1. New and Noteworthy - Coffee with the Principal TODAY, PTA Community Meeting - Friday 1/17, Yard Sign Design Contest, Volunteer with the PTA, Traffic Safety Reminders

2. Calendar of Events

3. Celebrating What We Do Best - Kindergarten Enrichment - Author Sarah Lynne Reul, 1st Grade Enrichment - Tanglewood Marionettes, January Staff Treats

4. Around Belmont - BPS K-3 Literacy Caregiver Focus Groups, Belmont Basketball Night - TONIGHT, Summer Camp Registration, Belmont World Film Festival, Sweetheart Dance

5. Volunteer Links and Reminders

Please join us this morning, January 10 at 8:45am for coffee with Ms. LaMontagne in the Winn Brook cafeteria. Please enter through the black top doors after drop off.

Please join us with special guest Superintendent Geiser to discuss the district's Strategic Plan 2024-2027. The development of this plan started with the steering committee last spring, who created the mission, vision, and core values with input and feedback from the community. From there, the strategic plan was developed by the Leadership Team. Presented to the School Committee on September 24, this plan acts as a guide for district improvement. At this PTA meeting, parents/guardians will have an opportunity to learn and ask questions about the goals of the district.

Please note that this is a morning meeting. In an effort to accommodate the varying availability of our community, we will be offering four PTA meeting formats this year: evening in person (October), morning in person (January), morning virtual (April), evening virtual (June). It is our hope that everyone in the Winn Brook community will all be able to attend at least one meeting.

Open now through February 24.

This annual contest, sponsored by MA DOT Safe Routes to School, is open to students in grades 2 – 8. This year’s theme is Helmet Safety. Winning signs will be made into yard signs used in communities throughout the state. We’ve had several Winn Brook winners in the past!

See the MA DOT guidelines here, available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole.

The Winn Brook PTA board is already looking into the next school year to build our volunteer village. We have several volunteers who will be “graduating” out of Winn Brook, and many who will be in their last year. Please consider throwing your name into the hat to help make our WB community as special as it is.

You can help in many ways including shadowing a board/committee member to learn the ropes in preparation for taking on a lead role in future years, volunteering to help plan an upcoming PTA event, volunteering during an event, etc. You can see a full calendar of events in the School Directory to review what we have coming up in the winter and spring.

If you would like to learn more about any volunteer opportunities, please email the PTA co-presidents at presidents@winnbrookpta.org

Please note that per Massachusetts law, it is illegal to idle in a school zone for more than 5 minutes, though it is preferable to not idle at all. While we understand it can be hard this time of year, please turn off your car during pick up and drop off so that we can keep the air around Winn Brook clean for our kids to play in.
By exemption, you can turn your car on for 1 minute every 15 minutes when the weather dips below 35° or above 80° to heat/cool the car as necessary.

It is also illegal to U-turn in a school zone. Please use the many side streets we have around our school to turn around.

Thank you to Kindergarten enrichment coordinators Lauren Flynn and Andrew Laubscher for coordinating an interesting Author visit for our Kindergartners!

Thank you to 1st Grade enrichment coordinator Sarah Kurz for bringing this wonderful marionette show to our students!

Thank you to Rachel Hardin for pampering our staff on their return from Winter Break, helpers Olive, Henry, Ian and Wilma, and everyone who donated snacks and drinks. This week can be challenging as our kids remember how to calm their wiggles and return to routine - we're so grateful to our staff for guiding them so warmly!

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up for future Staff Treats! I've you're interested in donating drinks or snacks please sign up here.

If you are new to the US or new to summer camp registration, it may shock you to learn that many summer camps begin registration in January. To add to the surprise, some summer camps are fully booked within just minutes of opening registration! Each camp has their own registration dates, deposit, cancellation fee, and cancellation deadline, so it can be helpful to determine what level of flexibility your family requires for summer planning. There are also many camps that open registration in February, March or beyond, so please don’t feel stressed if you’re not ready yet!
Here are some popular Belmont based camps:

BASEC
Champion Soccer School
Belmont Hill
Beacon Basketball Camp
Belmont Recreation 

This list is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other day camps around Belmont and surrounding towns, as well as sleep-away camps around New England.

There are many more Belmont events to explore:
Belmont Voice Community Events
Belmont Public School Community Events

Libby Weintraub & Meenal Bagla & Michal Feldman

Winn Brook PTA Co-Presidents

presidents@winnbrookpta.org