Prepare for the SAT Subject Tests in Chemistry and Biology

Newton Community Education offers test prep classes for the SAT Subject Tests in Chemistry and Biology. Both classes will run on 4 Tuesdays, May 2nd – May 23rd, 7:00 – 9:00 pm. The Chemistry review class will be held at Newton North High School. The Biology review class will be held at Newton South High School. For more information, or to register, visit newtoncommunityed.org or call 617-559-6999.

Sidekick: A new local Business

Need a TV mounted? A shower re-grouted? A crack in your ceiling fixed? Meet Sidekick Home, your personal home project concierge. They’ve got your back! They connect homeowners with a pre-qualified list of skilled and vetted tradesmen and handymen to handle all of your service needs. As your single point of contact for all your home service needs, Sidekick Home will manage the bids, schedule the job, ensure it’s complete to your satisfaction and handle payment.  For more information visit http://www.sidekickhome.com or call 877- 949-7845.

Tickets for the Big Night are on sale!

Come out for the Big Night and enjoy live music, great food and drinks. It’s a a fun place to catch up with other Bigelow parents and staff. If you are new to the community or if your child is coming to Bigelow next year, it will be a great opportunity to meet new people and some of your child’s future teachers. All present and incoming parents are welcome and can raise funds for art and sciences programs.

We are arranging child care options near by. More information will be available soon.

Buy your tickets here and invite friends to join the fun.

Bigelow Big Night Luau 2017
When: Saturday, May 20th from 7pm – 11pm.
Where: Commander’s Mansion at the Arsenal in Watertown
             440 Talcott Avenue, Watertown, MA 02472
Tickets: on sale now
Why: Money raised from this event supports our students, and it’s a lot of fun!

For more information on the event, please visit the Bigelow Big Night Luau 2017 page on our website. If you have any questions please contact Beth Panella at beth.panella@comcast.net.

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

National Day of Silence – April 13

With the support of our Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), Bigelow will be observing the National Day of Silence,on Thursday, April 13, 2017.

The Day of Silence is a student-led action sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), in which thousands of students around the country will remain silent for all or part of the school day to call attention to the harassment and discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

Bigelow students can show their support and participate in the Day of Silence in two ways.

1) REMAIN SILENT FOR THE DAY –  Students making this choice are expected to participate non-verbally in all school-related activities, both in the classroom and the cafeteria. Students can choose to wear a Day of Silence lanyard with a card that explains their silence.

2) BE AN ALLY –  Allies will not remain silent themselves, but will respect the silence of others. Students can choose to wear a Day of Silence lanyard that explains why they are showing their support as an ally.

Participation is completely optional.  Contact Principal Todd Harrison if you have any questions.

Bigelow Math Team won the last meet

Congratulations to the Bigelow Math Team for winning the last meet of the year, on April 6th. With perfect scores from Samir T. and Helen X., Bigelow came out ahead of 6 other schools. Great job everyone!

The Bigelow Math Team is part of the Intermediate Math League of Eastern Massachusetts (IMLEM).  The Team competes against other Newton middle schools, as well as Brookline (Heath), Needham (Pollard) and the Jewish Community Day School (JCDS).

School Committee approved the budget for the 2017-18 school year

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 – a free one-day event for middle school students

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

Haiku Poetry Contest

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 – Bigelow Beautification

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.

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