Birch Meadow Newsflash

*Friday's "Movie and Board Game" day was enjoyed by both students and staff. Lisa and I are gearing up for the all-school assembly this week which will include the much anticipated "principal and assistant principal pie to the face" Turkey Trot prize. My sincere thanks to the PTO Board and Turkey Trot organizers for coming up with another fun filled way to ruin my hair. Rainbow hair, silly string, and now pie.

*What a blast I had at the Reading METCO / Family Night at Roller World this past week. It was awesome to see so many Birch Meadow faculty members and students, both from Boston and Reading itself, attend the event with their families. Thank you to everyone who attended the event! The smiles on the faces of our kids were really something to behold.

*I really enjoyed being a guest reader for the PTO Read-A-Thon nights with Officer Matt Vatcher. Officer Rusty made an in-person appearance when we read in the Birch Meadow library, and my axolotl Luigi made a cameo appearance the night we were on Zoom. Thank you for everyone who attended!

*Congratulations to students Emery Burrell, Saanj Teraiya, and Molly McCusker who were selected as winners of the 2024-2025 RMLD Art Contest! We look forward to seeing your work at the award ceremony this week!

*The Coolidge Family Welcome Night is this coming Thursday, March 27. From 6:00 - 6:30 is a welcome presentation and 6:30 - 7:45 is the Family Fun portion of the evening. The evening is for incoming 6th grade students and their families!

*The RMHS PTO will host Liz Faria in the March meeting to provide a talk with parents about how to reduce anxiety in kids and in themselves.

The talk is entitled: When Worry Comes Home. The event will be both in person and virtual on March 27th at 7 pm and will be held in the RMHS Distance Learning Room, and also on zoom using the following link: https://readingpsma.zoom.us/j/89534732231

Breakfast Reminder - Just a reminder that the link for breakfast ordering is the same every week.

Breakfast Links:

KINDERGARTEN BREAKFAST

FIRST GRADE BREAKFAST

-Dr. B

WEEK 3 STATS

- 275 students (out of 359) are logging their reading!

- More than 127,000 Minutes Read!

- Over 3,200 Books Read!

- We've raised $8,000 of our $15,000 goal!

22% of our logged students have been sponsored (up from 16% last week 🤩)

FUN FACTS:

- If each family with active readers contributed $75 we'd hit our goal!

- If every reader reads 30 mins/day, we'd exceed our goal!

CLASSROOM STANDINGS:

Grade Leaders are currently: Aurilio (K), Simon (1st), Breen (2nd), Kelley (3rd), Milner (4th), Cronin (5th). Prize reminders/update!

• Top Class (by minutes read): The entire class will "Silly String" Dr. Burnham & Ms. Azzarito at a school assembly.
• Top class by grade (by minutes read): Winning classroom will have their Teacher dress up as a “student" for a day
• Hit $7,500 or 105,000 minutes: All-school crazy hair day - We've won!
• Hit $15,000 or 210,000 minutes: All-school dance party

Did you miss out on the Red Sox tickets? Weren't sure what your Memorial Day weekend plans were and didn't want to commit? Well - we asked the Red Sox if we could re-open our ticket sales and they said YES!!! Come join us on Sunday, May 25th at 1:35pm for the Sox vs. Orioles game. At almost 100 people from the Birch Meadow Community, it's going to be a great day!

TICKET SALES WILL REMAIN OPEN UNTIL APRIL 21st!!

Spring is HERE and if you're planning to get out and clean up your yard, why not purchase a gift certificate to Calareso's to help support Birch Meadow? Their spring selection includes annuals and perennials: pansies, tulips, daffodils, etc! 🌷

A whopping 25% of the proceeds goes right back to Birch Meadow to support our Enrichment goals!

March 1 - March 31st - Read A Thon Spring Fundraiser!

March 17 - April 4th - Calareso's Spring Gift Certificate Sale!

March 26th - RPS Presents: Social/Emotional Learning Workshop

March 27th - Coolidge Welcome Night for incoming 6th graders 6pm-8pm

March 28th - All School Assembly & Principal/Assistant Principal Pie In The Face

Date TBA - Spring Shuffle (to replace the Turkey Trot/Winter Walk)

April 2-3 - Grades 3&4 ELA MCAS

April 4th - Last day to purchase Calareso's gift certificates

April 7-8 - Grade 5 ELA MCAS

April 10 - Codeswitching Doc Screening. Register HERE

April 21 - Last Day to buy Red Sox Tickets

April 21 - 25 - April Break NO SCHOOL

May 5 - 6 - Grade 5 Math MCAS

May 7 - 8 - Grades 3&4 Math MCAS

May 14 - 15 - Grade 5 SCI MCAS

May 25th - Red Sox Game - buy tickets until April 21st

Friends of Reading METCO and RPS is hosting a screening and community discussion. Join us for a screening and community discussion of Code-Switching, a powerful documentary exploring the experiences of students in the METCO program as they navigate racial and cultural identity in their pursuit of education.

Register Here

Date: Thursday, April 10
Time: 6:15 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Reading Memorial High School Library

Wed, March 26th, 7pm (Online)

Social-emotional learning is the process of developing the self awareness, self control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success.

Registration Link: https://fcsn.org/event/reading-social-emotional-learning/

• Drop off your donations of clothing and textiles to the two large bins to the far right of the main entrance on Arthur B. Lord Drive. Birch Meadow earns funds through Helpsy, a for-profit company that offers local non-profits like our PTO this easy, no-cost fundraising program!
• We have a Birch Meadow storefront and will post items and fundraisers throughout the year. We also welcome direct donations and company match: https://birch-meadow-elementary-school-pto.square.site/

Please "like" Birch Meadow Elementary PTO" Facebook page and follow our Instagram: @birch_meadow_pto