Peer-Reading

Today Ms. Varrell's second grade students visited Mrs. Visocchi's fourth grade students. The fourth graders read to the second graders.

Poetry Caroling

Today students in Ms. Smith's first grade classroom went around the building doing poetry caroling.

The Polar Express

Today, I joined the kindergarten students in wearing my pajamas and reading them The Polar Express. The kindergartners and I greatly enjoyed the book.

Art Class

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to join Ms. Smith's first graders during art class and along with the students made a snowflake. I was reminded during this experience of how much fun art class is for students and that Ms. Fallon is an amazing art teacher.

Lost and Found

Please make sure to check Lost and Found. Items still in Lost and Found will be donated to the charity Cradles for Crayons before we leave for the Holiday Break.

Fire Drills and Code Blue Drills

Fire Drills and Code Blue practice drills are held periodically during the school year. The purpose of these drills is to prepare children for emergency situations. Fire and Code Blue drills are conducted in conjunction with the Town of Burlington Fire and Police Departments. During the drill, police cars might have their sirens on when arriving at the school.   We will be conducting a Code Blue drill this week.

A Code Blue procedure will be used when an intruder or dangerous scenario impacts the safety of the students. During a Code Blue drill teachers have students go to a designated section of the room on the floor and lock classroom doors, and take attendance. Teachers and staff look to make sure all students are away from doors and windows.

First, Second and Third Grade Winter Concert 2013

The following pictures are from the First, Second and Third Grade Winter Concert.

Winter Wonderland 2013

The following picture is from the first grade's Winter Wonderland.

The Nutcracker

Today I went with the kindergarten students to see the Nutcracker. I was very impressed with all the student's knowledge of the ballet.

Winter Holiday Concert 2013

The following pictures are from the Winter Holiday Concert. Congratulations to all the fourth and fifth graders on such a great performance!

3D Printing

The following pictures are of the new 3D Printer in the Pine Glen Library & Technology Center. A 3D printer allows us a means of making a three-dimensional solid object out of a two dimensional digital shape. We are very excited to have this technology at Pine Glen Elementary School. This tool will provide great opportunities for students to learn.

MEFA’s Early College Planning Seminar for Parents

Learn about planning, saving and paying for college.

Seminar Topics Include:

• How can I best support my student to make good 

choices in middle school and high school?

• What is important to understand about admissions 

and financial aid now?

• How much should we save for college and when is 

a good time to start saving?

• Will savings affect financial aid?

• If we can’t save enough, should we bother saving

at all?

Details:

Date: Thursday, March 27, 2014

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Burlington High School, 123 Cambridge 

Street, Burlington, MA 01803MEFA’s Early College Planning Seminar for Parents

Learn about planning, saving and paying for college.

Burlington Public Schools Early Childhood Information Series

REMINDER

The next Burlington Public Schools Early Childhood Information Series is tomorrow, December 12, 2013.  This session will take place from 6:30pm-7:30pm in the High School Library.   The topic for this session is ‘Morning and Night Time Routines’.  This particular session will be split with half of the time being used to run through information, and half will be used as a question and answer portion to target questions that people may have.  Just a gentle reminder that due to the content and format of these sessions, they are held for adults only.  We look forward to seeing you on Thursday night!

Sincerely,

Tiffany D’Abbraccio, M.S.Ed.

Naomi O’Brien, M.Ed., BCBA

May the Force Be With You

Mr. Musselman and Ms. Pavlicek, from the Burlington Science Center, put on a presentation for Pine Glen Elementary School last Friday. The title of the performance was "May the Force Be With You." Students had a lot of fun learning about the different forces and laws of motion.

Note From the Burlington Education Foundation

Share the Spirit!

During the month of December, the Burlington Education Foundation has partnered with Burtons Grill for their Charitini Fundraiser! For every Charitini sold, Burtons Grill will donate $5 to the BEF. Make sure to stop by sometime this month while shopping for the holidays! Keep in mind, their gift cards are fantastic presents! This month, Burton’s Grill are also partnering with Toys for Tots. Receive a complimentary Pan Fried Crab Cake for every unwrapped toy you donate!

