After School Program

Big News!  The Burlington Public School's After School Program is coming to the new Memorial School in September 2011.  Registration for the Francis Wyman and Memorial programs will be open from February 7 through February 18.  Registration forms are available at www.burlington.mec.edu under the Resources tab or in elementary school offices.  For additional information, please email Laura Driscoll at ldriscoll@burlington.mec.edu.

Public Library

One of my favorite T.V. shows when I was little was Happy Days.  I particularly loved the character of the Fonz.   In one episode the Fonz gets a library card.   After this show aired, there was a huge national increase in the number of people visiting public libraries and the number of new library cards that were issued.   This was also a time when people in the country had ten or less T.V. channels and cable television was rare. 

Recently, I came across an interesting study reported by the BBC.   (The link below can bring you to the article.)    The article stated that,  “Children who use their local public library are twice as likely to be above average readers.”  

The article further went on to state, "Family engagement is well understood as a key element in supporting educational achievement, and it seems that public library use, as well as being associated with similar positive child outcomes to school library use, has in addition a particularly specialized correlation with family support for reading.”

It has been my experience that my children love to go our public library.  The children’s room is a fun, exciting and safe environment.   The best part is that it is free.  If you are feeling a little “cabin fever” from all this snow the library is a great place to visit.   We might not have the Fonz to encourage us but this research is compelling.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12366478

DORA

In the next couple of weeks, parents will receive a summary of their child's most recent DORA (Diagnostic Online Reading Assessment) results.  To help parents have a better understanding of this test, there will be a Parent Information Meeting about the DORA on Monday, February 7, at 7:00PM at the Francis Wyman Elementary School auditorium.  This meeting is for parents from all four elementary schools.  Dr. Conti and the four elementary school principals will share information about the test so that parents will have a better understanding of this assessment.

Burlington Public Schools Allergen Policy for Students with Life Threatening Allergies

Burlington Public Schools Allergen Policy for Students with Life Threatening Allergies

The Burlington Public Schools recognize the increasing prevalence of student allergies and the life-threatening nature of the allergy for many students.  The Burlington Public Schools cannot guarantee to provide an allergen-free environment for all students with life threatening allergies, nor prevent any harm to students in emergencies.  The goal is to minimize the risk of exposure to food allergens that pose a threat to those students, to educate the community, and to maintain and regularly update a system-wide protocol for responding to their needs. 

The Burlington Public Schools will maintain a system wide procedure for addressing life threatening allergic reactions by incorporating measures to reduce the exposure to allergens and procedures to treat allergic reactions.  For any student whose physician (primary care or board certified allergist) has informed the school in writing that the student has a life threatening allergy, the school nurse will oversee the development of an Allergy Action Plan or Individual Health Care Plan (IHCP), which will includes an Allergy Action Plan (AAP) that addresses the management of anaphylaxis. Parents/guardians have the responsibility to inform the school district when a child’s medical condition might affect the child’s welfare or safety.  Effective communication is vital among all parties.

The district wide procedure addresses:

1.      The training and education for all Burlington Public Schools employees.  The training will include the education on

a description of severe allergies

signs of anaphylaxis

the proper use of an epipen and

the specific steps to follow in the event of an emergency. 

2.      The Burlington Public Schools is making every reasonable accommodation to lessen the possibility of exposure to food allergens by designating that at all schools, during the school day, implement the following:  birthday recognition will be food free, classroom snacks will be “known allergy free” in accordance with the Individual Health Care Plans of each child of the students within a given classroom, and the use of food for curriculum purposes will be restricted to approval by the Principal.  Notification will be sent to the parent/guardian if food is used with principal approval for curriculum purposes. The parent can choose to provide a food or non-food based alternative.  The use of food as a reward in school will be eliminated.  The Principal will implement a No Food or Utensil Sharing practice with particular focus at the elementary level.

3.      The school nurse in conjunction with the parent/guardian and the primary care provider/allergist will prepare either the Allergy Action Plan (AAP) or the Individual Health Care Plan (IHCP) which incorporates an Allergy Action Plan (AAP) for any student with a life threatening allergy.  The IHCP and AAP will be updated annually.  The nurse will review the IHCP and AAP with teachers of the students in their classes and respond to emergencies as per the emergency protocol documented in the IHCP or AAP.  The Teachers will leave pertinent information in a substitute file.

