An extraordinary week

In tragedy, we find strength

A tragedy in Boston on Monday, April 15th, sparked a week of extraordinary events. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims who lost their lives and to the injured and their families.

Events such as these remind us of how fragile life is and raise questions about why and about our safety in general. Children, particularly younger children, often have difficulty processing events of this magnitude. The U.S. Department of Education's web site on Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools has a technical assistance site with helpful links for families in how to help children deal with traumatic events. Click here to see the resource links.

Good does come from tragedy - we saw extraordinary strength in those who responded to the injured at the marathon, the law enforcement officials who put in extraordinary time and effort into the investigation and its conclusion on Friday night, and the citizens of Boston, Watertown, and surrounding communities who came together in support of the killed and injured, and to allow law enforcement to do what they needed to do. The heroism and goodness of the human spirit demonstrated last week lives within all of us.

We have been working together in the district to ensure that we do everything in our power to ensure that our schools are safe places in which to work and learn. In the coming weeks, we will be reaching out to the community to help us with this work. This is work we cannot do alone, but we know that this same sense of goodness and coming together is part of our community, and we look forward to engaging with you in this process.

Celebrating literacy - reading and writing

On Friday, April 5th, we tallied the latest numbers in our Million Minutes of Reading challenge and discovered that we exceeded our goal: 1,091,768 minutes read by students and their families, along with patrons of the Clapp Memorial Library! Congratulations to one and all and a big thank-you to everyone who provided support along the way! In celebration of reaching this milestone, Friday, April 12th, was "Dress Like a Millionaire Day" in our elementary schools. Staff and students alike dressed like royalty, in formal attire, like sports stars, and in their finest "bling" for the occasion!

Cold Spring School Principal, Sandra Bremer, Kindergarten Teacher , Brendan McCarthy, and Dr. Houle pose with our "millionaires" in celebration for Reading for a Million Minutes!

On Tuesday, April 9th, the School Committee celebrated students who participated in the New England Outdoor Writers Association initial Youth Writers' Contest. Two Belchertown students won top awards: - Katelyn Clark, BHS student, for First Place in Belchertown in the Senior Division, and Matthew Davidsohn, JBMS student, for First Place in Massachusetts in the Junior Division. Tom Fuller, of the NEOWA, presented awards to the students at the meeting.

NEOWA Youth Context winners pose with Tom Fuller and their teachers in celebration of their work.

Katelyn's work is going to be turned into a children's book with illustrations and the assistance of Clapp Memorial Library's Children's Librarian, Jennifer Whitehead. We are looking forward to seeing the finished product! 

If you have any questions about this post, please feel free to contact me by phone, 413.323.0423, or by email: superintendent@belchertown.org.

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools

CSSR PTO Fun Run a Huge Success!

On Saturday, April 6th, hundreds of runners and dozens of walkers gathered in the cold wind to help raise money for the Cold Spring Swift River PTO through their Family Fun Run/Walk. Runners ran through the streets in the center of town for a 5K loop, including members of the Jabish Brook Middle School Running Club. After the runners took off, participants in the one-mile Family Walk around the track  beside Chestnut Hill Community School started off to do our part! Vendors showed their wares and demonstrated their services at a Health and Safety Fair, as part of a festive atmosphere.

The result - approximately $7,000 were raised through runner participation and other donations! These dollars are used to support the teachers and provide a variety of activities for the children at Cold Spring and Swift River Elementary Schools. We are very grateful to the CSSR PTO for their hard work on this event and for all that they do for our students! Enjoy some photos from the day and see the results of the run below!

Runners lined up for the start of the CSSR PTO 5K Family Run

The Oriole Mascot leads the track team in cheering on the day's participants.

One-mile walkers get off to a rousing start!

Runners coming down to the finish line!

As always, if you have any questions about this post, feel free to call me at 413.323.0423 or email me: superintendent@belchertown.org. Enjoy the spring break!

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools

CSSR PTO Family Fun 5K Run/Walk

Looking for something to do on what promises to be a beautiful, sunny Saturday this weekend? Join the Cold Spring Swift River PTO for their annual Family Fun 5K Run/Walk! This event drew 1,000 people last year and the PTO is working hard to ensure another successful event.

This is a major fundraising activity for the PTO, which does a tremendous amount of work to support our students at the Pre-K, Kindergarten, and primary grades. They support our teachers both financially and with volunteer power. We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated group of individuals willing to support the education of our students.

There is a 5K run through town for the ambitious and able, and a 1 mile walk around the BHS stadium track for those who would care to take that route. The fee for the run is $20 per runner and the fee for the walk for participants ages 3 and older is $7 per person (strollers free of charge).

The morning will begin with a health and safety vendor fair at 8:30 am. Registration for the walk will begin at 8:30 am at Chestnut Hill Community School. The run will begin at 10:00 am and the walk shortly thereafter. Even if you don't participate in the run or walk, come on out and support our runners - including the JBMS running club - and visit the vendors at the health and safety fair!

If you would like, you can download a registration form from the CSSR PTO web site, print it out and complete it, and bring it with you that morning. Registration forms will also be available at CHCS that morning. More information can be found on the CSSR PTO web site, including a map of the run route. Please note that online registration for this event is closed.

As always, if you have any questions or comments about this blog, please feel free to call me at 413.323.0423 or email me at superintendent@belchertown.org.

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools

Teachers of Excellence

Belchertown Teachers of Excellence

Each year, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation sponsors a Pioneer Valley Teachers of Excellence awards program. In order to receive this honor, teachers must first be nominated, then selected by their School Council. Those teachers who are selected by their School Councils are recognized as Belchertown Teachers of Excellence.

I am pleased to announce the Belchertown Teachers of Excellence for the 2012-2013 school year: Mr. Brendan McCarthy, Kindergarten Teacher at Cold Spring School; Mr. Ryan Butler, Music Teacher at Swift River Elementary School; Mr. Karl Quist, Physical Education Teacher at Swift River Elementary School; Ms. Stephanie Davies, 7th Grade Mathematics Teacher at Jabish Brook Middle School; Ms. Christine Holesovsky, Spanish Teacher at Belchertown High School; and Ms. Louise Levy, Science Teacher at Belchertown High School. These teachers will be recognized at the March 26, 2013 School Committee meeting!

Pioneer Valley Teachers of Excellence

The Grinspoon Foundation allows us to select three teachers from our local nominees to be recognized as Pioneer Valley Teachers of Excellence Award (PVTEA) winners. One teacher can be within his or her first 3 years of employment at the district and the other two can be selected from any of the nominees. Once I receive the nominees' names, I interview each one individually before making a decision to select them to represent the Belchertown Public Schools. This is always a very difficult decision for me. I am pleased to announce that this year's PVTEA award winners are Mr. Brendan McCarthy as a first-year teacher in our district, Ms. Stephanie Davies, and Ms. Christine Holesovsky. In addition to being recognized by our School Committee, these three outstanding teachers will be part of an evening honoring all awardees from across Hampshire County at the Log Cabin in Holyoke on Thursday, April 25th. Congratulations to our PVTEA winners for the 2012-2013 school year!

School Committee to meet on March 5, 2013

The School Committee will meet on March 5, 2013 at 7:30 pm. Please note the later start time for the meeting, as there is another meeting just prior to it. Click here to see a copy of the agenda. The main focus of the evening will be the presentation of a proposed FY 2014 budget by the Senior Leadership Team.

As always, I'm glad to answer any questions or hear your thoughts about this blog post. Feel free to call me at 413.323.0423 or email me at superintendent@belchertown.org.

Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools