Birch Meadow Newsflash

Often times I receive questions from families and caregivers wanting to know and understand when and how we decide to send home information. Therefore, I've created this brief summary of the types of information that might be sent home:

1. Emergency Notifications - These are communications that will go out in the moment or on the same day when an event that might be considered an emergency takes place, or notifications of safety issues. Typically, these alerts will go out to the entire school. They might be sent directly by me, or by our district leadership team. Thankfully, these types of notifications are extremely rare.

2. Targeted Notifications - These are communications that will go out to specific families or groups of families with information that we feel is important just for them. An example might be a notification to a specific grade level about events or happenings that they need to be aware of. These happen more frequently than emergency notifications.

3. General Communication - General communications will come to you via the PTO Newsflash. In partnership with our PTO, we send out a weekly communication with important upcoming dates and specific updates put together by our building leadership team. These types of communications happen weekly.

If at any point in time there are concerns, or events you need more information about, it is always best to reach out to us directly.

Breakfast Links:

KINDERGARTEN BREAKFAST

FIRST GRADE BREAKFAST

-Dr. B

A family favorite is back for another year! On Friday, 10/25 from 5pm - 6:30pm the Birch Meadow Community will turn out another truly memorable and spooky event.

This event is FREE to all Birch Meadow families.

THIS YEAR'S RAFFLE WILL BE A HYBRID ONLINE AND LIVE EVENT!

It was such a huge success last year that we're bringing it back, and trying to get ahead of those "ahem" dead-zone issues we all know and love. CHECK IT OUT HERE

You can purchase and play with virtual raffle tickets OR purchase physical tickets at the event. Virtual and physical tickets will be combined and winners will be announced the week of November 3rd.

Have something you'd like to offer to help raise funds for Birch Meadow? EMAIL us at BirchMeadowPTO@gmail.com

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our first General Meeting of the year! Access the Dr. Burnham's MCAS presentation and PTO Updates can be found here.

THANK YOU for your support of our Calareso's fundraiser! We sold over $6,500 worth of gift certificates, with a little over $1500 going back to the school. Gift certificates will become available to families the week of 10/28. Stay tuned for additional delivery details. Questions? Contact christine.spelman@gmail.com or cfnitta@gmail.com.

Birch Meadow PTO is partnering with Mathnasium of Reading where Mathnasium students are raising money for their PTO. At Mathnasium of Reading, students work hard to master more than 300 topics (they are called Mastery Checks) on a monthly basis, and their hard work results in them earning different types of rewards. Students often win goodies and gift cards at Mathnasium for their hard work and dedication to Math. In the month of October 2024, Mathnasium will donate $5 for each mastery check that is completed by a Birch Meadow student enrolled with them!

Mathnasium will also donate 10% from each new enrollment of Birch meadow students at Mathnasium between now and October 31st.

October 23 - Sarah Ward : The 360 Thinking Model (registration info to come)

October 25th - TRUNK or TREAT Event & Raffle 🎃👻 - SIGN UP TO PARTICIPATE

November 11th - Veterans Day - NO SCHOOL

November 11th @ 9am - Celtics Tickets Go on Sale - Game is Sun. 1/12 vs New Orleans! 🏀

November 5th - Teacher In-Service Day. NO SCHOOL. Remember to VOTE!

November 11th - Veterans Day Observed NO SCHOOL

November 14th - Early Release @ 12:45pm. Teacher Conferences

November 15th - Teacher Conferences. NO SCHOOL

November 26th - ANNUAL TURKEY TROT 🦃 Stay tuned for more info!!

November 27th - Wednesday, 11AM District Wide early release for Thanksgiving

• 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/

• 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!

To learn more about Reading SEPAC, please visit our website: Reading SEPAC Website

Should you wish to receive our monthly newsletter, please send an email to SEPACReading@gmail.com

Please note that Reading SEPAC IS OPEN TO ALL parents/caregivers and not only families who have a child with special needs as we offer various opportunities to connect with other families and provide learning experiences.

Wednesday, Oct 23, 6pm (Virtual; Registration information forthcoming)

The 360 Thinking Model: Breakthrough Strategies to Develop Independent to Executive Function Skills

• Is your child disorganized and may not have the materials they need or even turn in the homework they have completed?

• Is their desk, room or locker a ‘black hole’ for papers and materials?

• Do you observe a student who struggles to “stop and read the room” and meet the demands of the situation?

• Or do you see students who struggle to initiate complex academic assignments, procrastinate and then run out of time to do their ‘best work’?

• Is your child constantly multitasking, so tasks/assignments take twice as long as they should? Are you looking for some solutions to digital distractions?

• Do you wish your child had a sense of urgency when it comes to time so that tasks are completed, and routines to get out the door or to the next activity or class happen on time?

• Does it seem that they have an inability to breakdown the demands of an assignment and have a sense of how to start?

• Do students seem prompt dependent? Are you constantly reminding them of the materials they need and the steps to take?

This presentation will help you to teach your children how to manage their time, space, and materials (and keep their emotions in check). Learn powerful strategies to help children develop independent executive function skills.

In honor of Dyslexia Awareness Month

The free virtual screening will be open at 12:01 am on 10/19 and close at 11:59 pm on 10/25. The free virtual screening will be available to only the first 300 viewers. To ensure access to more families, we ask that each interested household claim only one free viewing of the film.

Below is the virtual screening room link and the invitation code for the screening of The Right To Read:

Link: https://www.filmplatform.net/events/the-right-to-read-reading-public-school/

Invitation Code (case-sensitive and contains a single dash): TRT-RPSS

Using the link above, click “Register” and enter your email address and the event invitation code. You can return to the same or future events by clicking “Event Login” and entering the same email address and the event invitation code. Please note the film is only accessible during the screening dates and to only the first 300 viewers. Please note: the recommended browsers for the screening are Chrome and Safari.

Additionally, RCTV recorded the discussion that followed the in-person screening on 10/15 and it will be available on the Reading SEPAC Website (under past presentations) soon.

Finally, Reading SEPAC plans to follow this event up (Nov. 20th) with a presentation from Dr. Sarah Hardy and Renee Limauro. More information is coming soon.

This viewing is cosponsored by the Reading SEPAC, Reading School Committee, and the Friends of Reading METCO and was made possible by a grant from the Reading Cultural Council.

“Illiteracy is one of the most solvable problems of our time. We made this film to show the importance of early literacy and how crucial it is for children's lifelong success.' The Right to Read.

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