From Todd Harrison, Principal:

Due to voting taking place at Bigelow and other schools for the city-wide special election next Tuesday, all Newton elementary and middle schools will be swapping their Tuesday and Wednesday schedules next week on March 16 and 17.

This means that Tuesday’s usual schedule will take place next Wednesday and Wednesday’s usual schedule will take place next Tuesday.  This is for March 16 and 17 ONLY.

Student schedules have been updated in Aspen, and teachers have sent students the correct zoom invitations to their google calendars.

Tuesday, March 16

• All classes are remote
• We follow the usual Wednesday ( day 5) schedule, 8:15am-1:40pm
• Only hybrid A plus or B plus students who are in-person on Wednesdays should come to Bigelow

Wednesday, March 17

• We will follow the usual Tuesday (day 1) schedule. 8:15am-2:50pm
• In-person classes for hybrid A in the morning until 11:30am
• Remote classes for all students in the afternoon , 12:50-2:50pm
• All hybrid A students should come to Bigelow
• Also all hybrid A plus and B plus who attend in-person on Tuesdays should come to Bigelow

The bus schedules will be changed accordingly.

Please contact the main office if you have any questions.

Julie Berry – Adventures with Books
Tuesday, March 16,  9:00am – 10:00am

Where do ideas come from? What six things does every story need? What does “Star Wars” teach about storytelling? Julie Berry provides a nuts-to-bolts program about what it means to be an author, the process of writing, and getting published. She touches on her upbringing and her favorite books at different stages of her life, and how those books shaped her into an author as an adult. In “Adventures with Books” Julie will walk students through the journey of starting out to write, overcoming the creative roadblocks we all face, and finding ways to tap into creativity and see it through to a finished, revised, publication-worthy end. She will talk about where ideas come from, how to brainstorm, and how to start. Best of all, she teaches kids a lesson on story structure, character, motivation, and plot that uses Star Wars as its textbook. With humor, lots of pop culture references, and questions and answers throughout, Julie engages the students and is as passionate about reading as she is about writing.

Julie Berry is the author of the 2020 NCTE Amelia Walden Award and SCBWI Golden Kite Award winner Lovely War. She is also the author of the 2017 Printz Honor and Los Angeles Times Book Prize shortlisted The Passion of Dolssa, the Carnegie and Edgar shortlisted All the Truth That’s in Me, the Odyssey Honor The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, and many others. Her first three picture books, Long Ago, on a Silent Night; Don’t Let the Beasties Escape This Book; and Happy Right Now, released in 2019. Her newest middle grade fantasy adventure novel, Wishes and Wellingtons, was recently released from Sourcebooks. Julie is a board member of the California School Library Foundation. She holds a BS from Rensselaer in communication and an MFA in creative writing for children and young adults from Vermont College. To learn more about Julie and her work, visit her website at https://www.julieberrybooks.com/.

This CAS program is sponsored by the Bigelow PTO thanks to your contributions!

Ruby Bridges is living history. She was the first African American child to enter the newly desegregated New Orleans school system in 1960.

During Ruby’s virtual program on March 18, 2021 at 1:10 pm, the 8th graders will have the privilege to have a live discussion with Ruby about the civil rights movement in the 1960’s as well as her ongoing commitment to the idea that if all of our children refuse to allow hatred and racism to be passed down to them, social justice for all will be the outcome.

This is a closed session for Bigelow 8th graders.

This CAS program is sponsored by the Bigelow PTO thanks to your contributions!

A message from Newton North High School Vice Principal:

Hello Day/Bigelow 8th Grade Students and Families!

My name is Amy Winston and I am the Vice Principal at NNHS. This is the first of many messages that you will receive from me, this spring, about the transition from 8th to 9th grade.

As we head into March next week, we truly dive into planning for the 2021-2022 school year at NNHS. That planning includes the course registration process for students.

I am writing to ask you to Save the Date of Thursday, March 18th, for a Virtual 8th Grade Student and Family Night. More details, including time and zoom links, will be sent in the weeks ahead. For now, please place this date on your calendar for the evening of 3/18.

One other important date for the family calendar: Friday, 4/16. Not only is this the Friday before April vacation, it is also the day by which ALL student course requests for fall must be finalized.

We are sad that we won’t be able to welcome you to North, in person, in March but we look forward to supporting you to the best of our ability through this transition process.

Thanks so much!

Amy Winston

NNHS Vice Principal

A huge thank you to the Bigelow community for donating $1500 to the Bigelow Cares Fund!

