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March 5th, 8:45am
Parent Principal Coffee
March 6th, 5:30pm
GUYS Read
Mr. Gaita's room
March 7th,
Kindergarten Registration
March 10th, 4:30pm Burr International Potluck (please RSVP)
April 3rd
Chateau Night
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Letter from the PTO Co-Presidents
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Dear Burr Community,  It was great to see so many of the Burr families and friends enjoying some ice skating time together yesterday at The Daly rink. Community events such as the annual Burr ice skating outing help build and strengthen our community and give everyone a chance to meet and greet outside of the school environment. Your generous contributions to The Gift for Burr were used to sponsor the event. Many thanks go out to parent volunteer Jean Giglio for organizing the outing.In addition to the Burr Ice Skating Outing, other events such as Back to School Picnic, Halloween Family Fun Night, The Burr Book Swap, May Fair and the upcoming International Potluck Dinner help build and reinforce the fabric of the Burr community. Classroom enrichment events such Science and Engineering Week, as well as the entire slew of Understanding our Differences modules, Respect for Human Differences, and Creative Arts and Sciences programing help bring the classroom curriculum to life within Burr. The one aspect they all have in common is that they rely 100% on parent volunteer commitment and energy as well as funding from The Gift for Burr.Important Upcoming MCAS Schedule
MCAS: Families with students in Grades 3-5, please note the following dates for MCAS test administration and avoid these dates w hen planning appointments: March English language arts tests:
Grade 3: April 1, April 3
Grade 4: March 19 (full day writing), April 1, April 3
Grade 5: March 18, March 22 May math tests (and science for grade 5):
Grade 3: May 13, May 15
Grade 4: May 13, May 15
Grade 5: May 6, May 8, May 17, May 20 Back to top
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Parent-Principal Coffee
Tuesday, March 5 at 8:45am in the Cafetorium
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Join Principal Mindy Johal and other Burr parents and staff for coffee and conversation - you determine the agenda, and everyone is welcome!
The PTO sponsors several Parent-Principal Coffees each year to provide an opportunity for parents and staff to share information, ask questions, and interact in a friendly, informal setting. Coffee and refreshments provided - be GREEN and BYOC (bring your own cup!)
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Burr School PTO / Creative Arts and Sciences Committee presents:
Lynn Littlefield Hoopes,
poet-in-residence
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 Ms. Hoope's emphasis is on the writing process, the joy of creating, being in the moment, and will share two workshops with the 4th graders. She collaborates with teachers on curriculum, and shares her own poetry and photography to help inspire students to concentrate deeply on an image in thought, and listen to their writer's voice. While leading the students into writing their own poetry, Ms. Hoopes explores the power of metaphor, rhythm, voice, pattern, and teaches strategies for creating poetry like similes, using the five senses, listening for voice and breaking lines, to create "a design with language." Find out more about Ms. Hoopes Back to top
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It's Time to RSVP! The Burr International Potluck is coming on Sunday, March 10
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The entire Burr Community is invited to the International Potluck Dinner on Sunday, March 10th from 4:30-7 p.m. at Newton North High School. This is a beloved all-school event where we enjoy terrific music, play ping pong and other games, watch international film clips, dance and sing, and of course--eat amazing food prepared by the Burr community!
We are excited to announce that our participatory dance instructor for this year will be Newton's own phenom of "Zumba at the Hut", Param Poychoudhury.Please click the link below to RSVP for the Potluck. The "price of admission" is just some food to share! For more information about the Burr International Potluck please contact Dana Hanson danakhanson@gmail.com or Ann Langenfeld annlangenfeld@gmail.com.
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GUYS READ:
The Phantom Tollbooth, Mar. 6, 5:30pm
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 The GUYS Read book club has selected their next book. They will be reading The Phantom Toolbooth by Norton Juster. In this classic book, Milo, a very bored little boy, gets an unusual package one day: a make-believe tollbooth. When he drives through it in his electric toy car, he is suddenly transported to the Lands Beyond, a fantastic world of imagination.
