• What are Bigelow students doing on social media these days? 
• What are parents doing to monitor social media? 

Bigelow Middle School and Wellesley College invite Bigelow parents to a forum to share results from the Learning, Social Media, and Healthy Behaviors research study, that took place in 2017.

Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College, Jennifer Grossman, Ph.D., senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women (and Bigelow alum), and Megan Moreno, M.D., M.S.Ed., M.P.H., academic division chief of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at University of Wisconsin, Madison, will co-present on the findings from the whole-school survey they conducted in Fall 2017.

September 6, 2018 | 7:00 p.m.
Bigelow Auditorium

Please RSVP to Kersten Raso so that we know how many parents to expect: Kersten_Raso@newton.k12.ma.us

Sponsored by Bigelow Middle School and Wellesley College.

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!

On Saturday, September 22nd, at 6:30pm, 6th grade parents Jen and Chris Murphy + Holly and Ben Raynes will be hosting the evening.

If you have any questions please send an email to bigelowbulldog@gmail.com.

Bigelow offers lots of after school activities. In the Fall, 6th graders can do:

Cross Country. The sign up meeting for participation on the Bigelow Cross Country Team for the 2018 Season will be held Wednesday, September 5, 2018 in the Bigelow Library at 2:45pm. The cross country team is a coed team open to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. It is the only sport in which sixth graders are eligible to participate during the fall sports season. No experience is necessary and there are no cuts. The season goes from September to November. Practices every Mon, Wed, Thu and Fri, from 3pm to 4:15pm. There is approximately one meet per week, in schools of the region. More here.

Drama. 6th grade auditions for cast and backstage crew will be held on Wednesday, 09/05, to complete the casting for the fall show. Auditions require NO PREPARATION – just show up! Fall season runs from September to November, and rehearsals are Mon, Thu and Fri, from 3pm to 5pm – not all cast and crew are called everyday. The Fall Play will be performed November 15, 16 and 17. More here.

Clubs. There are many clubs available and they are all run by Bigelow Teachers. They don’t have a specific start date – some start in September, others in October or November. They are usually once a week from 3pm to 4pm. More here.

Newton Community Education

Three new classes will take place at Bigelow in the fall:

Makers’ Corner

“A brand new branch of programming presented by the established Underwood After School Program, the Makers’ Corner makerspace will enable access to a wide variety of sophisticated STEAM skills and materials in a free-flow, high-choice environment. With flexible scheduling options, students can enroll for one to five days a week, for full or half afternoons, and even club-only options for limited 6- to 8-week runs. “For more information about the program and to register, visit www.underwoodafterschool.org, or email Kate Finnan at  kate@underwoodafterschool.org.”

From Newton Youth Services – Middle School Resources

• Highlands After School Program
• Newton Boys & Girls Club
• West Suburban YMCA

Financial Aid: available at all of these programs, see program websites for more information. For financial aid tips see www.newtonma.gov/middleschoolresources. Transportation: available for some of these programs. See their websites for more information.

After school options located at middle schools

• Bigelow Middle School
• Brown Middle School
• F.A. Day Middle School
• Oak Hill Middle School

After school programs located at the middle schools do not run on Tuesday early release days. Transportation available (late bus) from all schools.

School supply lists for each grade and for world language classes are posted on the Bigelow website.

It is not necessary to purchase all new materials — the school and the PTO encourage you to re-use quality materials from the past. Here are a few tips on how to clean and reuse school materials.

Newton Public Schools continue to encourage students to “lighten their load” by reducing their backpack weight. Please see the attached letter from the School Council on this topic. In Bigelow’s ongoing effort to minimize the weight that students carry daily, the number of binders that students need in 2018 was reduced, and all students will be trained to store their backpacks in their lockers during the school day.

The 2018-2019 Calendar is available on the NPS website, HERE.

As for Bigelow, below are a few dates to get on your calendars looking ahead to next year.

• Aug 28   Tue    Grade 6 Ice Cream Social (9 – 10am)
• Sep 4     Tue    First Day of School
• Sep 10   Mon   Rosh Hashanah – No school
• Sep 12    Wed    Back to School Picnic (5:30 – 7pm)
• Sep 19   Wed   Yom Kippur – No school
• Sep 21   Fri      6th Grade Potluck (7 – 9pm)

For the Grade 6 Parent Potluck – Fri. September 21 – 7:00pm – 9:00pm – we are looking for a 6th grade family to host. If interested please email us at bigelowbulldog@gmail.com

Bigelow Reads Together! The One School, One Book Program – supported by the Bigelow PTO – was created to foster a more inclusive community through participation in a common reading experience as a whole school.  Through discussion and advisory activities, staff and students will share a common experience of reading and learning together. This summer students and staff will read  Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hilton. In the fall students will participate in advisory discussion and activities related to the book. More information in the Library website.

Ms. Summa, Bigelow Librarian, also encourages reading whatever kids want. “Grab your beach blanket and snuggle down with a good book, magazine, or audiobook. Anything you read or listen to during the summer keeps your brain in shape for the season.” Here are some suggested titles.

Calling all 7th and 6th grade parents and friends! We still need 3 chaperones for the 8th Grade Dance, on June 21st. It is a tradition at Bigelow for 7th grade parents and guardians (6th grade parents are welcome as well) to chaperone the 8th grade year-end dance. This year the dance will be on Thursday, June 21st, from 7-10 in the Bigelow Cafeteria. We have two shifts available (7-8:30 pm and 8:30-10 pm) and need four people per shift. If you are interested in volunteering please email the PTO at bigelowbulldog@gmail.com. Thank you!

Thank you to all who attended Monday’s PTO meeting. We are pleased to announce the PTO Board members for the 2018-2019 school year.

Co-Presidents – Jessica Gilmartin and Jennifer Weber
Co-Vice President Fundraising – Una Simmons
Treasurer – Michelle Welford
Co-Secretaries – Joana Canedo and Kara Peterson
Nominating Committee – Tracy Carroll

Terms become effective September 1, 2018.

We also approved the budget and discussed some of the activities for the upcoming school year, including the Back to School Picnic and the 8th Grade activities.