From the Superintendent’s Office: 

Dear Bigelow Community,

Over the past couple of months, it has been a great pleasure to work with various stakeholders in the Bigelow community on the principal search process. The Selection Advisory Committee did a terrific job throughout the entire search and I am grateful for their commitment to ensuring that the school would find a highly capable leader. I am also thankful to the faculty, staff, parents and administrators who participated in the process and asked such thoughtful questions of our finalists.

Last week, the Bigelow community had the opportunity to meet two excellent finalists. After careful consideration and a thorough review, I am pleased to announce that Chassity Coston will be appointed to the position. Throughout the search, Chassity impressed us with her passion and knowledge of middle school education, her commitment to meeting the academic and social and emotional needs of all students, and her capacity to build a positive and trusting school culture. Chassity demonstrated that she is a highly knowledgeable instructional leader who has high standards for herself and for those with whom she works.

The school and district leaders with whom we spoke from Chapel Hill were most complimentary of Chassity’s record as a school leader. They described her as a dynamic individual who has keen instincts, a reflective nature and an incredible work ethic. There was unanimous consent that she would be a principal by now had she remained in the district.

In her various positions, Chassity has been able to gain the trust of students, faculty, and families in her positions through the strength of her ideas and principles, and the warmth of her approach. She is incredibly excited about joining the NPS community and relocating to the Boston area.

Chassity was most recently the secondary school principal at the International School of Kuwait. Previously, she was the middle school coordinator at the American School of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Earlier, she was an assistant principal in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Chassity’s teaching career was in the Durham, North Carolina Public Schools where she taught math. Chassity has her bachelor’s from North Carolina Central University and a master’s from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

I am very much looking forward to having Chassity join our leadership team. She will officially begin her position on July 1, 2021. I know that Todd will work closely with Chassity to make the transition seamless.

Sincerely,

David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools

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Do something good for yourself and the environment. Join Newton in celebrating #FreshAirFridays by walking, rolling, biking or taking the bus to school on Fridays this spring. Live too far to walk? Consider driving halfway and walking the rest.

Visit www.NewtonSafeRoutes.org for some tips.

Join Newton Parks and Recreation and instructors from MA Safe Routes to Schools to practice bike riding skills on Sunday April 25th.  Volunteers will help teach fun stations including knowing signs, hand signals and more.  Each child participating needs to be able to ride a bike independently.  Children must also bring their own bike, helmet, and an adult must be present for the duration of the program.

Registration for this program opens on April 15th at 6:00 pm. through this link: https://newtonma.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=30165

As you all may know the Bigelow Big Night auction is getting closer and we are still in need of donations! Big Night is the biggest fundraiser of the year and we are really counting on the support of the Bigelow community to make it a huge success! One way to help this year is to donate to our creative themed baskets!

• 6th grade: Arts and crafts and a beach themed basket
• 7th grade: Spa day and beach themed basket
• 8th grade: Cooking and beach themed basket

We thought it would be fun and also motivating for the students to bring in an item for the baskets that will then be auctioned off. Please bring your item to the drop off boxes at the school entrance by April 30.

Don’t have time to buy something to donate? Let us do the work for you. Simply click on the link below and make a monetary donation.

Big Night Donation

Remember to mark your calendars for Big Night beginning May 14-May 23.

Thank you all for your generosity!

Best,

Alexia Giannakopoulos (alexiag5@yahoo.com) and Ruth Somers (rsomers201@yahoo.com) Big Night Co-Chairs

The PTO Spring Meeting will take place at 7pm on Thursday 04/15.

To join the Zoom Meeting:

We are very excited to announce that in person Bigelow drama is back!

Our spring play this year is the Doctor’s Daughters and will be rehearsed and performed entirely outside and student directed! This show will only be open to seventh and eighth grade students and will be by audition only.

We will be holding an informational meeting on Friday, April 9th at 3:30 where many more details will be shared. The meeting will be on Zoom and the link can be found on the Bigelow Drama website (bigelowdrama.weebly.com).

Hello everyone,

The time is fast approaching when we will need to vote on the slate of new PTO Board members. Please see here the list of open positions.

I have found being involved in the Bigelow PTO to be so rewarding, and have enjoyed my tenure as President these past two years. The Board and I are honored to be part of such a vibrant and generous community that has consistently supported all the programs and services the PTO funds. We have a wonderful group of Chairs for various committees, who have provided great opportunities for our students, teachers and staff. I am always struck by the willingness of parents and caregivers to carve time out of their very busy schedules to volunteer for the PTO. Especially this past year with the difficulty of COVID-19.

This coming year will be quite transitional as Bigelow will have a new principal and students will be returning to the school full time. It will be more important than ever for the PTO to support our teachers and staff for the benefit of our children.

So I hope very much that you will consider taking a role in the PTO next year. There are many ways to help, based on how much time you can spare. We are happy to chat with you if you have any questions about any position. You can email us or we can set up a time to chat.

For your guidance, we will vote on the new slate of Board members in our Spring meeting (time TBD).

Thank you again for your consideration and support of the Bigelow PTO!

Karen Markson and the PTO Board

Here is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document with current information about re-opening Bigelow to full in-person learning on April 28.

From Newton School District:

As NPS prepares for a full in-person return to school for students at all levels, we STRONGLY ENCOURAGE families to enroll their student (s) in our COVID-19 testing program. Testing is one of the best ways we have to quickly identify infection and reduce the possibility of in school transmission.

Here are 3 reasons to enroll:

• It’s easy! Complete the opt-in in Aspen. Pre-K – 8th grade students will receive their QR code from school staff.
• It’s painless! This is NOT the “touch your brain” swab! This is a sample taken from the front of your nose with a Q-tip like swab. It’s super-fast and painless.
• It makes a difference! The more students who participate, the better data we have on infection rates in our community. This means we can quickly identify infection, reduce the risk of in school transmission, limit quarantines, and keep our schools, athletics and other important activities open for the rest of the year!.

Bonus reason: This testing program is FREE to all families! We ask you to strongly consider enrolling your student today. Thanks in advance for doing your part to keep our schools safer.

More information on the Newton Public School website