This blog provides news and information on the Pine Glen Elementary School in Burlington, Massachusetts.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
PAC Meeting
When: Monday, October 1st
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.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
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.
Monday, September 24, 2012
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.
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.
Friday, September 21, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
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.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
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.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
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.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
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.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
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,
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
Monday, September 10, 2012
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
Friday, September 7, 2012
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.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
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
Friday, August 24, 2012
Welcome Back!
August 24, 2012
Dear Pine Glen Community:
We are about to commence the 2012-2013 school year at Pine Glen Elementary School and our 50 Year Anniversary. I hope you have all had an enjoyable and relaxing summer! We have continued to make changes that have helped us to reach milestones that have raised the attention of not just surrounding districts but districts across our country. This has helped to raise the profile of Burlington Public Schools on a national level. We have particularly received praise in the areas of Response to Intervention, our new Progress Report Card aligned to the common core curriculum (implemented last year), technology, reading growth, utilization of intervention tools in math and language arts, student-teacher ratios and support personal.
We will be welcoming 300 students this fall with 3 classroom teachers instructing 3 sections at all grade levels on September 4, 2012. We welcome our new kindergarten students to kindergarten orientation on September 6th and their first day will be on September 10th. I must thank our custodial staff for their stellar work in making the school a clean and safe environment for students to learn. Also, teachers have spent many hours this summer preparing their classrooms to be clean, warm, safe and inviting places to learn.
We were fortunate this summer to have a new roof put on a major section of the building. From a bird’s view looking down on the building Pine Glen School resembles the letter “H” with one of the parallel lines being the academic wing where all the classrooms are located. The other wing has the cafeteria, gym and kitchen. The horizontal line connecting the two wings is the area with the new roof. Likewise, we are also fortunate to have a new awning in the front of the building. This new awning will not only add to the cosmetic appeal of the building but will provide a welcome relief from weather elements for our students. We are hoping next summer to do a renovation of the administrative area at Pine Glen School. We will need an allowance of time directed towards this construction that the limited time this summer and other major construction projects completion could not offer. We look forward to the hiring of a project manager and the undertaking of this project.
Cafeteria food manager, Carol Keene, and her staff are very enthusiastic to begin a new year. The cafeteria will be offering lunches for students at the same costs as last year ($2.75 lunch and .50 cents for milk). Mrs. Keene and her staff are thrilled this year to be offering students more fresh fruits and vegetables. The menu will also include whole wheat for bread. This year’s menu will offer a large degree of healthy snacks and healthy choices. The food services department is being extremely mindful of sugar and salt intake. We are all thrilled at this positive direction for the students health and wellness.
Our focus continues to be on three specific areas: Instruction, Technology and Communication. Students will notice in learning spaces this fall that all rooms are being equipped with infrared wireless technology audio systems. Teachers will have the capacity to talk into a wireless microphone that will project their instructions through a state of the art NXT™ speaker technology system delivering clear sound throughout the room. This all-in-one system will result in higher intelligibility of the teacher’s voice for all learners.
This fall we are also very excited to introduce many more iPads to our current supply at Pine Glen Elementary School. All students in 4th and 5th grades will have an iPad this year. This program will have some similarities to the 1:1 iPad Initiative taking place at Burlington High School. I presently do not know of another elementary school in Massachusetts implementing a 1:1 initiative in intermediate grades. I must thank our fourth and fifth grade teachers for the time they spent this summer to launch this initiative. As we continue to see more materials in digital formats this will provide our students with the tools they need to learn in this year and in the years to come. Fifty years ago Pine Glen Elementary School had chalk boards which evolved into white boards and the most recently evolved last year into digital interactive white boards. In many ways we are seeing tablet technology becoming the modern day version of a pencil and paper. The iPads will be one of many learning tools used in the classrooms, and will not take the place of the great instruction and high levels of student engagement I witness in daily walkthroughs of classrooms. We have also received a grant and will be providing one of our first grade classrooms with 1:1 iPad correspondence. This will allow us the opportunity to look at student engagement with iPads in the primary setting as well.
