Thank you to all who braved the stormy weather last Thursday to attend our Spring PTO meeting in person and to those who joined us virutally via zoom!

Please see highlights of the meeting below and be sure to reach out to the PTO at bigelowbulldog@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or suggestions related to current PTO programs or new ideas.

• Planning for grade-level Field Trips is underway. Details are not yet finalized, but the school will need parent chaperones. More information to come!
• Bigelow 7th-graders recently had a Creative Arts & Science (CAS) event with author George O-Connor in alignment with their study of Greek mythology. Scheduling of Spring 6th grade and 8th grade CAS events is underway.
• The Hollywood Night Dance Party was a big hit! We are looking into holding another dance before the end for the year, tentatively scheduled for May 17th. More details to come!
• Principal Search Update
  • Thank you to the 3 Bigelow Parents nominated for the for Principal Search Advisory Committee: Margaret Silva, Patrick Song, and Susan St. Pierre.
  • NPS Reports that the Principal Search is on schedule and that they have 15 strong candidates. The search is confidential during the 1st round of interviews, so there is no public output yet.
  • May 1st 6-8 pm Q&A with semi-finalists (in person and virtual) will be the first open-to-the-public event. Please join to meet the candidates and provide feedback!
  • Semi-finalists will also visit Bigelow on May 2nd and May 3rd.
• Volunteers! We are actively recruiting volunteers for next year and soliciting feedback on PTO events and programs. Please email bigelowbulldog@gmail.com if you are interested or have ideas for events/programs that you’d like to see or that you could help implement.  Last year’s positions are at https://bigelowpto.org/pto-board-and-committees/ but these positions and events can change. What the PTO does next year is entirely up to us and the priorities of our community!

Please join the Bigelow community TONIGHT to participate in a discussion group presented by Bigelow FORJ. The discussion will explore themes of race, class and the criminal justice system as presented in the Boston Globe article series: Murder Nightmare in Mission Hill: The Untold Story of the Charles & Carol Stuart Shooting and the Boston Globe podcast and HBO Max docuseries: Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning.

• When: April 11th, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
• Where: Bigelow Middle School, Library
• To register, follow this link: REGISTER
• For more information, please email bigelowforj@gmail.com

The discussion will be facilitated by Amy Cook, Ph.D., Bigelow parent and Associate Professor and the Department Chair of Counseling and School Psychology Department, College of Education and Human Development at UMass Boston.

The Bigelow Baseball team is looking for donations of gently used baseball gloves and cleats for this season. If you have any of this equipment at home that you no longer need, please drop it off at the front office. Thanks!

Please CLICK HERE to access the April Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ) newsletter.

Save the Date for NewtonServes at Bigelow Grounds: Sunday May 5, 2024
NewtonSERVES is a city-wide day of building community through service. NewtonSERVES projects focus on cleaning and improving our parks, school grounds, open space areas, and conservation lands. Save the date, Sunday, May 5th, to build our Bigelow Community while reinvigorating the green areas around the school.

Learn more: https://www.newtonma.gov/government/parks-recreation-culture/newton-serves

Please join us TONIGHT, Thursday, April 4th from 7-8 pm, in the Bigelow Library for our Spring PTO meeting. We will start planning for the 2024-2025 school year by talking about programs and events and about the many PTO positions and volunteer roles. Now is the time to think about what we want our PTO to be next year.  We’ll also have a short update on the principal search.

Spread the news & bring a friend!

If you cannot attend in person, please join via zoom:
Topic: Bigelow PTO
Time: Apr 4, 2024 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://mit.zoom.us/j/93508978318

One tap mobile
+16465588656,,93508978318# US (New York)
+16699006833,,93508978318# US (San Jose)

Meeting ID: 935 0897 8318
US : +1 646 558 8656 or +1 669 900 6833

International Numbers: https://mit.zoom.us/u/aenCwMMG8x
Join by SIP: 93508978318@zoomcrc.com
Join by Skype for Business: https://mit.zoom.us/skype/93508978318

MCAS testing begins next week! All grades at Bigelow will take MCAS ELA (English Language Arts) on Tuesday April 9th and Wednesday April 10th.

Parents and guardians are reminded to encourage a good night’s sleep and healthy breakfast so students are relaxed and ready to do their best.

As Newton Public Schools (NPS) Superindendent Anna Nolin mentioned in her District Newsletter yesterday, budget season is underway. Dr. Nolin shared the kick off overview presentation.

Dr. Nolin invites you to a public budget hearing where community members can ask questions and give feedback on April 1, 2024, 6:30pm. Your involvement is critical to ensuring adequate funding and support for our schools. Instructions for the public to listen to, or participate, in the public hearing can be found via this link.

More information, including the school committee calendar, can be found on the school committee website. Meeting materials are also posted before each meeting.

Newton North High School PTSO invites Bigelow parents and caregivers to hear New York Times Bestselling Author Jessica Lahey, Tuesday April 2nd at 7 pm. RSVP here for this free event.

Save your seat to hear New York Times Bestselling Author Jessica Lahey!

• Tuesday, April 2, NNHS Auditorium, 7 p.m
• Topic: “The Gift of Failure: Parenting for Motivation, Engagement, and Competence in Kids”
• *The event is FREE, hosted by the NNHS PTSO, but please rsvp here 

In this presentation, Jessica Lahey helps parents & guardians understand how “overparenting,” whether that means parenting that’s overly directive, protective, or based on a high level of control and surveillance, has the potential to both undermine children’s sense of self-efficacy and their ability to learn. By letting go and allowing children to learn how to solve problems on their own, parents can give kids the tools they need to become self-reliant, confident and fulfilled adults. In this powerful presentation rooted in deeply researched evidence, 20+ years’ experience as an educator and a parent herself, Lahey champions failure as a crucial element of long-term success. She also provides indispensable advice for handling homework, report cards, social dynamics, competitive sports and the how the elements of The Gift of Failure do double duty as powerful tools for substance use prevention. You may find more on Jessica Lahey here.

Attention 2020 8th Grade Bigelow Families!

A reunion is being planned, please stay tuned! More information coming soon! Contact Una Simmons for questions una@ethannet.com.