Dear
Barrows Families;
I hope you are enjoying a
wonderful summer, spending time with your families, playing outside, and relaxing
together. We have been busy here getting geared up for our return to school,
and are excited to embark on a new school year with our Barrows Shining Star
families! Are you thinking about how to
get your student ready to return to school?
The best things you can do are some of the following;
- ·
Talk about your child’s hopes and goals for their
year. What do they hope to learn? What skills do they hope to acquire?
- ·
What are your child’s fears about the upcoming year? What can we (the adults) do to help them feel
comfortable?
- ·
Encourage your child to write a letter/note to your
child’s teacher to introduce themselves.
- ·
Thanks to the PTO for hosting our ‘opt-in’ class
lists. Reach out to a peer (or small
peer group) that is in your child’s class next year. Plan a playground playdate
or picnic dinner to connect and build those relationships before the first day
of school. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fDHFaH8Tmf1b2WMGCtn1BycsgOJECp51oixnPY1cznQ/edit#gid=0
- ·
Read some books together – share with your learner some
of your favorite childhood books and read together as a family
- ·
Get lots of outdoor playtime! As the weather is still so beautiful, enjoy
all the fresh air and outside play possible!
The start of
this school year has us transitioning to a new website too. It is still in the beginning stages and is
“under construction” – but check out our new web address: http://www.reading.k12.ma.us/barrows/
(As our district continues to transition away from Edline websites we
will continue to provide updates and information about accessing important
class and school information!) A message will be sent out to families in the
next 2 weeks that will provide information about accessing the online website
“Portals” through which you will be able to access student-specific information
as we begin to roll out this new tool.
Families may drop off school supplies to the Barrows front
lobby on Barrows “Drop-Off Day” for student supplies will take place on Thursday,
August 25th from 8:30 A.M. to
2:00 P.M. Please
come to the front door/main office door
to the front lobby to drop off the supplies. Also, please write your child’s
first and last name and classroom teacher on the bag of supplies. We hope many of you will participate, as this
helps eliminate the challenge of bringing the big
bag of materials while also trying to get students where they need to go, take
pictures, and enjoy the 1st day happenings. (Need a reminder of what supplies
your learner needs? Check out our lists
here: http://www.reading.k12.ma.us/barrows/students/supply-lists/)
UPDATES
New Staff
I will provide updates our school community
about our new Barrows Staff via our school Facebook page and also on my school
blog (links below!)
Please welcome the following new staff members;
·
Not “new” to Barrows, but new to the role, please welcome (back) Kelly
DiCato. She will be our Barrows Special Education Team Chair!
For those newer staff, Kelly worked at Barrows for years as a special
education teacher in the DLC program prior to its transition to Birch Meadow.
We are thrilled to welcome her back as a Shining Star!
·
Dan Htoo-Levine, he will be our new music teacher. Dan has his
undergraduate degree from Berklee College in Music Business Management and a
Masters from Boston Conservatory in Music Education. Dan has spent the
last few years as interim music teachers in Lincoln and Winchester. He’s
also an active musician in the band Dan & The Wildfire.
·
Patricia Flaherty is our new Reading Specialist and comes to us from Salem Public
Schools. Patricia has a Masters of elementary education from Salem State
and also completed her Reading Specialist Certification from Salem State in
2010. She has been working for 6 years as a Reading Specialist in grades
K-5 and has experience working with both students and staff members to develop
and implement literacy interventions based on student needs and grade-level
data trends. Prior to her role as a Reading Specialist she worked as a 4th
and 5th grade classroom teacher for 15 years. She has trainings in a
range of literacy-based interventions and has spent the last year working to
implement Lucy Calkins Readers and Writers Workshop in her school.
·
Our Speech Therapist candidate is in the works… completing the
hiring process now. I will let you know as soon as it is finalized!
Sneak-A-Peek
We invite our newest shining-stars (Kindergarten students and students new
to Barrows entering grades 1-6) to come and “Sneak-A-Peek” at their classrooms
and meet their teachers the day before we start school! Please see the visit times below. We will meet together in the front lobby by
the main office and will help our newest students and parents find their
way. Welcome to Barrows!
Sneak-A-Peek Visits, Tuesday, August 30th;
1:30-1:45 –
Any students grades 1-6 new to Barrows
2:00-2:30 –
Kindergarten Classes; Ms. Forestell, Ms. Walcott, & Ms. Granoth
Please
only come within these given windows of time, as our teachers are involved in
other meetings and room set-up to prepare for the first day of school!
MTSS
MTSS stands for Multi-Tiered
Systems of Support. The Barrows School
Staff continues to develop our social/emotional curriculum with common language
and expectations, following a successful first year implementation. We are excited about this continued work and
the development of our Barrows Beliefs; Be Safe, Be Respectful, Persevere, and Collaborate.
Helpful Links
Upcoming Dates
8/31 First day of school (Dismissal at 12:45pm, ½ day Kindergarten dismissed at 11:30)
9/2 NO
SCHOOL
9/5 NO
SCHOOL –LABOR DAY
9/8 Curriculum
Night
9/16 PTO’s
Back to School Picnic
9/19-9/20 5th
grade at Camp Bournedale
9/29 School
Council, 3:15pm
I look forward to seeing you all
in a couple of weeks. Enjoy the
remainder of your summer vacation.
Love, Mrs. Leonard
