Walk Throughs

These are some pictures from my Walk Throughs of Pine Glen as Principal of the Day.

Principal for the Day

My name is Devin Ralston and I am the Principal of the Day. Today is also Wacky Tacky Day at Pine Glen Elementary School. This morning as principal I helped Mrs. Gosselin with attendance, checked on the lunch being served today, talked to Mrs. Ferrick about student health, and complemented Mr. Lyons on his Wacky Tacky Outfit.

From Ms. Garneau's Blog

At my last count yesterday we have filled 1,615 buckets! 

We will be celebrating the achievement of our latest goal by having a "Wacky Tacky" day on Friday, April 12. This is something different than Pajama day, but should also be easy for all to participate in and hopefully not be disruptive to our school day. 

Wacky Tacky is a combination of a backwards and mismatch clothes days. For example, someone could wear a formal top/bottom (dress/suit) and informal top/bottom (sports jersey/cargo shorts). Other ideas include mismatched socks, a dress shoe and a sneaker, multiple patterns or plaids, stripes and polka dots, etc. You may also opt to wear your clothes backwards or inside out. 

I am looking forward to seeing all the outfits tomorrow!

Pine Glen Ambassadors

I would like to thank and recognize Spencer Reith, Daniel Sullivan, Judith Desmond and Nicole Keddy who were Pine Glen Ambassadors today. These fifth graders took members of The Burlington School Committee and Ways and Means Committee for a tour of Pine Glen Elementary School to see the great instruction and learning going on everyday.

Written Expression and the Common Core

Yesterday during my daily walk throughs I noticed a poster in Miss Smith's First Grade Classroom describing the different types of writing in the Common Core Curriculum. I also saw one of our RTI Tutors, Miss Parziale, working with a student on his writing.

Congratulations to Diya Godavarti

Superintendent Dr. Conti, Assistant Superintendent Mr. Larkin, and Mr. Lyons visited Mrs. Lynch's Third Grade Classroom to congratulate Diya Godavarti who placed second in a national poetry competition. We are all very proud of Diya and accomplishments. Her poetry is amazing.

Congratulations to Ms. Garneau

Ms. Garneau was selected and received a scholarship from NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) to ackknowledge how we celebrated School Psychology Week at Pine Glen Elementary School. 

The theme this year for School Psychology Awareness week was “Knowing Your Own Strengths.”  Students decorated a bicep highlighting his or her strengths. All of these were collected and displayed to showcase all of our strengths!

Mother to Mother PreK Social

Fox Hill

Children who will be entering Kindergarten this fall are invited to join the monthly Pre-K socials being organized by Mother-to-Mother.  You do not need to be a member of Mother-to-Mother to participate.  The first social will be held on Saturday, April 27^th from 3 to 4 pm at the Fox Hill school playground.  Please email Sharleen Davis at sharleendavis@hotmail.com to RSVP.

Memorial

Children who will be entering Kindergarten this fall are invited to join the monthly Pre-K socials being organized by Mother-to-Mother.  You do not need to be a member of Mother-to-Mother to participate.  The first social will be held on Saturday, April 27^th from 3:30 to 4:30 pm at the Memorial school playground.  Please email Sharleen Davis at sharleendavis@hotmail.com to RSVP.

Pine Glen

Children who will be entering Kindergarten this fall are invited to join the monthly Pre-K socials being organized by Mother-to-Mother.  You do not need to be a member of Mother-to-Mother to participate.  The first social will be held on Sunday, April 28^th from 3 to 4 pm at the Pine Glen school playground.  Please email Sharleen Davis at sharleendavis@hotmail.com to RSVP.

Francis Wyman

Children who will be entering Kindergarten this fall are invited to join the monthly Pre-K socials being organized by Mother-to-Mother.  You do not need to be a member of Mother-to-Mother to participate.  The first social will be held on Sunday, April 28^th from 3:30 to 4:30 pm at the Francis Wyman school playground.  Please email Sharleen Davis at sharleendavis@hotmail.com to RSVP.

