Check out the official Bigelow Bulldog Gear Shop sponsored by the Bigelow Middle School Student Council.

Orders can be placed via the website and shipped directly to your home. 

The Bigelow PTO sends out weekly newsletters on Thursdays as well as other targeted communications throughout the school year. Please review the items below to ensure you are up to date.

Stay current! As we start a new school year, please take a moment to review and update your newsletter communication preferences, including subscribing to grade-specific and staff communications, through the update your preferences link at the bottom of Bigelow PTO newsletters and emails.

Help spread the word! If you know new members of the Bigelow community, please encourage them to subscribe to the PTO Newsletter via the PTO website or this direct link.

Left Bigelow? If you are no longer affiliated with Bigelow and want to be removed from the list, you can use the unsubscribe link at the very bottom of Bigelow PTO newsletters or emails, or scroll to the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the update your preferences link.

Need Help? If you have any questions or need help troubleshooting issues with your Bigelow PTO Newsletter (e.g., duplicate communications, updating preferences, unsubscribing) please email BigelowBulldog@gmail.com.

The Bigelow PTO Family Directory is hosted online at Membership Toolkit. The access is free and it can be used by all Bigelow families. The directory is run and funded by the PTO thanks to your support!

The online platform is a secure and easy to use tool that organizes contact information for all Bigelow families.  It is a convenient, environmentally conscious system, that can be updated throughout the school year.

Please confirm that your information is correct and up-to-date. Specific directions for accessing the Directory and verifying contact information is below. 

Incoming 6th graders from Underwood, Lincoln-Eliot and Ward have been automatically added to Bigelow’s Directory if the information was available in the elementary school directory. The Membership Toolkit account for Bigelow will use the same login as your elementary school. Mason Rice and out of district families will need to enter their information manually (see directions for new users below).

PLEASE NOTE that regulations and privacy laws do not allow information from Aspen and/or Newton Public schools to flow into this Directory and vice versa. We acknowledge that it is painful to update information in more than one place. The success of this Directory is dependent on every family logging in and adding or updating their information.

Access the Directory.

Instructions: Accessing and Adding/Verifying Information

Login Information

• Login as RETURNING USER, using the same login as last year at Bigelow or your elementary school, if you are:
  • A returning Bigelow family
  • An incoming family from Lincoln-Eliot, Underwood or Ward that participated in the elementary school directory

• Login as NEW USER, and create a new account if you are:
  • An incoming family from Mason-Rice or starting Grade 6 from out of the district
  • A new family with students in Grade 7 and/or Grade 8
  • A family that did not participate in their elementary school (Lincoln-Eliot, Underwood or Ward) Directory
  • Click “Verify my email” and then check your email for a link to complete the process. The link expires in 2 hours. If you do not receive the email, check your spam or junk folders.
  • Once you have verified your email address, log back in and finish the registration process. 
  • Note: Once the Primary Account is set up, the Primary User can “invite” other email addresses to access his/her account. This allows the Secondary User to have their own login information, but still have access to the family account.

Completing/Confirming Information 

STEP 1: Complete the Parent/Family and then Student Information. Families can enter their name, address, and phone numbers. For returning users, most of this information should already be available. Please just confirm it is correct. 

STEP 2: Complete the Directory/Publish Preferences. Each family can decide which pieces of information will be available for others to view through the privacy settings.

If you are unfamiliar with the platform or if you are unsure about whether or not you are in it, please email us with your name and your child’s name(s) at bigelowbulldog@gmail.com.

Every year, you are required to update student information in Aspen, our student information system. It is very important that families update addresses, emergency contacts, health records, and permissions so that schools have the most accurate and up-to-date information for students.

This system is also used to determine student information that can be released. Please note that we do have new Opt-Out Permissions for the 2022-2023 school year that need your review and preference selections.

Families must update their students’ records by Friday, September 30th. Please use the following instructions to access the information and forms in Aspen: Student Information Update Instructions.

Bigelow Middle School is excited to announce that this Fall we will be hosting the Girls on the Run (GOTR) program! GOTR inspires girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident using a fun experienced-based curriculum. The program enhances girls’ social, emotional, and physical skills, and has reached 2 million girls across the country. The middle school program “Heart & Sole” addresses the whole girl – body, brain, heart, spirit, and social connection – and supports girls in building critical life skills such as team building, developing a support system, boundary setting, decision making, positively impacting others, and asking for and providing help.

Details:

• Season: Begins Tuesday, September 20, 2022
• Practices: Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-4:30
• Celebratory 5K: Sunday, November 20, 2022.

Girls on the Run Fall 2022 Season – Register HERE! 

If you have any questions, please contact Ms.Cooper at coopere@newton.k12.ma.us.

Welcome to the 2022-23 School Year from Bigelow Families Organizing For Racial Justice. It’s hard to believe September is here already! Bigelow FORJ welcomes all new students and their families to our school! In this email, we wanted to:

• introduce you to our group;
• ask if you’d like to be added to our monthly email list; and
• ask if you might be interested in joining our leadership team.

ABOUT US

We are a relatively new group at Bigelow, and have about 90 people on our email list, including teachers, parents, and administrators.  We are a chapter of Newton’s Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ).

Bigelow FORJ is a group of devoted parents and faculty committed to raising anti-racist children who acknowledge the pervasiveness of oppression and marginalization. We invite parents and children to engage in critical conversations that support questioning, interrogating, and dismantling of white supremacy, including anti-Blackness and all forms of racial injustice.

Last year we:

• co-hosted our back to school picnic in Boston
• provided feedback on the One School One Book program discussion around Racial Justice, and organized our own parent discussion group
• received funding for our kids to participate in a program by Urban Improv about microaggressions in our school
• organized a rally to support our school leadership around their strong programming to help our kids understand more about recent events
• sponsored a family discussion group on becoming antiracist
• worked with Lincoln Eliot to host a Juneteenth celebration· continued our monthly announcement/newsletter for parents

THIS SCHOOL YEAR:

We are looking forward to planning activities for the 2022-3 school year. We are looking for new members and leaders.

Please email us at bigelowforj@gmail.com if we

• can add you as a member (our monthly email list) and/ or
• you might be interested in joining our leadership team (we meet monthly)

Looking forward to working with you this school year—

Margo Michaels (one of Liam Opher-Michaels’ moms-8F) and Jeanne Choe-Arrieta (mom to Augie 7D and Becca-6B)

Be sure to use Amazon Smile when shopping on Amazon on your computer and phone! Please update your Amazon settings and earn money for Bigelow when you do your regular shopping. Choose Bigelow Middle School Parent- Teacher Organization Inc.

Parts of Waverly Ave will be closed for utility work this fall, impacting routes to and from Bigelow.  The segment of Waverly Ave from Arlington St to Nonantum St was scheduled to be closed starting Wednesday 9/7, though the sidewalk on the east side will remain open for pedestrians.  The city provided the detours map below to help with your school transportation planning.

Newton Safe Routes to School has information about walking/biking to school here. This may be a great to time to try walking or biking some or all of the way to school to avoid the detour hassles!

Contact the Bigelow representative Alex Rolfe at arolfe@mit.edu if you have questions or concerns that Newton Safe Routes to School can help bring to the city about the detours or about biking/walking to school in general.

Our highly-anticipated Back-to-School Block Bash will be held Thursday 9/8, from 4:30-7:00pm. Please join us for an evening full of family, friends, food trucks, music, games, and fun!