On April 6, the School Committee approved the budget for the 2017-18 school year.

According to the Superintendent, David Fleishman: “The final budget approved allows us to preserve many of the programs and supports we have worked hard to implement over the past several years. With the additional monies we received late in the budget process, we have been able to partially restore program areas we thought we would need to reduce more significantly, most notably library staff in our schools.”.

For additional information and details, please visit the district website.

Lex Splash (modeled after MIT Splash) is a free one-day event in which middle school students can take a variety of unique classes taught by Lexington High School students.

Some of this year’s classes include introduction to molecular orbital theory, basics of psychology, the Catalan numbers, competitive programming, ukulele 101, and ultimate frisbee – no matter what a student’s interests are, there’s something for them at Splash. See the course catalogue here.

The goal of the program is to help younger students explore and discover their passions before high school, and to foster a genuine love of learning in the process.

“The high school students at Lexington High School are eager to share their knowledge and talents with the broader Boston community, and we’d love for Bigelow students to be a part of that.” Kimia Abedi (LHS ’18) 

This year’s Lex Splash will take place on Saturday, April 15th, from 8 AM to 4 PM, at Lexington High School. Students can sign up and find more information at lexsplash.learningu.org. 

LHS Educational Studies Program
Lexington High School
251 Waltham St, Lexington, MA 02421
E-mail: lexingtonsplash@gmail.com

April is national poetry month. The Bigelow Library is holding its annual haiku writing contest.

What is a haiku?

A form of Japanese poetry about nature or  a season.  It consists of 17 syllables formatted like the poem below.

how the birds quarrel (5)
among themselves this morning (7)
over one small worm (5)

Stop by the library for more information. All submissions are due by Friday, April 28.
There will be prizes for the top three most creative submissions. Do haiku today!

NewtonServes is a Day of Community Service that brings together over 1,000 volunteers of all ages to complete more than 50 community projects for the benefit of numerous non-profit organizations and City of Newton departments. Volunteers work in teams on morning, afternoon or all day projects throughout the city, such as cleaning up parks, planting gardens, building and painting school bookshelves, spring cleaning at non-profit organizations and helping senior citizens. This year it will take place on Sunday, April 30, from 9am to 4pm.

There are many volunteering opportunities all around the city, including:

Bigelow Beautification
Join us as we beautify the grounds of Bigelow Middle School. We plan to clean and mulch garden beds, prune shrubs and trees, etc. outdoors. We also may build a short wooden fence to protect planting beds from foot traffic.
Please bring some tools.

• Please register here by April 26, 2017.
• Volunteers must be 8 years of age or older.
• Everyone must agree to the Release Form.

NewtonServes is a project of Newton Community Pride, Mayor’s Office for Cultural Affairs and the Newton Parks and Recreation Department

Bigelow will be celebrating Earth Day on Monday, April 24th.

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22. Worldwide, various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

At Bigelow, students will plant seeds and make a pledge to Earth. 

Everyone is invited to wear green & blue.

Yearbooks are on sale now!
The order forms were given out in homerooms this week.

Bigelow Middle School 2016-2017 Yearbook
Durable hard cover with original design by 8th grade artists
All-color pages
Price: $25
Payments: cash, check or online
Deadline to order: April 13th
(after April 13th you can still pay by cash/check but only while supplies last)

Order online at https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/Order/SelectJob   (Bigelow’s code: 1945917)

If you would rather pay by cash or check (payable to: Bigelow Middle School), please place payment in a sealed envelope with your child’s name and homeroom written on the front. Your child should give the envelope to their homeroom teacher.

Is your child heading to Bigelow next year? Middle school is a very different experience for kids and parents so getting involved is a great way to stay connected with the school community! There are many PTO Board roles available for next year as well as committee chair positions and we would love to have representation from all the feeder school parents.

• Co-Vice President Fundraising (Officer) (2)
• Co-Secretary (Officer) (1)
• Co-Treasurer (Officer) (1)
• Co-President-Elect (2)
• Nominating Committee Member (from the Ward district)
• Nominating Committee Member (from the Lincoln-Eliot district)
• Nominating Committee Member (from the Underwood district)
• Nominating Committee Member (from the Mason-Rice district)
  * One of the Nominating Committee Members will serve as Nominating Chair

Please contact your Nominating Committee representatives or Tracy Carroll, Nominating Committee chair, for more information. Thank you!

Tracy Carroll – tracy_carroll@yahoo.com, 617-913-9332
Miriam Alandydy – miriam.alandydy@gmail.com (Lincoln-Eliot)
Una Simmons – una@ethannet.com (Underwood)
Beth Hicks – beth.hicks@gmail.com (Ward)

If you want to help with the planning of the Bigelow Big Night Lual 2017, our next committee meeting will be Thursday, April 6^th, at 7pm, at Beth Panella’s house, 5 Channing Road in Newton Center. Please contact Beth at beth.panella@comcast.net for more information.

We still need donations to our silent auction. You can donate by clicking here or you can help by soliciting local businesses for a donation. Click here for a printable business solicitation letter and donation form.

We appreciate all your help!

Thank you,
Tammy McKenna and Beth Panella – your event co-chairs

If you are concerned and would like to voice your opinion about the recently announced budget for upcoming school year, there will be a public hearing on the subject.

When: Tuesday, April 4, 2017, from 6:00pm – 6:30pm
Where: Education Center, 100 Walnut Street, Newton, MA, 02460, Room 210
More information: FY18 Proposed Budget

We’re rapidly approaching the end of the year with lots of exciting activities for our 8th graders. We need parents to volunteer to support our students as we successfully bring their 8th grade experience to the finish line.

Jessie Gilmartin will host an organizing meeting for interested volunteer parents and guardians of 8th graders at her home at 11 Garrison Street in Chestnut Hill, (617) 281-4535, on Sunday April 9th from 7:30 to 8:30 pm.   The time of the meeting changed to 2pm – 3pm. 

Some volunteer opportunities include supporting the 8th grade graduation reception, the 8th grade dance, and supporting fundraising activities surrounding the 8th grade trips.    

We hope you can help!