The Starburst

Greetings, Barrows Families,

My message this week is divided into several sections throughout the newsletter. In addition to reviewing upcoming dates and the PTO & METCO section, please be sure to look for the following:

1. Please complete the Safe Routes to School Travel Survey (it takes less than a minute!)
2. Learn about the why behind the rise in childhood anxiety—and how to combat it—based on Liz Faria’s presentation
3. If your child didn’t mention our relay race, read all about it below and enjoy the pictures!
4. Continue logging weekly minutes for the Read-A-Thon. If you haven’t registered yet, see the instructions below. Here are five reasons to encourage regular reading: it boosts brain power and thinking skills, expands vocabulary, builds empathy and social understanding, sparks imagination and creativity, and reduces stress while strengthening bonding when reading together
5. The MCAS schedule has been released. Please double-check that students do not have appointments on those dates. If a student arrives late, they will not be able to join their class for testing and will need to make it up on another day.
6. Be sure to sign-up for Barrows Family Night on April 1st (sign-up is in the PTO section)!

Keep shining and happy reading,

Alissa

Our school Read-A-Thon kicked off two weeks ago. This year's theme is "Sow the Seeds of Reading". We have just under two weeks left to log our reading minutes! If you haven't signed your child up yet, please watch this short video to see how to sign up your reader: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12tmuXH8zCg&feature=youtu.be

Wednesday, March 25th: ⭐💙📚Author Visit- April Jones Prince presents about "juicy" writing- Wear Barrows Gear✍🏻⭐💙

Barrows PTO Meeting 7pm (in-person & virtual)

Friday, March 27th: Dress Like a Book Character Day! 📚

Wednesday, April 1st: Barrows Family Math Night 6-7:15 PM in the cafeteria RSVP HERE to let us know you’re coming!

Friday, April 3rd: ⚾Opening Day at Fenway--Wear your Red Sox gear or colors! ⚾

April 6-14: ELA MCAS for Grades 3-5 (see schedule for specific grade level dates)!

April 20-24: April Vacation

School Hours:

Monday-Thursday, 8:15 AM - 2:45 PM

Friday, 8:15 AM - 12:45 PM

*Students must be in class by 8:25 to be counted as on-time and present

Reading Public Schools Calendar

The Food Service Department continues to offer breakfast to all elementary schools!

All first meals, including breakfast and lunch, are free for all students!

If your child would like a second breakfast or lunch, these are available for purchase at $1.50 for breakfast and $2.75 for lunch. Additionally, our cafeterias offer a variety of snacks and a la carte items that can be purchased separately. Our Department looks forward to a fantastic year filled with fresh new foods and the energy from a healthy start to the day! We are excited to serve this incredible community and ensure every student has access to nutritious meals throughout the upcoming school year.

PIN #s for Breakfast, Lunch, and purchasing snacks.

All Reading Public School students are assigned a PIN number that they must use to get breakfast, lunch, or snacks. Please help your child memorize their PIN number. Although we provide free breakfast and lunch to all students, we ask that families send in a healthy snack for their students each day. If they forget their snack, they may purchase one in the cafeteria.

It is also important for families that may need financial support including but not limted to our food services to complete the following forms on this page: https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=1701802399965&page=lunchapps

How do Barrows students arrive and depart from school? To improve safety for all, we would like to better understand our student transportation choices. Please complete this two-minute, anonymous MA Safe Routes to School Travel Survey. If half of the school's families participate, the school will be awarded a safety incentive package from the state!

This survey is available in different languages. Please use the menu in the top left corner to select your language.

Link to survey:MA Safe Routes to School Survey

Survey dates: March 20, 2026-April 3, 2026

WHY are we seeing such a significant rise in anxiety among children and adolescents...

Why are we seeing such a significant rise in anxiety among children and adolescents? Research points to several contributing factors. One major shift has been the rise of social media—particularly the introduction of the “like” button and other forms of social approval messaging that constantly signal to children how they are being judged by others. This has been linked to a sharp increase in mental health challenges, especially for adolescent girls. Spikes like this have not appeared during other historically difficult times—even during the Great Depression.

Researchers are also noticing other important societal shifts. Interestingly, parents today are spending more time with their children than ever before, but children are spending less time with other kids in unstructured, in-person play. They are also taking fewer everyday risks—experiences that used to help children build confidence, resilience, and problem-solving skills.

