Last Day Of Classes At Belmont’s Public Schools Today, June 20

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Photo: The final walk out of school at the Wellington.

Do you hear the pupils sing? Singing the songs of no more school.

Unless it snows today, Wednesday, June 20 is the final day of the 2017-18 school year in Belmont. Coincidentally, it’s also the final day of spring as the summer solstice occurs on June 21 at 6:07 a.m. (for any druid who needs to know).

And students won’t be spending the entire day in class as Wednesday is an early release day for all grades. Some of the elementary schools will have a final walk out of school of the “graduating” 4th graders who will be heading to the Chenery Middle School in the fall. 

While school is officially “out for summer,” there is one final student event of the year taking place on Saturday, June 23 as Belmont High’s boys’ and girls’ rugby squads will complete in the state championships at Newton South High School.

And for parents, it’s only 77 days until the first day of the 2018-19 school year on Wednesday, Sept. 5.

 

Online Registration Coming for Incoming Kindergartners; 1-12 Students New to Belmont

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Photo: Belmont Public Schools.

The Belmont Public Schools is holding Online Registration beginning on Feb. 8 for the Fall of 2018 for incoming Kindergarten students and Grades 1-12 Families New to Belmont.

After completing this step, parents will be notified via email of the next step in the registration process.

To enter Kindergarten, the child must be five years old on or before Sept. 1 of the year they will attend school. To enter Grade 1, the child must be six years old on or before Sept. 1 of the year they will attend school.

Proof of residency is required.

Kindergarten Parent Information Night for School Year 2018-2019

A general information program for parents of incoming kindergarten students is scheduled as follows. Please go to your district school open house, as the curriculum covered is applicable to all elementary schools.

Please note: Kindergarten Parent Information Night is for Adults Only.

  • Burbank: Thursday, March 29 at 6 p.m.
  • Butler: Thursday, March 22 at 6 p.m.
  • Wellington: Thursday, March 22 at 5:30 p.m.
  • Winn Brook: Thursday, March 29 at 6:00 p.m.

Rain, Thunder To Greet Students On First Day Of School in Belmont

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Photo: Off to school.

In addition to the new backpack, pencils and lunch boxes, parents should add umbrellas, slickers and rain boots to the list of item students will bring to the first day of the 2017-18 school year in Belmont that commences today, Wednesday, Sept. 6. 

The need for added weather protection is due to the National Weather Service issuing a flash flood watch at 10:25 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Periods of showers and embedded thunderstorms are expected to begin in the late morning and lasting into the night with pockets of localized torrential rainfall. Hourly rainfall rates of one to two inches per hour will be possible with the strongest storms, which may lead to localized flooding of streets and low lying areas. 

Day one: 
  • It is a full day for students grades 1-12.
  • There will be no bus service available for Kindergarten students on Sept. 7, 8, and 9. Busing for Kindergarten students will begin on Monday, Sept. 12.
  • It is a Wednesday schedule for all students, meaning an earlier than usual dismissal time.

Purchase meals and plans online here.

Belmont High School

Wednesday is Opening Day for Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12: All grades will report to school at 7:35 a.m. for homeroom. After homeroom, students will attend each class on their Wednesday schedule and meet with teachers.

A Quick Reference Guide, including a list of items for Opening Day and the first week of school, has been uploaded to each ParentPlus and StudentPlus accounts. 

Dismissal times this year are:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 2:25 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 1:25 p.m.
  • Wednesday Early Release will be at 10:30 a.m.

Chenery Middle School

Start Time: 7:55 a.m.

Dismissal Times:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 2:25 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 1:15 p.m.
  • Wednesday Early Release will be at 11 a.m.

Burbank, Butler, Wellington Schools:

Start Time: 8:40 a.m.

Dismissal Times:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 2:50 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 1:40 p.m.
  • Wednesday Early Release will be at 11:40 a.m.

(1/2 Day Kindergarten: 8:40 a.m. to 11:55 a.m.)

Winn Brook School

Start Time: 8:50 a.m.

Dismissal Times:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 3 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 1:50 p.m.
  • Wednesday Early Release will be at 11:50 a.m.

Schools’ Forums on ‘Raising Resilient Kids’ Monday, Wednesday

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Photo:

The Belmont Public Schools and the Foundation for Belmont Education are holding this week a pair of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Forums on “Raising Resilient Kids.”

