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Daily Buzz | Getting a Head Start on Memorial Day Activities
Also, join the community for a meal this evening
Hello, Burlington!
Just gonna get right into today’s note. Enjoy!
School Committee Recap
I attended the entire SC meeting last night, during which my toddler may or may not have repeatedly unmuted me without my knowledge (sorry!) but didn’t have a computer in front of me. So these notes are very brief. I probably didn’t catch everything so feel free to watch back. I found the student testimony at the beginning to be particularly moving.
Students advocated for keeping the Italian program at the middle school.
Students on the equity committee spoke about their experiences and the necessity of doing more to educate our students on issues of race, LGBTQ+ issues, the history of race relations in our country, and more.
We’re piloting Restorative Justice circles this year in the hopes of adopting them next year.
A handful of students were awarded a Seal of Biliteracy, which is super cool and will go on their diploma. More about that, hopefully, in a separate story.
The MSMS and BHS handbooks are adopted.
English Learner education audit by the state found we need more staff and we have many teachers without an SEI (Sheltered English Immersion) endorsement (a special endorsement on a teaching certificate that qualifies a teacher to provide specialized instruction students who are learning English) - so we are adding an assessment coordinator and ensuring only teachers with SEI endorsements teach EL students. (If I seem a little too fluent with that language, it’s because I’m a teacher with an SEI endorsement who has taught EL students for 2 decades - and now you know even more trivia about me.)
Unified basketball team, which combines students with and without intellectual disabilities, played and won recently - they’ll play again at Hoopapalooza in Wakefield at 3:30 today.
Monday evening we put on our second public health clinic at MSMS in conjunction with the City of Woburn and medical students from Tufts.
Safe Routes to School survey on BPS website, closes next Friday 6/3.
Today in Burlington
There’s lots going on, but somehow it still feels like a quiet day.
9:00 AM - Housing Authority - Special Meeting to award a contract for converting to barrier-free showers at 15 Birchcrest Street.
3:30 PM - Flag Placement at Veterans' Graves - every veteran whose body rests at Chestnut Hill and Pine Haven Cemeteries will have a flag placed at their grave today in honor of next week’s Memorial Day holiday.
4:00 PM - Board of Assessors has their regular meeting - motor vehicle abatements and real estate exemptions will be discussed.
5:30 PM - Community Dinner at the Burlington Presbyterian Church. All are welcome.
6:00 PM - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee of the Select Board meets for some updates regarding a Select Board + DEIC Leadership Program, the Rules & Regulations and union contracts, and a discussion about executive leaders of our town Boards and Commissions. (Join via Webex)
7:00 PM - Stormwater Bylaw Subcommittee of the General Bylaw Review Committee meets to continue working on those proposed bylaw changes. (Join via Webex)
That’s it for today. See you tomorrow!
Nicci