The Starburst

Greetings, Barrows Families,

We had another great week and continue to document the wonderful events and learning opportunities our students are participating in this month—included in this weeks Starburst are some pics from our "highlight reel" of the week. Showcased in this newsletter are photos from the 2nd-grade field trip to the Discovery Museum in Acton, the Food Pantry Fundraiser Drop-off, helpers at our Craft Fair, our Barrows Shining Stars performing in the RMHS production of Scrooge, and pictures around school. There are so many other highlights that are not captured in photos- thoughtful conversations, equations created and solved, growth in phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling, each day, we expand our vocabulary, persevere in our writing, help a friend, and show compassion and kindness. We are all about these daily moments here at Barrows. And we are thankful that we also have dedicated staff and families committed to helping us celebrate our learning through these more prominent events.

This week, our student council kicked off our Buy-a-Bed fundraiser. I don't know about you, but one of the best feelings after a long day at school is to rest my head on my pillow and look forward to a good night's sleep. Most of us take this for granted, and I am so proud of our school community for coming together to purchase beds for those who do not have comfortable beds to rest upon each night. Please see the information below to see how our students work together to make this our most successful Buy A Bed Fundraiser!

Also, please read through Nurse Rose's guidance on the best ways to stay healthy this winter.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,

Alissa Gallegos

2022-2023 School Year

Wednesdsay, December 14th: PTO Meeting 7:00 pm (hybrid (join in person or via zoom)

Zoom Link: https://readingpsma.zoom.us/j/89568554388?from=addon

Thursday, December 15th: Staff Caroling to three top Silent Auction Winners! & Shop & Drop!

Friday, December 23rd: 11:00 am Dismissal

School Hours:

Monday-Thursday, 8:15 AM - 2:45 PM

Friday, 8:15 AM - 12:45 PM

Students must be in class by 8:25 to be counted as on-time and present

Reading Public Schools Calendar

Buy-a-Bed Fundraiser

Mission of Deeds and Barrows School are once again collaborating to raise money towards purchasing beds for children in need this holiday season.

We have been participating in the Buy-a-Bed program since 2012.

In 2018 we hit a new record by purchasing 20 beds, only to beat that record in 2019 when we raised enough money to purchase 26 beds!

In 2020 – during COVID and remote learning – we crushed our record by raising enough money to purchase THIRTY beds!!!

In 2021- We did the impossible and made it to 33.

What will the 2022 fundraiser bring???

We need to raise 90 dollars to donate one bed towards this program… so we need your help!

Dollar donations will be counted and recorded in the classroom. There will be celebrations along our school’s journey of raising money towards this program.

Children are encouraged to EARN their dollar(s) towards the donation… you assign the “chore” (ie. have your child make his/her bed!), so your child can earn the dollar(s) towards this program.

Let’s see how many dollars our school can raise before winter break!!!

Thank you for all of your continued support! We so appreciate your generosity.

Happy Holidays!

The Barrows Student Council

Also – we would love to see photos of your child EARNING their dollar(s). Feel free to submit photos to carina.becker@reading.k12.ma.us.

Maybe we will see photos of students earning dollars in our Monday morning virtual announcements…

Dear families,

Our school has recently seen an increase in cases of respiratory viruses such as flu, colds, RSV, hand foot and mouth disease, and other illnesses. We are seeing some Covid cases and can anticipate continued increase in the latest Covid variant over the next few weeks.

For the health and safety of all students, please follow these guidelines.

Please do not send your child to school if they have any of the following:

• Fever of 100 degrees or higher. A child with a fever should not return until they have been fever-free without a fever reducer such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen for 24 hours.
• Vomiting or diarrhea in the past 24 hours
• Infectious illnesses such as strep throat or conjunctivitis for which they have been treated with antibiotics for less than 12 hours. ·
• Any symptoms listed on the COVID health screening. Additional COVID tests are available in the health office if needed.