4.      Each elementary school will provide an allergen sensitive table(s) in the cafeteria.  At the middle school and high school appropriate accommodations will be made as needed.

5.      The school nurse will recommend to administration the appropriateness of each field trip and consideration of safety of the student with life-threatening allergies.  Parents of a student at risk of anaphylaxis will be invited to accompany their child on school trips, in addition to the chaperone. 

6.      The Principal and Food Services personnel will establish a routine cleaning protocol for all food consumption areas (to include a protocol for hand-washing and table/desk cleaning before and after food/snacks have been consumed).

First Reading:  1/11/11

Second Reading: 1/25/11

Adopted by Burlington School Committee: 1/25/11

iPads

Dr. Eric Conti and Burlington High School Principal Patrick Larkin were on the news this morning discussing the high school utilizing iPads.  The following link contains more information.http://burlingtonhigh.blogspot.com/2011/02/becoming-11-fox-news-comes-to-bhs-to.html

Orange Cone at Drop-Off

This morning I woke-up to hear a newscaster report the next upcoming storm will be a "Monster."    In anticipation of the new storm the Department of Public Works has several vehicles on site today at Pine Glen clearing snow out of the parking lots.   Another change that will be implemented is that we will put an orange cone outside in the morning during drop-off.    At 8:35 A.M. when teachers need to leave the drop-off area to teach a teacher will bring  the orange cone inside.   (We utilize cell phones for the most accurate and consistent time.)  Removal of the cone will be a visual signal that the time is 8:35 A.M.   After 8:35 A.M., parents must park their cars and bring students into the building to sign students in.  Students entering the building after 8:35 A.M. are tardy.   Thank you all for your assistance and support! 

Important Notice From PTO - Carnival

Hi Everyone, 

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  After all of this snow – I think it would be a good idea to focus on SPRING!  The Pine Glen Carnival is coming in March.  This is an exceptional event that is fun for the entire family as well as a vital fundraiser for the school.  We need your ideas, creativity, and input – which is what the upcoming meeting is all about.  The first meeting will be held on 1/31 (weather permitting) at Panera in Burlington @ 7 pm.

This is an amazing event & we need you!  Warm up with a cup of soup – while we plan for spring!  

 Looking forward to seeing you!

Michelle Grossman, Deb Murphy, & Jolene Fogarty

Carnival Co-Chairs

 Please email us & RSVP – so we can plan on how many seats we need to reserve.

Community Service Project

My name is Meghan Groom, and I am a sophomore at Burlington High School.  I will be running a soup drive called the Souperbowl to benefit the Burlington Food Pantry at Pine Glen School.  The collection will run from Monday January 24^th to Friday February 4^th.  There will be a labeled box in the main lobby where donations can be left.  I understand that these are hard economic times for everyone, but any donation will be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for your support. 

Safety

          Thank you very much to everyone who has and continues to follow the safety guidelines for drop-off and pick-up.   These guidelines where developed in conjunction between myself, the Burlington Police and the Burlington Fire Departments.    Past weather conditions have presented us with high snowdrifts and unfriendly road conditions.  We have all recently experienced challenging commutes in our corner of the world.  

The daily safety of students makes it critical that no one drops off or picks up students in areas of the parking lot other than the official spot.   It is critical that cars stay to the perimeter of the parking lot when picking up or dropping off students.  This allows for the greatest volume of vehicles to proceed through a limited area at a time.   At 8:35 A.M. teachers need to leave the drop-off area to teach.   After 8:35 A.M.,  parents must park their cars and bring students into the building to sign students in.  Students entering the building after 8:35 A.M. are tardy.    

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Registration of children entering Kindergarten in September, 2011 will be held at the Fox Hill, Memorial, Pine Glen and Francis Wyman Schools on Monday through Friday, February 7, 2011 through February 11, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. each day.  A child entering kindergarten must have attained the age of five by August 31, 2011. 

At the time of registration, parents are required to bring:

1. Birth certificate for child.

2  Proof of residency in the Town of Burlington.  This requirement can be satisfied with the presentation

of a lease or a recent utility bill.

