| Mark your Calendar |
October 28
Klezmer Conservatory Band
November 5
Election Day Bake Sale
November 7
12:30 Early Release
November 11
No School - Veteran's Day
November 27
*12pm Early Release for Thanksgiving
November 28-29
No School - Thanksgiving
|
Click to learn more or to donate today! |
|
|
|
ELL Teacher, Ms. McKenzie, is looking for translation help...
| |
We are in the process of redoing the multilingual signs that are placed throughout our school. We would love your help in getting more languages on our signs. Currently, we have translations in Albanian, Farsi, Russian, Japanese and Chinese (Mandarin). If you would like to contribute another language, please translate the following words in a Word document and email the document to Amanda McKenzie
Words to be translated: - Welcome
- Cafeteria
- Office
- Nurse's Office
- Gym
- Art
- Music
- Principal's Office
- Library
- Boys' Bathroom
- Girls' Bathroom
- English Language Learner's Room
Back to top
|
Reminder - It's Traffic Safety Week at Burr!
| |
 Parent volunteers (in orange safety vests) will be in the Blue Zones and No Parking areas at drop-off and pick-up to help keep the Blue Zone moving and the "No Parking" areas clear. Please remember that these volunteers are parents like you who are giving up their time to help keep all of our children safe! Newton Police and other city officials may be dropping in as part of a joint effort between the Newton Safe Routes Task Force and the Newton Police Traffic Division to reduce unsafe and illegal driver and pedestrian behavior in the school zones.
Visit the Safe Routes section of the PTO website for complete information on using the Blue Zone and about traffic safety around Burr, including a color-coded map of the area that you can view and print - please give a copy to anyone who picks up or drops off your child. If you have any questions, please email: SafeRoutes@burrpto.org. Join the Fun! Help out at drop-off or pick-up one day this week! Just go to our Sign Up page and pick a time that works for you!
|
|
BLOP Fridays Resume This Week (Nov. 1st)
| |
Entering its 4th year, BLOP Fridays is a Burr community tradition aimed at reducing the amount of lunch waste we generate, while encouraging kids to think about the environment. 
Led by 5th grade volunteers, BLOP stands for Burr Loves Our Planet.
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 prepackaged 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.
Back to top
|
|
Have You Made Your Gift For Burr?
| |
Do you know what:
* your 2013-14 Burr School Directory (coming soon!)
* this week's fantastic school-wide performance by the Klezmer Conservatory Band
*every Burr kid's favorite event, Halloween Family Fun Night! all have in common?
They are all fully-funded by the Burr PTO through YOUR Gift for Burr!
Help us clear the fundraising hurdle early this year and put your Gift for Burr check in your child's backpack today. Or even easier, just click here to visit our website and make a secure online donation.
Many thanks to those who have donated already, and Happy Halloween!
Back to top
|
|
Playground Fundraiser - Mike's Pastry Pies for Thanksgiving
| |
 Please support the Burr PTO by purchasing a pie from Mike's Pastry of Boston. You can order a Ricotta, Cherry, Apple, Custard, Lemon or Blueberry pie for Thanksgiving! They will be distributed at Burr on Wednesday, November 27 from 12:15-1:15pm in the Cafetorium. Please see attached order form and click here to volunteer for this event.
Back to top
|
|
Creative Arts and Sciences Welcomes
Klezmer Conservatory Band
Monday, October 28th
| |
The Klezmer Conservatory Band will present to
Grades K-2 at 9 am
Grades 3-5 at 10 am
In the Cafetorium
The Klezmer Conservatory Band presents educational programs on Klezmer and Yiddish music. The goal of the presentation is to maintain awareness of the musical tradition of the Eastern European Jewish immigrants. This educational program introduces the Yiddish language, looks into the varied cultural sources out of which Klezmer music arose, and explores the uses of music in the home, at celebrations and in the workplace. The musical instruments are presented as they might sound in their conventional settings, such as symphony orchestras or jazz ensembles, and as they sound in a Klezmer group. The band members' years of studying and performing this music will allow the students to have direct contact with Yiddish culture.
Parents are welcome to attend, but no younger siblings please. Creative Arts and Science programs are fully funded by the Burr School PTO. Thank you for your cooperation.
|
Catalog Canceling Challenge
| |
Recycling excessive numbers of Halloween or Holiday catalogs that you don't really want? Are you looking for ways to do more meaningful activities with your kids? Please join the 5th Grade Green Team Leaders in a catalog canceling challenge to cancel catalogs during the months of November and December.