Positive Covid 19 Children who test positive must isolate for at least 5 days. If they are asymptomatic or symptoms have resolved and they have been fever free without the use of fever-reducing medicine for 24 hours, they may return to school after Day 5. Upon return, an individual must mask through Day 10, unless they have a negative test.

Exposure to COVID-19

Anyone who has been exposed to a family member with COVID-19 should mask for 10 days and test at day 5 or anytime symptoms develop.

We all have a goal of keeping students in school, but please make sure your child is well enough for a school day. Please have a plan to pick a child up quickly if they are unwell at school and need to go home.

Your efforts to keep our students healthy are appreciated.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me

Warmly,

Christine Rose

Remember, school lunches are once again free for students in the Commonwealth. We look forward to providing nutritious meals for our students! Be sure to check out the weekly menus, as there are a lot of NEW options! Our new daily options are Bagel & Cream Cheese, Yogurt Parfait with Granola or SunButter & Jelly sandwich (details listed in the menu). Students will not have the option of cereal or pretzels anymore.

Reading Public Schools Food Service/Lunch Menus: http://reading.k12.ma.us/departments/food-services/

SEPAC works for the understanding of, respect for, and support of all children with special needs in the community.

The Reading Special Education Parent Advisory Council, in collaboration with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will be hosting a parent orientation to learn about the upcoming Special Education and Civil Rights review in our district. The parent orientation will be held virtually via zoom (click here) at 7pm on Tuesday, December 20th. Please join us!

You may contact Allison Wright at Allison.Wright@reading.k12.ma.us with questions about the parent orientation or the review. More information on Reading’s TFM can be found on our district website.

Special Education Families should also look for, and respond to, an important survey emailed from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Check your SPAM folders!

For much more information about the Special Education Parent Advisory Council, click here for our latest newsletter.

We encourage you to join SEPAC's mailing list, follow SEPAC on Facebook, and follow SEPAC on Instagram

Minted Holiday Fundraiser

We're excited to announce that we're partnering with Minted this holiday season to help us fundraise! Please support Barrows Elementary by ordering your holiday cards & gifts from Minted using our promo code FUNDRAISEBARROWS. You'll get 20% OFF your ORDER and 15% of every purchase made using our code will be donated back to us at the end of the year!

SAVE THE DATE!

Parents Night Out will take place on Friday 3rd - Musical Bingo. More details will follow in January.

THANKS

We are so lucky to have SO many amazing volunteers! We wanted to call out Lindsey McCarthy and the whole team of volunteers that contributed to successfully orchestrate the winter craft fair. It was a huge success and a joy filled way to kick off December. Also, BIG thanks to Kristin Foristall and the volunteers that worked together to develop and execute our REF tree on behalf of the PTO. The tree turned out so cute and we are very grateful to be able to participate and support this great event. Finally, thanks to our veteran volunteers - Kate Grant for organizing the Fall apparel sale and Kristin Granara and Jen Ray for organizing our monthly restaurant nights.

JOIN US

Our next PTO meeting will be on Wednesday December 14th at 7pm (Barrows Library and Zoom). Agenda will be sent in advance of the meeting. ALL parents and caregivers are welcome! Reach out to Lori and Meghan with any questions or topics for consideration. Zoom Link: https://readingpsma.zoom.us/j/89568554388?from=addon

Be a Cafeteria Volunteer

Parents/guardians that are interested can now sign up to help out in the cafeteria during the lunch periods (11:15am - 12:35pm). The cafeteria is fully staffed, but can always use a couple extra hands to help with opening up packages, milk cartons, moving through lunch line efficiently. Please note that all volunteers must have a completed CORI on file prior to volunteering and unfortunately non school aged children will not be allowed to join with the volunteer.

If you are interested in volunteering please use the Sign Up Genius to sign up for the day or days you would like to help out. Lori Barcikowski: Parent/Guardian Help at Lunch

SignUpGenius.com: Free Online Sign Up Forms

Winter Drop and Shop

The HS Class of 2025 and the officers are hosting a Winter Drop & Shop Fundraiser for elementary school students in Reading. See below for flyer.

