January 31, 2020

Dear Burr Families,

Happy Friday and happy end of January! The days are getting noticeably longer. A bunch of short items:

• We have a lockdown scheduled for the early part of next week. This will be our fourth practiced lockdown of the year. As I remind parents before every lockdown, please review some basic expectations with your child about lockdowns that include: 1) They need to listen to the adult in charge. 2) They need to remain silent. 3) If they are not with their class, they need to get to the nearest classroom or safe/hiding zone in the school (a bathroom, for example.)
• One Book, One School begins on Monday with a whole school assembly and will continue through early March. We are so very excited! Each family will receive a copy of the book on Monday (thank you PTA) along with a reading schedule. We will be reading most of the book in school but will ask that you read a few chapters with/to your child. It's a great book, and a great opportunity to bond/discuss literature. The big reveal - of the book - will be Monday.
• February kicks off our one month Kindness Challenge. Next week students will be bringing home a Kindness Challenge form to complete. It's filled with twelve fun challenges that promote kindness. Please encourage your child to complete it and return it to the office by February 28th. There are directions on the top of it - which include students having their teacher or parent sign off on each challenge as they get completed. We will hold a special drawing at the end of February for students who turn in completed forms. Here is a link to the form. (Your child will also bring one home in hard copy.) Kindness Challenge
• We have two upcoming concerts. Wednesday, February 5th is our fourth grade orchestra concert at 7:00 PM. Tuesday, February 11th is our Winter Concert for fifth grade orchestra and our fifth grade chorus also at 7:00 PM. The chorus part of the show will be shorter than previous years due to Mrs. Maravich's absence throughout November and December. However, as always, the quality will be great!
• Thank you to our Student Council who organized a coffee and breakfast to say thank you to our wonderful bus drivers.
• Finally, some important reminders about flu season from our town's health department: Flu season is upon us. Please remind your children to be vigilant about hand washing with warm water and soap, covering coughs and avoiding anyone with a cold or stomach bug symptoms. At home, clean phones, keyboards, doorknobs and common areas/items to minimize the spread of germs and viruses at home. If illness strikes, consider using disposable utensils until the illness subsides. Replace toothbrushes after recovering from the illness.The classic signs of flu include:

· Fever which can be high - a fever is anything over 100+ degrees F

· Cough and/or chest discomfort which can become severe

· Headache

· Sore throat which MAY include cold symptoms of stuffy nose, sneezing

· General body aches and pains

· Fatigue and weakness

· Exhaustion

Please consult your health care provider as needed. Flu vaccines are available at the Fairfield Health Department. Call 203-256-3150 for an appointment. The difference between a cold and the flu is that a cold RARELY INVOLVES A FEVER [except in young children] or headache, fatigue, weakness, exhaustion, and generalized severe aches and pains. Colds usually begin with a day of sore throat and progresses to runny nose and congestion in 24 hours. A mild cough may be present.

Have a great weekend!

Jason

Writing work

Current Writing Units of Study

K- Writing for Readers

1- Writing Narrative Fiction

2- Informational Writing

3- Baby Literary Essay

4-Literary Essay (Argument Writing)

5- Memoir

Branches - We are looking for a parent to help us put together our Branches Literary Magazine this year. Every year, students in grades 3-5 submit a favorite piece of writing to be published in Branches. The PTA then publishes this writing as part of a school wide literary magazine that also includes art work. It is truly a gift and a wonderful showcase for our student's writing. The magazine (it's more like a book) is distributed to students and teachers in grades 3-5 in late May/June.

You do not need to be a writer or editor to help us. In fact, the skills that would be most helpful is someone strong at design and layout. We could even have some of our students work with you to help design the layout of the magazine. If you are interested, please e-mail me at jbluestein@fairfieldschools.org This is a great opportunity to support our school.

Family Handbook

I have included a link to our family handbook. It contains practical information about our school as well as links to many district resources.

2019-2020 Family Handbook

lost and found

Please have your child claim their clothes. Every 6-8 weeks, we donate what's left to Goodwill and/or shelters. I would also suggest discussing taking care of clothes with your children. It's a good opportunity to talk about responsibility, and your expectations for how they manage their belongings. In elementary school, students should be responsible for getting their clothes to and from home to school.

Behavior handbook

Below is a link to our Behavior handbook. For the month of January, please review the Bullying policy on page 8. Some quick thoughts:

• We deal with issues of inappropriate behavior all the time at Burr. It is rare that we investigate and make a determination of bullying. I would ask that you to use the word with care - with your children and amongst your friends and members of the Burr community.

When determining whether an incident is bullying vs. inappropriate behavior, we consider:

• Is the incident part of a repeated pattern of behavior?
• Does this pattern create a reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm or a hostile environment for the student (s)?
• Do the students involved all attend school in Fairfield?
• Does the pattern interrupt the orderly functioning of our school?

If you need to report a bullying pattern of behavior, you can:

• Tell the principal or elementary program facilitator directly - either through e-mail or by appointment.
• Report through the district’s anonymous TIPs hotline. This can be accessed on Burr’s website. It is located in the middle of the page.

Of course, if you know of an incident of inappropriate behavior, you can contact your child's teacher, Mrs. McCarthy or me through e-mail or phone as well.

Behavior Handbook 2019-2020

Upcoming Dates

Monday, February 3 - One Book, One School Start - Text Title Coming Monday!

Wednesday, February 5 - Grade 4 Winter Orchestra Concert - 7:00 PM

Tuesday, February 11 - Grade 5 Winter Orchestra and Chorus Concert - 7:00 PM

Thursday, February 13 - Early Dismissal at 1:40

Thursday, February 13 - STAR Reports Available in Infinite Campus

Friday, February 14 and Monday, February 17 - No School, President's Weekend