Thanks to your generosity, Bigelow families that are particularly vulnerable now due to the pandemic will be able to receive much needed support from the PTO. A check was given to Todd Harrison this past week which included an additional $500 donation from the PTO.

Since then, we continue to receive donations, which we will continue to send to Mr. Harrison. Please click below if you would like to make a donation:

$20 | $50 | $75

$100 | $150 | $250

Thank you again for your generosity and kindness.

The Bigelow PTO Board

Please join us for our first planning meeting for our Big Night Online Auction, this Tuesday, Mar 9, 2021 07:00 PM.

The Big Night Online Auction will be held sometime during the middle of May. As you know, we are not able to host the in person social event this year, but we are excited to hold our online auction once again. Big Night is our largest and most important fundraiser for the Bigelow PTO, and we are hoping to raise as much money as possible so we can keep funding programs that support our students, teachers and school.

We hope you can make this meeting to find out how you can get involved. Time spent can be as much or as little as your schedule allows. And we are very grateful for any and all help!

We are thrilled that Alexia Giannakopoulos will once again chair this event. So get your glass of wine and cheese platter ready and click on the Zoom link below to join us!

Zoom meeting Info:

Topic: Big Night Online Auction Meeting
Time: Mar 9, 2021 07:00 PM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81287469773?pwd=bVBzRWNKN1pubTM4T0RFeS9wRW1jZz09

Meeting ID: 812 8746 9773
Passcode: 913209
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,81287469773#,,,,*913209# US (Chicago)
+19294362866,,81287469773#,,,,*913209# US (New York)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81287469773?pwd=bVBzRWNKN1pubTM4T0RFeS9wRW1jZz09

On March 10, 2021 (10:15am – 11:15am), the 7th grader will have the opportunity to virtually attend a presentation by Corey DePina.

From its origins in Latin, African, funk, and soul music, hip hop has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. But did you know that it all started in one neighborhood in the South Bronx? Corey DePina will take students through the early history of hip hop and its four elements – MC-ing, DJ-ing, break dancing and graffiti – to inspire them with the possibilities of creating something positive out of nothing. This workshop features storytelling, rap performance, free-styling demonstration and activities that bring groups together to improvise beats verse or movement, adding in their own style and spin.

Corey DePina is a skilled rapper and workshop leader who hosts Boston’s largest and longest running all age open one mic event: Critical Breakdown. His work as a facilitator for local and national non-profits and community centers has earned him numerous awards, including: the 2008 Good Neighbor Award from East Boston’s NOAH, the 2008 Community Leadership Award from Jamaica Plain’s Hyde Square Task Force, the 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and the 2014 Best Initiative, Best Youth Worker of the Year. Corey is also the director of programs for ZUMIX.

This session will be presented to Bigelow’s 7th grade students.

This CAS program is sponsored by the Bigelow PTO thanks to your contributions!

In our most recent meeting with the PTO Board and Mr. Harrison, we discussed ways that we can reach out and help those members of the Bigelow community that are vulnerable and currently in need of a helping hand during this pandemic. To that end, we have decided to create a Bigelow Cares Fund to assist the families or individuals who need our help.

We are part of an extraordinarily kind and giving community at Bigelow, one that has always shone in its generosity. We hope that you will consider making a donation to fund this effort, no matter the amount.

$20 | $50 | $75

$100 | $150 | $250

The PTO will make an initial donation of $500 to the Bigelow Cares Fund.

Disbursement of funds will be overseen by Mr. Harrison, respecting the privacy and dignity of the recipients.

Many thanks for considering this request, and as always, we are grateful for your support of the Bigelow community.

Sincerely,
The Bigelow PTO Board

Please join Newton SEPAC on Tuesday, March 2, at 7:30 pm for a virtual presentation on: Basic Rights under Special Education Laws

Whether you’re new to the world of special education or a seasoned (scarred?) special education parent, there are always new and helpful insights from each Basic Rights presentation!

We’re excited to have Leslie Lockhart as our presenter. Leslie is the Mass Advocates for Children’s Helpline Coordinator. She was also a founding member and driving force of the original Newton SEPAC.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://middlesex-mass-edu.zoom.us/j/98538291113?pwd=eW0yMzRPd3lSR0RZbHNtSmw2ZFVKdz09

Meeting ID: 985 3829 1113
Passcode: 457897
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,98538291113#,,,,*457897# US (Chicago)
+16465588656,,98538291113#,,,,*457897# US (New York)