Welcome, please come and browse the newsletter.

We have completed our first full week of school and our first taste of cooler mornings and nights as summer drifts into fall. It's great to feel the energy brought in by schools filled with teachers and students. Below is an update to what is happening in your schools and district. Happy September to all. 

“You can never be overdressed or over educated.” 
― Oscar Wilde

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

As you know there have been community discussions regarding the upcoming September 20 Minuteman High School ballot vote. There have been many questions asked about the fiscal and educational aspect of this vote. In an attempt to provide the community a collective view, the School Committee at their September 13 meeting voted to support a "no" vote. This mirrors the "no" vote supported by the Board of Selectmen and Warrant Committee. Regardless of the outcome of the September 20 ballot question, the town and school district are committed to meeting the educational needs of all our students, inclusive of our students seeking a vocational education. If you did not get a chance to go to the League of Women Voters Forum on September 12, you can view both sides of this issue filmed by Belmont Media Center. 

TEACHING AND LEARNING

• The BPS is in the final year of the Strategic Plan of which Professional Development has always been a major component. I would like to share with you information about our Professional Learning Teams (PLT), made up of BPS educators who work together to positively impact student learning outcomes in Belmont Public Schools. The PLT is part of Goal C of the Strategic Plan, The goal is to give educators the time and space to work together and honor their expertise that supports their collaboration in improving student learning. The PLT goal can be a Professional Practice Goal of learning something new as a team of educators or a Student Learning Goal where what is learned is applied to teachers' work with students. The teachers examine past student learning data such as state tests and common assessments, then collaborate with colleagues to address a focus area and develop a SMART goal. I want to thank Assistant Superintendent Janice Darias for overseeing and coordinating the PLT program. 
• I am very proud of the good work done in Belmont with Social Emotional Learning (SEL), which has been worked on over the last three years and is a component of the district Strategic Plan, and is now spreading across the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (M.A.S.S.) is launching a statewide campaign for SEL, named "exSel: Excellence through Social-Emotional Learning," and they have a website with more information at www.exselmass.org. Many other organizations across the state are also  promoting SEL, including the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC).

OTHER DISTRICT NEWS

• As you have seen in the news over the last several months, municipalities are concerned about the drinking water in their cites and towns. To ensure our own water safety, I requested Director of Facilities Gerald Boyle to conduct water testing. Last spring the Town tested a third of the water faucets in the buildings. The results were good and met all standards. Additionally, we applied for an EPA grant to get funding to test all the faucets in all the buildings. This next phase of testing will be done this fall. We are testing out of an abundance of caution to ensure the water supply is safe in our town and school buildings.
• At the September 13 School Committee meeting, I presented an update on the Belmont High School project which you can view on our website. The presentation provided an overview of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) process which entails the completion of eight modules. The district is in the beginning stages of Module One, which we hope to complete by November 7, 2016. I would like to emphasize my appreciation to the Belmont High School Building Committee (BHS-BC) for their work this summer. I would also like to remind you at this time the BHS-BC meetings are open to the public, and the website has a list of dates and times the meetings take place.

BPS HELPFUL WEBSITES

This is a busy time of year with many emails going out to you. We appreciate your attention to them all as well as to this newsletter. Please take a look at the BPS website for information on the front page as well as information under each tab.  There you can go into individual schools for PTO/PTA and other school events, as well as keep up with Athletics, Visual and Performing Arts, and news from your Principals. Other tabs show information regarding the School Committee, Families, District news, etc. As always our Food Service Team, led by Director Dustin O'Brien, is doing an outstanding job always looking for innovative ways to provide lunch to our students. We look forward to this year's offerings.  

We welcome four new members to our Leadership staff this school year:

Danielle Betancourt is the new Principal at Butler. She was a Vice Principal of the Brophy Elementary School in Framingham, MA, and taught first and second grades, respectively, in Dorchester and Newton MA.

Michael McAllister is the new Principal at Chenery. Although he is not new to Belmont, having been formerly the Principal of the Butler Elementary School, this is his first year at the Chenery.

Torrance Lewis is the new Upper School Assistant Principal at Chenery, He was an Assistant Principal of the Cyrus Peirce Middle School on Nantucket Island, and was a teacher and a school leader in Decatur, GA; Lexington, MA; and Brasilia, BR.

Lisa Hurtubise is the new Assistant Principal at Belmont High School. She has taught English at BHS for the past eleven years, and will continue to teach two English classes along with her new part-time role as Assistant Principal. During her tenure at BHS, she has been a mentor teacher, a PLT leader, and is active in the SEL committee. 

We welcome them all to their new leadership positions.

ATHLETICS

Here is the Athletic Schedule for this weekend:

Friday, September 16
3:45 PM Boys Freshman Soccer Arlington High School Home
3:45 PM Girls Freshman Soccer Arlington High School Away
4:00 PM Girls Varsity Swimming Acton-Boxborough Regional HS Home
4:00 PM Girls Varsity Volleyball Arlington High School Home
4:00 PM Girls Freshman Field Hockey Arlington High School Away
5:30PM Girls Junior Varsity Volleyball Arlington High School Home
5:30PM Girls Freshman Volleyball Arlington High School Home
6:00 PM Boys Varsity Football Medford High School Home

Saturday, September 17
9:00 AM Boys Junior Varsity Football Medford High School Away
9:00 AM Girls Varsity Field Hockey Arlington High School Home
10:30 AM Girls Junior Varsity Field Hockey Arlington High School Home
5:00 PM Boys Varsity Soccer North Andover HS Home
5:00 PM Boys Junior Varsity Soccer North Andover HS Home

SAVE THE DATE

• September 26 is the 2016 Belmont Boosters Golf Tournament. Registration/lunch is at 11:30 a.m., tee off is at 12:30 p.m., and dinner is at 5:30 p.m. Prizes are given to the top three groups and there are other awards. See the Boosters website for more information on the event and fee.
• October 2 is the 4th annual Dan Scharfman Memorial Run, sponsored by the Foundation for Belmont Education (FBE). It begins at 9:30 a.m. at the BHS track. Last year more than 750 runners participated in the 5K and 2K categories, and over $20,000 was raised for the Belmont Public Schools. Please go to the FBE website to register for this year's race.
• October 7 and 8 is Broadway Night at the BHS Little Theater. Broadway Night is the Performing Arts Company's Musical Theater Cabaret. Students perform classic show tunes and contemporary work from new musical theater composers in an evening of song, dance and storytelling. Please go the the Performing Arts Company website, bhs-pac.org, for tickets and information.

CALENDAR

Below are some of the numerous events going on into the end of September, beginning of October.  Please check school websites and communications for more events and any additional information or changes in dates, times and venues.

DATE/TIME - PLACE/EVENT