Liz Faria also shared that constant access to a phone can unintentionally reduce children’s opportunities to work through everyday challenges. When many of us were growing up, if we fell off our bike, forgot our water bottle at the park, or had a disagreement with a friend in the neighborhood, we had to sit with the problem for a bit and figure out what to do. Today, the immediate solution is often to call a parent or guardian to fix it.

Over time, this can limit opportunities for children to build independence. If your child is experiencing one of the “4 D’s”—discomfort, disappointment, distress, or mild danger—try not to rush in right away. Giving children space to work through these moments helps them build the confidence and skills they need to solve problems on their own.

If you’re interested in learning more about ways families can support healthy technology use, consider visiting the Wait Until 8th website and exploring their pledge to delay smartphones until eighth grade.

They can do it—and we can support them by giving them the space to grow.

Barrows’ Reading Garden Relay was so much fun! As part of our Read-a-Thon: Sow the Seeds of Reading, students and staff came together for a full day of reading that began at 8:30 AM and continued all the way until 2:40 PM. At any given moment, at least one class was actively reading—truly keeping our garden of readers growing all day long.

Each class took part in the relay by reading for 21 minutes, building stamina and enthusiasm with every “leg” of the race. Along the way, students also learned more about how relay races work, including the importance of teamwork and the passing of the baton. When one class finished, students passed the baton to the next class, who eagerly continued the reading journey. Barrows students worked together to keep the love of reading blooming from start to finish!

At 9:11 a.m., Mrs. McGrath’s class watches the baton get passed from Mrs. LaFrancesca’s class to Ms. Lentz’s leg of readers in the mods.

The final class to carry us across the finish line was Mrs. Pecci’s 2nd grade class. This anchor leg finished reading at 2:40 p.m. today—bringing the school to an incredible 370 minutes of continuous reading!

Today, our school community celebrated Rock Your Socks Day in honor of World Down Syndrome Day by filling our classrooms and hallways with bright, colorful, and mismatched socks. Students and staff proudly showed off their unique combinations—from playful patterns to bold, vibrant designs—sparking smiles and conversations throughout the day.

This special tradition represents the significance of March 21, symbolizing the extra copy of chromosome 21, and reminds us that chromosomes resemble socks under a microscope. By participating in the “Lots of Socks” campaign, we came together in a fun and meaningful way to celebrate individuality, promote inclusion, and raise awareness about Down syndrome. It was a joyful opportunity for our community to embrace diversity, recognize the beauty in our differences, and stand in solidarity with individuals with Down syndrome.

🎉 The 2026 Barrows Silent Auction is LIVE!

The bids are in and the excitement is building — our annual silent auction is officially open! This year features 17 incredible experience prizes, including:

✨ Principal for a Day

🚔 Ride to School in a Police Car

🧶 Learn to Crochet with Ms. Raucci

🏃 Bring a Grown-Up to PE

🍦 Outing to Cal's Creamery

🎡 Two 2026 Tickets to Storyland

…and so much more!

👉 BID NOW until 11PM!

A friendly reminder: to give as many students as possible a chance to win, families are limited to 2 experience wins. If you're the top bidder on 3 or more experiences, we'll reach out to ask you to select your top two, and the remaining prizes will go to the next highest bidder.

Thank you for your generosity, enthusiasm, and continued support of the Barrows PTO. You make this community so special! 💛

🎉🌸✨ PARENTS’ NIGHT OUT IS TONIGHT ✨🌸🎉

We’re officially saying goodbye to the world’s longest winter with Parents’ Night Out —TONIGHT!

📅 Friday, March 20 (the first day of spring!)
⏰ 7:00–11:00 PM
📍 West Side Social Club, Wakefield

🎶Join us for a night of laughs, connection, and friendly competition—off the blacktop 😉
Get ready for NuBingo, great vibes, and cash bar.

🎟️ There’s still room for more - get your tickets at the door!

💙 All proceeds from Parents’ Night Out go directly back to Barrows, supporting enrichment, fun field trips, and staff appreciation.

🌱⭐ READY, SET, READ! ⭐🌱

We’re in the home stretch of our annual Barrows Read‑A‑Thon, and our readers are doing an amazing job planting the seeds of knowledge! 📚🌼 So far we’ve read more than 257,000 minutes and raised almost $11,000!