The Burlington Education Foundation (BEF) is a non-profit organization that promotes community support for education excellence in the Burlington Public Schools. 

Toys For Tots

Pine Glen Elementary school is a toy drop location for Toys For Tots.  The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.  The deadline for contributing to the drop location for Toys For Tots at Pine Glen Elementary School is December 11th.  

Thanksgiving 2013

In this picture kindergarten students are celebrating their Thanksgiving Feast.

Grade 1

First grade students in Mrs. Hayes classroom in this picture are entering the Star Lab to learn about the stars with Mr. Musselman from the Burlington Science Center. The students are also celebrating a pajama day.

Turkey Trot November 26, 2013

The following are pictures from the Turkey Trot.  Congratulations to all the runners!  In the spirit of helping others on Thanksgiving, all students (runners and non runners) kindly brought in an item for the Burlington Food Pantry.

iPod and Centers

Today during my daily walkthroughs I saw fourth graders in Mrs. Finn's classroom at a listening center during English Language Arts. The iPod allows us a lot more clarity and time saving logistics then a tape player for this center.

The Keeping Quilt

Today during my daily walkthroughs I saw fourth grade students in Mrs. Visocchi's classroom working on keeping quilts. Students are using the Patricia Polacco book The Keeping Quilt and this higher order thinking project in their study of immigration.

Grade 5

Today during my daily walkthroughs I saw fifth grade students in Ms. Marcus classroom doing underwater archeology. Students were looking at artifacts in their study of explorers and the new world.

PARCC

 This post originally appeared on Superintendent Conti's Blog

In case you missed it in the news last week, the Massachusetts Board of Education voted to accept a two-year transition plan to the PARCC assessment. The original plan to implement PARCC testing called for all Massachusetts students begin taking the new assessment in 2015, but MA Commissioner of Education Mitchell Chester has been listening to school and district leaders across the state and has advocated for a more gradual transition:

“I have heard a great deal from school superintendents and others about the importance of pacing ourselves so that schools can implement PARCC and other reform initiatives in a thoughtful way,”he said in the memo. “This transition approach is responsive to the field…”

(From EdWeek - Massachusetts Won’t Require All Schools To Give PARCC Test in 2015)

Many of the concerns schools have is in regards to the online aspect of PARCC testing, something that is new to our state. In order to help facilitate this transition, Burlington has volunteered to help support students and educators across the state in this transition.

We are pleased to be participating in the Spring 2014 PARCC Field Test – and have asked PARCC to expand the sample of our students involved because we believe that this experience will be good for children in Burlington and across the state. The Burlington Community has generously provided us with the technological resources to expand our Field Test to include all students. We are also lucky to have talented people working in the district who are willing to learn from this experience and to share this knowledge with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and across Massachusetts.

Our plan is to use different devices at different grades (i.e. tablets, chromebooks, computer labs, etc.) to determine which environment is best for students. We will be conducting focus groups with students and teachers after each testing window and sharing this information with our stakeholders and other school districts to help prepare for what is ahead.  This district preview will help us to better prepare our students and curriculum for future test administrations.

Because our students are participating in the PARCC, we have the option of opting out of MCAS English Language Arts and Math testing at all grades except grade 10 . Our sophomores will have to take both PARCC and MCAS due to both the state graduation requirement and to qualify for the Adams’ scholarships.  In other words, it appears that we will not be administering the MCAS Test this year (aside from grade 10 and possibly Science in grades 5,8,9)

There are two testing windows for the PARCC assessments. The first, for the Performance Based Assessment (PBA), is March 24 – April 11 and the second, for the End of Year Assessment (EOY), is May 19 – June 6. The PBA consists of three testing sessions and the EOY consists of two. We will share more specifics in regards to dates for each grade as soon as we coordinate them with the DESE and PARCC testing officials.

We have been informed that we will not see the results of the Field Test.  Pearson (the creator of the PARCC test) may share district results but they will not be sharing individual school or student results.  While this may concern some parents, we feel confident in our ability to continue to show evidence of students growth through a variety of assessments that our staff members conduct throughout the year.

You may have lots of questions.  We have lots of questions.  We will be getting out more information as it becomes available.