On his way he meets Tock, the watchdog who joins him on his journey as well as the Humbug. The three hope to convince the Mathemagician to release the princesses. It is a fun and silly book.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, March 6th at 5:30 in Mr. Gaita's room.
Happy Reading.
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The 13th Annual Midwinter Coffeehouse
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 Better late than never - this year the Midwinter Coffeehouse returns just in time for early spring on April 6, 2013 at the First Unitarian Society in Newton for a fun evening of live folk and acoustic music. This year's show will feature award winning singer/songwriter Oen Kennedy, emcee Eric Moore, Rob Siegel,  Barb Cassidy, and other Day community members and friends. Beer, wine, and soft drinks will be available for sale along with light refreshments. Profits benefit the F.A. Day Middle School. Tickets are $20 in advance through the Day PTO website or $25 at the door if available (Adults over 21 only, please). Doors open at 6:30, music starts at 7.
More information or email
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DARTS Pre-Applications Now Available
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 Information and pre-applications for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's popular summer overnight camp, DARTS (Days in the Arts) 2013 are now available from the music & visual art teachers at your child's school. All students currently in grades 5, 6, & 7 who have never attended DARTS are eligible to participate in Newton's designated time frame, Week 6, July 29-August 2, 2013.
The pre-application deadline is 4:00PM on Friday, March 15th. Fifteen (15) students will be selected by lottery to represent Newton at DARTS along with students from Boston, beverly, Lanesborough, Sheffield, and Berkshire Hills. The cost to attend DARTS remains $500 for week jam-packed with arts instruction and arts excursions during the week. Richard P. King Fine Arts Coordinator K-8 Newton Public Schools 100 Walnut Street Newton, MA 02460 Back to Top
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Disability Awareness Evening
Program for Parents
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 People with disabilities are part of today's society - in school and at work, in our families and communities. While it is common to feel awkward around people of differing abilities, do you wish that you could be more at ease and know what to do? Or are you comfortable around one kind of disability, but not others?
Join Understanding Our Differences for an important and informative program on Wednesday evening March 20th - Raising the Comfort Level: Communicating and Interacting with People with Disabilities.
Our presenter, Dr. David Ticchi, will share important tips to help you be more comfortable interacting with people with disabilities. In this 75-minute program, Dr. Ticchi will discuss the Respect for Human Differences Guidelines, which were developed at Newton North High School (NNHS). David is a long-time faculty member at NNHS; he also serves as Special Assistant to the President at Legal Sea Foods. He has been a speaker for Understanding Our Differences' Blindness & Low Vision unit for over 25 years.
Wednesday, March 20th
7:00-8:30 pm
Newton Ed. Center, Room 304
100 Walnut Street, Newtonville
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Newton Youth Players
Registration Schedule
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 is delighted to announce the registration schedule for the Fall 2013 - Spring 2014 shows. The new location will be the War Memorial Auditorium at Newton City Hall!
Fall 2013: West Side Story - registration begins March 15 at 6am
Winter 2014: You're a Good Man Charlie Brown - registration begins April 1 at 6am
Spring 2014: Oliver! - registration begins May 1 at 6am
More Information
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families and volunteers to help take over organizational and leadership focus as current volunteers and their children move on from Burr. Task are not difficult and typically consist of being a point of contact to make organizing an event or effort more efficient. As we quickly head into the last third of the school year and begin preparation for next year we ask folks to consider taking on additional roles within the number of committees set up to support our classrooms and community events.
to shape the framework by which the PTO helps support the Burr educational experience currently and in the future please consider joining the Burr PTO Board. As a matter of practice the PTO Board rolls off half of its eight (8) members in each year and elects new members to fill those vacated roles. To this effect Board members are asked to serve for two years so that each year maintains a sense of continuity. This years openings include 
