International Walk & Roll to School Day is the first week of October. In preparation, Newton parents – what is it that keeps you or your children from walking or biking safely to your destination? Be part of the solution and alert the City of Newton via Newton 311. 

Potholes, sidewalk repairs, traffic signal not working, faded or missing crosswalks, shrubs overtaking the sidewalk. Snap a photo, note the location, and submit to Newton 311: https://newtonma.mycusthelp.com/webapp

Submit on the city webpage or download the mobile app. Include photos if you can. You can also call 311 from your landline, 617-796-100 from cell to report problems. Make Newton safer for everyone!

Brought to you by the Newton Safe Routes to School Task Force 
https://www.facebook.com/NewtonSafeRoutes
newtonsaferoutes@gmail.com

Interested in leading the Safe Routes to School Team at Bigelow? Contact us: bigelowbulldog@gmail.com

Saturday 9/28/19, 10:00am-12:00pm at NNHS gym

Volleyball clinic for Day & Bigelow girls and boys. The clinic is run by NN Tiger Volleyball players (girls and boys). Cost: $20, supports NN Volleyball teams. Participants receive t-shirt.
Contact = NN head coach Richard Barton, rbarton@smashvolleyball.com

Then check out the Newton SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) at newtonpac.org.  This is a volunteer organization of parents of children with special needs from preschool through high school. SEPAC is in need of a parent representative from Bigelow!  If you are interested in the position or would like more information about the SEPAC in general, please contact Liaison Coordinator Kim Gallaugher at momofiggy@hotmail.com.

This Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 7:30 PM – 9 PM, there will be a workshop at the Ed Center to learn more about the role of the SEPAC in our community. More information here.

The Newton North and Newton South PTSOs are co-hosting a screening of the documentary Screenagers:The Next Chapter on October 10th at 7:00 PM in the Newton North Theater.  The film is about helping teens growing up in the digital age uncover skills for anxiety and stress management. A panel discussion will follow the film with experts from Newton Wellesley Hospital Pediatric Psychiatry and Newton High Schools counselors. All are welcome. 
More information: Screenagers: Uncovering Skills for Stress Resilience

About friendships over the first few months of school.

“New friendships are blooming and there is nothing quite as intense and vivid as those first few days, weeks, or months of middle school friendships: finding all the things you have in common, laughing so hard you can’t breathe, a yearning to learn everything you can about that new friend, all kinds of inside jokes and shared experiences. But with that joy of new friendship, often comes the despair of old friendships changed or discarded, feeling excluded from other groups, and, sometimes, finding that new friendship can’t stand up to the intensity, and instead of becoming solid, fizzles out. A double-edged blessing/curse.” Read more here.

Visit the Bigelow Middle School Counseling website.

• A hard copy of the PTO Family Directory is offered to families who pay PTO Membership dues.
• You can order one at the PTO Membership page by September 21 – when directories go into print. 
• Directories will be distributed at Back to School Night (October 3) for all those who ordered by 09/21/19.

All Bigelow Middle School parents and guardians are members of the PTO. Although dues are voluntary, they are critical to help fund enrichment materials for classrooms, technology, community events, and much more. Please take a minute to see what your PTO does for our children and the school.

Suggested PTO dues are $20 and you will be offered a paper copy of the PTO Family Directory, available at Back to School Night (Oct 3, 2019). 

Please pay PTO dues now and secure a copy of the Directory while supporting our school!

– Dues 2019 –

Note: If you would like a copy of the directory, please pay by 09/21, when directories go into print.

On Sunday (09/08), many Bigelow families met at Franklin Park, in Boston, for a beautiful sunny afternoon with delicious homemade food and lots of play. This was the first-ever Newton-Boston picnic, and we hope it will become a tradition! Thank you Bigelow METCO Engagement Team (BMET) for organizing it and connecting families from Boston and Newton.

Families came out again and had the opportunity to meet or catch up at the Bigelow Gym on Wednesday (09/11). It was a beautiful evening and people got to chat, sit and eat – thanks to the food truck and the great bake sale the 8th graders promoted. Basketballs were out for kids to run around – and they also had fun signing a Bigelow banner.

Congratulations to J. Lake for winning two tickets to the Bigelow Celtics Night in January! Stay tuned for more information regarding this exciting event!

Check out here some great pictures of both events!

This year the potluck will be hosted by 6th grade parents Jennifer Tseng & Marc Sabatine + Rachel & Ron Blankstein, on Saturday, September 21st, 6:30pm. Please RSVP to Jennifer Tseng: Jennifer.Tseng@bmc.org

Please bring your own beverage(s) and if your child’s last name begins with:

A – E    Please bring a dessert
F – L     Please bring a main dish
M – R   Please bring a side dish or salad
S – Z    Please bring an appetizer

The 6th Grade Parents Potluck is a wonderful, low-key, no-stress opportunity to meet with other 6th grade parents and build a community for the next 3 years of middle school! This is an adult event. More information here.