Dear Families,  

The opening weeks of school are filled with the excitement of great possibilities that come with new beginnings. Students, teachers, and parents have all participated in wonderful community building activities to help set the tone for a productive and successful school year. Each classroom teacher has asked the children to consider their hopes and dreams or goals for the coming year, and they themselves, have been reflective about their practice and decided which areas they will focus on developing. Burr School is well poised for another successful year.

I have had the pleasure of visiting each classroom to discuss our school's Core Values of Academic Excellence, the Effort and Joy of Learning, a Strong Sense of Community, and Individual Growth and Expression. Children shared excellent age appropriate examples of actions that employ each value. I encourage you to have a conversation with your child to see what he/she understands about our Core Values and the ways that they can work toward these in school. I am sure your personal family values will be mirrored in what we expect at school. Our collective reinforcement and support will demonstrate to the children that these are important principles for us all to uphold.

Now that students have made their initial adjustment into the new school year, I am asking that parents of students in grades 1-5 say goodbye to their children in the morning either at the outside door, or at the first double door by the kindergarten classes. This has been a successful past practice at Burr. Of course, if you need to speak to the teacher or if you are volunteering, it is fine to walk to the class in the morning. (If you are volunteering, please make sure to sign in and get a visitors' badge in the office.) Helping students follow morning routines independently is one of our goals, so letting the children enter the classrooms themselves is important. Concerning morning arrival, please remember that children should not come into the building until 8:20 AM. A supervised Early Morning Program which begins at 7:30 AM is available for your convenience. The program is staffed by two of our inclusion aides, Pam Buccitelli and Kaylan Finn.

I am expecting construction work on the modular classroom to begin shortly and continue to be hopeful that it will be ready for occupancy by mid-December. The contractors are trying to secure permits and as soon as these are granted, they will start external work. All internal work will be done after school and on Saturdays. The entrance next to Ms. Frail's classroom will be closed off for a short time, so children will have to come around the building and use the opposite entrance. Once it is completed, Mr. Gaita's first grade class will be moving into the modular, and his current classroom will become the art room. Ms. Jaquith has done a fabulous job setting up a temporary art space in the cafetorium. I thank both Mr. Gaita and Ms. Jaquith for their flexibility as moving classrooms mid-year is not an easy feat. Many parents have already volunteered to help us make the move in December and I feel confident that this transition will be a smooth one with little to no disruption on student learning.

It was wonderful to have such great participation on Curriculum Night. I hope the information you received from the teachers was clear and helpful, and that you can see the close connections between our school goals and the teachers' curriculum and instructional plans for the students. Our School Improvement Plan is posted on the Burr School Website for your information. As you know, Burr teachers work together using a Professional Learning Community (PLC) model. Building strong teams at each grade level is essential to the success and effectiveness of this model. Teachers share their knowledge and expertise within, and across, grade levels to ensure continuous improvement for themselves and their colleagues. Collectively they look at assessment data, plan effective core instruction, and design intervention and enrichment to target the needs of each student. Their professional conversations help them determine what and how to teach, so that all students will learn. As the principal, my goal is to help each teacher improve his/her practice each year by providing the time and resources to support their learning whenever possible. It is an honor for me to work with such dedicated and skilled educators.

Our work at school is only possible with the support of the wonderful families that we serve. Our partnership with you makes anything possible.

Sincerely,

Mindy

Please consider donating a half-hour of your time every other week to the Burr Library. It's a great way to get to know your child's classmates while providing a valuable service to our school!

While parents check out and shelve books, our librarians are made available to help kids browse for their "just right books."
 

The following classes are in particular need: 

Ms. Frail (gr. K)

Wed. 10:30 to 11 

Ms. Crowley (gr.3)

Wed. 11:10 to 11:40

Ms. Golden (gr.1)

Wed. 1:10 to 1:40

Mr. Gaita (gr.1)

Mon. 10:45 to 11:15

If you can assist, please contact Jan Shoyer at rickfjans@yahoo.com

Thank you!

This Wednesday October 5 is International Walk to School Day!  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 reduces the number of cars on the road and in the Blue Zone so kids riding the bus are participating too! 

Please make every effort to participate! 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.  Last spring, over 80% of Burr students walked, biked, or road the bus on Massachusetts 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!

