Reminder - Monday Zoom Sessions

 
Burr staff and  Principal Johal will share Burr's building level health and safety routines and procedures. This has been an important area of focus and they’ll be taking time this fall to teach and reinforce new practices with students.  They will also address pertinent questions to support the successful opening of the school. 

Monday:  Zoom Info Sessions:
Kindergarten Session ~ 5:00 - 6:00pm
Join Zoom Meeting
https://newton-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/98097197048

Meeting ID: 980 9719 7048
Passcode: Burrk

Grades 1-5 Session ~ 6:00-7:00pm:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://newton-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/98000698126
 
Meeting ID: 980 0069 8126
Passcode: Burr



at

Call for Room Parents!


A unique opportunity for parent involvement underneath the umbrella of PTO activities is being a Room Parent. Each grade level classroom at Burr this year will have at least one parents/guardians assigned as Room Parents per cohort and DLA. These parents work in partnership with the classroom teacher to provide support and volunteer assistance, as well as to serve as a liaison between the teacher and the rest of the students’ parents from that classroom.

Each teacher will email with his or her Room Parents at the beginning of the year to discuss their needs. The tasks vary from teacher to teacher, but generally support is requested for assisting with communication to classroom parents, implementing special projects, organizing a few classroom community events a year and coordinating teacher appreciation initiatives.  Room Parents may also be called upon to help promote school-wide PTO programs and activities, as their personal relationships with other parents in the classroom help promote a sense of community within the school. 

At least one Room Parents are needed for each Cohort and DLA per grade.  No experience necessary!  This is a great way to get to know your child’s teacher, as well as other families in your child's classroom.

If you are interested or for more information, please contact Jenn Reale - jreale62808@gmail.com
at


A Mentoring Opportunity from the Ligerbots!
Dear Burr PTO,

My name is Anika Bhawalkar and I go to Newton North High School. I am on the LigerBots (Newton’s high school robotics team) and I wanted to let you know the LigerBots have started an online mentor/tutoring program this fall. We believe this is an especially useful resource for parents (especially because it’s free!). In order to offer more support to elementary students--as well as provide teaching opportunities to high schoolers--we’ve created an online program in which we pair high school mentors with elementary kids over an online platform (Zoom, Google Hangouts, Facetime, etc.) Mentors could tutor, give homework help, or just play games and do crafts with younger students. We believe that this is an amazing opportunity for high school students to gain teaching experiences and help younger students through these trying times. We wanted to see if we could work in any way together or if you could help us get the word out to school parents!

We would like interested parents and mentors fill out these forms:
For interested parents/elementary students: https://forms.gle/GpuUN7eNRsXqhLRp9
For interested high school students: https://forms.gle/x7a39zEyCJF8fCJo6

Let us know if you are able to help us! Thank you so much.

Thank you,
Anika Bhawalkar
cso@ligerbots.com
Ligerbots, Team 2877




at

Principal's Newsletter


September 12, 2020

Dear Burr Families,

I hope you all found it easy enough to log onto Aspen and see your child’s classroom teacher and assigned cohort. By now you have probably received your first communication from your child’s classroom teacher. This communication included a survey that will help the teacher prepare to meet your child and provide support to help ease the transition into school and a new classroom. Each teacher will also invite you to schedule a 10-minute conversation over the phone or Zoom next week. Please make sure you complete the survey before your meeting, as this will inform the conversation.

Yesterday, in Dr. Fleishman’s email, he shared that parents can begin to update settings in Aspen, indicating whether or not we have permission to publish your child’s name on a class list. Once school starts, teachers will be able to share class lists, including the names of children whose families have granted permission.

Every day we preparations continue for the opening of school. Our custodians, Dan Diaz and Thaddeus Romero, have been working hard rearranging furniture and cleaning the building. Ms. Albano, our executive assistant, has been learning ways to use the student management systems to support our transition to hybrid and distance learning models. Burr classroom teachers and support staff have been setting up classrooms and participating in professional learning to support this new way of schooling. We've all had moments of frustration and moments of celebration in our work together. Even though it’s been a lot of work, each time we complete a task or project, we feel more prepared. The thought of seeing the children next week provides us with energy and the commitment to get this right. We greatly appreciate the support and understanding we have received from the Burr community.

