Book Fair at Memorial

Book fair is open December 2-9 

Books make great gifts for the Holidays!

Please stop by the library before or after your scheduled parent-teacher conference on

December 5, 2013

Winter Concert at Memorial

Enjoy the sounds of the season!

Please join us for the Winter Concert at Memorial School

on December 11, 2013 @ 7pm

Title One Math coffee at Memorial School

Learn more about math support and meet our talented math tutors!

Please join us for the Title One Math coffee at Memorial School

December 4th @ 9:30-10:30

in the Cafetorium

PARCC Will Replace MCAS For Most BPS Students

This post originally appeared on Superintendent Conti's Blog

In case you missed it in the news last week, the Massachusetts Board of Education voted to accept a two-year transition plan to the PARCC assessment. The original plan to implement PARCC testing called for all Massachusetts students begin taking the new assessment in 2015, but MA Commissioner of Education Mitchell Chester has been listening to school and district leaders across the state and has advocated for a more gradual transition:

“I have heard a great deal from school superintendents and others about the importance of pacing ourselves so that schools can implement PARCC and other reform initiatives in a thoughtful way,”he said in the memo. “This transition approach is responsive to the field…”

(From EdWeek - Massachusetts Won’t Require All Schools To Give PARCC Test in 2015)

Many of the concerns schools have is in regards to the online aspect of PARCC testing, something that is new to our state. In order to help facilitate this transition, Burlington has volunteered to help support students and educators across the state in this transition.

We are pleased to be participating in the Spring 2014 PARCC Field Test – and have asked PARCC to expand the sample of our students involved because we believe that this experience will be good for children in Burlington and across the state. The Burlington Community has generously provided us with the technological resources to expand our Field Test to include all students. We are also lucky to have talented people working in the district who are willing to learn from this experience and to share this knowledge with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and across Massachusetts.

Our plan is to use different devices at different grades (i.e. tablets, chromebooks, computer labs, etc.) to determine which environment is best for students. We will be conducting focus groups with students and teachers after each testing window and sharing this information with our stakeholders and other school districts to help prepare for what is ahead.  This district preview will help us to better prepare our students and curriculum for future test administrations.

Because our students are participating in the PARCC, we have the option of opting out of MCAS English Language Arts and Math testing at all grades except grade 10 . Our sophomores will have to take both PARCC and MCAS due to both the state graduation requirement and to qualify for the Adams’ scholarships.  In other words, it appears that we will not be administering the MCAS Test this year (aside from grade 10 and possibly Science in grades 5,8,9)

There are two testing windows for the PARCC assessments. The first, for the Performance Based Assessment (PBA), is March 24 – April 11 and the second, for the End of Year Assessment (EOY), is May 19 – June 6. The PBA consists of three testing sessions and the EOY consists of two. We will share more specifics in regards to dates for each grade as soon as we coordinate them with the DESE and PARCC testing officials.

We have been informed that we will not see the results of the Field Test.  Pearson (the creator of the PARCC test) may share district results but they will not be sharing individual school or student results.  While this may concern some parents, we feel confident in our ability to continue to show evidence of students growth through a variety of assessments that our staff members conduct throughout the year.

You may have lots of questions.  We have lots of questions.  We will be getting out more information as it becomes available.

Turkey Trot cancelled

The Turkey Trot is cancelled due to 100% chance of rain and possible strong winds on Wednesday.  

Giving thanks

There are certain times of the school year that call out and require me
 to pause... and reflect. As I look out my office window, I am reminded
 that the sounds of lawnmowers have been replaced by leaf and snow 
blowers and the sights of kindergartners in costumes have changed to
 hats and winter coats. There is a small window of silence that occurs 
this time of year and it provides a wonderful opportunity to give and 
receive thanks. 