We have also added significantly to our grade three, four, and five literacy closet with the purchase of over $10,000 of new books. The upper grades now have access to new resources for small-group teaching of reading comprehension. The Anchor Comprehension Workshop organizes 200 small-group sets of books by reading comprehension strategy and allows teachers to select “just right” books at each child’s reading level. These guided reading materials will increase student reading strategies and result in improved reading skills. Additional materials such as Interactive White Board activities and posters provide for rich discussions of literature.
We have also added the the complete Decodable Literature Library from Fyleaf Publishing. This series has huge praise from the academic community and has a strong research base related to their effectiveness. They are beautifully illustrated and feature authentic literature. This series will help students when needed to apply more advanced letter-sound correspondence to narrative and informational texts. These books will be helpful to supplement our very strong phonics instruction utilizing the Fundations program which is used in grades K-3. I must thank the Pine Glen PTO for their assistance in purchasing these materials.
Likewise, at all grade levels we have again continued to increase the selection and genre of books available in our Literacy Closet. A constant “good problem” at Pine Glen Elementary School is that we never have enough books. Every year I have been a principal we have added huge numbers of books to our literacy closet and library. This is the result of every year students reading more and more books. In addition, we have the added “good problem” of having many students reading above the typical reading level and require books that feature content of interest for his or her age. This would never have been possible without the fantastic reading instruction present by the teachers at all grade levels. Response to Intervention RTI and tiering have allowed us to utilize instructional grouping as a means to narrow the teachable range for a teacher to address specific skills in reading (i.e. phonic awareness, fluency, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary). RTI has been a great tool because it is not ability grouping. I am thankful for the PTO for their support in providing funds for enriching our Literacy Closet and Library.
Please continue to be mindful of the fact that a student’s classroom teacher might be different than their reading or math teacher. As mentioned earlier this affords teachers the opportunity to work with a narrower teachable range, provide interventions and maximizing efficiency. This is not leveled instruction. We are providing flexibly grouped reading instruction that changes based on data. We will continue to use an online universal screening to become aware of where to focus our instruction and provide interventions for students.
Teachers will continue to participate in curriculum councils and at grade level meetings with myself to look at curriculum, instruction and assessment. We have continued to see tremendous growth this past academic year from our students. We never are complacent in our desire to help students become life long learners and are constantly looking at ways to further enhance instruction. As a result we will also be doing pilots in English Language Arts this year in the areas of grammar and written expression. One of our fifth grade classrooms will be piloting Explorations in Nonfiction Writing by Tony Stead and Linda Hoyt. A third grade classroom will be piloting new grammar materials as well that are aligned with the national common core curriculum. These pilots will help us further enhance our already very strong blended literacy instruction reflected in our standards based progress reports piloted last year that are reflective of the National Common Core Curriculum (http://www.corestandards.org).
We have also added significantly to our grade three, four, and five literacy closet with the purchase of over $10,000 of new books. The upper grades now have access to new resources for small-group teaching of reading comprehension. The Anchor Comprehension Workshop organizes 200 small-group sets of books by reading comprehension strategy and allows teachers to select “just right” books at each child’s reading level. These guided reading materials will increase student reading strategies and result in improved reading skills. Additional materials such as Interactive White Board activities and posters provide for rich discussions of literature.
We have also added the the complete Decodable Literature Library from Fyleaf Publishing. This series has huge praise from the academic community and has a strong research base related to their effectiveness. They are beautifully illustrated and feature authentic literature. This series will help students when needed to apply more advanced letter-sound correspondence to narrative and informational texts. These books will be helpful to supplement our very strong phonics instruction utilizing the Fundations program which is used in grades K-3. I must thank the Pine Glen PTO for their assistance in purchasing these materials.