BEF Road Race

The 9^th annual BEF Exercise for Education Road Race will be held on Sunday, May 19^th.  We will be hosting a 5k run or walk, and a ½ mile fun run! The Fun Run starts at 9:00am, and the 5K at 9:30. The route starts and ends at the Burlington High School. Lots of activities and fun for everyone! Join us to run, walk, or just watch! Enjoy Mix 104.1, get some ice cream from Harvey the b.good Ice Cream Truck, buy some raffle tickets and so much more!

To register online, visit http://burlingtonedfoundation.org/ and use the link on our home page. The costs are as follows:

$20 to register for the 5K online ($5 Savings).
$25 to register for the 5k the day of the race.
$5 for Family Fun Run

On-line Registration will be open until May 17th! Your registration includes a t-shirt that you can pick up on race day.

Event Date: Sunday, May 19, 2013,
Event Time: 9:00 AM – Fun Run, 9:30 – 5K
Event Location: Burlington High School 123 Cambridge St, Burlington, MA 01803

Pine Glen Winter Carnival

These are some pictures from the Pine Glen Winter Carnival currently taking place at the school.

Pine Glen Shake

Today the Harlem Superstars visited Pine Glen Elementary School.  They are playing in a game tonight against the BPS All-Stars.  In honor of their visit we performed the Pine Glen Shake.

Message from Middlesex Sheriff's Office

The Middlesex Sheriff’s office will hold it’s annual Youth Public Safety Academy for Burlington youths ages 9-11. The Academy will be held July 1 through 5 with the exception of July 4 which will be an off day for the students. To apply to have your child attend please go to the Middlesex Sheriff’s website,www.middlesexsheriff.org

Visitors

Today educators from Derby Academy came to Pine Glen Elementary School to see some of the great institution and learning taking place in our school.

MCAS Schedule Change

In anticipation of the serve weather tomorrow and the possibility of school closings and delayed openings the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has postponed the administration of the Grade 4 MCAS ELA Long Composition test until Monday, March 25th.  All schools must administer the test on this new date.

The long composition is when students are required to write a narrative, persuasive or informative essay depending on the writing prompt presented on the exam.  The long composition requires a big invest in time from our fourth graders.  Teachers and staff have worked diligently to prepare students for this assessment.

This change will result in an additional change to the previous MCAS Administration Schedule.  The Grade 5 ELA MCAS Session 1 which was scheduled for March 25th will now be administered on Friday, March 22nd.

Parents can help in many ways to prepare their children for not only the long composition but other MCAS Exams by being present in school everyday unless they are sick.  Also, arriving at school on time reduces stress and gives students an opportunity to connect with their friends and teacher prior to instruction and testing.  A good night sleep is also critical to not only success on MCAS but, a typical school day.  Most pediatricians recommend between 10-12 hours of sleep per day for 3-6 year olds and 10 to 11 hours per day for 7-12 year olds.  In addition, providing children with time to play and a healthy diet are also fundamental to success.

Several students find that MCAS testing requires a substantial amount of energy and they are usually hungrier than on a typical school day.  Parents might want to consider sending in an additional snack on a MCAS testing day.  

Best of luck to everyone with the weather tomorrow!  

School Connect App Going Live Monday!!!

We are excited to offer a new way for Burlington families and staff to get updates from Burlington Public Schools! The School Connect App will go live on Monday and it will allow users to get updates on school closings and other important news sent directly to their smart devices.

In addition, there is a web-based service that also allows for users to get the same information. As we move forward, this will also allow individual schools, individual teachers, and clubs and activities to send out updates to interested parties.

Please feel free to see the brief video on how to get the School Connect App (Video on School Connect). 

Remember that Burlington will not be live until Monday, so you will not see it as an option until then. 

(Blog post content forwarded from Learning In Burlington Blog Thursday, March 14, 2013) 

Message from Cub Scouts Pack 105

Pack 105 Den 2 Wolf Cub Scouts

Project Smile community service project.  Stuffed animal donations.  Collection dates March 25 - April 5.  The donations will be given to local police and fire departments to give out to traumatized children.  Collection boxes will be located in the school lobby.  For stuffed toy donation guidelines go towww.projectsmile.org/drop.htm.

BHS Musicals

Hi all, this is the 50^th anniversary of BHS musicals. There will be a reunion and reception following the performance on the 22^nd and they're trying to reach as many of the former cast and crew members as we can. 