Thank you for sharing your children with us. The trust and patience you
 gift to everyone at Memorial is the foundation of our success. Effective
 partnerships are grounded in these qualities.  Trust allows us the leeway
 to weather a disappointment or disagreement and find resolution. Everyday,
 I work with parents who exhibit tremendous grace and respect for me, 
the teachers and staff at Memorial.  We are on this journey together 
and I couldn't be more thankful for your support. 

So before the lines at the mall get a mile deep, 
take a moment and thank someone.

I wish you and your family a peaceful and graceful Thanksgiving,

Deb Dressler

Weekly updates

MEMORIAL SCHOOL NEWS   November 22nd, 2013 (Memorialprincipal.blogspot.com) Main office: 781-270-1721         Absentee Line:781-273-7649           Nurse:781-270-1724

IMPORTANT DATES

Nov. 27th - Half day - dismissal at 11:15

Nov. 28th & 29th - No School - Thanksgiving recess

Dec. 2nd-9th - Scholastic Book Fair

Dec. 4th - 4th Grade Field Trip

Dec. 5th - No School for Students - Parent Conferences

Dec. 11th - Winter Concert 7PM

MAIN ENTRÉE CHOICES (SEE LUNCH MENU FOR MORE DETAILS) Nov. 25th & 26th

Monday Burlington Sampler (2 mozzarella cheese sticks & 3 chicken nuggets)

Tuesday French toast sticks

Wednesday No Lunches served Dismissal at 11:15

Thursday No School Thanksgiving Recess

Friday No School Thanksgiving Recess

The Book Fair Is Coming!

The Memorial School Book Fair will be held from Monday, December 2nd thru Monday, December 9th.  Online shopping will run from November 22nd thru December 11th at scholastic.com/fair.  

Box Tops

Please send in any box tops you have collected.  Every label collected is money for our school. Box tops can be found on over 240 participating products, it’s an easy way for schools to earn cash for the things they need.

GIFT CARDS for Sale

Purchase gift cards the Memorial PTOs SCRIP Gift Card Program.  Get the gift cards you need for the holidays and every day shopping and earn money for Memorial School.  Each of the stores or restaurants you purchase a gift card for will donate a percentage of each sale to our school.  The order form will be going home in backpack folders today, and is also posted on our website at www.memorialschoolpto.org.

Lost and Found

The lost and found items are piling up. Please check the boxes located in the cafeteria the next time you are in.  You might find that one item you didn’t even know you lost. All items will be donated to charity if not picked up by December 20th.

Coats For Kids  Memorial School will be participating in the Coats For Kids program again this year!

Now through January 11, 2014, we will be collecting winter coats for kids, moms and dads.  All sizes are needed.  There is a box for donations outside the main office.

4th Grade Parents

The 2022 Adopt-A-Class is looking for parent volunteers to help plan and run an event a year to raise money for the 4th grade class.  You can spend as little as an hour helping run the event and still earn scholarship credit for your child.  Please email, Kristin Russo at adoptaclass2022@gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions.  We look forward to raising money for the class and having fun while doing it.

Burlington High School presents the madcap dark comedy, “Arsenic and Old Lace,” in the Fogelberg Performing Arts Center of BHS on Nov 22 & 23 at 7 pm and Nov 24 @ 2 pm. Tickets: $5 students/sr citizens, $10 adults. www.BurlingtonTheatre.com or 781-A-FUN-TIC.

Burlington High School Athletic Hall of Fame Fundraiser:Sponsored by the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will be held on Tuesday November 26th,  5pm to 9pm at Flatbread Company 213 Burlington Rd, Bedford, MA.  Come join us with old friends for food, drinks, raffles and memories.  There is no upfront cost or tickets to purchase,just show up.  The cost is the food you eat,and the beverages you drink.  The BHS Hall of Fame gets a percentage of the sales of that night.  Take out or eat in.

