Many thanks to Christie Gibson and Michael Emanuel for hosting a lovely 6th grade potluck on Saturday. It was a very warm welcome and a chance to get to know fellow parents in the Bigelow community.

There was so much spooky fun had at the dance & social on Friday, some are already planning their outfits for next year!

• We had almost 175 students attend. 
• The music was on FIRE (figuratively)
• The volunteers showed up with decorations, energy, and good humor

MAJOR THANKS to ALL our volunteers:

Ms. Rossi and Mr. Leone with the Student Council who sold tickets and promoted the event

The 8th Grade Student volunteers who helped decorate and set up

Incredible Parent Volunteers who made it all come together!

Our INCREDIBLE Student Council and Dr. Green would like to hold a Pumpkin Decorating Activity in Advisories next week and they need YOUR help to make it happen!

If you are able to donate a large pumpkin for the activity, please have your child bring the pumpkin(s) to the Bigelow Office by Monday, 10/27. We need one pumpkin per Advisory, so 50 in total.

Here are some places that have pumpkins on sale right now!

Walmart

Stop & Shop

Target

Allandale Farm

Whole Foods

Bigelow students are invited to party in the spooky spirit on Friday, 10/17th from 7pm–9pm in the Bigelow Gymnasium.

To make it a truly spook-tacular event for our students, please sign up to volunteer for key slots HERE.

These roles make an especially big impact on FUN:

• Photo Booth
• Decorations
  • If you have access to or are good with setting up some spooky decor, please sign up to help with decorations!

There are so many ways to buy tickets!

• Pre-Order HERE (Venmo @BigelowTreasurer)
• At lunches Tuesday 10/14 – Friday 10/17 (cash)
• At the door until 7:55 pm (Venmo or cash)

There are now Green Captains at all Newton Public Schools. At Bigelow, Crista Cavicchio (special education teacher) and Christopher LeGare (art teacher) are the educators who have stepped up. In addition, Alexander Lee (7th grade parent) and Nicole Peterson (6th grade parent) are looking to identify other parents who want to help Bigelow become more sustainable.

Here are just some of the tasks where our school community could use your help:

• Assisting with cafeteria organics removal
• Performing bike counts
• Helping with sustainability event
• Managing social media feeds

If you are interested, please fill out this form and someone will be in touch. 

Alexander is working to identify Green Parent Lieutenants at schools across the district, so if you have a kid at elementary or high school, please inquire about how to get involved there, too.

Our Bigelow PTO Secretary Lanni Isenberg captured the energy of the meeting in her recap below. Click here to view meeting notes in full.

Thank you to the parents/guardians who joined the PTO Board for the first PTO Community Meeting of the year! Following a warm welcome from our new Bigelow PTO President Margaret Battat-Silva and a quick round of introductions of everybody in attendance, newly named Bigelow PTO Vice President (and former PTO Treasurer) Rachanee Nelson reviewed a general Bigelow PTO budget overview of revenue and expenses.

We reviewed the exciting events for the year for our students and families, including the upcoming October 17^th Freaky Friday Dance (see ticket info and the call for volunteers in this newsletter!), and shared some additional opportunities to lend a hand in refreshing the PTO website, the fall Bigelow beautification day, the Principal’s search for some Bigelow School Council applicants (due this week), and more. 

Principal Green reported that there are 52 students on the Bigelow Student Council this year – an impressive number! It should present lots of chances to hear from our students and get their input and energy for whatever they’d like to do this year!

Finally, an open discussion focused on questions about field trip plans and planning and District attention to safety and accessibility for all students, PTO financial practices and the District’s current review of spending and finances for Creative Arts & Science (CAS), athletics, theater and more, and the initial impressions of the new Accelerated Math curriculum. We talked about how the Newton School Committee elections are coming up and how that will be a great time to speak with the School Committee members to make sure they know about Bigelow Middle School.

It was a lively and engaged group, and we’re looking forward to learning more about those discussion points from Dr. Green and the new School Council. And we hope to see you at the upcoming dance, a social event, the November 2^nd FORJ Franklin Park Picnic, Warrior Skate Night or any of the other great events by the PTO and our partners!

Questions? Email us: BigelowBulldog@gmail.com

As parents or guardians of students at Bigelow, you are already members of the PTO! The PTO acts as a liaison between parents and the school, helps to build community and foster communication, and fundraises for the priorities set by Bigelow.

Bring your ideas and your skills to this community meeting to kick off a great year for our students at Bigelow!

Bigelow’s incredible Engineering Technology teacher Mr. Whitman is starting two NEW after-school clubs this fall: Woodworking and CAD.

Click HERE to visit his website to learn more about Woodworking and CAD opportunities for students.