The Starburst
Home of the Shining Stars
Greetings, Barrows Families,
As I have shared before, this is a special time for me as the wife of a retired Air Force veteran. It is always meaningful to come together as a school community and see how we honor our veterans, especially those in our own families who have served and those who are currently serving. A special thank you to Mrs. Becker, who puts so much thought and creativity into our Veterans Day assembly each year, finding unique ways to help students connect with and appreciate the meaning behind this day. I was so proud of our students and the respect they showed during Tuesday's Veterans Day assembly.
Our teachers have already been preparing for conferences this coming week. We hope these conversations provide an opportunity to celebrate the growth our students are making and give families a better understanding of the skills teachers are targeting to help each student continue to grow as a learner. Remember, we are standards-based and focused on showing progress toward mastery, with mastery being the goal by the end of the school year. Preparing for conferences takes considerable time and thought so that we can share much more than a snapshot of your child's learning. We are grateful for the hard work our staff puts into building relationships with each student, and we appreciate your partnership in helping your children grow as learners and citizens.
This week, we are stopping by the Library Media Center to shine a spotlight on Mrs. Carina Becker! Mrs. Becker does so much more than help students find their next great read (although that is certainly one of her most important jobs!). One of our biggest goals at Barrows is to help students develop a genuine love of reading, and she plays such an important role in helping our Shining Stars discover books they enjoy and authors they want to read again and again. Behind the scenes, she is also a go-to support for our teachers when those inevitable technology issues pop up, and she helps plan and organize so many of the special events that bring our school community together. From this week's Veterans Day assembly to managing sound for our K performances to coordinating the entire month of March for our annual Read-a-thon, Mrs. Becker is always working behind the scenes to make things happen. We are lucky to have her helping our students, supporting our staff, and bringing so much to the Barrows community!
A Few Important Updates
Festival of Trees: One of our favorite community events, organized by the Reading Education Foundation (REF), will take place during the first week of December. REF supports Reading Public Schools, and already this school year, four of our teachers have received grants that directly benefit YOUR students! Check out the flyer in the Community section to learn more about getting involved and enjoying this event.
Community Events & Opportunities: Be sure to check this section for new information and upcoming opportunities!
- Attendance & Punctuality: The next few weeks continue to bring some unusual schedules and built-in breaks. Please make every effort to ensure your students are at school on time and every day. With so many interruptions to our regular weeks, we want to maintain as much learning momentum and connection as possible. Thank you for making school a priority! A quick reminder of our upcoming schedule: Thursday, November 19th is an early 12:45 p.m. dismissal, and there is no school on Friday, November 20th. We return for Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, followed by an 11:00 a.m. dismissal on Wednesday, November 25th.
To all of our family members and friends who are veterans, thank you for your dedication and sacrifice.
Warmly,
Alissa & Annemarie
...our Library Media Center Specialist!
Meet Carina Becker
Hello, Barrows Families! I’m Carina Becker, and I’ve been working in education for 25 years! As the Library Media Center Specialist, my days are filled with a little bit of everything. During our weekly library classes, students learn how to use technology safely and meaningfully, explore new books, and, of course, check out their next great read. I also spend a good deal of time organizing and updating our library collection and resources. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is watching our Shining Stars grow from beginning readers into fluent readers who discover just how much the world of literacy has to offer!
Outside of school, I’m a mom to two boys, so much of my time is spent cheering them on in their adventures. You might find me helping out as a marching band uniform mom or cheering from the sidelines at club volleyball. I also enjoy walking my dog, Rocco, around town, where he makes it his mission to investigate every scent along the way! When my family has time off, we love exploring New England and learning more about the history of our area and the many places that have helped shape our nation's history.
I love being part of the Barrows community and helping our students discover the joy of reading and learning!