🌟 Here’s a reminder of how it works:

• Register your reader here

• Log reading minutes throughout the month

• For every 30 minutes of reading, your student earns one raffle entry! 🎟️

At the end of the month, we’ll draw winners for 18 incredible raffle baskets packed with fun prizes! The more you read, the more chances you have to grow your garden of rewards.

Happy reading, Barrows! Let’s keep growing a garden of great readers! 🌿⭐📚

⏰📅 SAVE THE DATE | WED, APRIL 1 | ILLUSTRATIVE MATH NIGHT

Ever find yourself wondering how your child is solving math problems—and feeling like you can’t quite keep up? 🤔

Join us for a fun and engaging evening of Mathematics and Community on Wednesday, April 1st, from 6:00–7:15 PM. Families will enjoy interactive, hands‑on math games and challenges 🎲🧩 designed for all K–5 students, while also gaining valuable insight into the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum and the strategies your children use every day in the classroom.

You’ll discover practical tips and helpful resources to support math learning at home and have the chance to meet and connect with our math coaches, Tammy Murzycki and Lana Montero, along with our STEM Coordinator, Mary Anne Lynn 👩‍🏫🔬—a great opportunity to ask questions and build confidence. 💙🌟

RSVP HERE to let us know you’re coming!

⏰📅 MARCH PTO Meeting: Next Wednesday 3/25: Barrows Library and on Zoom!

With appreciation,

The PTO Board

Bridget Maley & Whitney McBride, Co-Presidents

bridgetkaterimaley@gmail.com | whitkmcb@gmail.com

Rachel Daly, Treasurer

Alicia Curtin, Secretary

Alison Ethier, Social Media Coordinator

Follow Us!

📘Facebook: Barrows Elementary PTO

📷 Instagram: @barrowselementarypto

🔗 Linktree

The Reading Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) improves the outcomes and wellbeing for ALL students. SEPAC fosters relationships, helps identify unmet needs, and provides valuable input on the development of programs, services, and policies. Our council is open to all parents and caregivers and is not limited to just families who have children with special needs. We offer various opportunities to connect with other families and provide learning experiences for all.

To learn more about Reading SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council), please visit our website: Reading SEPAC WebsiteShould you wish to receive our monthly newsletter, please send an email to SEPACReading@gmail.com

METCO unites suburban towns with Boston to engage in a reciprocal learning partnership in support of all students. Because of this, every child who attends school in Reading Public Schools is a METCO student and every parent or guardian who has a student in RPS is a part of the METCO community.

"Since its founding during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, the METCO program has enrolled tens of thousands of Boston students of color in predominately white school districts, creating the opportunity for those districts to experience the advantages of learning and working in a racially and ethnically diverse setting."

Reading METCO is excited to announce that we will be hosting a roller-skating event for all RPS students and parents/guardians at Roller World in Saugus on Thursday, March 26th, from 5:00pm–7:00pm. Because last year’s event was such a huge success and filled up quickly, we were excited to bring it back again for this year!

This event is open to Reading Public Schools students and their families. While we all come from different communities, we are one METCO family, and this will be a fun opportunity for students to hang out and mingle after school hours while parents from Reading and Boston connect and engage with one another.

Skate rentals, pizza, and drinks will be provided. If you are a parent who is unable to attend, please feel free to send your child with money to purchase any additional items they may want. Please keep in mind that we are not responsible for your child’s money if they choose to bring it.

You must register for this event, as it is first come, first served. Last year, spots filled up fast! Please use the link below to register by Friday, March 20th.

​​ Registration Link For Roller World

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, March 26th, 2025

Time: 5:00pm–7:00pm

Location: Roller World, Saugus, MA

425R Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906

Arrival

• Please drive slowly up Edgemont to keep everyone safe; remember, it is a ONE-WAY during the school day.
• Do not park in the indented section by the gym. This is the "kiss & go" area for a quick drop-off.
• Doors open at 8:15 and close at 8:25. Your child needs to be in their seat by 8:25 AM. If your child arrives to school after the doors have closed, they must come to the front door and be marked tardy.
• The Staff Parking Lot is for staff only and off limits to all pedestrians from arrival-dismissal for the safety of all. Please respect this important aspect of our campus.