  • Elementary Presentation: Monday, April 3, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School Auditorium 
  • Middle and High School Presentation: Wednesday, April 5, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Belmont High School Auditorium  

Come to this year’s social and emotional learning presentation to learn about resilience–how to foster it at home and how we’re fostering it in the schools. This presentation is part of the district’s social and emotional learning initiative, generously funded by the Foundation for Belmont Education.

It’s ‘RAMA’ Saturday With Stringarama, Bandarama At High School

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Photo: Lots of musicians this Saturday.

This is no joke: April 1 will be your chance to hear from the youngest to the most experience musicians on a “Rama” day in Belmont.

Moved from its traditional pre-Christmas date to allow the younger musicians to be a bit more proficient, the Belmont Public Schools Fine and Performing Arts Department presents the long-time tradition Stringarama and Bandarama on April Fools’ Day.

First will be the Stringorama Concert, featuring more than 400 string students in Grades 3-12, at the Belmont High School’s Wenner Field House. The performances start at 1 p.m. 

Each grade will perform a selected piece that showcases their best work, and then the entire ensemble will perform the first ever Grand Finale.

Then at 4 p.m., the Wenner will house another group of several hundred student musicans as the Wenner becomes the largest band room around as the 45th annual Bandarama takes place. You’ll hear from elementary, middle and high school bands in works the performers have been preparing do perform.

We Give Up: Schools, Town, Library Closed For Thursday’s Nor’easter

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Photo: School’s out for … Thursday!

Belmont has surrendered to tomorrow’s Nor’easter.

With approximately a foot of snow predicted to fall from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, most of Belmont will be shut down for the day.

  • Belmont Public Schools will be closed due to the snow and associated events and sporting contests will be postpone or rescheduled.
  • Town government and other town offices will also be shut tight.
  • The Belmont Public Library has cancelled events for the day and will remain closed until Friday at 9 a.m.

But one scheduled event will take place: Thursday trash and recycling pickup is still “on.”

Schools Move to Remediate Faucets With Elevated Lead Levels

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Photo: 14 taps and faucets have been shut off at Belmont schools for action level of lead in the water.

With a total of 14 school-based water faucets identified with elevated lead levels under specific conditions, the Belmont Public Schools has begun working with town and state resources to remediate the problem.

“We will continue to work together as a [t]own to provide healthy school environments for all students in Belmont,” Belmont Superintendent John Phelan in a letter sent to parents and guardians on Dec. 19.

The school district is joining with the Belmont Board of Health, Water Department, Facilities Department and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to review the tests and come up with steps to resolve the worrisome spigots located in five of six public school buildings.

In a Friday, Dec. 16 email sent to parents; Phelan revealed that the second round of testing of all faucets used by staff or students showed nine taps exceeding “action limits” for lead exposure.

They included:

Butler Elementary School, 6
Wellington Elementary, 1
Chenery Middle, 1
Belmont High, 1.
On Monday, Dec. 19, an additional five faucets were placed on the list of troublesome outlets:

Belmont High, 3
Burbank Elementary, 2
Only Winn Brook Elementary was free of suspect faucets.

The 14 taps were shut down, and the town departments led by the Facilities Department are determining if each valve can be brought within state safety standards or if any needs to be replaced or decommissioned permanently.

The School District compiled a spreadsheet with specific health data from the 14 effected faucets in addition to information from each of Belmont’s six schools. 

Phelan noted that of the 14 problem taps, water from 10 faucets fell below the “action level” once they are “flushed” by allowing the water to run through the pipes for “some time.”

“This tells us that those ten faucets … are producing ‘clean’ water” after the flushing process, said Phelan, who said the town’s Board of Health has determined that the town’s water source “has a good and clean sources.”

Belmont is one of 164 public school buildings in the state reported at least one sample with lead levels above regulatory limits, the DEP said.

With water quality regarding lead contamination – the most prominent being the crisis in Flint, Michigan – making headlines across the country, the Belmont school department in the Spring 2016 requested the town’s Facilities Department test the water at Belmont’s school buildings.

Fifty faucets were randomly tested throughout the school buildings, with all coming back to safe levels.

Around the same time, the DEP sponsored $2 million in grants for municipalities to have their water levels tested. Belmont applied for and received this award, said Phelan.

The second sampling was conducted this fall testing all 180 drinking water and food preparation faucets in Belmont schools using more detailed DEP guidelines. On Wednesday, Dec. 14, nine were found to have results exceeding “action levels” for lead.

“I appreciate that support of all the [t]own departments that work together every day, year-round, to support our school children and staff,” said Phelan.

