As we ease into the holiday season, schools continue to be busy from our first graders who are starting to gain such great learning momentum to our seniors at Belmont High who are steeped in the college application process. The beginning of November also marks the school year almost one quarter complete!
If you are out and about next week on Monday, November 3, I will be speaking at the Wellington PTO meeting in the morning and at the Burbank PTO meeting on Monday night. I will also be at the Belmont High PTO meeting on the evening of November 5. I look forward to seeing you then.
Health and Safety Committee – Split! After some reflection and review I decided to split the work of our Health and Safety Committee into two more focused groups. Now there will be two working committees that will have a more narrow scope of work. One will be the Health and Wellness Committee and the other the Safety and Security Committee. Both of these groups met last week to begin the work for this school year. Our Health and Wellness Committee will be addressing areas such as physical activity, nutrition, stress, and healthy life styles. Our Safety and Security Committee will continue to focus on sustaining our relationships with the Belmont Police and Fire departments and ensuring that we maintain our vigilance on keeping our schools safe each day.
TEACHING AND LEARNING:
English Language Learners – Our very talented Lindsey Rinder, Director of English, ELL, and Reading, gave a wonderful and informative presentation on the status of the work we do with our students who have limited English proficiency. This population of students has grown in our community over the last two years by more than100 students. This has required training our staff and enhancing their teaching practices to support these and all students. Please see Mrs. Rinder’s power point presentation at this link: English Language Learners Presentation Oct.28, 2014 PDF Document
Great news for our Belmont High Students in Athletics and the Performing Arts:
ATHLETICS:
- Arlington-Belmont Crew Team had an amazing weekend, the crew teams became the 2014 Fall MPSRA Team Champions! The boys also won the Pamela Krause Trophy for The Boys Team Points. I would like to congratulate all the crew teams, as this is their first time to become the 2014 Fall MPSRA Team Champions.
- BHS Girls’ Swim & Dive team captured the Middlesex League Dual Meet Championship this past Friday with an 86 -84 victory over Lexington High.
- The following BHS Fall teams have qualified for the MIAA Post Season Tournament:
- Boys & Girls Cross Country
- Boys &Girls Soccer
- Girls Volleyball
- Boys Golf
- Girls Field Hockey
- BHS Fall Cheerleading has their Middlesex League Championship on Wednesday November 5th @ Burlington High School.
- The Belmont High Girls Volleyball Team will be in MIAA Tournament action on Friday October 31, 2014 @ 6pm when they host Danvers HS in the Wenner Field House- Belmont is the # 7 seed.
- November 12th – 6:30 pm – Fall Athletic Awards Night at BHS
Quote of the month: “Oh, Had I but Followed the Arts”, (Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 3; W. Shakespeare)
PERFORMING ARTS:
- Congratulations to the Belmont High School Wind Ensemble and Concert Orchestra on the Masquerade Concert held on October 30. Seasonal music complete with a haunted house built by BHS students made for a spooky, but fun, night out.
- Speaking of nights out, how about twelve? Come see William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at the Belmont High School on November 6, 7, and 8 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets can be sold in advance and at the door, but grab them early because you won’t want to miss this production of a classic. More information can be found at www.bhs-pac.org.
SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM ANNOUNCES – MEATLESS MONDAYS! The feature meal of the day in all Belmont schools will be part of the Meatless Mondays Initiative. Please take a look at the attached BHS menu for November, share with your classmates and let me know what you guys think! Check out our website for menus or news about local produce!
To see November’s menus click on this link: www.belmont.k12.ma.us/bps/Home/Food-Services/School-Lunch
Veteran’s Day Services - On November 10, 2014, there will be a series of Veterans’ Day events at several of our schools. Starting at the Chenery Middle School at 8:45 a.m. there is a continental breakfast followed by a program at 9:00 a.m. From there you can go to the Butler School for a 9:45 a.m. program, as well as a 10:30 a.m. program at the Winn Brook School. We are proud and thankful to our veterans for their service to our county.
BSEAC Information Night – The Belmont Special Education Advisory Council (BSEAC) will host an information session on “What is LABBB” on November 12th – 6:30 pm Chenery Middle School. This is a hard working group of Belmont parents providing a great service to our parents, students and community. Please attend this important night of information.
Calendar:
November 5 - Elementary and Middle School Early Release
November 11 - Veterans’ Day Holiday – No School
November 12 – Elementary, Middle and High School Early Release