The Starburst

Greetings, Barrows Families,

We are almost halfway through our school year, which provides me with the vision of being at the pinnacle of a mountain. My family and I have spent a lot of time hiking together, and often the journey seems arduous, navigating the best route, sometimes feeling tired, other times enjoying the ever-changing views of the terrain, but always pressing on to get to the top. When we get to the top, we enjoy the view and the accomplishment over a challenging assent and then relax before heading back down. (The picture above is my family at the top of Eagle's Peak in Colorado Springs, situated on the edge of the United States Air Force Academy). As we, the Barrows community, get to the top of the proverbial mountain, we realize we have similar experiences. We have worked hard getting to the midyear point, sometimes exhausted, and other times enjoying the fun along the route (academic successes, assemblies, PTO events, etc.). Although we want to relax for a bit now, we recognize that our trek isn't over, and we need to think about how we will finish the year strong.

The second half of any trip almost always feels faster, but we still need to be focused on doing it well. The hike down Eagle's Peak with my family was one of the most challenging descents I have experienced. It is steep and covered with a gravely top, which invites slipping and twisted ankles. We needed to work together and pay close attention to our footing to get down safely. There are a couple of things that I am asking our families to do to help our students stay focused, safe, and engaged for the next semester.

Our first focus area is lunch/recess. We have noticed that our cafeteria and recess behavior as a whole group doesn't represent the kind of community we strive to be. Please remind your children to show the utmost respect to the adults who serve lunch and oversee our students during lunch and recess. Some of our adults are being met with resistance to requests for students to turn their voices off when it is time to clean up and remain in their seats until they are directed to throw away their lunches and head out for recess through the right doors. Feeding 120 children within a 20-minute window (x3) while keeping the area safe and clean requires everyone's doing their part and showing our Barrows Beliefs (be safe, persevere, be respectful and collaborate) consistently. We want to maximize their time to eat and get outside to run around and get fresh air; however, we are using the extra time to restate expectations and wait for students to listen. This is frustrating for the adults and students making the right choices.

One other area that we are focusing on as we enter the second semester is our school attendance. Every student will receive a letter early next week with their updated tardies and absences. We certainly do not want sick students coming to school, however f you are unsure if you should send your child, please check with your child's provider or Nurse Rose for guidance. We encourage family vacations to be planned for those times when school is not in session. We know we can improve our overall attendance and hope to increase it by 1% over the next five months. Regarding tardies- students must be in their classroom seats at 8:25 am, not entering the front door at 8:25. Our school opens at 8:15 so that students have 10 minutes to unpack, get settled for the day, and begin their morning work. If your child is having trouble getting to school or school on time, please consider evaluating morning routines or reach out to me, your child's teacher or our support staff for additional resources and support. Attending school regularly inspires purpose and a strong sense of belonging and allows students to engage in rigorous, purposeful tasks at school. Plus, we really like having them with us every day!

Thank you for working with us to develop independent, caring, responsible, engaged, and respectful members of our community.

Warmly,

Alissa Gallegos

Dear Families,

This week, CDC has increased the community level of COVID-19 in Middlesex County to high.

• We have masks available in all health offices for students and staff and are continuing with symptomatic COVID testing at school.
• Please continue to monitor for symptoms and keep your child home and test them if they have any symptoms. Please contact me if you have questions, or if you need any additional at home test kits.

• Please continue to let me know if your child has covid or other communicable illness so I can tract and also send out contagious illness information to families, such as strep throat notices. I can also review the covid protocol with you.
• Vaccination is an important tool in preventing serious illness. The next clinic for both flu and COVID vaccines will be on Friday January 20th at Coolidge Middle school from 2-5 pm. Here is the link to register.

The students’ electronic health record software system is being updated. The new Health Portal will allow parents to directly message school nurses, update any emergency contacts and medical conditions and securely upload medical documents to their child’s health record. Families will be receiving an email inviting them to log into the Health Portal.

Please note that even if parents opt in to consent for administration of over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol and Ibuprofen, a doctor’s note will still be required for elementary students to receive any medication at school.

Enjoy the weekend!

