Burlington Science Center

The Burlington Science Center would like to remind all students that the deadline for the "Largest Pumpkin Contest" is this coming Monday, October 1st.  Please have your pumpkin weighed at the post office and send in your entry form asap.  There will be a group photo  on the town common for anyone who grew a pumpkin.  Be sure to take a picture of you and your pumpkin for the Science Center.

Pumpkin Fair

FANTASTIC PUMPKIN FAIR ... Friday night, October 19, 2012, from 6-9 pm at the Fox Hill School. Come join in the fun of our annual fall tradition. Great games, fall crafts, fabulous prizes and a few good scares. The ever popular Haunted Hallway will be sure to fright, along with many old favorites: Moon Bounce, Cake Walk, Pumpkin Painting, Spin Art, Face Painting, Duck Pond, Pizza, Hot dogs, Cupcake Decorating, Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Raffles, plus lots more games and activities. Admission is free; tickets for each activity/game can be purchased at the door. Open to the public. For additional information, contact Julie Quinn at quinns@rcn.com.

BHS Boosters Club

CRAFT FAIR Press Release

The Burlington High School Athletic Boosters Club will host their annual Craft Fair, Saturday, October 20th.  The fair will be at the BHS cafeterias from 10 - 3. 

This year, 100 crafters will offer lovely jewelry, holiday items, doll clothes, home decorations, cards, books, and more.  Our new cafe section will feature unique sauces, jellies, chocolates, and other gourmet items.  Our bake sale table will feature delicious snacks.  Enter the HUGE raffle including a wide variety of our crafters creations.  Enjoy lunch at our concession stand and dining area.  Visitors are encourage to park in the Student Lot and ride the shuttle to the cafeteria-entrance.

Admission is only $2, and includes a FREE raffle ticket.  This event is a major fundraiser to help our club support all of the BHS sports teams.

Common Core

On my Blog in the lower right hand corner under the category Favorite Links and Great Parent Resources is a link to the Common Core.   Forty five states and three U.S. territories have adopted the Common Core Curriculum.   Massachusetts was one of the states that adopted the Common Core.  

The Progress Reports sent home last year in our pilot year and being sent home this year again to parents are aligned with the National Common Core Curriculum.   The Common Core Standards outline knowledge and skills that students will learn in school.  

Note from PAC

Dear Burlington Parents and school staff,
 The PAC meeting scheduled for Monday October 1 at 6:30 has been moved once again. Thanks to the cooperation of the PTO Chairs, we now have the use of the School Committee Room at Burlington High School. I sincerely apologize for the confusion. So, here we go, for anyone interested in special education in Burlington, the Burlington PAC is holding a meet and greet with Louise D'Amato and staff members. This will be Monday October 1, 2012 in the School Committee Room at Burlington High School. The room opens at 6:30 P.M. for social networking for parents with the meeting beginning at 7:00 P.M.
 For more information on the Burlington PAC or this location contact Dennis McCarron atdandmmccarron@hotmail.com or via phone at 781-273-5663.

Music

Today I saw our music teacher Mrs. Agati instructing first grade students about rhythm.

Art Class

Today I saw fifth graders in Ms. Fallon's Art Class learning about the artist Andy Warhol.

Notice from PAC

Dear Burlington Parents,
 Are you wondering what services are available to help your child succeed in school? Would you like to meet the new Director of Special Education in town as well as the staff who work with your children? Come out on Monday evening October 1, 2012 at 6:30 P.M to the Burlington High School Lower Library. This is a change in location due to a scheduling conflict.
 The Burlington PAC is hosting a meet and greet event to introduce Louise D'Amato our new Director of Special Education. Ms. D'Amato will present staff members and will be able to address questions about Burlington's Special Education programs.
 For more information about this event or any other PAC sponsored events, or questions about how to advocate on your child's behalf, please contact Dennis McCarron atdandmmccarron@hotmail.com or at 781-273-5663.

PAC Meeting

When: Monday, October 1^st

^{Time: 7 to 9}

Where: School Committee Room (Burlington High School)

What: Meet and Greet Special Education staff

Come meet Louise D’Amato, our new special Education Director!

This year brings many changes to the Burlington special education staff.  Louise, along with Team Chairs from each schools will discuss the various special education programs available in Burlington.

Please join us for this informative meeting.

New Resource TumbleBook

During my walk through I saw Mrs Hayes showing her first graders a new resource we have added called TumbleBook.  Please feel free to learn more about at TumbleBook at this link TumbleBook Library.  The Pine Glen Library and Technology Center link, Library and Technology Center (LTC), also has more information on other great resources for students at Pine Glen Elementary School.

Area

Today when I stopped by Ms. Marcus room I saw students learning about the math concept area. Mr. Musselman, our science specialist, from the Burlington Science Center, was assisting as the students were doing hands on experiments to grasp the concept of area.

5th Grade

Mrs. Fitzpatrick was teaching her fifth grade students about rounding and place value on the day I walked through her room.