For questions or concerns, please contact the Belmont Health Department at 671-993-2720 or email the district at jphelanblog@belmont.k12.ma.us

School District Shuts Off Nine Faucets Due to Elevated Lead Levels

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Photo: Faucets at issue.

Nine faucets used for drinking by students and staff were shut off last week after tests showed the taps exceeding “action limits” for lead exposure, according to the Belmont School District.

District Superintendent John Phelan said in a Friday, Dec. 16 email sent to parents, six of the faucets were located at the Butler Elementary School with one each at the Wellington Elementary, Chenery Middle, and Belmont High schools.

Additionally, the State Department of Environmental Protection informed Phelan that as of Friday, Dec. 16, several samples from Belmont schools still are awaiting results.

When that information is provided to the school department, a full set of data will be placed on the department’s website. “I plan on sending out all the testing data on Monday [Dec. 19] as some late samples have to be added,” he said.

The next step is for the School Department to meet with the town’s Board of Health, Facilities and the Water Department to identify whether the same issues exist in the faucets themselves or the pipes, Phelan said.

Belmont joins a long list of school districts facing the same issue. Last month, 164 of 300 public school buildings in the state reported at least one sample with lead levels above regulatory limits, according to the DEP.

With water quality regarding lead contamination – the most prominent being the crisis in Flint, Michigan – making headlines across the country, the Belmont school department in the Spring 2016 requested the town’s Facilities Department test the water at Belmont’s six school buildings.

Fifty faucets were randomly tested throughout the school buildings, with all coming back below “action levels.”

Around the same time, the DEP sponsored $2 million in grants for municipalities to have their water levels tested. Belmont applied for and received this grant, said Phelan.

The second sampling was conducted this fall testing all 180 drinking water and food preparation faucets in Belmont schools using more detailed DEP guidelines. On Wednesday, Dec. 14, nine were found to have results exceeding “action levels” for lead.

“In an abundance of caution, these results were communicated to the BPS community as soon as they were received by the district,” said Phelan.

Despite the shut down and concerned calls from parents, Phelan referred to a Belmont Board of Health advisory that “the water in all of our schools has a good and clean source.”

For families concerned about the water in Belmont, Director of the Belmont Health Department Angela Braun has provided information listed below.

Director of BPS Nurses Mary Conant-Cantor remind parents they are encouraged to speak with their pediatrician regarding questions and concerns.

“Providing a safe environment in our school buildings each day for students and staff is our primary concern,” said Phelan.

“Moving forward we will continue to meet with the respective town departments to secure an action plan,” he said.

For additional information on lead and drinking water, please see the following links:

Letter from Angela Braun, director of Health Department

Center for Disease Control (CDC): http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/water.htm

Massachusetts Department of Public Health:http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/environmental/lead/lead-drinking-water-faq.pdf

Veterans’ Day Exercise Schedule at Belmont Public Schools

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Photo: Belmont veterans.

The Belmont Public Schools will be holding its annual Veterans’ Day exercises on Thursday, Nov. 10 with visits by Belmont and area residents who have served their country to town schools. 

Thursday’s schedule:

  • 8:45 a.m.: Continental breakfast at Chenery Middle School. 95 Washington St.
  • 9 a.m.: Program at Chenery Middle School
  • 9:45 a.m.: Butler Elementary School program.
  • 10:30 a.m.: Wellington Elementary School program.
  • 11:30 a.m.: Luncheon at VFW Post, 310 Trapelo Rd., sponsored by Bob Upton, the town’s Veterans’ Services Officer. 

Instrumental Music Information Nights This Week For 3rd, 4th Graders

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Photo: Musical instruments.

Attention Grade 3 and Grade 4 parents: Attend one of the Instrumental Music Information Nights this week to learn about the amazing opportunities available to your students this year playing a musical instrument.

You’ll learn about the program, which instruments are available, and how you can sign up. And if you can’t make it to the Info Night in your school, you are welcome to attend any of the other sessions.

  • BURBANK: Monday, Sept. 12 (6:30 p.m., Burbank cafeteria)
  • WELLINGTON: Tues., Sept. 13 (7 p.m., Wellington cafeteria)
  • WINN BROOK: Wed., Sept. 14 (7 p.m., Winn Brook cafeteria)
  • BUTLER: Thursday, Sept. 15 (7 p.m., Butler cafeteria)

Questions? E-mail Arto Asadoroian, director of visual and performing arts.