Toys For Tots: The Memorial School will be helping the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves with the

Toys for Tots program.  We will be collecting new, unwrapped toys in the collection box located in front of the Health Office until Friday, December 11th. This can be a very difficult time of year for many families.  Please consider helping to put a smile on a child’s face. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

turkey trot at Memorial

The Annual Turkey Trot at Memorial

will be on Wednesday

November 27th 2013

Parents are welcome to come to school to watch the fun! 

fifth grade 8:30

fourth grade: 9:15

third grade: 10:00

MEMORIAL SCHOOL NEWS   November 15th, 2013 (Memorialprincipal.blogspot.com) Main office: 781-270-1721         Absentee Line:781-273-7649           Nurse:781-270-1724

IMPORTANT DATES

Nov. 19th - Picture Make-Up day

Nov. 27th - Half day - dismissal at 11:15

Nov. 28th & 29th - No School - Thanksgiving recess

Dec. 2nd-9th - Scholastic Book Fair

Dec. 4th - 4th Grade Field Trip

Dec. 11th - Winter Concert 7PM

MAIN ENTRÉE CHOICES (SEE LUNCH MENU FOR MORE DETAILS) Nov. 18th - 22nd

Monday Pop Corn Chicken

Tuesday Pizza sticks with Marinara Sauce

Wednesday Hamburger or Cheeseburger

Thursday Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

Friday Stuffed Crust Pizza

The Book Fair Is Coming!

The Memorial School Book Fair will be held from Monday, December 2nd thru Monday, December 9th.  Online shopping will run from November 22nd thru December 11th at scholastic.com/fair.  Please see backpack folders for more information.

Box Tops

Please send in any box tops you have collected.  Every label collected is money for our school. Box tops can be found on over 240 participating products, it’s an easy way for schools to earn cash for the things they need.

From the PTO

KidStuff

The valuable, family-friendly, KidStuff Coupon Books are available through our school again this year! The KidStuff Coupon Books were sent home to Memorial Families on Monday, November 4th.  The cost of each book is $25.00 and our school will receive 50% of the proceeds.  Please return your payment no later than Monday, November 18th (make checks payable to the Memorial School PTO).  If you are not interested in the book, please return it to school.  If you wish to order additional books, please complete the enclosed order form and include your payment.  These books will be sent home after November 18th.  If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Restivo at arestivo@live.com or Lisa Cline at lbcline1@gmail.com.

Spirit Wear: Show your school spirit! Memorial school Spirit Wear is now available through the PTO.  Visit the PTO website at www.memorialschoolpto.org for more information. See this weeks back pack folders order forms.  All orders are due on November 15th and expected delivery will take 3-4 weeks.  Please contact Alicia Vaudo at avdv82000@hotmail.com or 781-272-0705 if you have any questions.

GIFT CARDS for Sale

Purchase gift cards the Memorial PTOs SCRIP Gift Card Program.  Get the gift cards you need for the holidays and every day shopping and earn money for Memorial School.  Each of the stores or restaurants you purchase a gift card for will donate a percentage of each sale to our school.  The order form will be going home in backpack folders today, and is also posted on our website at www.memorialschoolpto.org.

Lost and Found

The lost and found items are piling up. Please check the boxes located in the cafeteria the next time you are in.  You might find that one item you didn’t even know you lost. All items will be donated to charity if not picked up by December 20th.

Coats For Kids  Memorial School will be participating in the Coats For Kids program again this year!

Now through January 11, 2014, we will be collecting winter coats for kids, moms and dads.  All sizes are needed.  There is a box for donations outside the main office.

4th Grade Parents

The 2022 Adopt-A-Class is looking for parent volunteers to help plan and run an event a year to raise money for the 4th grade class.  You can spend as little as an hour helping run the event and still earn scholarship credit for your child.  Please email, Kristin Russo at adoptaclass2022@gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions.  We look forward to raising money for the class and having fun while doing it.

