Greetings, Bigelow families & students! On Friday, 01/27/23, Bigelow will celebrate the Lunar New Year with a parade (during lunches) facilitated by our very own Chinese teacher, Jie Gao. Ms. Gao has been working tirelessly over the last several weeks to combine student talents and Chinese traditions into a festive display for our school. The parade is also a long-standing Bigelow tradition that we are excited to bring back after being halted due to the pandemic.
This week marks our second round of school-wide i-Ready diagnostic testing. This diagnostic is purposed to gauge student reading/Lexile levels, and is given three times within a school year (fall, winter, spring). From this diagnostic, if any student appears to be reading below grade level, personalized i-Ready lessons are provided for them. These lessons will address students' specific gaps in order to boost their literacy skills and help them move toward reading on grade level. If you would like more information about your child's reading level, please contact one of your child's teachers, or our Title 1 Literacy interventionist, Tamzin Partridge (partridget@newton.k12.ma.us). CLICK HERE for a helpful family resource to learn more about & get involved with i-Ready learning.
IMPORTANT | On Monday, January 23, 2023 at the Newton School Committee meeting, the district will provide information on the 2023-24 school year budget. The presentation will include specific information on the proposed override and its impact on the district budget. The superintendent will describe how override funding will be utilized if approved, as well as the impact to students if the override is not approved and funding is not available. Please consider attending the School Committee Meeting on Monday to learn more. Details for logging in & listening virtually are below:
Newton School Committee Meeting
Monday, 01/23/23 • 6:30 p.m.
Zoom meeting link: https://zoom.us/j/390017072
Call-in information: 1-646-558-8656
Call-in meeting ID: 390 017 072
Thank you in advance for your participation in this important budget discussion.
In order to better understand and address the health-related challenges affecting students, Newton Public Schools and the Newton Health and Human Services Department will once again be administering the Newton Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to middle and high school students. Bigelow students will take the YRBS on Thursday, February 2nd during advisory. The survey is part of a larger effort to help increase the resiliency of young people by reducing high-risk behaviors and promoting healthy behaviors. CLICK HERE to learn more about the survey, and review opt-out options.
A LOOK AT THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITIES | Monday is 7C Parent Conferences. Tuesday is 8E Parent Conferences. Wednesday is our usual short day, with a 1:50 pm dismissal, with Parent Conferences beginning at 2:00 pm. Thursday is a Bigelow FORJ meeting at 7:00 pm; e-mail bigelowforj@gmail.com for the meeting join information. Friday is the ending of Quarter 2. For all Parent Conferences, please review your e-mail for your Parent Conference details and UPDATED virtual join link.
There is plenty of information included within this week's newsletter for your family to digest. Feel free to contact me, any other member of Bigelow Leadership, or the interim Executive Admin. Asst., Heather MacDonald, with questions, comments, or concerns. Have a fantastic week!
-Chassity K. Coston, Principal