Remember - Wear Green and Be Green This (and every) Wednesday! 

Visit our website - Burr Safe Routes to School.  Do you have any questions?  Want a cool "Walk to School Day" sign for your group to carry?  Email us at BurrSafeRoutes@gmail.com

BOOYA met last week to discuss plans for the year. Parents, teachers, and AMBASSADORS talked about some upcoming community service events as well as some new ideas. We will start Monday Litter Patrol TODAY.  AMBASSADORS who would like to help clean up Burr will be meeting at the flagpole at 8:15am. A grown up will be there to help supervise. On Saturday, October 29th there will be a Bake Sale at the Auburndale Community Library. The AMBASSADORS decided that the proceeds will go to cancer research.  More details will follow.  In addition, on Saturday, October 15 we will have a Leaf and Garden Classroom clean up. Look for details in the Bulletin. Thanks to all who attended the meeting.  GO BOOYA!

Burr Green Wednesdays resume this week (Oct. 5)
and continue every Wednesday for the rest of the school year.

How can your kids participate?

• Wear something green
• Consider walking to school
• Pack a waste-free or low-waste snack and lunch
• If you buy lunch, see what you can reuse or recycle.

Here are a few ideas for those who pack their snack/lunch:

• Use a lunch box, not a paper or plastic bag
• Use a refillable drink bottle instead of disposable bottles
• Avoid plastic bags, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and pre-packaged foods.
• Sturdy containers prevent "squishing." (Write your child's name on it!)
• Resealable containers make it easy for children to save uneaten food.
• Use a cloth napkin instead of paper.
• Pack reusable utensils instead of disposables.
• Purchase lunch foods in larger containers instead of single-serving packages

Please click here for more information.

Are you excited about the idea of dressing up for Halloween?  Here is your chance to really shine. If you are planning on volunteering to help out at our Halloween Family Fun Night consider playing some of the key roles of the night. Some of our friends need some special help: 

• Dr. FrankenBurr's Lab Assistants
• Fortune-telling, psychic gypsy
• The Fate serving the Dragon Oracle 
• Roving Photographers
• Skeleton Crew:   This group of people (and we need lots of people) help transform our beloved Burr into the Gymcrazium and the Creepatorium. Come join us Friday night and make magic happen. Of course you can still play a role on Saturday too!

Now that you are all pumped up... Go dig through that backpack and find the flyer and volunteer sheet that went out last week. There is more information there for you. Of course, if you are not up for one of the lead roles we can always use your help running games and crafts as well as various donations.

If you can't wait to find the flyer and are ready to carve out a some time for this eerie party contact Stephanie Mamis. 

Volunteers Needed for Burr's Understanding Our Differences Program

The Understanding Our Differences Program is looking for parent volunteers. The goal of this citywide program is to increase information, understanding, and acceptance of people with disabilities and individual differences in our community.
 
These programs are brought to Burr by parent volunteers and take place on Thursday afternoons from 12:45 - 3:00. Parents can leave at 2:15 or stay to see the guest speaker.  Volunteers do not need to have children in a specific grade, teaching experience, or a medical background.
 
The programs at Burr School are as follows:

Blindness & Low Vision October 13, 2011 (3rd Grade)
Learning Disabilities October 20, 2011 (4th Grade)
Physical Disabilities December 15, 2011 (3rd Grade)
Intellectual Disabilities December 22, 2011 (4th Grade)
Deafness & Hard of Hearing February 9, 2012 (3rd Grade)
Chronic Medical Conditions February 28, 2012* (4th Grade) 

*Time TBD
Autism Spectrum Disorder Will be done for 5th grade in 2012-2013

Can you help out? Contact Us:
 
Carey Ranta: branta1@comcast.net
Stephanie Mamis: stephanie.mamis@verizon.net

Burr Playground and Garden Cleanup - Saturday Oct 15...and Summer Gardening Thanks!