Please post the announcement below in your bulletin and on the school websites.

50^th anniversary of BHS Musicals is looking for alums from past 50 years. Join past cast/crew members immediately following March 22^nd performance of Hairspray at a reunion/reception in the lobby of BHS. Former directors will be in attendance, too! For show tickets:www.BurlingtonTickets.com or 781-A-FUN-TIC.

Harlem Superstars

NEW Harlem Superstars Flyer 2013 (2) by jlyons863

Hair Spray

Today students from Burlington High School who are in the cast of Hair Spray visited Pine Glen Elementary School.   The actors performed some of the songs from the play.  Many former Pine Glen Students were in the cast.  After the performance, some of the cast said hello to former teachers, siblings, and in one case a proud parent.  The students and staff greatly enjoyed the performance!

 

Favorite Book Character Day

Today Harry Potter showed up for school instead of Mr. Lyons.  Several book characters  also showed up instead of students and teachers.

Bookapalooza Extended!

posted by the Library & Technology Center

Bookapalooza Events Rescheduled!

Monday, March 11 

"Dress Up As Your Favorite Book Character" Day

It must be a BOOK character. 

Characters from TV shows or movies don't count unless it was a book first!

Costumes should be appropriate for school; no weapons, swords, sticks, etc.

Costumes should not get in the way of learning.

Students can still bring their change in on Monday for the 

"Make a Change with Your Change" Fundraiser.

Buddy Reading

Mrs. Cunha and Ms. Smith are looking on as third grade students read with first grade students. Buddy reading is a best practice to promote literacy.

Math Guests

Math Visit

Library

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the MSLA (Massachusetts School Library Association) Conference. I watched our own Instructional Technology Specialist, Dan Callahan and Library Media Specialist, Laura D'Elia do a presentation talking about our Library and Technology Center, our 1:1 4th and 5th Grade iPad initiative, and student progress at Pine Glen Elementary School.

Dennis Villano, Burlington Director of Technology Integration and I were asked to be on a panel discussion for the conference titled "Why Invest In Your School Library."

We are so fortunate to have a full time librarian at Pine Glen. A library media specialist is key to matching nonfiction books for students to read to the Common Core Curriculum. Also, with so many digital sources to gather information a library media specialist is vital to help guide students in doing research and being good digital citizens in our community.

Burlington PAC

Dear Friends,
The Burlington PAC would like to invite everyone to our annual Basic Rights presentation. Monday March 4 at 7:00 P.M. in the School Committee Room at Burlington High School. The room will open at 6:30 to allow parents to network, Maureen Ryan will present for the Federation for Children with Special Needs. Here is a little more information from the Federation:
 Basic Rights in Special Education: This workshop provides families with an introduction to their rights and responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Massachusetts Special Education Law and No Child Left Behind (NCLB). It is designed to help parents learn how to be effective partners with their child’s school to decide the child’s eligibility for special education, and to plan, make decisions and monitor their child’s progress in school.
 For more information on this event or the Burlington PAC please contact Dennis McCarron atdandmmccarron@hotmail.com or 781-273-5663 or Lisa DeRosa at lmderosa@yahoo.com or 781-365-0124.

   Sincerely,
Dennis McCarron, Chairman Burlington PAC

BBSA Registration

The BBSA registration date is quickly approaching.  To avoid a late fee, please register your child for baseball or softball by midnight on March 4th.  We are still looking for managers and coaches at all levels.

You can register your child at bbsaonline.org

If you have any questions, please contact Laura Vittum, BBSA Secretary at vitt_maple@mac.com

Thank you all in advance!!

Laura

Dr. Seuss

Today at Pine Glen Mrs. Salvador, our Reading Specialist, mysteriously disappeared and the Cat in the Hat read to first grade.

Also noticeable today was Mr. Lyons wearing his Dr. Seuss tie, our friends from the Bridges Program coming in to read books written by Dr. Seuss, and the cafe serving green eggs and ham.

Why did this all happen? It was to recognize Theodor Geisel's (AKA Dr. Seuss) birthday which is March 2 (Saturday) but was celebrated today by Pine Glen and schools across our country.