Likewise, at all grade levels we have again continued to increase the selection and genre of books available in our Literacy Closet. A constant “good problem” at Pine Glen Elementary School is that we never have enough books. Every year I have been a principal we have added huge numbers of books to our literacy closet and library. This is the result of every year students reading more and more books. In addition, we have the added “good problem” of having many students reading above the typical reading level and require books that feature content of interest for his or her age. This would never have been possible without the fantastic reading instruction present by the teachers at all grade levels. Response to Intervention RTI and tiering have allowed us to utilize instructional grouping as a means to narrow the teachable range for a teacher to address specific skills in reading (i.e. phonic awareness, fluency, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary). RTI has been a great tool because it is not ability grouping. I am thankful for the PTO for their support in providing funds for enriching our Literacy Closet and Library.
Please continue to be mindful of the fact that a student’s classroom teacher might be different than their reading or math teacher. As mentioned earlier this affords teachers the opportunity to work with a narrower teachable range, provide interventions and maximizing efficiency. This is not leveled instruction. We are providing flexibly grouped reading instruction that changes based on data. We will continue to use an online universal screening to become aware of where to focus our instruction and provide interventions for students.
Teachers will continue to participate in curriculum councils and at grade level meetings with myself to look at curriculum, instruction and assessment. We have continued to see tremendous growth this past academic year from our students. We never are complacent in our desire to help students become life long learners and are constantly looking at ways to further enhance instruction. As a result we will also be doing pilots in English Language Arts this year in the areas of grammar and written expression. One of our fifth grade classrooms will be piloting Explorations in Nonfiction Writing by Tony Stead and Linda Hoyt. A third grade classroom will be piloting new grammar materials as well that are aligned with the national common core curriculum. These pilots will help us further enhance our already very strong blended literacy instruction reflected in our standards based progress reports piloted last year that are reflective of the National Common Core Curriculum (http://www.corestandards.org).
This summer I had the opportunity to take a graduate course along with many Pine Glen staff. Present at this class were all the kindergarten teachers. Dr. Greg Hanley, director of the Behavior Analysis Ph.D. program at Western New England University was our instructor. The staff in attendance increased their knowledge base and skills relevant to preventing classroom problem behavior and developing function-based intervention for problem behavior. As we move to the next 50 years at Pine Glen Elementary school we will be expanding our scientifically researched based strategies into classroom behaviors that will be consistent with a Response to Intervention (RTI) model.
Several teachers were also actively involved in curriculum work this summer. Numerous staff from various grade levels did stellar work this summer on curriculum councils. This work will greatly enhance instruction for students this fall.
We are pleased to welcome new staff members to our Pine Glen Community. Although not new to Pine Glen, Stephanie Smith, who as been an amazing RTI tutor, will now be our new first grade teacher. Also, not new to Pine Glen school, Kelley Constantine, last year’s permanent substitute will be in a new role as an RTI tutor. We will also see the addition of two new RTI tutors. We are happy to welcome Amanda Lane and Kristina Christie as RTI tutors. Occupational Therapist, Amy Haroutunian, who worked part time last year at Pine Glen will now be working full time at Pine Glen. We also enthusiastically welcome Elizabeth Bishop and Megan Rafferty as additional Special Education Instructional Assistants. We are further delighted to welcome Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) Naomi Abelson. Complementing out new hires will be Debra Clark our new team chair. Miss Clark brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her new role. We also are excited to have former Burlington High School Principal Patrick Larkin as our new Assistant Superintendent. I am thrilled to have along with Superintendent Dr. Conti an additional educational leader to work with who shares my strong belief and conviction that all children can learn and desire for students to become life long learners.