Dismissal:

• At dismissal time, there is no live pick-up in the driveway except for students who take the bus. Kindergarteners exit the building at 2:40 PM. The rest of the students dismiss at 2:45 PM from the same doors they enter in the morning.

As a safety reminder, the staff parking lot is staff-only. We respectfully ask that caregivers park along the streets. With our students exiting from their external doors in the parking lot, having cars drive in and out is not safe. You need to walk around the school on the blacktop to the back. Thanks for helping us out.

Ready to Play the Best Way

Please do not have your children wear flip-flops. Sneakers are best, but flip-flops are dangerous when running at recess (and Crocs aren't great).

Dogs and Puppies on School Grounds

School Committee policy prohibits dogs on school grounds as much as we all love dogs and puppies and as much fun as it is walking them. If you'd like to walk your dog as part of your pick-up routine, the dog has to stay off school property. If you'd like your child to walk to you on the sidewalk or to the driveway entrances at dismissal so you can wait with your dog, please make that plan with them.

My Ideal School Contest (Optional February Vacation Activity)

First-grade students may participate in the MSBA’s 17th Annual “My Ideal School” Contest, where students draw their vision of an ideal school. This optional activity can be completed at home, including over February Vacation.

Submissions must be postmarked by May 1, 2026. Regional winners receive prizes, and one grand prize winner’s artwork will be featured on the MSBA Annual Report cover and honored at the State House.

Registration Forms are linked in the button below.

We invite you to share RPL's Brainfuse HelpNow service by adding a direct link to our HelpNow page to your school website or newsletters. This gives your students easy access to free tutoring, writing support, and skills building resources from a real expert who has been vetted.

Links & Resources:

DropBox Folder - https://tinyurl.com/2jts9nu9

Direct link for your website: https://proxy10.noblenet.org/login?url=https://landing.brainfuse.com/index.asp?u=main.reading.ma.brainfuse.com

Thanks for helping us share this resource!

Dear Barrows Families,

This is a friendly reminder that kids should wear sneakers on the days that they have Physical Education. I love Crocs too, but they don’t count as sneakers…even when they’re worn in sport mode! Thanks so much for your support with this safety matter.

Sarah Atwood

Happy Birthday! In honor of your child’s birthday, we invite you to donate books to our school library in their name. Each book donated will have a bookplate with a dedication. Students will be the first patron to check the books out of the library.

To streamline the process and have a birthday book program year round we have developed an Amazon wishlist. Follow this link for the wish list to choose your donations. Amazon Barrows Book Wish List.

Or scan this QR code to get the list.

Please be sure to include your child’s name and grade on the order. Orders can be shipped directly to the school, or brought in person.

Families are welcome to select titles from the list that they would like to see in our library. Birthday donations can range from a single book to 100 books! If there is a specific title you would like to donate please reach out to Mrs. Becker with your request.

Birthday donations are welcome anytime. If you have any questions at all please contact Mrs. Becker.

carina.becker@reading.k12.ma.us

You must request to follow these private accounts. We post images, reels and stories that give you a quick glimpse into your child’s day during these Special class times. Mrs. Hurley for Art can be found here @mrs.hurley_art and Mrs. Atwood for Physical Education can be found here @barrowspe

*If your Instagram name does not easily identify you, please send us a separate email so we know it’s you! For safety, we are careful about who we accept.*

Dear Barrows Families,

Another way you can support your child’s art is to join Artsonia. Artsonia is the world's largest collection of student art, published by teachers and students from around the world. Through Artsonia families can view student art online and leave comments. If you would like to join Artsonia keep your eye on your inbox; email invitations will be going out shortly! Thank you! Beth Hurley

The Town of Reading contracts with William James College to offer a special service for our residents. The William James INTERFACE Referral Service maintains a mental health and wellness referral help line Monday through Friday, 9 am-5 pm, at 888-244-6843 (toll free). This is a free, confidential referral service for individuals across the lifespan living in Reading. Callers are matched with licensed mental health providers from our extensive database. Each referral meets the location, insurance, and specialty needs of the caller. Click here to learn more!

PTO Link Tree: PTO LinkTree

Follow us on Instagram: @barrowselementarypto

Barrows Homepage: http://www.reading.k12.ma.us/barrows/

Reading Public Schools: http://www.reading.k12.ma.us