35 per person, $60 per couple, $300 per table of 10. Youth (13-18) alumni tickets $20, no children under 13. Music provided by Axminster, food catered by The Chateau, enjoyment provided by NNLL!

Tickets for dinner must be purchased in advance and can be ordered at http://newtonnorthlittleleague.org or send a check to Newton North Little League, P.O. Box 600412, Newtonville, MA, 02460.

Can't make dinner? Stop by after 9pm for a donation of $10 as the celebration continues with Axminster.