Barrows Upcoming Dates
Tuesday, November 17th: PTO Meeting 7pm (library & zoom)
Wednesday, November 18th: ⭐💙 Barrows Spirit Wednesday--wear blue & yellow or Barrows Spirit Gear⭐💙
Thursday, November 19th: Early Release for Conferences (12:45 pm)
Friday, November 20th: Conference Day (No school for students)
Wednesday, November 25th: Early Release (11 am)
Thursday & Friday, November 26th-27th: NO SCHOOL- Thanksgiving Break
Saturday, December 5 & 6: Festival of Trees, Parker Middle School
Saturday, December 12th: Barrows Winter Craft Fair 10-1 Barrows Cafeteria
Wednesday, December 23rd: Early Release (11 am)
December 24-January 1: Winter Break
Monday, January 4th: School Resumes
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
The Food Service Department continues to offer breakfast and lunch 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.
The cafeteria offers a special snack or treat for $1 every Friday at lunch for students in grades 2-5!
If you would like your student to purchase a weekly treat, please make sure funds are available in their lunch account. Cash will not be accepted for individual treat purchases on Fridays.
How to Add Money to Your Student’s Lunch Account:
Create a LinQ Connect account to add funds online: https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=1701802399965&page=prepaidacct
Send cash or a check to the Barrows Cafeteria with your student’s name. Please make checks payable to the Town of Reading.
*if you are having trouble adding funds, please email Julianna Moccaldi, julianna.moccaldi@reading.k12.ma.us
Reading Public Schools Food Service/Lunch Menus: https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=1701802399965&page=menus
Do you need financial support including but not limted to our food services, then please complete the following forms on this page: https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=1701802399965&page=lunchapps
Next PTO Meeting: Tuesday, November 17th at 7:00pm in the Library and on Zoom!
Mrs. Gallegos & Mrs. Ring will review the Barrows School Improvement Plan
🦖HIGH FIVE FRIDAY RETURNS THURS 11/19 (THURSDAY IS NEXT WEEK’S FRIDAY!) ✋
🍎Celebrate our Barrows Staff with American Education Week (AEW): November 16–20!
We are busy planning a week of treats to celebrate our wonderful teachers and staff, including a Breakfast Bar, Candy Bar, Catered Lunch, and Hot Cider & Donut Bar!
We still need your help making the week a success. Check out the SignUpGenius to donate and help us show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate all they do! More of a venmo parent? We love that, too! Feel free to donate to our Barrows venmo to contribute to the lunch! Venmo: Alice M Barrows Parent Teachers Organization Inc. (@BarrowsElementaryPTO). Please put “AEW” in the comments.
🍂 Barrows Ground Crew | Fall Garden Clean-Up!
Join us this Sunday, 11/15 at 9:30 AM for a little fall clean-up in the Barrows gardens!
We’ll be tidying up the lower garden beds and chopping up fallen leaves to spread over the beds to help nourish and protect the soil through the winter. We’ll leave any remaining spinach growing in the Vego beds in place and add some leaf mulch there, too.
What to bring (if you have them):
Garden clippers
Gloves
Rakes
A lawn mower (to help chop up leaves)
We’ll have a mower on hand, but an extra would be a big help!
Many hands make light work. We hope you can join us for some fresh air, a little teamwork, and one last chance to get our gardens ready for winter.
🎄 Help Decorate the Barrows Tree for the REF Festival of Trees!
It’s that special time of year again! Barrows is excited to participate in the Reading Education Foundation’s annual Festival of Trees on December 5–6 at Parker Middle School.
This year’s theme is Wild Wonderland, inspired by the amazing animals of the safari and jungle! We’re looking forward to bringing the theme to life with a little sense of adventure and travel, taking visitors on a journey through the wild!
There are two ways to help bring our tree to life:
Shop our Amazon Wishlist to contribute decorations and supplies.
Make a monetary donation through Barrows PTO Venmo: @BarrowsElementaryPTO. Please include REF Tree in the comments.
Thank you for helping us make this year’s Barrows tree our best one yet! Every contribution makes a difference.
Questions? Please reach out to Kristin Foristall at kmanna@hotmail.com.
