Birch Meadow Newsflash
September 16, 2022
Notes From Dr. Burnham
How absolutely fantastic it was to see so many of you at our Curriculum Night this week! It just feels great to see events happening again like this and I truly appreciate the incredible level of support and involvement from you this year!
*We have a few open positions at Birch Meadow to fill. We have a cafeteria position, tutor position, and of course substitute positions. If you or anyone you know might be interested please reach out to me directly to talk.
*Attached please find the medical letter for our comfort dog, Officer Rusty. You need only download and return the form if you have an issue to share, such as an allergy, or an objection to your student interacting with Office Rusty.
*September 15th marks the start of Hispanic Heritage month. The month honors anniversaries of independence for Latin American countries of Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua (Library of Congress). During this month we shine the spotlight on the many contributions Hispanic Americans have made to the United States. It is a fantastic chance to highlight the vibrant Hispanic culture in our communities and help our students value diversity. Throughout the month I will share some of the classroom activities centered around Hispanic Heritage month in the PTO Newsflash.
*A huge shout out to Paula Falvey, our Birch Meadow librarian, and all of the parent / caregiver volunteers who worked so hard to make the Birch Meadow Book Fair such a success. I remember loving the book fair when I was a kid, and trying to buy every book about knights, dragons, and dinosaurs I could find. It filled my heart with complete joy to see so many smiling faces walking out of our library holding fantastic books that they were excited about in their hands.
*Please consider volunteering for our Found Family program. You can find the flyer with information about this opportunity attached below. It is a fantastic way to build partnerships and friendships between our Boston resident students and Reading resident students.
-Dr. B
A message from the Birch Meadow PTO:
Whew! Is anyone else exhausted after the first full week of school?! It is a BUSY time to be a teacher, student, and parent! With the back-to-school exhaustion and adjustment also come great energy and excitement, and we are thrilled with how many parents and caregivers have reached out to ask PTO-related questions and offer to help with this year's PTO events. Thank you!
Please read on for upcoming activities and volunteer opportunities, and please feel welcome to contact (BirchMeadowPTO@gmail.com) with questions and ideas!
Tuesday, September 20th from 7:30 - 8:30 PM, all Birchie parents/caregivers and staff members are welcome to attend the first PTO GENERAL MEETING of 2022-2023! This meeting will take place over Zoom and a Zoom link will be emailed early next week.
Volunteer opportunities:
Attention Halloween and candy lovers! Please consider organizing/volunteering for our 2nd annual TRUNK OR TREAT! This event will take place outdoors on the evening of Friday, October 29th. Please reach out to BirchMeadowPTO@gmail.com to volunteer!
It may be only September, but we're already gobble-gobbling with excitement for our first-ever TURKEY TROT fun-run fundraiser! Please save the date for Tuesday, November 22nd **after school:** all Birch students are welcome to participate in the run, and families and loved ones can sponsor their Birchie Bear and raise money for the PTO! Please stay tuned for more details next week when the fundraising platform goes live. THANK YOU to our Fun Run coordinators Amanda and Timna; to join their team and/or volunteer to help on November 22nd, please contact amandalynn.haley@gmail.com.
Staff Appreciation, Staff Sunshine, and Staff Spotlight volunteers: each year, the PTO treats, honors, and celebrates our talented, well-deserving Birch Meadow staff. Please contact BirchMeadowPTO@gmail.com to help plan staff luncheons, welcome new staff and celebrate and acknowledge staff members' significant life events, and get to know staff members and feature them in our weekly "Staff Spotlight" newsflash feature!
Room Parent Volunteer Opportunity: We still are in need of volunteers for several classrooms! Room parents help disseminate PTO communications in addition to helping teachers organize 2-3 of classroom-related activities. If you are interested, please sign up here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0D4DA5AF23A4F94-20222023
THANK YOU Birch Meadow for supporting UD!
At this past weekend's Reading Fall Street Faire, members of the Birch Meadow community raised $1,200.00 to support Understanding Disabilities, Reading's unique disability-awareness curriculum for elementary and middle school-aged students! THANK YOU, Birch Meadow!
Enrichment volunteers wanted!
Our enrichment coordinator is looking for volunteers at every grade level to help plan, facilitate, photograph and write-up our enrichment programs for this year. Our enrichment team brings educational programming to our classrooms throughout the year and also plans our field trips with the goal of making learning fun! The team works closely with classroom teachers to supplement grade-level curriculum by bringing programming from local museums, cultural representatives, scientists, performers and more. Volunteer opportunities include both in-school options during the school day and emailing/phone calling on your own schedule. In-school volunteers must complete a CORI form. If you are interested in helping, please email birchmeadowenrichment@gmail.com!
Adult Social Event
Aren't we all ready for some fun!? If you're interested in helping with a winter adult social event, please email us at birchmeadowpto@gmail.com. In the past we've done a trivia night with a raffle and it was very well-attended. Let's brainstorm some ideas and plan a fun community night out!
Room Parent Communication Waiver:
Your 2021/2022 Room Parents would like to send you occasional emails for important school updates. Every school year, we are required to request information from parents, separate from registration packets. Please take a moment to fill out this brief form to share/not share your email address:
Library Volunteers Still Needed!
Library Volunteers Needed
Volunteers are needed for K-3 library classes! Volunteer duties include checking books in and out of our library system (it's easy!), re-shelving books that are returned and sometimes helping out students with basic computer skills. You can view the sign-up sheet for more information and to sign up! Click HERE to access the online Sign Up Genius.
New Social Media Pages
The current PTO board experienced some trouble accessing the previous Facebook page and Instagram handle log-in information, so we have created a NEW PTO Facebook page and NEW PTO Instagram handle!
Please "like" our new "Birch Meadow Elementary PTO" Facebook page and follow our new Instagram: @birch_meadow_pto
We will no longer post to the previous pages - please follow these new ones for updates, Staff Spotlights, photos, and more!
Visit the Birch Meadow School Store
Birch Meadow PTO
Email: BirchMeadowPTO@gmail.com
Website: https://www.reading.k12.ma.us/birchmeadow/
Location: 27 Arthur B Lord Drive, Reading, MA, USA
Phone: 781-944-2335
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BirchMeadowElementarySchoolPTO/
Twitter: @birch_meadow