Dear Families,

I am writing this newsletter the morning after my second Halloween Family Fun Night at Burr! What a wonderful event! The lobby, gym, and cafetorium were transformed for spooky adventures and Halloween activities. There were power rangers, princesses, goblins, fairies, and witches swarming around. I spotted at least 15 Harry Potters and even a principal. I loved her boots! Mr. Tobin, our school custodian, was able to hide out behind the scenes because he had an impersonator keeping an eye on everything. What a creative bunch of parents and students. I'm sure many parents went home exhausted on Saturday with children whose bedtimes may have been delayed as their bodies processed the sweet treats they had consumed. I ate my Candy Gram goodies on my drive home. You're never too old for a lollypop! I hope none of you got carried away with the excitement of the evening and agreed to a sleepover! As adorable as all children are, they know when our defenses are down and they will swoop in and take advantage. They try it on their teachers and principal, too. I always admire the effort!

Thank you to the 60 plus volunteers who pitched in to make the evening such a success. A very special thanks goes to the Boo Crew, the Family Fun Night organizers, Stephanie Mamis, Ellen Regan, Pam McVey, and Carey Ranta.

Burr parents set such a wonderful example for their children as they work together to support the local and global community. Like you, your children are also involved in making a difference. I would like to recognize the work of our student community service group, BOOYA (Burr Organization of Youth Action). The group is led by fifth grade Ambassadors, their parents and teachers. BOOYA headquarters is in Mr. Gaita's room. Last week, close to 20 students participated in a garden clean up, and every Monday several students come to school early for Litter Patrol. Thanks to their efforts, the Burr School grounds look fabulous. Please look out for announcement of upcoming BOOYA events which are posted in the Burr Bulletin. This week, the group will be preparing for a Bake Sale on Saturday, October 29th at the Auburndale Community Library. The proceeds will go towards cancer research. Burr students are learning the importance of all citizens making community contributions so we can make a positive difference in our world.  

UPCOMING EVENTS AND UPDATES:

Parent Conferences
Our fall parent-teacher conferences officially begin this week. Hopefully, most of you have already signed up for a time to meet with your child's classroom teacher.~ Fall conferences are a time for you and your son/daughter's teacher to discuss initial progress, set goals for the first half of the year, and to talk about anything that is specific to your child's education.  Below are some suggestions for you to think about as you prepare to confer with your child's teacher.~ They were taken from publications of the National PTA and National Education Association.~ Please save these and read them over in preparation for your October-November parent-teacher conferences.
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Parent-Teacher Conferences:~ Ideas for Parents
Getting Ready:~ Talk to your child before the conference.  Find out what he/she thinks is going well; find out what he/she thinks are areas for improvement, and why.  Ask your child if there is anything he/she would like you to talk about with the teachers.  Make sure your child doesn't worry about the meeting and that he/she knows that this is a typical expectation that the school has to facilitate good communication between parents and teachers.  Help him/her understand that you and the teacher are meeting together to share information and support learning. Before you come to school, write notes to yourself about: 

• Your child's life at home, any significant changes or information you feel is important for the teacher to know
• Your observations and question about this year's curriculum
• Questions about your child's progress
• Ways that you and the school can work together to help your child

The Conference:~Some good questions to ask are these: 

• What are my child's strengths and weaknesses as a learner?
• Is my child working up to his or her ability?~ How is his/her effort?
• Does my child participate successfully in class discussions and activities?
• How well does my child get along with others?
• How do you evaluate my child's progress?~ What standards will he/she be evaluated on for the January report card?~ What assessments do you use?

If the teacher says something you don't quite understand, don't be shy about asking for an explanation.~Be sure to ask the teacher for specific suggestions for ways to help your child to improve.~This is the most important part of the meeting.~ It will become your action plan.~ It's a good idea to end the conference by summing up decisions you have made together. If needed, ask to meet again.

After the Conference: Start immediately on the action plan you and the teacher have worked out together.~ Discuss the plan with your child; make sure that he or she knows that you and the teacher care.~ To see if the action plan is working, watch your child's behavior and check your child's class work and homework.~ (Young children need an adult to oversee their homework.~ It's important to look in that backpack every night!)~ Stay in regular touch with the teacher to discuss the progress your child is making.~ Meeting with your child's teacher should help build strong parent-teacher partnerships - partnerships that are needed if you and your child's teachers are to reach your common goal: helping your child get the best education possible.

Modular Construction
The contractors now have permits and construction work on the modular started on Friday. The work crew has been asked to keep distracting noises down to a minimum while school is in session. They will work outside during school hours. All indoor work will be done before and after school hours.

All-School Meetings
Due to our increased enrollment and the temporary location of the art room in the cafetorium we are at capacity during All School Meetings. Therefore, we can no longer invite parents to join us. This is unfortunate because ASM is such a wonderful community time and the children and staff do enjoy having visitors. Indeed, because so many of you have witnessed the meetings first hand, you were such great advocates for Burr getting a modular to preserve the cafetorium space, so we could continue to gather in this way. I thank you for that, and would like to assure you that we are working towards a solution and hopefully our meeting will again be open to parents in the near future.