❄️SAVE THE DATE: Annual Barrows Winter Craft Fair is Saturday Dec 12th 10AM-1PM
Join us Saturday morning, December 12th, for a cozy morning of crafting, raffle baskets, and hot cocoa. Admission this year is $20 per family and allows for each child in your family to make one of each of the six keepsake crafts, enjoy a cup of cocoa and a slice of pizza. Make sure to bring cash for our new Student Craft Vendors, too!
Presale admission and raffle tickets will go one sale next week as well as volunteer sign ups. This is a perfect event for high school and middle school students in need of community service hours or grown ups looking to volunteer for a not-during-work-hours event. We’d love to have you on our team!
We are still looking for a few entertainers to play some live holiday music for our attending families - Are you in a band? Have a connection to a college acapella group? Just want to play some background piano ala Schroeder in Charlie Brown? Email us and let us know!
Looking forward to crafting with you!
Jenn (jenniferpierce413@gmail.com) & Bridget (ambarrowspto@gmail.com)
Co-Chairs, Barrows Winter Craft Fair
🪡✂️🛍️Meet our Winter Craft Fair Student Vendors!
New this year at the Barrows Winter Craft Fair, we invited Student-Makers to sell their homemade wares at our annual Winter Craft Fair on Saturday, December 12th 10AM-1PM.
Abigail F. paints mini canvases of still life and landscapes, Ciaran M. makes custom wrapped wiffle ball bats, Lienn M. sews sought-after scrunchies, Margot T. creates decorative paper chains and DIY Paper Chain Kits, Emma W. weaves colorful potholders, and Hannah S. creates intricate friendship bracelets. Make sure to bring cash and check out their wares for sale at this year’s craft fair!
Questions? Contact Jenn or Bridget at jenniferpierce413@gmail.com or ambarrowspto@gmail.com
📞 Stay Connected with Tin Can!
Looking for a kid-friendly way to keep your student connected? Did your student ask for a phone for a holiday gift? Consider going screen-free instead with a Tin Can Home Phone! Tin Can phones (yes, with a twisty-cord!) are designed just for kids, with built-in safety features like approved callers and quiet hours. Plus with Wi-Fi built right in for easy setup, Tin Can makes staying connected simple and safe!
🎉 Exclusive offer for the Barrows community: Get $20 off each Tin Can device purchased through this link! Check out this great offer and help your student stay connected! ❤️
🏒 Let’s Go River Hawks! 🏒
Join Barrows families at the Tsongas Center on December 28th as the UMass Lowell River Hawks take on the Holy Cross Crusaders! It’s a great chance to enjoy some exciting college hockey, cheer on the home team, and have some fun together over winter break. After the game, enjoy a postgame open skate! Bring your own skates or rent a pair at the arena.
🎟️ Bonus for Barrows: $5 from every ticket purchased through our group goes directly back to the Barrows PTO. Grab your tickets here!
STAY IN THE KNOW! 📅
⏰Stay organized this fall and subscribe to the Barrows PTO syncable calendar. It works with most digital calendar apps (Google, Apple, Microsoft, even Skylight) and keeps all the important PTO events and school dates right at your fingertips. Add your contact information to the PTO Contact Form if you haven’t already! It’s optional, but it’s the only way your Class Family Rep receives your contact information to coordinate class-specific activities and communications.
With appreciation,
Your PTO Board
Bridget Maley & Whitney McBride, Co-Presidents
bridgetkaterimaley@gmail.com | whitkmcb@gmail.com
Rachel Daly, Treasurer
Kaitlin Camadeco, Secretary
Kelsey Lawrence, Social Media Coordinator
Meri Kimball, Enrichment Lead
Follow Us!
📘Facebook: Barrows Elementary PTO
📷 Instagram: @barrowselementarypto
🔗 Linktree
An Important Reminder from Mrs. Atwood
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
Please follow Art and Physical Education on Instagram!
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.*
Check-Out Artsonia!