Burlington High School Athletic Hall of Fame Fundraiser:Sponsored by the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will be held on Tuesday November 26th,  5pm to 9pm at Flatbread Company 213 Burlington Rd, Bedford, MA.  Come join us with old friends for food, drinks, raffles and memories.  There is no upfront cost or tickets to purchase,just show up.  The cost is the food you eat,and the beverages you drink.  The BHS Hall of Fame gets a percentage of the sales of that night.  Take out or eat in.

Toys For Tots: The Memorial School will be helping the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves with the

Toys for Tots program.  We will be collecting new, unwrapped toys in the collection box located in front of the Health Office Until Friday, December 13th. This can be a very difficult time of year for many families.  Please consider helping to put a smile on a child’s face. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

teachers teaching teachers

Professional development involves team work and group presentations. 

The Memorial staff explored Robert Marzano's book, The Highly Engaged Classroom.

Sometimes...it looks like this

Sometimes... 

professional development involves a race with a scooter, hoola-hoop and and jump rope! 

Congrats to the Ducks!

November 12th 

is a professional development day for teachers K-5 in Burlington, Ma. There is no school for elementary students

Parent -teacher conferences for elementary students are scheduled for 

December 5, 2013.

The Season of Thanksgiving

I found this article online and wanted to share it with the Memorial school family as we enter the season of Thanksgiving.

How to Teach Gratitude to Kids

Edited by Flickety, Teresa, Jmuddy95, Smartie290 and 1 other

Happiness is a skill that parents can teach their children and the relationship between gratitude and happiness is really strong. People who spend more time doing things that express their gratitude tend to be considerably happier than people who don't. Here are some ways to help your children become happier and more certain about themselves by learning to express gratitude on a regular basis.

1

Help your kids practice cataloging things that they feel grateful for. For example:

• Keep a gratitude journal
• Keep a family gratitude list and post it on the refrigerator
• Go around the dinner table at dinnertime and have everyone say something that they're grateful for.

2

Appreciate the broad things and the little things. Gratitude can be being grateful for being born, or being grateful for specific things such as a new puppy, doll, or toy. All of this counts in practicing gratitude with your kids.

3

Practice gratitude regularly. You can do it daily but research shows that even just doing it once a week will have a considerable effect and all kinds of benefits.

4

Smell the roses. Savor positive experiences; doing so tends to amplify the pleasant emotions that you might be feeling.

5

Have your kids tell you three good things when you put them to bed each night. This should relate to things that happened to them that day or that they did during the day. This gives them a lens through gratitude glasses. Practicing this routine at the end of the day will help teach your children to slow down, savor the moment, and notice things that they feel appreciative about and should be thankful for.

6

Write gratitude letters. This is a souped-up version of the thank you note. Teach your kids to think about writing a letter to somebody like a teacher, or a family member who has done something for them that has gone with little gratitude. This teaches them that it is not just about when somebody gives you something material but when somebody really does something for you. Help your child write the letter - they can dictate for you if they're younger. Talk about what they feel grateful for and then take them to deliver it in person and read it out loud.

7

Don't label your children. When we say that our children are really talented at something, we actually set this talent in stone and suggest that it doesn't change. It creates a "fixed mindset"; it means that we believe that talents and anything that a kid is good at are inborn. This label is one that they haven't necessarily earned and they got it just by being born. Instead, change that fixed mindset to be more of a growth mindset, then we start to value the role of effort a little bit more.

• A fixed mindset example would be: "You did great on that test. You must be really smart."
• The growth mindset would be: "You did really great on that test. You must have tried really hard." This mindset gives kids something to really hang their hat on.

MEMORIAL SCHOOL NEWS   November 8th, 2013 (Memorialprincipal.blogspot.com) Main office: 781-270-1721         Absentee Line:781-273-7649           Nurse:781-270-1724

IMPORTANT DATES

Nov. 11th - No School - Veteran’s Day

Nov. 12th- No School- Professional Development day for teachers

Nov. 14th - PTO meeting 7pm @ Memorial Library

Nov. 27th - Half day - dismissal at 11:15

Nov. 28th & 29th - No School - Thanksgiving recess

MAIN ENTRÉE CHOICES (SEE LUNCH MENU FOR MORE DETAILS) Nov. 11th -Nov. 15th.

