Butler PTA

February 2025 Newsletter

Stay Connected: Future Events, Volunteer Openings, and Past Highlights!

Congratulations on 100 Days!

We are more than 100 days into the school year, and we hope you are ready for a lovely February break. We have many activities left for our students as we round out the back part of the year, and are beginning to plan for our PTA leadership for the 2025-26 school year. We would be so grateful if you joined us! Read on for more details.

For updates and information, please also check the PTA section of the Butler website, and join the Facebook page Butler Elementary Belmont MA Parents. 

See you soon,
Colleen Hartley and Sara Carson
PTA Co-Presidents

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Vote for Butler!
Watertown Saving Bank’s Customer Choice Award!

Watertown Savings Bank is holding its 26th Annual Customer Choice Award for favorite nonprofit.  Please take a few seconds to click the link below and vote for us by entering “Butler Elementary PTA!”  We could win up to $15,000 - money that would go right back to your Butler child!

Click here to vote for Butler!

Upcoming Events

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Restaurant Fundraiser - Wednesday 2/26 at Lisa’s Pizza!

(617) 489-8900
368 Trapelo Rd.

Are you a pizza aficionadough? 
Do you
knead your fix?  

Please join us at Lisa’s Pizzeria on Wednesday, February 26th!  Lisa’s will donate 20% of order proceeds to the Butler PTA - money that will go directly back to our students.  All you need to do is call, order pickup or delivery, and mention the Butler school OR show your flyer. 

Lisa’s will be running this fundraiser all day (11 AM - 9 PM).

Why not enjoy both lunch and dinner at Lisa’s? it’s the yeast you can do!

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Multicultural Night - Thursday 2/27 in the gym and cafeteria!

Please join us on Thursday, February 27th in the cafeteria and gym (6:30-8:00 PM) to celebrate the wonderful cultures of Butler! If you would like to exhibit artifacts and/or share food from your culture, please add your info to the tracker by February 17th, and our coordinators will contact you with further details.

If you would like to volunteer for this event (set-up, clean, up, etc), please email butlerpta@gmail.com 

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Literacy Week (3/3 through 3/7)

📚 Nightly Videos of Guest Readers - Please check your email! Each day during Literacy Week, Ms. Babson will send out links to pre-recorded videos of Butler alum (who are now high school seniors!) reading their favorite children’s books.

📚 Literacy Week Bingo Cards - Keep an eye on your child’s backpack for Literacy Week bingo cards and information.

📚 Tuesday, March 4th at 6:30 PM - Be sure to join us on Zoom for a PJ read-along with Ms. Babson!

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84063720520?pwd=6Q4fZEmT8IN8G6OBU8Zn5aa3eZ9YBd.1 
Meeting ID: 840 6372 0520
Passcode: 531231

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Belmont Books Fundraiser
(In-Person 3/6 and Online 3/1 - 3/8)

📚 Join us for our Belmont Books fundraiser. It will be held in the store at 79 Leonard Street on Thursday March 6th and online all week, March 1st through 8th.

📚 When shopping online at https://www.belmontbooks.com/  use code BUTLER25 in order for proceeds to benefit the Butler PTA. Please share with all of your friends and family!
**Note: this is NOT a discount code.

💝 Keep an eye out for your Teacher’s Belmont Books wishlist. The PTA will send these out once they’ve been updated so that a portion of your purchase during Literacy Week supports our PTA.

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📚 On Thursday, March 6th, around 5:00 PM local author Amitha Jagannath Knight will show her support of Butler by reading aloud at Belmont Books. Dr. Knight's debut picture book, Usha and the Big Digger, won a 2023 Mathical Book Prize Honor Award.

🥳 A portion of all in-store purchases made between 2:00 and 6:00 PM on March 6th will go to the Butler PTA! Remember to include code BUTLER25 when shopping online, and tell the team in-store that you’re with Butler, so proceeds go to the Butler PTA!

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Snack Drive for Staff (3/10 through 3/14) 

Support our Butler staff members and help them through the long month of March by donating snacks that can be kept in the teachers’ lounge!

Suggestions include individually-packaged snacks, fruit, and single-serving beverages (e.g., tea bags, iced tea, hot cocoa packets, seltzer). Please note we can only accept store-purchased, individually wrapped/packaged/single-serving items.

