Burr News 

Traffic Council Meeting on the Burr School

Last Thursday the Traffic Council of the Board of Aldermen heard the item that was docketed by our Ward 4 Aldermen requesting a review of traffic safety around the Burr School.  A number of parents and neighbors attended, along with Ms. Johal and Alderman Jay Harney.  A city Traffic Engineer displayed slides showing maps and photos of the area, along with the current parking restrictions and some "action" shots from morning drop-off and afternoon dismissal.  After a lengthy discussion of the issues, it was clear that while Burr has done a good job encouraging more families to walk to school whenever possible and educating families about Blue Zone and traffic regulations, with our growing population more help is needed to keep everyone safe.  Based on the feedback we received from the Traffic Council on these issues and the possible solutions that were raised, our Aldermen will now begin the process of working with our school community and the neighborhood to reach some consensus on specific action items that we can then bring back to Traffic Council for their consideration.  

One important development from the meeting is the increased enforcement that we will be seeing from the Newton Police Department during arrival and dismissal. Sergeant Jay Babcock from the Newton Police/Traffic Bureau, a member of the Traffic Council, will send directed patrols to Burr frequently in the coming weeks to help put an end to illegal and unsafe practices such as double-parking, letting kids out of cars while stopped in traffic, jaywalking, reversing direction in the school zone, "waiting" in no parking areas, blocking neighbors' driveways, etc. Please remember that the police are here to help keep our children safe, and this enforcement is a direct result of our failure to stop these practices on our own. 

For more information, please email BurrSafeRoutes@gmail.com or visit http://www.burrpto.org and click the Safe Routes to School link.

BOOYA Pajama Drive

The BOOYA Pajama Drive starts this Wednesday!  BOOYA will be collecting new pairs of pajamas to donate to the Boston Bruins 5th Annual PJ Drive. Cradles to Crayons will then distribute the PJs to children in need. We will accept new PJs for babies to pre-teens. Please leave the PJs in the hamper in the Burr lobby from Wednesday February 8 to Thursday February 16.

Don't have time to buy the PJs? You can donate $10 during the PJ Drive and we will buy the PJs for you! Or you can make out a check to "Cradles to Crayons". In either case, put the money or check in an envelope with PJ Drive written on the back that students can hand in to their teachers at school. Questions? Contact Jeff Zabel.

Winter WingDing  - February 11th!

A termite walks into a bar and asks, "Is the bar tender here?"
 

Not only will there be a Bar Tender, but many other professions from the Burr community.
February 11th, 2012
Winter WingDing
Burr School's Comedy Night
Turtle Lane Playhouse
7pm-10pm

Dig through your child's folder to find the flyer. Let us know if you are coming or not and we promise to have some snacks available so you won't be tempted to gnaw on the bar.

Can't find the flyer? Contact Stephanie Mamis 

Poet, Lyn Littlefield Hoopes in Upcoming Creative Arts & Science Program 

Please Recycle! 

The Art Program needs recyclables, especially small boxes (Kleenex size and smaller), tubes, foam, and small plastic objects for our architecture designs. Please leave items in the art room. Thank you!

NPS News 

Thursday, February 16 at 7:30 pm (New Date - meeting was rescheduled)
SPED Review and Trend Report: Follow-up and Next Steps
Superintendent David Fleishman and Judy Levin-Charns, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, are hosting an evening meeting for discussion of special education in Newton with NewtonPAC. Also attending will be Dorsey Yearley, the consultant helping to implement the changes at Newton South HS and who will be working with staff to make changes to middle school sped programing. The evening will provide an opportunity to share and discuss special education planning by NPS in light of the release of new information available in the sped review, the trends report, and the ongoing work at South and the middle schools by Dorsey Yearley and NPS staff. Room 210 at 100 Walnut Street, Newtonville. Networking and light refreshments beginning at 7:15 pm. Please plan to attend!  Questions, contact Sandy and Jo-Louise at info@newtonpac.org.

Thursday, February 9, 9:00 - 10:30 AM
NewtonPAC Planning Meeting
Want to be more involved with special education in Newton?  Meet with other parents of children with IEPs and 504 plans.  We will be planning: topics for meetings with the administration, supports for parents and maintaining and growing the organization.  The meeting will be at The Village Cafe, 719 Washington St., Newtonville.

NewtonPAC for Special Education meetings are free and open to all people interested in learning more about special education in Newton. See www.newtonpac.org for more information.

Community News 

NCE offers a variety of cool vacation-week programs for kids. Try Domino Physics or Wicked Wacky Lab Week over February break (or Advanced Domino Physics if you've taken this class before), and explore Marble Machine Madness or Deep Blue Sea over April break. These programs take place at Newton North High School. In addition, over both vacations we're running our ever-popular Make a TV Show program at NewTV, and Babysitting Certification classes as well. Please call our office at 617-559-6999 or check our website: www.newtoncommunityed.org for more information or to register. 

The BSO's popular overnight summer camp is now open for pre-application. For more than four decades, the BSO has provided thousands of children throughout Massachusetts with an opportunity to participate in this multi-arts/creative writing overnight camp in the beautiful Berkshires. In the summer of 2012, Newton students in grades 5, 6, & 7 are eligible to participate in Week 6, JUL 30 - AUG 3. Only 15 students from Newton will be selected to participate by lottery. Pre-applications with details about the program are available from the music teacher in your school. Pre-applications must be returned to the Fine Arts Department no later than 4:00PM on Thursday, March 1st, Newton Public Schools, 100 Walnut Street, Newton, MA 02460. 

Whoops...wardrobe malfunction!  We brought home TWO versions of the same sweatshirt last week, so we have yours.  Sorry!  Neither of us labeled them...and the problem is that one is a youth L and the other is a youth XL and we honestly can't remember which was our original.  Please zip me an email and we'll return your sweatshirt ASAP.  My apologies for the inconvenience.  I guess this is a good reminder to all of us to wield those Sharpies and label our kids' gear...

Newton at Home (NAH) is a quickly-growing non-profit organization in Newton, dedicated to enabling older adults to remain living in their homes safely and independently as they grow older. NAH is looking for a volunteer to serve as an office adminstrator. This means providing general office support for the Executive Director, handling member requests for services, maintaining and entering data into NAH databases, assisting with events and mailings, and scheduling meetings. Volunteers need good computer and communication skills. Must be willing to commit to three days per week from 9:30am to 1:30pm through the rest of the school year (until June 2012). For more information please contact: Julie Plaut Mahoney, Ph.D., Coordinator of Volunteers, Newton at Home, 617-795-2560 or volcoord@newtonathome.org.