Did you know that each year 19 BILLION catalogs are mailed in the USA? 53 million trees and 53 billion gallons of water are used making these catalogs? Producing these trillions of pounds of catalog paper requires the same amount of energy as 1.2 million homes a year and creates the same amount of CO2 global warming pollution as 2 million cars annually.
You and your children can make a big difference and help protect the environment and animal habitats by participating in this challenge.
IT'S EASY. JUST THREE SIMPLE STEPS!
1. Collect catalogs that you want to cancel
2. Cancel the catalogs by calling the 1-800 number on the back or use the website www.catalogchoice.org
3. Bring the catalogs to Burr and put them in the collection bins just inside the upper school entrance
Keep an eye out for our tracking chart in your child's back-pack to get a "Save-a-Tree" patch after cancelling 60 catalogs!
|
|
Time to Get Baking! Election Day is Almost Here!
| |
 Election Day is coming soon (Tuesday, November 5th) and that means so is the PTO Election Day Bake Sale. We are in need of lots of donations! Items can be homemade or store-bought. Individually wrapped goods with ingredients clearly marked are best.
We also need volunteers! The bake sale runs from when the polls open to when they close, 7am to 8pm. You can bring your kids! Let them make change and practice their math skills. This is a great way for the larger community to donate to Burr - they look forward to our baked goodies every year!
|
|
Spend some "green" ($$) to help Burr School "Go Green" (reduce waste)
| |
Just in time for our first BLOP Friday, you'll be glad to hear that Burr Loves Our Planet (BLOP) products will be on sale this week on Wednesday and Thursday.T-shirts will be $10 and new water bottles $5 each (see picture). So look for the highly motivated 5th graders
selling these Green Goodies before school each day outside the school. Buy a T-shirt that promotes eco-friendly practices, a reusable water bottle that cuts down on plastic waste... or both!
|
|
SPED PAC , IEP, 504 , Advocate, Team Meeting , OT, PT, etc.... What ?? !
| | |
Is this just alphabet soup? Or are these critical terms that you need to know?
The NewtonPAC is here to help decipher those terms and more.
What is the Newton PAC?
The Newton Parent Advisory Council (NewtonPAC) for Special Education serves as a liaison between parents of students with special needs and school district administrators. As mandated by Massachusetts law, we provide feedback to the district on special education programs and policies, and participate in their planning and development. We offer information to the community on a range of disabilities, resources, remediation approaches, and education issues. Topics presented at our monthly meetings include parents' rights under special education laws and regulations, effective collaboration with teachers and administrators, and strategies for parenting and teaching children with disabilities. Meetings are open to all parents, teachers, specialists, and others with an interest in education.
We also run the NewtonPAC online discussion group as a forum for parents to exchange information and share suggestions for community resources. For more information, contact us at info@newtonpac.org or visit our website.
Your 2013-2014 Burr Liasons Renee Bussell and Kelly Brown would like to foster some community building for all of us with kids that need some assistance to reach their full potential and/or access the curriculum.
Please feel free to contact us with questions and ideas and/or join us on Friday, October 25th, between 8:30am-10:30am at L'Aroma Cafe in West Newton for an informal parent get-together to network, chat, and support each other. Can't make it but want to network with others in the area? Please check newtonpac@yahoogroups.com more dates.
Plus, on November 7th - Sarah Ward, local Executive Function Guru, will be speaking at Newton North it's FREE!!! She normally charges $100-150 to attend one of her events. More to come on this!
Renee Bussell rbussell12@gmail.com
Kelly Brown kellyebrown@verizon.net
|
|
Free Dental Clinic for Students Without Dental Insurance on Oct. 26 at Mt. Ida College
| | |
|
|
Newton Cradles to Crayon Drive
Nov. 2nd-17th
| |
"To ensure that 500 local children in-need have the essentials to be safe and warm this winter, Mayor Setti Warren invites Newton community members to join in the Newton Community-wide Collection effort in support of Cradles to Crayons. Something as simple as cleaning out your closets can have an enormous impact. The coat that your daughter has outgrown or the pants that are now too short for your son can bring warmth to the life of a child.
From November 2nd - 17th, you can make a difference by dropping off new and like-new children's items - clothing, winter coats, shoes, books, toys, and baby gear - in the 24-hour access collection unit brightly marked by Cradles to Crayons banners in the Newton City Hall parking lot across from the Public Library.
At this time of year, non-profit Cradles to Crayons receives hundreds of requests each week for essential items like clothing, shoes and boots, hats and gloves, and coats. The power of working together as a community will enable Cradles to Crayons to fulfill the requests from thousands of children across the Commonwealth who would otherwise be forced to go without these critical winter items.
For more information go to http://www.cradlestocrayons.org/boston.
Back to top
|
|
|
|
|
