Dear Families,

The last two weeks have been quite eventful, as we have dealt with the effects of the hurricane and the excitement of the presidential election. We were fortunate for the most part in Massachusetts, but I know many of you have friends and family in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey who continue to deal with the destruction left by Hurricane Sandy. I hope the communities that have been devastated can get back to some sort of normalcy soon.

At Burr we had some minor flooding and a couple of downed trees. Our wonderful custodians, Jack Tobin and Tony Marrazzo, were on site and made sure the school was ready for students on Wednesday and for the voters on Election Day.

You probably heard that Burr had its own polling stations set up in the grade five classrooms. Students from Kindergartento fifth grade  were invited to cast their vote. In preparation for this event the fifth graders learned about the candidates and the democratic process of voting and electing a government for the people. It is never too early to prepare the next generation of voters to exercise their civic rights!

Cyber Safety: We had a great turn out for last Friday's Parent Principal Coffee. I'd like to thank Eileen Keane, our tech specialist, for sharing the Newton Cyber Safety Curriculum and facilitating an informative discussion. Eileen will post her presentation, which includes several great resources, on the Burr School website. Please check it out if you were unable to attend the coffee. Key points that I took away from the discussion were:

• communicating with other parents is very informative and helpful
• periodically checking sites children have visited is essential
• you should know your child's passwords
• electronic devices should not be in an unsupervised location
• routinely collect all devices (cells, smart phones, iPads, laptops) at a set time each night

A few people have suggested that we have another meeting on this topic in the evening for parents who are unable to attend morning meetings. I am happy to arrange this if there is enough interest. However, in my experience at Burr, the presenters often out number the parents who attend the evening meetings. So, if you would attend an evening event about Cyber Safety, please email me or our PTO Co Presidents, Jay and Ted. All email addresses can be found on the PTO website.

Teacher News: Another one of our teachers is expecting a baby! Second grade teacher, Sarah Field, is expecting her baby in late April. Congratulation to Sarah! We will begin the search for a long-term substitute to cover her leave in the coming months. We have been very fortunate to find excellent long-term substitutes for our other classrooms. Ms. Miller is doing a fabulous job in first grade and Melyssa Taylor's substitute, Amy Peca, comes highly recommended from Zervas School where she is currently covering a second grade maternity leave.

End of the first quarter of school: As of last Wednesday, we have been in school for 45 days. This is one quarter of the school year, so this is the time that the school looks at students' attendance and tardiness records and sends letters to families if students have been absent or tardy for 5 days or more so far during this school year. We do this as a reminder of Newton's policy on attendance. The Students' Rights and Responsibilities Handbook states:  "Regular attendance in school is required by Massachusetts law. If a student is absent for 10 days in a half year period, the student's parent or guardian will be contacted by the principal or principal designee." Students are severely handicapped in their learning and achievement when they have numerous absences or days when they are tardy. Students who are tardy often have a difficult time starting the day in a focused, calm way. If you receive one of these letters, please consider what you can do to improve your child's attendance record. Thank you to the many families who maintain very good attendance records.

Parent Conferences: Most of you have already had a conference with your child's teacher or are scheduled to meet with him/her very  soon. It is important that you go home after the conference and share what you have learned with your child. Help him/her set realistic and achievable goals and check in frequently to monitor progress.

Please set clear behavioral expectations. Be sure to let your child know that coming to school prepared to do his/her best is important. If a teacher speaks to you about inappropriate behavior, I ask that you take it seriously. The teachers and I take great efforts to be fair and supportive of all children, so when we need to raise a negative topic, we have given it much thought and have probably provided several opportunities for the child to correct his/her behavior before involving you. In order for the teachers to meet curriculum standards, the children need to be attentive and engaged. If children are fooling around, calling out, using disrespectful behavior, they lose out on valuable learning time and disrupt the learning environment of others.

One of the wonderful things about the Burr community is the successful partnership between the parents and teachers. Researchers, Henderson and Mapp (2002), report that students whose parents are involved in their schooling are more likely to have academic success, attend school regularly, have better social skills, and show improved behavior. In my experience, the most difficult of situations are manageable when people work together and respect each other's contributions and perspectives.  

I look forward to our continued efforts to meet the needs of each and every child at our school.

Sincerely,

Mindy Johal