Back to School Night for Grown-Ups

Back to School Night for Grown-Ups is scheduled for this Thursday, September 27th from 6:00 to 7:30.  The night will begin in the cafeteria at 6:00 with opening remarks from the principal.  At 6:10 we are going to ask 4th and 5th grade parents to stay for a quick presentation.  We will leave the back doors of the cafeteria open to parents in order that they can enter and exit the building through the cafe.  At 6:10 parents are free to proceed to classrooms.  We will continue to have two informational sessions.  The first session will be held from 6:20-6:50.  The second session will run from 7:00-7:30.   Parents are welcome to attend either session.

This is a great evening when teachers and parents can discuss expectations, curriculum, classroom procedures and establish a partnerships between home and school.   We regret that we are unable to provide child care.  We appreciate parents making arrangements with their children in order to attend this important evening.

One of My New Favorite Apps

One of my new favorite apps for the iPad and for my iPhone is Star Walk.  This app is a Parent's Choice Gold Award Winner, 2012 Webbie Award Nominee, and winner of the Apple Design Award for 2012.  Mr. Musselman, our science specialist, from the Burlington Science Center introduced me to it this summer as the two of us were talking about our love of astronomy.   When I was teaching fifth grade, one of my favorite units to teach was the solar system.   The touch-screen control on it allows the viewer to identify constellations, planets and stars.   My daughters (now in third grade and preschool) greatly enjoyed using this app during the summer to learn the names objects in the night sky.    

Music Class

In this picture, Mrs. Agati, our music teacher, is instructing fifth grade students in reading music and playing instruments.

Kindergarten

In this picture, Mrs. Parnell is working with her kindergarten students.

Reading Specialist

Mrs. Salvador, our Pine Glen Reading Specialist, takes a very active role with students.  Also visible in this picture is one of the new iPad Cases being piloted with first grade.

Guided Reading

Ms. Parziale, an RTI Tutor, is instructing first grade students in a guided reading lesson. RTI tutors greatly help provide more opportunities to have small group instruction.

iMovie

Mrs. Finn's classroom is using the app iMovie as an engaging tool. This is very different from when I was in school and we used poster board for our presentations.

Camp Bournedale

Attention Fifth Grade Families!

The NEW Camp Bournedale dates have been chosen.

Pine Glen and Francis Wyman students will be going on

Wednesday November 14 - Thursday November 15

•         If your child was already signed-up you will NOT need to sign up again.

•         If your child WILL NOT be attending the rescheduled trip please contact Mrs. Fitzpatrick ASAP.  You will be able to receive a refund.

•      All chaperones were already chosen. If chosen chaperones cannot attend this rescheduled trip please let Mrs. Fitzpatrick know ASAP.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding throughout this process. Please contact Mrs. Fitzpatrick by email with any questions or concerns.

      

                                        Mrs. Fitzpatrick and the 5th grade team

                                        Pine Glen School

                                        dfitzpatrick@bpsk12.org

P.S - All cabins are heated!!!

Handwriting Instruction

I was in Ms. Smith's first grade classroom this morning. I witnessed Ms. Smith using the interactive white board as a tool to demonstrate proper technique for handwriting.

Bed Time Math

If you look to the right hand corner of my Blog, I have a section called Favorite Links and Great Parent Resources.   I recently added a new resource, a web page called, Bed Time Math.  Parents can go on this web page to get a new math problem to solve with their children every day.  Parents can also sign up to join their email list.

Lights Back On

Pine Glen has power back on. We would like to thank Villafranca Pizzeria in Burlington, MA for their rapid response in helping us to provide a hot lunch for students (www.pizzeriavillafranca.com).

iPads 10 Hour Battery Life

Mrs. Visocchi's 4th Grade Classroom used their iPads this morning when we lost power at Pine Glen. The iPads have a 10 hour battery life.

Camp Bournedale Postponed

Dr. Conti's announcement on the postponement of the Camp Bournedale trip is on his Blog.  This link  Dr. Conti's Blog will bring the viewer to the Blog.

Parking

When driving into Pine Glen, people might have noticed something different in the parking lot. This summer we had new parking space lines painted and signs posted.

Benches

Yesterday, all new wood was installed in the benches located in the play area behind the school. The benches now look brand new and offer a great place to sit.

New Web Pages

There has been a change in our district websites. The sites are moving to a new web system. 

If you need access to the new sites - please go to www.bpsk12.org.  This is the main portal for all schools.  Viewers can click on Find Your School at the top and select the elementary school you wish to view.   The following link, Pine Glen Elementary School Web Page, will bring you to the Pine Glen Elementary School Web Page.  

     

iPad 5th Grade Orientation

Mrs. D'Elia, our Library Media Specialist, conducted an orientation for 5th graders yesterday on the iPad. This is one of our first steps as we begin our 5th Grade 1:1 iPad Pilot.

First Grade 1:1 iPad Pilot

Bob Cunha, the creator of the Bob Cart, and Carrie Fortunato, our District Math Coach, helped Mrs. Guanci prepare iPads for her first grade students yesterday.