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
Parent’s Night Out Fundraiser – December 3rd
Shopping downtown for Reading’s "Shop the Block"? The Reading Memorial High School Leo Club is hosting a Parent’s Night Out fundraiser! Drop your kids off at the high school so you can enjoy child-free shopping while supporting a great community service group.
To view the event flyer and register, please click here to learn more and sign up.
2026 FESTIVAL OF TREES
Kick off your holiday season on Saturday and Sunday, December 5th and 6th by visiting Reading Education Foundation’s (REF) 25th annual Festival of Trees, a winter wonderland of decorated holiday trees donated by local families, organizations, businesses and schools that festival visitors can win for themselves! This signature REF fundraising event, held at Reading’s Parker Middle School, is a magical and memorable community holiday tradition for adults and children of all ages. Fun can be had for all ages while raising money that REF provides to the Reading schools through teacher-initiated grants. There is local entertainment throughout both days including live performances by school choruses, bands and local groups. Food trucks will be outside selling items at the event. Lucky winners of tree raffles will be selected at closing on Sunday night.
Tree Donations
REF has a goal of 100 donated trees this year – please consider donating one! We welcome trees from PTO’s, grade levels, groups and staff. This is a great way to showcase the creativity and curriculum of the Reading Public Schools. You don’t need to spend a lot on a tree – just a fun theme and a few gift cards or small tokens (especially from our local businesses) are all you need. Remember, you don’t even need a tree as we’ve seen hockey sticks, bookcases and other items serve as a “tree”. If you are interested in donating a tree please email us at reftreedonor@gmail.com and include the following:
- Name of Tree Donor
- Contact information & phone number
- Tree Name
Advanced Ticket Sales Are Open
Raffle tickets purchased in advance will be preprinted with the purchaser's raffle number on the back, saving patrons the time and hassle of entering their personal information. Visit readingef.org to purchase tickets.
REF, non-profit foundation, is committed to supporting innovation and excellence in the Reading Public Schools. REF’s goal is to enhance and increase educational opportunities for all Reading students by providing funds for projects that go beyond the scope of traditional classroom learning. To learn more about REF, advance sales, opportunities to donate a tree, and see a schedule of events, visit the REF website at www.readingef.org
COMMUNITY CORNER HIGHLIGHT
Hi Everyone,
For this week's Family & Community Corner, could you please share the information below in your school newsletters?
Massachusetts has announced a new Middle-Income Heating Oil Relief Program to support families who may not qualify for traditional fuel assistance.
With the colder months approaching, this could be a valuable resource for many of our Reading families.
I've also attached the announcement shared by the Town of Reading for you to include in your newsletters.
Information to Share with Families:
Attention Reading residents! Massachusetts has announced a new Middle-Income Heating Oil Relief program to help households that may not qualify for traditional fuel assistance. Please share this information with friends, family, and neighbors who may benefit from this program.
Who may qualify? Households earning between 60% and 100% of the State Median Income, with income limits based on household size.
Applications are expected to open in December 2026 and remain open through April 30, 2027, or until funding runs out.
Residents can find out more information by going to :
Residents can complete the interest form and learn more directly from the state
Thank you all for helping us keep our families informed and connected to community resources!
📚 Taiana Pereira | Family Engagement Liaison
🏫 Reading Public Schools
📍 Office Location: RMHS 219-2
📞 781-670-2889 ext. 19889
🌍 Passionate about helping others and making a difference
💬 Portuguese 🇧🇷 | English 🇺🇸
✨ Pronouns: she/her
📅 Office hours: Monday–Thursday | Off Fridays
🗣️ Beginner English Class for Adults — Still Going!
🗣️ Beginner English Class for Adults — Still Going!
📅 Tuesday evenings | 6:30–8:00 PM
The Library’s free Beginner English Class continues this fall! Adult learners can build confidence in speaking, listening, reading, and writing English.
Drop-ins are welcome.
⚠️ There is no class October 13 or October 27.
If you are looking for an opportunity to practice and improve your English, I encourage you to join us! This is a welcoming space to learn, practice, and build your confidence. Drop-ins are welcome
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.