Burr Playground & Garden Cleanup--BOOYA & Burr Garden Club
Saturday, October 15 from 10 - 11:30am

Potatoes, and green beans, and carrots--OH MY!  As recently as this past Friday afternoon, Burr Students were continuing to enjoy the harvest season in the Burr Garden Classroom...alas, all good things must come to an end and we now focus our efforts on putting our garden to rest for the season

The 5th grade Burr Organization of Youth Action (BOOYA) ambassadors and Burr Garden Club Families invite you to grab a rake and join us for some grounds work at the Burr School on Saturday, October 15.  If we want our playground cleared of leaves, we do it ourselves--the city does not do this for the schools.  This is a festive fall tradition and a great community-building time for our families.  Many hands make for light work on our school grounds--please join us if you can!

Things to bring:

• rakes, gloves, and yard waste bags
• snacks
• warm beverages in thermoses

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the following folks for tending to our garden for the entire growing season: Jessica Avery, Tracy Carter, Dana Hanson, Mei Zhang, Stephanie Mamis, Gretchen Becker, Kim Susko, Suzanne Tang, Rose Dieffenbach, Marni Goldstein, Allison Sharma, and Judy Hogan.  We must also extend a most hearty thanks to our resident Burr classroom gardener extraordinaire, Marlene Gibson, who was instrumental in the design and upkeep of our classroom garden this season. She has signed on for another year, so more goodies shall await us in 2012!

Go BOOYA!  Go Green!  Go Gardening!

Questions?  Please contact Dana Hanson or David Gaita

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: 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. 

Coming Oct. 17

NPS News
 

Shop Whole Foods Oct 4 & Support Newton Schools

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

The Riverside Station Neighborhood Coalition (RSNC), in conjunction with our Ward 4 aldermen and developer BH Normandy, have scheduled a community meeting for Thursday, October 6th, at 7pm in the Williams School auditorium. BH Normandy will present their fourth proposal for the Riverside Station MBTA site. It is important for everyone to attend this meeting, so that you can see the revised plan and better understand the impact this project will have on your family and neighborhood. The Ward 4 aldermen urge you to attend!
It will take many Newton residents to help craft a project that works for our neighborhoods, the City, and the developer. We hope to see you on October 6th!

Lynne Sweet: lsweet@riversidestation.info
Bill Renke: brenke@riversidestation.info

Co-chairsRiverside Station Neighborhood Coalition www.riversidestation.info

On Saturday, October 22, player evaluations for the Newton West Little League Spring 2012 Season will take place at Lyons Field in Auburndale. These evaluations help the league place players in the appropriate levels, and make the teams as fair as possible, so it is important your child attend if he or she would like to play next season!

Who:  All players 8 - 12 years old as of April 30, 2012.  (If you played in the NWLL Majors in Spring, 2011, you DO NOT have to attend!!)
When:  Saturday, October 22 (Rain Date is Sunday, October 23)
Where:  Lyons Field, Auburndale
Bring:  Glove, cleats, hat, water.

TIMES: (Age is player's age as of April 30, 2012)

8yr olds & 7 yr olds who are in second grade -- 9:00AM

9yr olds -- 10:00AM

10yr olds -- 11:00AM

11 & 12 yr olds -- 12 noon

Pre-registration is not necessary.

For more information, email: info@newtonwestll.org 

Is your child ready to unleash their inner drummer? Kids in grades 3-5 can learn the basics of percussion in Drumming 101, a new course from Newton Community Education at Burr this fall.

Students learn to hold drumsticks and use them to get different sounds and to keep a steady beat. They'll also learn about various types of drums, from hand drums to kit drums, and assorted handheld percussion to round out the sound. Timekeeping, simple note-reading and pattern recognition, rudimental sticking and hand patterns, and how to perform as an ensemble will also be covered. Kids will create their own percussion music and prepare an informal presentation for family and friends at the last class. Drumsticks will be provided for use during class, but bring your own sticks and drumpads if you have them.

The class is held Mondays from 3:15-4:15 and runs Oct. 3 - Nov. 28. For more information, call 617-559-6999 or visit http://www.newtoncommunityed.org.

Jody Klein, Burr parent to Emma (5th grade) and Max (2nd grade), highly recommends the following experienced child care provider who is great with kids. Debbie Zirman has a bachelor's degree, excellent references, and is a nonsmoker with a car and an excellent driving record. She presently works part-time with a very flexible schedule. She would be happy to share more information and answer any questions. Feel free to contact, Debbie Zirman, at 617-699-7650.