Halloween
Children in grades 1-5 should not wear Halloween costumes to school. The teachers and I appreciate your understanding in this matter. The costumes and props are distracting and take time away from learning. The kindergarten classes only will take part in a costume parade on Monday, October 31st. Kindergarten parents will get information about this event from their child's classroom teacher.

CORI Forms
If you are planning to volunteer at Burr any time this year, you must have completed a CORI form.  If your name is already on Burr's list of people who have had CORI's approved within the past 3 years, you don't need to complete the form again this year.  We have the list of approved names, so please ask Maura Albano, our executive assistant, if you don't know whether or not you are on the approved list. If this is your first time completing a CORI form, Maura or I will need to see a picture ID in order to process your form. You can stop by the office any time between 7:30 AM and 3:30 PM to show us your picture ID.  You may obtain a CORI form from the school or by downloading the form from the Burr website

Dismissal
At the last parents principal coffee we discussed ways to make dismissal smoother and safer. There were several great suggestions and we are considering them all and will inform you all as we decided on some new practices that will hopefully help. Meanwhile, there was one suggestion that makes sense for us to act on right away - parent and caregivers picking up their children after school should wait at the bottom of the hill away from the exit doors. Teachers cannot lead their students down to the Blue Zone area quickly when students are picked up right outside the exit doors. This also causes the exit to become blocked making it unsafe for students as they leave the building. I will try to be outside a little earlier each afternoon to remind people of this change.

Blue Zone dismissal is always difficult on a rainy day. Please remember to follow the Blue Zone rules at all time. Please be sure to go over these guidelines with grandparents and other caregivers who periodically pick up children and are not familiar with the routines. You can print out this information by going to the Safe Routes to Schools page. Thank you for your assistance and understanding.

Please feel free to email me or call if you have any question, concerns, or suggestions for our continued improvement.

Sincerely,
Mindy Johal

Vote for Cookies, Cakes and the Burr PTO 

Election day is coming soon (Tuesday, November 8th) and that means so is the PTO Election Day Bake Sale.  We are in need of donations of sweets.  They can be homemade or store-bought.  Individually wrapped items with ingredients clearly marked are best.   

We also need volunteers!  The bake sale runs from the time the polls open until they close.  You can bring your kids!  Let them make change and practice their math skills. 

We are looking for people who can take shifts of at least one hour.   

To volunteer or make a promise of a food donation, contact Erika Drezner at egdrezne@yahoo.com.

This Thursday, October 27th from 6:00- 7:00 p.m., the GUYS Read book group will meet in Mr. Gaita's room. The first book is The Magic Pickle and the Creature from the Black Legume by Scott Morse. This book is about a pickle with magic powers who is tryiing to stop the Brotherhood of the Evil Produce. All guys are invited to join the book group. You can bring fathers, uncles, and even grandfathers. If you are interested please read the book at home and come prepared to answer questions. Happy reading GUYS!! 

The Gift for Burr campaign is off to a terrific start - let's keep the momentum going! Please send a check in your child's backpack today, or visit Gift for Burr to donate by credit card online. While you're online, be sure to check out an updated slide show of Burr kids putting our donations to great use!
 
Help us reach our goal of $35,000 and achieve 100% participation by December 1st. We can't do it without your help.
 
Thank you!
The Gift for Burr Committee

October 25, BOOYA will be hosting a poster party in Ms. Cooley's room from 12:30-1 p.m. AMBASSADORS do not need to bring anything. Posters will be made to support our Crafts & Bake Sale at the Auburndale Community Library on Saturday, October 29.

October 29, 10 a.m. - Noon, The Auburndale Community Library will be hosting a BOOYA-sponsored bake sale and Halloween crafts (including a limited number of decorate-your-own-pumpkins). Want to enjoy another opportunity to rock your costume this Halloween season? Feel free to dress up!

The ACL has great Halloween books available for borrowing and you might see some dressed up folks working the desk that day. The 5th graders from the Burr Organization of Youth Action (BOOYA) will host a bake sale fundraiser to help support cancer research.  

The Auburndale Community Library is located at 375 Auburn Street (across from Breadsong Bakery). For more information, visit www.auburndalelibrary.org.  

NPS News
 

Become a Newton School Volunteer 

Community News

The School of Rock Boston has 19 openings for our fabulous December Break Rock & Roll Boot Camp, to be hosted at our Watertown location 12/26-12/30. This year we are looking for guitarists, bassists, singers, drummers, and keyboardists.

Includes lessons, band rehearsal, songwriting, recording seminars, and a final concert at a real live rock venue. Ages 7-17 accepted. Camps run 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at our 120 Elm Street location in Watertown and are staffed by instructors from the Berklee College of Music.

Please email Boston@schoolofrock.com or call 617-923-3434 to receive your information packet.