Dear Families,
 

Burr staff and parents put up an impressive fight for the Burr vs. Franklin Trivia Championship Cup last Friday. For a good portion of the evening, I thought we would be bringing the cup home to Burr. I was even selecting the perfect place to display it in the lobby! Unfortunately, Franklin's veteran players pulled out ahead with the last few questions and were victorious. Regardless, we put up a good fight and had a great time doing it. Many of us are already looking forward to taking them on again next year! Trivia Night was a fundraiser for the Burr Playground. I'd like to thank the staff and parents who attended. We even had an aunt and a teacher's spouse come and help round out our teams. As you know, there are many other events planned for the coming months that promise to be fun and lucrative in raising the playground funds that we need. Stay tuned for more information from the PTO and please do get involved.

March is a busy time for us at Burr as teachers plan for conferences, implement rich units of study, and prepare our third, fourth and fifth grade students for State testing. It is a time during which we both concentrate on the current school year and begin looking toward next year as well.

This week we begin the process of registering next year's kindergarten students. March 5th and 20th will be devoted to meeting the families and screening the students. We are also
gathering enrollment information for our current students in order to get an accurate picture of the number of K-4 students for next year. We know that some new families will be moving in, but having exit numbers is critical for our planning right now. We will be sending home forms to gather this information. Please be sure to complete the form or send me an email if your child(ren) will not be returning to Burr next year. We will begin gathering other placement information for next year in April.

I look forward to seeing Kindergarten, first, and second grade parents tomorrow (March 4) for the K-2 Writing Open House. Please come directly to the cafetorium at 8:30 AM where you will hear about the new writing curriculum while the children prepare to have you visit their classrooms. Visits to the classrooms will begin at 9:00 AM and end by 9:30 AM at the latest. If you are unable to attend, please be sure to let your child's classroom teacher know, so he/she can ensure that a support staff member or specialist teacher can make themselves available. Children will be sharing the writing they have
been working on in class with their guests. All shared work will be work in progress and not polished or finished products. We believe this will truly reflect what children are learning and illustrate the process of writing used in the classrooms.

Sincerely,

Mindy  

Lyn Littlefield Hoopes, MA Children's Literature, MFA Children's Literature, Poetry, is the author of a number of picture books including Wing a Ding, Freefall, and The Unbeatable Bread.