ONGOING FUNDRAISING

Amazon Smile

Are you an Amazon shopper? Did you know that through the Amazon Smile program, a percentage of EVERY one of your purchases on Amazon goes directly to the Barrows PTO? Such an easy way to help the PTO.

If you don’t have an Amazon Smile account yet, follow these easy steps:

Set up instructions for orders placed via browser

1. Visit smile.amazon.com

2. Sign into your Amazon account just like you normally would.

3. Under “Accounts & Lists” in the main menu bar, select “Your Account”.

4. Under “Shopping programs and rentals” select “Change your charity”.

5. Enter “Alice M. Barrows PTO ” into the charity search bar.

6. Select Alice M. Barrows PTO .

Set up instructions for orders placed via Amazon app

AmazonSmile: You shop. Amazon gives.

Check that you have the latest version of the Amazon app.

Open the Amazon Shopping app on your device.

Login.

Go into the main menu of the Amazon Shopping app and tap into 'Settings'.

Tap 'AmazonSmile' and follow the on-screen instructions to turn Amazon Smile on.

In order for your Amazon order to qualify, it must be made through Amazon Smile. Unfortunately, orders made through regular Amazon won’t qualify. Fortunately, setting up bookmarks and extensions in your browser is easy!

Box Tops

Did you know you no longer need to clip Box Tops and send them into school? Box Tops now offers an app where you scan your receipts! Doing online grocery delivery these days? No problem! Box Tops also offers a way to email your online orders for credit. Find it in the app store or google play store today!

Helpsy Bin

Finally, have you been in purge mode lately? Getting rid of old, stained or ripped clothing? Drop it off in the Helpsy box in the Barrows staff parking lot (after school hours of course) and Barrows will receive a small donation for your items. Clothing, shoes and accessories are all accepted!

Questions about any of these programs or need help troubleshooting the apps? Contact Alison Ethier at alison.ethier@gmail.com

PTO Board

Lori Barcikowski, Co-President

Meghan Dribin, Co-President

Amy Koehler, Treasurer

Alicia Curtin, Secretary

Alison Ethier, Social Media Coordinator

Arrival

• Please drive slowly up Edgemont to keep everyone safe; remember, it is one way.
• Do not park in the indented section by the gym. This is the "kiss & go" area for a quick drop-off.
• Doors open at 8:15 and close at 8:25. Your child needs to be in the doors by 8:25 AM. If your child gets to school after the doors have closed, they must come to the front door and be marked tardy.

Dismissal:

• At dismissal time, there is no live pick-up in the driveway except for students who take the bus. Kindergarteners exit the building at 2:40 PM. The rest of the students dismiss at 2:45 PM from the same doors they enter in the morning.

As a safety reminder, the staff parking lot is staff-only. We respectfully ask that caregivers park along the streets. With our students exiting from their external doors in the parking lot, having cars drive in and out is not safe. You need to walk around the school on the blacktop to the back. Thanks for helping us out.

Dogs and Puppies on School Grounds

School Committee policy prohibits dogs on school grounds as much as we all love dogs and puppies and as much fun as it is walking them. If you'd like to walk your dog as part of your pick-up routine, the dog has to stay off school property. If you'd like your child to walk to you on the sidewalk or to the driveway entrances at dismissal so you can wait with your dog, please make that plan with them.

The Town of Reading contracts with William James College to offer a special service for our residents. The William James INTERFACE Referral Service maintains a mental health and wellness referral help line Monday through Friday, 9 am-5 pm, at 888-244-6843 (toll free). This is a free, confidential referral service for individuals across the lifespan living in Reading. Callers are matched with licensed mental health providers from our extensive database. Each referral meets the location, insurance, and specialty needs of the caller. Click here to learn more!

PTO Facebook Link https://www.facebook.com/BarrowsPTO/

Barrows on Twitter: @BarrowsSchool https://twitter.com/BarrowsSchool

Barrows Homepage: http://www.reading.k12.ma.us/barrows/

Reading Public Schools: http://www.reading.k12.ma.us