We are pleased to announce the PTO Board members for the 2021-2022 school year, voted at the Bigelow PTO Meeting, on Thursday, June 10th.

President – Gabriela Kroszynski
Vice President – May Chen
Treasurer – Linda Gillespie
Secretary – Sukanya Ghosh

Terms become effective September 1, 2021.

We still have open positions to fill!! If you would like to become more involved in the strategic aspect of the Bigelow PTO, helping direct and manage the overall program for 2021/22, you are encouraged to join the board or one of the committees. Open positions: http://bigelowpto.org/pto-board-and-committees/

We are very grateful for our outgoing Board members who have worked tirelessly during this challenging year.

Still accepting cash or checks. To order:

• Price: $25
• Label envelope: Yearbook, Student’s First & Last Name, Grade
• Check payable to: Bigelow Middle School
• Check memo: Student’s First & Last Name, Grade

Note: Yearbooks will arrive over the summer. More information about distribution of books to follow.

Fifth graders will be stepping up to Bigelow and eighth graders will be stepping up to NNHS on Wednesday, June 16. 

• All 6th and 7th graders will be dismissed at 11:00am to make the building and teachers available to greet fifth graders

• Eighth graders will eat lunch at 11:00am at Bigelow and then board buses for NNHS beginning at approximately 11:15am. 

• Eight graders will visit NNHS for an orientation program and then be dismissed from NNHS at 1:40. Step Up Day is designed to ease transition to high school by introducing students to the school building and to some of the people who teach and work there.  
  This year we are assigning groups of 12 students to a classroom where they will be greeted by Newton North faculty and student leaders who are prepared to welcome 8th graders to the high school and to answer any questions you might have. 
  

• Bus riders will board their usual buses (DD, QQ, BB, Boston) at NNHS.  There will also be one bus returning to Bigelow for students and staff who need to come back to the building by 2pm.   

   

Newton Summer Science Program is a free, virtual camp where qualified members of the Newton South Science Team teach middle school students. This year’s classes include the topics computer science, genetics, epidemiology, chemistry, physics, environmental science, and engineering. We hope to provide students with a stepping stone into the complicated and innovative world of STEM and give them a wonderful summer experience!

This year, they hope to bring this program to middle school students inside and outside of the city of Newton with one week sessions July 5 to August 6.

NSSP Sign-Up: https://forms.gle/RmFDHoFXKERDkDsf8

NSSP Schedule:

Question? southscienceteam@gmail.com

The Bigelow PoPS are all of us, the Parents of Performing Students.This community of dedicated parents was created by former Bigelow Parents of Performing Students in 2008 to support the performing arts through advocacy, fundraising, coordination, and volunteering and had been very active in that mission since.

Get involved! The PoPS have continued to support the performing arts department behind the scenes this year financially and whenever students or faculty has needed a hand. Your kids work hard in theatre and performances please help PoPS help them and consider volunteering next year. You can email Krista Chavez at chavezkrista14@gmail.com to get involved!

Any parent or guardian who has a student in Orchestra, Chorus, Band, A Capella, and Drama are welcome and encouraged to participate in the PoPS and support our students and performing arts faculty.

• PoPS Volunteer Opportunities and Work

The STEM Project will organize a STEM Camp for late elementary and middle school students (5th to 8th grade). Over the 4 weeks, students will learn about topics like Gene Editing, followed by Artificial Intelligence, Alternative Energy, and Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI’s). While learning these technologies, students will also develop useful skills such as presentational skills, communication skills, and writing elaborative articles.

The STEM Project hosted a previous camp in April Break and got amazing feedback. Here are some of the projects that students did:

• Nanotechnology Presentation Project

• Nanotechnology – Oil Spills

• One-Pager on Protein Cure (quantum computing company)

• Quantum-Computing-Project

Program Dates: 4 weeks from Monday7/12 to Friday 8/6

Location: All Virtual – Zoom

Cost: $250

Register here

Please join us this Thursday, June 10 at 7pm on a Zoom meeting to celebrate this extraordinary year and get prepared for next! We encourage families from all grades to attend, including incoming 6th grade families.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84125947614?pwd=aXdhN05yNnFndERlVlhmaHhaTmVydz09

Meeting ID: 841 2594 7614
Passcode: 810928

We will present the 2021/22 budget and show how the PTO uses all the money raised by our community. The incoming leadership will be brought forward for a vote of Bigelow parents, guardians, teachers and staff. Review the proposed slate here.

We still have open positions to fill!! If you would like to become more involved in the strategic aspect of the Bigelow PTO, helping direct and manage the overall program for 2021/22, you are encouraged to join the board or one of the committees. Open positions: http://bigelowpto.org/pto-board-and-committees/

Dear Bigelow Families,

Thank you all so incredibly much for your generous food and decor contributions. The teacher appreciation tea today was a big hit! Everything looked so good, we were tempted to do some “sampling” as we were setting up 😉 We really appreciate the effort that you all made to help make this event special.

All the best,
Susan, Karen, and Charlene

P.S. I have a few dishes and containers that I will leave in a box on my front porch (28 Ballard St.).

We will present the 2021/22 budget and show how the PTO uses all the money raised by our community. The incoming leadership will be brought forward for a vote of Bigelow parents, guardians, teachers and staff.

When: Thursday, June 10, 7pm
Where: Zoom. Link to follow
Who: Bigelow Community

We still have open positions to fill!! If you would like to become more involved in the strategic aspect of the Bigelow PTO, helping direct and manage the overall program for 2021/22, you are encouraged to join the board or one of the committees.

Please look here for committee positions still open: http://bigelowpto.org/pto-board-and-committees/

If you are looking for a way to thank your children’s teachers and other school staff, please consider donating to Newton Schools Foundation’s Honor Thy Teacher campaign. NSF is a non-profit organization that raises funds to enhance educational excellence throughout Newton’s public schools. In recent weeks, NSF directed its resources toward the challenges of COVID-19 with a $85,500 grant for the NPS to purchase 300 Chromebooks for students needing access to online learning during school closures.

NSF will notify each teacher honored of your gift and share their names with Principals and the Superintendent. A list of honored teachers will appear on the NSF website and in the Newton TAB.

Look for a postcard in your mailbox – or donate online today on the NSF website (http://www.newtonschoolsfoundation.org/honor-thy-teacher) where you can also find out more about the programs NSF funds. Or you can mail in a donation to: Newton Schools Foundation, P.O. Box 590020, Newton Centre, MA 02459. Please be sure to include the names of the teachers and/or staff that you are honoring.

Thank you for your support of Newton teachers and NSF!