Next week is an exciting week. On Wednesday, classroom teachers will see all children virtually. On Thursday Cohort A will visit the school, and one Friday Cohort B will visit. Between now and the start of school, the teachers and I will be communicating regularly with you, sharing virtual school opening experiences and reminders about scheduling. We want to make the start of school fun and engaging for the children.

To get started, here is a fun video, The Masked Teacher, that you can watch with your child(ren) to get familiar with seeing us all in masks.

Enjoy,

Mindy




at


NTA Community Outreach Meeting

In the interest of providing multiple perspectives on return to school for Newton, we’re sharing Information about the Newton Teachers Association’s Community Outreach meeting about their reopening proposal.

The Newton Teachers Association is holding an outreach meeting on Wednesday, August 26th at 4pm to share their phased reopening proposal and how it addresses holes in the current district plan. Following the meeting, there will be a Q&A session with members of their Executive Committee. Below you will find the Zoom information for the meeting and link to a google form to submit questions in advance of the meeting.  

Click here to submit questions to the NTA in advance

Zoom information: 


Passcode: 322751
Webinar ID: 935 9571 9338
Passcode: 322751
at

 BURR FORJ PRESENTS 


Anti-Racism Adult Education Series

Over the summer, Burr School staff participated in a series of anti-racism workshops. This adult education series is for parents and caregivers to participate in parallel meetings with the same discussion topics. The goal is to strengthen our Burr community's commitment to racial justice and equity in education. 


  • Thursday, September 24 
  • Wednesday, October 14 
  • Thursday, November 12 
  • Wednesday, December 9 

RSVP Required for Zoom link: BurrFORJ171@gmail.com

Please click here for more information on each session
at

 THE BURR PTO PRESENTS 


Upcoming Kindergarten Play Dates 


Virtual Kindergarten play dates scheduled for 8/27, 9/3 and 9/10 from 5-6p.
Join PTO Co-President, Jenn Reale and other Burr incoming kindergarten families for virtual play dates. There may also be drop in visits from principal, Mindy Johal and some of the Kindergarten teachers and other Burr staff. 
  • 8/27 intros and scavenger hunt materials needed - just yourself)
  • 9/3 intros and create a drawing (materials needed paper and pencil)
  • 9/10 intros and dance party (materials needed - you and you favorite dance outfit or shoes)

Meeting ID:  488 424 1424
Link for meetings: https://zoom.us/j/4884241424?pwd=RkVoSkJFV2thQjliSCtaY3cxTjlSQT0
Password:  D9uYv9



at


Slides from Community Meeting

We had a great community showing at the zoom meeting on Wednesday night!  If you missed it or would like to see the recording  you can find it here Password is !!uDh6MQ
 
If you have remaining questions for Mindy, please email them to info@burrpto.org. We are compiling questions and will advise on how they will be answered. 

Thanks everyone for attending, and a special thank you to those who followed up to inquire about volunteer opportunities!
at


This Monday: School Committee Ward 4 Office Hours


Please see this important and timely message from Tamika Olszewski, Burr Parent and Ward 4 School Committee Member:

I’m hosting a School Committee Office Hour for Burr parents and guardians on Monday, August 24 at 9:00 AM. The meeting will be an opportunity to hear feedback and recognizes the incredible volume of requests for neighborhood walks, phone conversations and FB messages that I've gotten over the past week regarding NPS's Return to Learn Plan.

Families are invited to ask questions and share their thoughts with me. I won't always have the answer to the questions because the plans are still being developed and adjusted, but I promise to help folks understand. I promise to listen and share the perspective of our families with the full Committee. If this is helpful, I'll be happy to start holding regular stand-alone office hours as we navigate the upcoming school year. The registration information for the Zoom is as follows at the bottom of this email. Thank you, in advance, for helping to spread the word.

Best,
Tamika Olszewski
Newton School Committee, Ward 4

You are invited to a Zoom meeting. 
When: Aug 24, 2020 09:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) 
 
Register in advance for this meeting:
 
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.





at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)