3. Medical form must be completed by your family physician, and returned to school two (2) days prior

to the opening of school.  Children will not be able to attend school in September of 2011 unless a

complete medical form is provided.   Your family physician must detail that your child has been given

the following immunizations and also indicate the dates the immunizations were given:

5 doses Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus (DTaP)

4 doses Polio

3 doses Hepatitis B

2 doses Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)

1 dose of Varicella Vaccine or Chicken Pox disease

Proof of having Lead Screening

Vision and Hearing Screening

4.  Pre-school form will need to be completed by the pre-school provider and returned at the time of your child’s scheduled kindergarten screening in the spring of 2011.

The medical forms can be picked up at registration or by clicking the following link:

http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/com_health/school/health_record_form.pdf

http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/cdc/immunization/record_certificate_of_immunization.pdf

Notice from the Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus along with the Burlington Recreation Department is sponsoring a free throw shooting contest for girls and boys ages 10-14.  The event will be held on Saturday, January 29, 2011 at Marshall Simonds Middle School from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.  The event is free.   Times are:  13 and 14 yrs. - 1:00 p.m., 12 yrs. - 1:30 p.m., 11 yrs - 2:00 p.m. and 10 yrs. - 2:30 p.m.  If you can't make the designated time just come between 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.  For more info. please contact Knights of Columbus Representative Bill Breen 781 2720-2493 or David Grubb from the Recreation Dept. at 781 270-1694

Burlington Integrated Preschool

The Burlington Integrated Preschool and the LABBB Early Childhood Program will be hosting an Open House on Friday, January 21, 2010 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Burlington High School - where the programs are located.  This Open House provides families with an opportunity to view the programs, meet the teachers and pickup registration packets to enroll their children for next year.  Students must be 3 years old by August 31, 2011.  For more information call Laura at 781-270-1808.  

Bank Robbery

     I have consistently informed the community that the safety and security of the students at Pine Glen School is our number one priority.    On Wednesday, January 5, 2011 a suspect robbed Central Bank at 85 Wilmington Rd. at around 9:30 Wednesday morning.  Dr. Conti, school superintendent, was in communication with the police and it was decided as a precautionary measure that we would have a partial lockdown at Pine Glen School and Fox Hill School.   A partial lockdown means that people are not allowed to enter or leave the building.   Students do not leave the building for recess or physical education until the police inform us that the lockdown is lifted.  Students are allowed during this period to make transitions to specialists with teacher supervision, and can use the hallway restrooms.  In addition, the superintendent’s office made a ConnectEd call before and after the event to inform parents of the situation. 

     I would like to thank parents and staff for their assistance and cooperation yesterday.   It was through our great continued and consistent communication with public safety as well as the dedicated professional staff at Pine Glen School that yesterday was a safe day.   With the exception of a few announcements over the public announcement system, i.e. students would have indoor recess; high quality instruction went on like any other typical day. 

     Sometimes an event that happens in a community even though it does not directly involve a child can be frightening.  Even this morning, my daughter overheard on the news that a fire was taking place at a home in Weymouth, and she immediately became scared wondering if our home could ever catch on fire.  If your child is nervous or needs to discuss the situation, please know staff will always be available to meet with your child and discuss concerns.  In addition to your child’s teacher, Ms. May (School Guidance Counselor), Mrs. Ferrick (School Nurse), and I love to help children and are more than happy to talk with your child about the event.   The best thing a parent can do if questions are brought up is reinforce that Pine Glen School is a safe place and if they don’t feel safe there is always someone they can talk too.   

School Pictures

Picture re-takes will be on January 13th.  Please notify the office if you would like a re-take: gosselin@burlingtonmec.edu.

Grant from Burlington Education Foundation

This summer I had the opportunity to study at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.   A component of that program was Project Adventure (a group confidence building program).  Project Adventure allowed for great intrapersonal thinking and team building ideas.   It was wonderful to bring the knowledge gained from my time this summer to Pine Glen School.  I related my experiences with Project Adventure to Ms. May, Ms. Govoni and Mrs. Nicholas in the fall of 2010.   They agreed that this would be a fantastic program for the students at Pine Glen School.

I am pleased to announce that the Burlington Education Fund (BEF) has awarded Ms. May (Guidance Counselor), Ms. Govoni (Physical Education Teachers) and Mrs. Nicholas (Physical Education Teacher) a grant to implement Project Adventure.  This grant will allow collaboration between the guidance and physical education departments to empower students and develop strategies for conflict resolution.