Christine Rose, R.N

2022-2023 School Year

Monday, January 16th: No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Community Breakfast & Cultural Program @ RMHS 9:30 am

Wednesday, January 18th: Virtual Internet Safety Safety Training for Parents (must register)

Wednesday, February 1st: Global Play-Day

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

Friday, February 10th: Restaurant Night at the Mandarin

February 20-24th: No School, President's Day & February Vacation

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

The Coolidge musical is this weekend! This show is "Crazy for You (Youth Edition)". There are shows tonight and Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 2:00. While the name may not ring a bell, it's a classic play written for students/ kids, so appropriate for all audiences! The middle school productions are always fun, well done, energetic, and not too long! 🙂

Tickets can be purchased at the box office, but purchasing ahead makes it super easy: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/69547

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/

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.

The United States Attorney’s Office is hosting a virtual Internet safety presentation for parents the evening of Wednesday, January 18th from 6:30 – 7:30 pm. The presentation, entitled Keeping Kids Safe and Secure Online: A Project Safe Childhood Presentation for Parents will bring awareness to the dangers of the internet, including gaming and social media platforms that predators use to groom children with the intent of exploiting them sexually online or for an in person meeting. The presentation will focus on prevention by educating parents and community members how to help keep children safe online. We will be covering the following topics:

Social Media 101 & Digital Footprint
Cyberbullying
Sexting
Gaming
Victim Support
Protecting Against Online Predation

The presentation is free. Registration is required. The link to register is included on the attached flyer and is also included here:

REGISTRATION DETAILS
Please register at the following link: (via Chrome browser))
Event address for attendees: https://usao.webex.com/usao/onstage/g.php?MTID=ec3d8ccd61ccdd26ee39d8c6ffd5c57aa

Meet virtually with Cisco Webex. Anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Simple, modern video meetings for everyone on the world's most popular and trusted collaboration platform.

usao.webex.com

Password: PSC1
Questions or difficulty registering? Please contact
Karen Legace @ USAMA.PSCOutreach@usdoj.gov<mailto:USAMA.PSCOutreach@usdoj.gov>

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

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.

Tuesday, January 17th at 7 pm: Special Needs Planning with Attorney Lisa Cukier
We are very excited to have Lisa Cukier present on Special Needs Planning. Lisa is an accomplished attorney with Burns and Levinson and has deep experience on a variety of topics related to family planning - including topics related to children with special needs. Lisa will be providing tips and strategies throughout the presentation and will also be available for Q & A. This will be an information packed session that will be aimed at all levels of disabilities and we highly encourage you to attend.

*This virtual event is hosted by SEPAC and open to anyone. Zoom: https://readingpsma.zoom.us/j/85118571330

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

Parents Night Out Fundraiser- Musical Bingo presented by Nubingo

Friday February 3rd, 7pm - Buy your tickets now to guarantee your spot at this FUNdraiser.

The goal for this fundraiser is to ensure we can fully meet this school years enrichment goals (inflation has driven up costs across the board - buses/vendors) and also help us finish the school year financially strong so we are all set to kick off next school year.

If you have not been to a Nubingo event get ready to sing your heart out, dance, have a blast playing musical bingo and other fun games along with all your Barrows friends and soon to be new friends. We will even have a table full of Barrows teachers competing with us!

There will also be a silent auction of amazing teacher donated gifts of time with your kids. Including new and returning favorites such as - Tea Party and Cupcakes with the Kindergarten Teachers! Baking Cookies with the 1st grade teachers at Ms Lanzo's House! Crafting party with the 2nd grade teachers! Ice Cream Outing with the 3rd grade teachers! Board Game Party with the 4th grade teachers! Robots & Cookie Extravaganza with Ms Becker! PE Teacher for the Day AND Principal for the Day! Ride to School with Officer Matt and Rusty! Front Row Seats to 5th Grade Graduation Ceremony!

SAVE THE DATE - RESTAURANT NIGHT!

Mark your calendars for the next restaurant night! Mandarin on Friday February 10th.

JOIN US

Our next PTO meeting will be on Wednesday February 8th 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

Sign up to help in the cafeteria during 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)

ONGOING FUNDRAISING

Minted Fundraiser

The Minted Fundraiser is open the ENTIRE year! You can use the promo code FUNDRAISEBARROWS any time you place an order through Minted and help support the Barrows Elementary PTO. You'll get 20% OFF your ORDER and 15% of every purchase made using our code will be donated back to Barrows.

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