Happy Thanksgiving

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Dismissal tomorrow is at 11:15.

The Book Fair is Coming!

Turkey Trot Moved On Account of Weather

On account of today's forecast, we are moving the Turkey Trot to tomorrow.  We are asking that all students please bring in an item for the Burlington Food Pantry tomorrow instead of Wednesday.   Wear your favorite sweatshirt to school has also been moved to tomorrow.    

Age of Exploration in Grade 5

Fifth graders in Mrs. Fitzpatrick's Class today were working on making An Age of Exploration Museum.

Students are learning how exploration changed culture and the world. Below are pictures of students working on different exhibits.

PTO Genevieve

If you ordered from Genevieve, as part of the PTO fundraiser, please remember to pick up your Genevieve orders for the holidays.  They are available slightly or after school and during the school day. They are located in the lobby and labeled.   Thank you for all your support!

PTO Gift Card fundraiser

Our SCRIP program is simple: order gift cards through the Pine Glen PTO and earn money for the school!  These are the same gift cards you would purchase from the stores, but all in one place!

To help support our school, SCRIP participating retailers agree to pay the Pine Glen PTO a certain percentage of all gift card sales.  You get full card value - Pine Glen PTO receives a small "commission"  (see list for exact percentages from specific retailers or go to www.glscrip.com). THERE ARE NO HIDDEN COSTS OR FEES!!

The program starts immediately with a firm deadline of December 4th at 12 NOON!   Orders will be processed and available by December 16th.

Information on the fundraiser went out on Friday, Nov. 8th.  Later this week the information will be available for download on the blog.  This a great opportunity to stock up on gift cards for the holidays, birthdays, teacher gifts and more.  Any questions, please contact Joanne Shortell at  jshortell@skincarephysicans.net.

Pine Glen Turkey Trot

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!!  The annual Pine Glen Turkey Trot is approaching!

When:  Wednesday, November 27, 2013 at 8:30

Where:  1 lap run around the school, start and finish in front of school

Who: 3rd, 4th and 5th graders

Parents are welcome to come down and cheer on the runners!

 This fun run is weather permitting

In the spirit of helping others on Thanksgiving, we are asking, if possible, that all students (runners and non runners) kindly bring in an item for the Burlington Food Pantry.  As part of the fun, students can also wear their favorite sweatshirt to school that day (sports teams, vacation, characters, etc).

The following is a list of recommended non perishable items for the Burlington Food Pantry:

• 100% juice boxes
• 100%juice in cans and plastic containers ( no glass please)
• baked beans
• canned beef stew
• canned broth; chicken and beef
• canned chicken or turkey
• canned fruits, regular and no sugar added
• canned ham or roast beef
• canned or jarred spaghetti sauce
• canned soups
• canned tomatoes; diced,whole, pureed
• canned tuna fish
• canned vegetables
• cold cereal
• coffee, hot chocolate, tea
• cookies, crackers
• jelly
• ketchup
• macaroni and cheese
• mayo
• mustard
• oatmeal; instant and quick
• pancake syrup
• peanut butter
• shelf stable milk 1%

Thanks for your support and hope to see you there!

Spirit Wear On Sale Now

On display at the Halloween Dance this past Saturday, Burlington or Pine Glen sweatpants, jackets, sweatshirts, shorts and hats!  Some the examples are pictured below.

Show your pride for Pine Glen or Burlington (new popular "B" logo) or both!

Order forms will be sent home in the kids' backpacks this week.  Orders will be delivered in time for the holidays.  Pay via paypal on the PTO blogspot or personal check, made payable to the Pine Glen PTO.  All items embroidered shirts and jackets also have optional names on sleeves.

For an order form please click here click here.

Message From Adopt-A-Class

4th Grade Parents

The 2022 Adopt-A-Class is looking for parent volunteers to help plan and run an event a year to raise money for the 4th grade class.  You can spend as little as an hour helping to run the event and still earn scholarship credit for your child. Please email, Kristin Russo at adoptaclass2022@gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions. We look forward to raising money for the class and having fun while doing it.

First Grade Fall Festival

The first grade celebrated their Fall Festival today.