Note from the PTO

Happy 2011!  Just a friendly reminder that this Thursday, January 6th at 7 p.m. will be the first PTO meeting of the new year.  Guest speaker Marilyn Belmonte plans to discuss recent progress made by the Burlington Drug and Alcohol Task Force.

*****Also, Principal John Lyons will give a tour of the school building highlighting recent improvements and future plans for Pine Glen.   This should be a real treat!*****

We hope to see many of you there.  Thank you.

Holiday Note to Parents and Staff

Dear Parents and Staff,

This past weekend I again watched the students’ Holiday Performance via my Blog.  While watching the videos, a quote from the movie Elf kept replaying in my brain, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”    I don’t just think of it as Christmas cheer but holiday cheer for one and all.

Elf is one of my favorite movies to watch during the holiday season.  It speaks to the joy one can experience as an adult when he/she tries to see the world through the eyes of a child.   Over the holiday break please take time to be a kid again.   If we get snow, go sledding, throw snowballs, or make a snowman.   Locate your old toys or play with children’s, nephews, nieces, or friend’s kid’s dolls, action figures or board games.   Enjoy a favorite holiday movie or one from when you were little.   Make a play-date to get together with family, friends, or call someone you haven’t talked to in a long time.   Dance around the house singing 1980’s music or any other fun music that reminds you of your childhood.    Get a group of friends together and play touch football.   Most importantly, take some time to have fun.  I truly believe that when everyone on earth begins to look at the world through the eyes of a child we will have peace on earth and goodwill towards all.  

I would like to wish everyone a fun, safe and most joyful holiday break!   

Yours Truly,

John Lyons

Principal

Pine Glen School

P.S. I would not suggest showing the movie Elf to your own children prior to viewing it yourself to see if you deem it appropriate to show to your children.

Note from the PTO

Hi Fellow PTO Members,

We would like to thank all PTO members for their constant, steadfast support of the Pine Glen PTO and its mission to provide educational enrichment for all our students. Since the beginning of the new school year, we have been able to make a variety of contributions.  The PTO purchased new iPods, splicers, and headphones that will be used by all students  in classroom reading centers.  To provide books on tape, the PTO also purchased iTunes gift cards to be used at the staff's discretion.  The PTO also bought the new Town of Burlington flag for the school building and paid for the publication of handbook/calendars for all families, as well as student directories for PTO members.  We would like to thank Julie Gosselin for all her help with these publications.

There were a couple of successful fall fundraisers as well.  The Genevieve catalog and the Scrip Gift Card Fundraisers.  We would like to thank everyone who participated in any way.  Especially, Maria Woods, and Kathleen MacMunn who chaired these committees and Jolene Fogarty for the extra Treasurer's work involved.  The funds raised will be used to continue to fulfill the PTO mission.

We also would like to thank everyone who participated in the 50/50 raffles held during the holiday concerts.  The monies raised will be deposited into the Pine Glen PTO Family Fund that assists Pine Glen families in need.  The two raffles, including an generous anonymous donation by member(s) of the staff, raised $396 for this fund.  A special thanks to Robin Hurley, Jolene Fogarty, Michelle Grossman, and Nicole Woods for helping to run these raffles.  Congratulations to Allison Theirrien who won the evening concert raffle.  A special thanks to Bill Withycombe who won the day concert raffle and then generously donated his winnings back to the Family Fund.  

Please mark your new 2011 calendar:  Thursday, January 6th at 7 p.m. will be the first PTO meeting of the New Year.  Principal John Lyons plans to conduct a school tour for all in attendance.  He will highlight recent improvements and plans for the building.

We hope you and your families all enjoy a wonderful holiday season and we hope to see many of you at the January meeting.

Thank you,

The Pine Glen PTO Board

Video: First, Second, and Third Grade Winter Concert

Earlier today we had the Winter Concert done by the first, second, and third grades. Ms. Agati and Ms. Rzasa helped put together a very active performance by the students. Thanks to all the parents who could attend!

Video: Fourth and Fifth Grade Winter Concert

Pine Glen held its annual Fourth and Fifth Grade Winter Concert on the evening of December 14. Thanks to the parents for their great performances; Ms. Agati, Ms. Rzasa, and Mr. Napierkowski for getting the students ready for the show, and all of the parents who attended.

The video is in 3 parts, embedded below. Part 1 features the band, and parts 2 and 3 feature the chorus.