I must thank our community for their support and investment in the children of Burlington. Allowing us the financial support to attract such high quality instructors to our professional learning community is a credit to what a great school Pine Glen Elementary continues to be after 50 years and the value the residents of Burlington place on children. We start the school year with a full time building based school psychologist, guidance counselor, occupational therapist, librarian, technology integration specialist, and speech therapist. In addition, our small class sizes, support staff, and 21st Century integrated technology classrooms are the envy of school districts throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the country.
I wish to thank the PTO for all their assistance. They have done tremendous work in providing student enrichment, organizing school social events, community outreach and assistance to the teachers. The PTO continues to serve as the best vehicles in which to volunteer and be active in our school community. If not already, please consider joining this organization, which has as its main purpose student enrichment at Pine Glen School.
At our core all staff at Pine Glen School make it our goal to carry on the 50 year tradition of providing a safe, caring learning environment that engages our students. We are incredibly grateful to the Burlington community for providing us with the teachers, technology, and resources to help us accomplish our goal. The Pine Glen Staff and I are extremely grateful for the opportunity to instruct your children. I have missed seeing students this summer and look forward to seeing their happy smiles as they continue on their journey of becoming life long learners.
We are pleased to welcome new staff members to our Pine Glen Community. Although not new to Pine Glen, Stephanie Smith, who as been an amazing RTI tutor, will now be our new first grade teacher. Also, not new to Pine Glen school, Kelley Constantine, last year’s permanent substitute will be in a new role as an RTI tutor. We will also see the addition of two new RTI tutors. We are happy to welcome Amanda Lane and Kristina Christie as RTI tutors. Occupational Therapist, Amy Haroutunian, who worked part time last year at Pine Glen will now be working full time at Pine Glen. We also enthusiastically welcome Elizabeth Bishop and Megan Rafferty as additional Special Education Instructional Assistants. We are further delighted to welcome Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) Naomi Abelson. Complementing out new hires will be Debra Clark our new team chair. Miss Clark brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her new role. We also are excited to have former Burlington High School Principal Patrick Larkin as our new Assistant Superintendent. I am thrilled to have along with Superintendent Dr. Conti an additional educational leader to work with who shares my strong belief and conviction that all children can learn and desire for students to become life long learners.
I must thank our community for their support and investment in the children of Burlington. Allowing us the financial support to attract such high quality instructors to our professional learning community is a credit to what a great school Pine Glen Elementary continues to be after 50 years and the value the residents of Burlington place on children. We start the school year with a full time building based school psychologist, guidance counselor, occupational therapist, librarian, technology integration specialist, and speech therapist. In addition, our small class sizes, support staff, and 21st Century integrated technology classrooms are the envy of school districts throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the country.
I wish to thank the PTO for all their assistance. They have done tremendous work in providing student enrichment, organizing school social events, community outreach and assistance to the teachers. The PTO continues to serve as the best vehicles in which to volunteer and be active in our school community. If not already, please consider joining this organization, which has as its main purpose student enrichment at Pine Glen School.
At our core all staff at Pine Glen School make it our goal to carry on the 50 year tradition of providing a safe, caring learning environment that engages our students. We are incredibly grateful to the Burlington community for providing us with the teachers, technology, and resources to help us accomplish our goal. The Pine Glen Staff and I are extremely grateful for the opportunity to instruct your children. I have missed seeing students this summer and look forward to seeing their happy smiles as they continue on their journey of becoming life long learners.
If you have any questions or have great stories to share of your children’s learning journey, please do not hesitate to contact me at jlyons@bpsk12.org.
Sincerely,
John Lyons, M.S. Ed.
Principal
Pine Glen Elementary School
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Dear Parents,
We are moving into our final phase of
the redistricting process that began last year. The final stage of this process is moving a section of grade
five to the Memorial School. As a
result, incoming fifth grade students were notified that their classroom would
be A, B, or C on the progress reports sent home in June.
The
classroom assignments will be the following.
