Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Birch Meadow School Improvements

The following school improvements took place this summer and will continue into the beginning of the school year. Thank you to parents, teachers, the town of Reading, and PTO for making many of these improvements possible.

• New draw string Blinds in every room in the building
• New carpet in the office and teacher’s room
• Paint in the library (PTO funded)
• 275 new desks and chairs
• 20 new teacher chairs
• 3 new laptops
• 5 new netbooks for the Computer on Wheels
• Paint in the gym, 11 classrooms, and the Birch Meadow entrance
• Smart boards in the art/music room and in the new Language Based classroom
• Parent Resource center in the lobby (funded by 5th grade class of 08/09 school year)
• Storage bin for recess balls and equipment (PTO funded)
• Walkie Talkie’s for emergencies, PE, and recess (PTO funded)
• 2 new flip cameras (PTO funded)
• 2 new digital cameras (PTO funded)
• New screen in the library (PTO funded)
• New screen in the cafeteria (PTO funded)
• 4 new color printers (PTO funded)
• New computers in the special education classrooms (Special Ed dept. funded)
• New energy efficient lighting and switches in all rooms (NORESCO
energy service contract)

Welcome to the following new teachers at Birch Meadow

Our newest hire - Jennifer Emmett - GRADE 5 TEACHER
Jan Rhein and Kristie Lambert - GRADE 2
Erin Soo Curley and Krista Erikson -- LEARNING CENTER
Linda Proulx -- LANGUAGE BASED TEACHER
Kathy Garey will be moving from a special education para educator to a tutor position
Cassandra Bryant will be coming to Birch Meadow as a Special Education para educator from Wood End
Adele Keohan -- Mrs. Tucker’s maternity leave
Birch Meadow has been allocated two 17.5 hour per week tutors due to large class size in grade 1. Welcome to Alissa Landau who will serve as a Birch Meadow tutor and we are in the process of hiring an additional 17.5 per week tutor.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Furniture sale on Friday

Attached is a list of school furniture for sale in Reading. The sale will take place on Friday, August 21st from 9 AM - 1 PM at Birch Meadow and Killam School. Parents interested in volunteering to assist with the sale please contact Birch Meadow School at 781-944-2335. Volunteers will be provided with a free student desk and chair.
https://www.edline.net/files/fd204ca71412cb713745a49013852ec4/Yard_Sale_Flyer.pdf

Photo Story

Here are additional improvements which took place at Birch Meadow this summer. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and gearing up for the first day of school on September 2nd.
Stay cool!

Brian Bemiss

It is with mixed emotions that we wish Brian Bemiss success as the new Principal of Huckleberry Hill School in Lynnfield, MA. Mr. Bemiss was announced to the Huckleberry Hill community on August 17th.


Mr. Bemiss will certainly be missed at Birch Meadow. I will be interviewing Grade 5 teaching candidates this week. Parents in Mr. Bemiss's class will receive a letter introducing the new teacher once someone has been selected.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Summer Photo Story

Here is a sample of pictures from the summer at Birch Meadow. You can see some of the improvements and upgrades which are currently taking place.

My First Week

I have begun to use this blog as a way to post information about Birch Meadow School and our community. I hope you enjoy the information and welcome your comments and feedback. This does not replace the information you can find on Birch Meadow's EdLine page, but I will do my best to keep you informed of events as they happen.