Staff meeting

At our staff meeting today teachers learned about 10 Marks. A math intervention used in some of our upper grades.

Hero Assembly 2012

Today (9/11/112) we had our Hero's Assembly at Pine Glen Elementary School.  On this day we say thank you to the police officers and firefighters in our community that help keep us safe.  We also say thank you to the brave men and women in our military forces that keep us safe.  In addition, we remember Lieutenant Commander Thomas McGuinness, an F-14 Fighter Pilot and alumni of Pine Glen Elementary School.  Thomas left our Pine Glen Community on September 11, 2001 when he was acting as the co-pilot of Flight 11. 

In the first picture above is our music teacher, Mrs. Agati, who can been seen directing students in the musical performances.  Other pictures include students holding flags of the different military branches (Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force, Cost Guard), students sitting at the assembly, and Burlington Public Safety Officials.  

We are Filling Buckets!

We’re Filling Buckets!

                                                                                                            September 10, 2012

Dear Families,

I hope you had a wonderful summer and are rested and ready for the new school year.
At the end of the last year I was awarded a Burlington Education Foundation grant as well as supplemental money from the Pine Glen PTO to implement a school wide positive behavior program. The “We’re Filling Buckets!” program has been designed to foster a greater sense of community. By utilizing the theme from Carol McCloud’s book, “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?”, students and staff will spend the year recognizing positive behaviors towards themselves and others. My intention is enhance our school community environment by highlighting good citizenship behaviors.

For those of you who have not yet read the book (I encourage you to do so, if you have the opportunity), Bucket Filling is a simple concept… “Everyone in the whole wide world walks around carrying an invisible bucket…Its purpose is to hold your good thoughts and feelings about yourself.” Our buckets are filled when we show acts of kindness and respect towards one another. I have visited each classroom this year and explained this new program to the students and they have all listed many ways we can practice being good bucket fillers. If you would like to learn more about bucket filling, visit the Bucket Fillers website, www.bucketfillers101.com.

Small buckets have been provided to each classroom and staff have been asked to present small recognition slips to students who exemplify behaviors consistent with good citizenship/filling buckets. I will be going around to each classroom collecting the bucket slips on a consistent basis and creating a visual representation by the front entrance of all the buckets we fill at Pine Glen. The students are working to beat my goal of filling 1,000 buckets this year. The program will culminate with a special school wide presentation in June.
I have also created a blog this year to document our bucket filling at Pine Glen as well as serve as a resource for our families with information about relevant mental health topics, school/community events, etc. Please take a moment to check it out at http://pineglenschoolpsych.blogspot.com

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to working with the students again and hope we fill many buckets this year!

Sincerely,

Lea Garneau, M.Ed., Ed.S., NCSP

School Psychologist

Pine Glen Elementary School

781-505-1128

lgarneau@bpsk12.org

http://pineglenschoolpsych.blogspot.com

First Day of Kindergarten

Kindergarten students started their first day of school today.  In this picture, Mrs. Potts is beginning the day with her students.  It is so exciting to think of the learning and friendships these students will make of the course of six years at Pine Glen Elementary School.

New Microphones

Ms. Smith (1st grade teacher) and Ms. Hayes (4th grade teacher) can be seen in these pictures instructing students.  You might notice they are wearing microphones.  In all learning spaces at Pine Glen Elementary School this year teachers are wearing wireless microphones that project their voices.  Instruction can now be heard through a state of the art NXT speaker technology system.  This system delivers clear sound throughout the room.   This all-in-one system results in higher intelligibility of the teacher's voice for all learners.

New Blog to Follow

The newest blog I am following is School PSYCHed!: A resource for Pine Glen families, 
http://pineglenschoolpsych.blogspot.com, which was created by our School Psychologist Lea Garneau.      Ms. Garneau and I share a love of seeing students grow academically and socially as well as college hockey.  We are both very excited to have begun the start of a new school year and are eagerly awaiting the beginning of the Hockey East Season.      

Thank You PTO!

We are very thankful for the donation of new shelves from the Pine Glen PTO.   Theses new shelves are in our new Grade 3-5 Literacy Closet.   Students at Pine Glen are consistently reading more and more books every year.  As a result, we needed to use another room and now have two literacy closets: a K-2 Literacy Closet and a 3-5 Literacy Closet.  In addition, we also have our library collection in the Pine Glen Library and Technology Center.   I would like thank our Reading Specialist Deidre Salvador and the RTI Tutors for their help in making these two Literacy Closets a reality.

Third Day of School

Above is a picture of students in Ms. Anderson's Second Grade Classroom.  The students are using multi-modal, hands on manipulatives as well as the interactive white board for math instruction. 

Draft of Updated Allergy Policy

The updated, draft allergy policy is presently posted on Dr. Conti's Blog.  Clicking on the link will directly bring you to Dr. Conti's Blog.  Dr. Conti's Blog