- · Classroom A: Mrs. Beaulieu Room 208
- · Classroom B: Ms. Marcus Room 209
- · Classroom C Mrs. Fitzpatrick Room 215
Fifth grade teachers will be sending
home letters to individual students over the course of the summer with information
about the upcoming school year.
Please contact me if you have any
questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
John Lyons
Principal
Pine Glen Elementary School
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Construction of New Awning
Below are some pictures of the construction work taking place at Pine Glen School this summer. We are all looking forward to the new awning that awaits us this fall. The first picture shows Mrs. Redfern and her class on Mrs. Redfern day and the old awning in the background.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Summer Reading at Pine Glen
What is the one thing parents can do to help their children retain all that hard work and progress they achieved this past school year? Get as many books as you can (print or digital) into the hands of your children and let them Read, Read, Read this summer.
And please don't forget--summer reading is all about reading for fun. Letting your children choose what they want to read not only builds good readers but life-long readers, too. All kinds of reading counts.
Below check out all the new things happening this summer for Pine Glen students and families. If you have any questions about any of the programs or policies this summer, please contact me at delia@bpsk12.org.
Happy Summer Reading!
Laura D'Elia
School Librarian
Pine Glen Library & Technology Center
**Please Note: Pine Glen students are not required to return all of their library books before the end of the school year. They may keep the ones they are still reading or want to read. They may return their books during the last week of school, during the Summer Library Hours listed below, or in the fall.
All overdue items should be returned as soon as possible.
And please don't forget--summer reading is all about reading for fun. Letting your children choose what they want to read not only builds good readers but life-long readers, too. All kinds of reading counts.
Below check out all the new things happening this summer for Pine Glen students and families. If you have any questions about any of the programs or policies this summer, please contact me at delia@bpsk12.org.
Happy Summer Reading!
Laura D'Elia
School Librarian
Pine Glen Library & Technology Center
**Please Note: Pine Glen students are not required to return all of their library books before the end of the school year. They may keep the ones they are still reading or want to read. They may return their books during the last week of school, during the Summer Library Hours listed below, or in the fall.
All overdue items should be returned as soon as possible.
For Students Entering Grades K-3 |
For Students Entering Grades 4-6 |
Summer Library Hours
at Memorial Elementary School
125 Winn Street
Thursday, July 19, 9am--1pm
|
Visit the Burlington Public Library this Summer! |
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Note From The School Nurse
Please stop in the health office by Wednesday, June 20, 2012 to pick up any medications that you brought in for your child. After this date, the medications will be discarded. Also--Reminder to All Third Grade Parents--Updated physicals are required by State law for students entering fourth grade. Please send a copy of your child's most recent physical to the health office. If you have any questions, please call me at 781-270-1713.
Attention 3rd graders and parents re: 4th grade Instrumental Lessons
3rd graders recently attended an assembly that demonstrated the flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and trombone. Students interested in beginning lessons on one of these instruments received a notice describing the instrumental program. For more information please go to elemband.wordpress.com. A commitment to practicing at home is essential for success. Beginner lessons will start the week of September 17. Any questions please email Mr. Napierkowski at napierkowski@bpsk12.org
Monday, June 11, 2012
Message From the PTO
Dear Members,
We need a few parents to help serve refreshments after the moving-up ceremony for fifth graders on Thursday, June 14th from 6 - 8 p.m. (The moving-up ceremony begins at 6:30). Parents of fifth graders will already have set up the room. We just need a few people to serve cake, fruit salad, & drinks and clean up afterward.
TO DATE WE ONLY HAVE ONE VOLUNTEER! We need a few parents of non-fifth graders to step up. We do not expect parents of the Class of 2012 to volunteer, but rather enjoy time with their child and fellow parents for their final gathering at Pine Glen. The same will be done for you when your child "graduates."
If you can help, please contact Joanna DeFrancesco at joanna.defrancesco@gmail. com. We truly appreciate any time you can give.
Thank you so much,
Maria Woods and the Pine Glen PTO Board
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