We will have a parent and/or teacher stationed near the playground at each of the following times during the week of March 10th:

🟣 Monday, 3/10 -- 8:25-8:40 (morning arrival)
🟣 Tuesday, 3/11 -- 8:25-8:40 (morning arrival); 2:45-3:00 (afternoon dismissal)
🟣 Wednesday, 3/12 -- 8:25-8:40 (morning arrival); 2:45-3:00 (afternoon dismissal)
🟣 Thursday, 3/13 -- 8:25-8:40 (morning arrival); 2:45-3:00 (afternoon dismissal)
🟣 Friday, 3/14 -- 8:25-8:40 (morning arrival)

Volunteer Opportunities and News

Do you have a Kindergartner? The Kindergartners have just had an in school visit from the Discovery Center and we are hoping to coordinate at least one more field trip for the grade this year! If you are interested in helping out, please email Christina Anderson at chpritchard@gmail.com.

Do you have a 3rd grader? Would you be interested in making the 3rd grade moving on super fun for our 3rd graders this year? We need help with all aspects of making the moving on activities fun and successful: a yearbook, a moving on ceremony, a moving on celebration activity, and possibly a small art project. If you are interested in helping out, however big or small, please email Christina Anderson at chpritchard@gmail.com.

Green Team Winter Sowing - Do you have an empty plastic milk jug and any outdoor space (deck, balcony, driveway, or yard)? The Green Team recently received a seed donation and we need volunteers to get the seeds ready for the spring! Some of our seeds need ‘winter sowing’ - a very quick process to help get seedlings started. If you are interested in helping out, please reach out to Kara at thesaberwoods@gmail.com. 

Library Volunteer (during school) - Come volunteer in the library during your child’s/children’s library time. Our Library Aide Ms. Joanne is preferably looking for parents who can commit to multiple times throughout the year.

If you missed orientation, you can still volunteer by:

- Reading through the Library Training Slides
- Making sure your CORI and confidentiality paperwork is submitted and up-to-date
- Signing up via
Butler Library’s SignUp page.

Other Volunteer Positions - We have many open coordinator and board positions with the Butler PTA. Please check the list of descriptions, complete with commitment level, by clicking here. We are especially in need of:

  • PTA Vice Presidents for 2025-2026: The PTA's Vice Presidents support the two co-presidents for a one-year term and are expected to move into the co-president role the following year. A full description of the VP and president are listed in our bylaws. Join our fun group of PTA volunteers and you’ll get to learn so much more about the school, the district and our wonderful Butler community! Please contact us at butlerpta@gmail.com if you're interested or want to learn more.

  • Bookkeeper: We are looking for a bookkeeper for the remainder of the year, who can work with our treasurer doing deposits, payments, and account reconciliation. The hope is this individual will learn this year and move into the Treasurer role. While a background in accounting is helpful, it is not required. 

  • Nominating Committee Chair: The Nominating Committee spearheads the search for filling vacant PTA positions. This coordinator works with the PTA presidents to identify who will remain in their positions the following year and which positions will become vacant. This individual or small group solicits Butler community members to fill these vacant positions. 

Have questions? Send an email to butlerpta@gmail.com and we’ll do our best to help.

Event Recaps and Other News

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STEM Night on January 24th

We had a lovely evening of science, technology, engineering and math! The students (and their families, including the grown-ups!) did cool experiments and made wonderful creations.

Big thanks especially to our coordinators, Julie Crockett and Carolyn Romero, for this fun event!

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Enrichment Update

Our VPs of Enrichment are working closely with Ms. Babson and Butler staff to ensure our children have in- and out-of-school enrichment opportunities beyond traditional classroom time. We are thrilled to report that we have booked several enrichment programs, and more are on the way!

In January, the Discovery Museum visited our second graders to conduct a program on the physical changes of matter, as well as our kindergartners to lead a session on force and motion. They'll return on February 28th to visit our first graders for a lights and lasers program.

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In early May, our third graders will take a trip to the MIT Edgerton Center for a STEM program. There will be other field trips scheduled as well. 

Two amazing all-school assemblies are coming up, too!
- In March, bullying prevention group
- In May, the Tanglewood Marionettes

Many thanks for your financial contributions to the PTA. We could not run these programs without your support! 

National School Counselor Week (2/3 - 2/7)

The PTA celebrated our fabulous counselors, Ms. Romig, Ms. Gallo and Ms. Palmer, with gift cards. Your PTA donations allow us to thank our staff in special ways. Thank you!

Don’t forget to join the Butler PTA - Please help us grow our network of parents who support the Butler School!

Haven’t had a chance to contribute yet? There’s still time!  Donations to the PTA make an incredible difference in the activities and resources available to our students, and is a great way to support our Butler students, families, and educators. To donate to the PTA, please click here. No donation is too large or too small and we appreciate your support!

Are you ready to volunteer for an event? Let us know what you’re interested in by filling in this short survey to let us know what you’d like to help with!