Monday No School Veteran’s Day

Tuesday No School Professional Dev.

Wednesday Hot Dog

Thursday Chicken Patty

Friday Homemade pizza

From the PTO

The valuable, family-friendly, KidStuff Coupon Books are available through our school again this year! The KidStuff Coupon Books were sent home to Memorial Families on Monday, November 4th.  The cost of each book is $25.00 and our school will receive 50% of the proceeds.  Please return your payment no later than Friday, November 15th (make checks payable to the Memorial School PTO).  If you are not interested in the book, please return it to school.  If you wish to order additional books, please complete the enclosed order form and include your payment.  These books will be sent home after November 15th.  If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Restivo at arestivo@live.com or Lisa Cline at lbcline1@gmail.com.

The PTO would like to invite school families to fill out a quick survey (see link below) in order to better support the needs of the school community.

 http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/38LLJDG

Spirit Wear: Show your school spirit! Memorial school Spirit Wear is now available through the PTO.  Visit the PTO website at www.memorialschoolpto.org for more information. See this weeks back pack folders order forms.  All orders are due on November 15th and expected delivery will take 3-4 weeks.  Please contact Alicia Vaudo at avdv82000@hotmail.com or 781-272-0705 if you have any questions.

4th Grade Parents

The 2022 Adopt-A-Class is looking for parent volunteers to help plan and run an event a year to raise money for the 4th grade class.  You can spend as little as an hour helping run the event and still earn scholarship credit for your child.  Please email, Kristin Russo at adoptaclass2022@gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions.  We look forward to raising money for the class and having fun while doing it.

Special Screening of the film A Place at the Table:  Join the Presbyterian Church in Burlington for a conversation and special screening of the film A Place at the Table on Friday November 8th at 6:30pm.   The documentary examines the crisis of food security, hunger, obesity and food access in the United States.  The film will be screened at the church (335 Cambridge St. Burlington, MA 01803) at 6:30pm and will be immediately followed by a panel discussion featuring local community leaders to discuss hunger, food access and obesity in the Burlington area.  The screening is free, however donations for the Burlington Food Pantry will be collected.  For more information visit:  http://magpictures.com/aplaceaththetable/ or contact bpcyav@gmail.com.

Burlington High School Athletic Hall of Fame Fundraiser:Sponsored by the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will be held on Tuesday November 26th,  5pm to 9pm at Flatbread Company 213 Burlington Rd, Bedford, MA.  Come join us with old friends for food, drinks, raffles and memories.  There is no upfront cost or tickets to purchase,just show up.  The cost is the food you eat,and the beverages you drink.  The BHS Hall of Fame gets a percentage of the sales of that night.  Take out or eat in.

BURLINGTON'S DANCING WITH THE STARS enthusiasts, we will reveal ONE, possibly TWO of this year’s Burlington Dancing with the Stars participants!!! So do not miss out on this great event!!  For tickets, please contact Cheryl Shafman at cheryl.shafman@verizon.net or at 781-771-6410. Purchase your tickets before November 1st, tickets are limited!!

PAC

Is your child currently on an IEP?  Do you feel your child needs special education services?

If so then don’t miss our upcoming workshop on IEP process and development.

On Wednesday, November 13th the federation for Children with Special Needs will present:

An IEP for my Child

This workshop takes parents step-by-step through IEP development, including how to articulate a vision,

using evaluations to write measurable goals, and measuring their child’s progress.

This is a great opportunity to learn about the IEP process and how it works for your child.

Location: School committee room at Burlington High School

Doors open at 6:30 for networking presentation begins at 7:00

Sponsored by the Burlington Parent advisory Council

For more information contact us at burlingtonspedpac@gmail.com