Barrows Safety Drill

Dear Barrows Families;

I am writing to inform you that we participated in a safety drill this morning.  The purposes of these drills are similar to a fire drill, it allows staff and students to practice a routine that we hope to never have to use.  It allows us to examine our protocols and facilities to ensure we are addressing any needs that arise.  Today our Barrows students and staff did an excellent job.  The Reading Police Department worked with us and found many positives about the safety in our building.  We also went around and visited each Kindergarten and 1^st grade classroom following the drill to celebrate their efforts.  I am proud of our Shining Star students today!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. 

Thank you,

Heather Leonard

"Red Flag" Days

We have enjoyed such beautiful fall weather that I haven’t had the opportunity to remind our community about our “Red Flag” weather days.  With the rains projected for the next few days, it seems timely to share these reminders now.

“Red Flag” days are applicable to morning drop off only (sorry, we cannot allow parents/guardians to wait inside at pick-up times.) When the weather is determined to be inappropriate for outside drop-off, a red flag is posted outside on the front of the building (right by the Kiss & Go lane.) I also do my best to post on our Twitter Page when we put the flag out (http://www.twitter.com/barrowsschool) 

On these "Red Flag" days students may begin to enter the building at 8:05a.m. Prior to this time doors will remain locked. At 8:05 a.m. students may enter the building through the following doors: Door #1 (Main office), Door #19 (cafeteria front entrance), Door #12 (blacktop entrance by cafeteria), and Door #16 (front of building by the gym.)

Especially on these foul weather days please observe our traffic safety laws (one-way on Edgemont, no idling, no parking on the school-side of Edgemont Ave, active drop-off in the kiss & go lane only, etc.) to help ensure the safety of all our students.

If you would like additional information about our “Red Flag” day determinations, read a previous blog post here:  http://barrowselementary.blogspot.com/2016/12/winter-weather-revisit-additional.html

Thank you for observing our safety procedures!

Why were our teachers out?

I love this question, because it invites a sharing of important information for our school community.  Often the question is coming from a place of frustration or confusion, as it is always challenging to have the classroom teacher out – even more so at the start of the school year.  Thank you to those parents that have reached out to ask this important question.  Your question helps us to share the important work that is happening for our adults in the building on behalf of our students.

Over the course of this month many different teachers will be out for a few days. Most recently, our Kindergarten teachers were out this past Thursday and Friday.  Our teachers were participating in a training designed specifically for Kindergarten teachers around the teaching of writing.  Developing students as writers is a big focus for our elementary schools this year.  Our staff was lucky enough to work with the person who literally wrote the book on early childhood writing development; Martha Horne.  Talking, Drawing, Writing(https://www.stenhouse.com/content/talking-drawing-writing) focuses on developing our youngest learners as storytellers and the guided shift towards becoming authors of rich stories.  We are lucky to have Martha, an expert in the field, working with our staff.

I acknowledge that having our teachers out at this early point in the year is a challenge.  I apologize for any difficulties it has created for your child as they are newly navigating the classroom routines, expectations, and relationship building.  I will note that the benefit of this professional learning happening now is that it will allow our teachers to implement these instructional strategies throughout the year with ongoing coaching from Ms. Horne starting right away.  Additionally – we must work within the availability of the professional trainers, consider scheduling across all grades, all schools and all district, while ensuring our teachers get timely training to improve their craft on behalf of our students.

Another challenge we encountered at Barrows this past week was a lack of substitute coverage.  Our amazing staff worked hard to step up and lend a hand in the classrooms, but this is a challenge that we do face.  If you (or a neighbor or a friend) have ever considered substitute teaching, I encourage you to reach out to Reading Public Schools HR department to learn more! https://www.reading.k12.ma.us/departments/human-resources/ (if not here at Barrows, then at least at another school in district!)  We have opportunities for teacher substitutes, paraeducator substitutes, and more!

I encourage you to revisit a blog post from last year about teacher professional development here: http://barrowselementary.blogspot.com/2016/12/teacher-and-staff-professional-learning.html

 

Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns.  Of course, we always want our staff in their classrooms with students. We also want our teachers to be the best equipped professionals with the most current knowledge and pedagogy possible.  In the end, this is the best way for us to continue to meet the needs of all our children!

Thank you for your support,

Heather Leonard