The Starburst

Greetings, Barrows Families,

We can all feel the energy building as we get closer to our holiday break. This week our days were jam-packed with lots of unique learning experiences and fun! Our staff and students thank our PTO (you) for funding the fifth-grade visit from the Discovery Museum on Monday--bringing science concepts to life in a hands-on, interactive experience. Also funded by the PTO was the much-awaited gingerbread house decorating, where families joined their kindergarteners in the fun! (See pictures below)

Our Barrows Glee Club had so much fun singing to the winning families last night! We will provide more teacher raffles at the PTO Musical Bingo in February for our parents and caregivers.

Here are a couple of things to note as we head into the last week of school before the holiday:

LOST AND FOUND!

See the photos of all lost items. Students will have the opportunity to walk by the collection and claim their items this week. All others will be donated over the break.

DAILY SNACKS in the CLASSROOM

It is the Reading Public School's wellness policy that we are not permitted to provide snacks to our students during the school day. Please send a healthy snack with your child every single day. If you are unsure about the allergies in your classroom, please check with your child's teacher. Teachers are not allowed to provide snacks to our students.

STAYING HEALTHY & COVERAGE

As Nurse Rose mentioned last week, we are seeing a rise in our students and staff getting sick--we are doing our best to provide excellent coverage for our teachers. My husband, Mr. Gallegos, even became a substitute to help this week. Today he taught PE! Please be patient with minor changes in our routines when we have our regular staff out. This weekend and our vacation will hopefully provide us with ample time to rest, so our bodies can fight off all the germs.

LIBRARY VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP Link--see below!

Please send in your Buy a Bed Dollars!

Check out the Spirit Week schedule below! Spirit gear will be organized and sent home early this week. Kate Grant will connect with those families that had orders that should not go home with students. Thank you Ms. Grant for organizing this! I cannot wait to wear my new Barrows pajama pants on Friday!

I want to recognize our families celebrating upcoming holidays with a very Happy Hanukkah this coming week and a Merry Christmas at the start of the break. I wish everyone peace and health this coming new year. This will be my last newsletter of 2022.

I am looking forward to resting, spending time with my family and friends, and hoping for SNOW!

Be well,

Alissa Gallegos

2022-2023 School Year

Monday-Friday, December 19-23: SPIRIT WEEK!

Tuesday, December 20th: Sepac Meeting @ 7PM (virtual, link below)

Friday, December 23rd: 11:00 am Dismissal

Tuesday, January 3rd: School Resumes

Wednesday, January 11th: PTO Meeting @ 7PM

Monday, January 16th: No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Friday, February 3rd: Parents Night-Out, Musical Bingo @ 7PM

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

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

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

Happy Holidays!

The Barrows Student Council

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 (SEPAC) 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! See attached flyer for more information.

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.

IMPORTANT! The Department of Elementary and Special Education (DESE) is currently conducting a Special Education and Civil Rights review in Reading. Special Education Family input is critical. Please look for an email survey titled: Public School Monitoring needs your feedback - it was sent on 12/1.

Coming Soon: Special Needs Planning with Attorney Lisa Cukier of Burns & Levinson on Tuesday, January 17th at 7 pm. See attached flyer for more information.

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

Thank you,

SEPAC BOARD

SEPAC WEBPAGE

Join SEPAC's mailing list

Follow SEPAC on Facebook

Follow SEPAC on Instagram

Minted Holiday Fundraiser

It’s not too late to order your holiday cards and gifts through Minted and help support the Barrows Elementary PTO. Use 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! Thank you!!!

SAVE THE DATE!

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

RESTAURANT NIGHT!

Mark your calendars for the next restaurant night! It will be with Professor's Market on Wednesday, January 11th from 3-6pm!

JOIN US

Our next PTO meeting will be on Wednesday January 11th 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.

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