2021-22 Respect, Responsibility, and Regard

10.21.21

Dates for the Calendar

Thursday and Friday, October 21st & 22nd - Walk-A-Thon
Saturday, October 23rd - Fall Clean Up Day
EXTENDED Monday, October 25 - Original Works Due
Tuesday, November 2nd - Bishop Day at Abbott’s Frozen Custard
Wednesday, November 3rd - Great Pumpkin Rescue (Pumpkin Recycling)
Wednesday, November 3rd - PTO Community Meeting
Friday, November 5th - Bishop Spirit Day

Hello Bishop Families ~

Bishop Pumpkin Sale Thank You!

Thank you to everyone in the Bishop community who came out and bought
pumpkins, cider, donuts, and Spirit Wear last Saturday at our annual Pumpkin Sale!
We sold out of everything and 360 donuts were eaten before noon! For your curious
kids, there were 849 candy corn in the jar. The winner was a 4th Grade Bishop
Student who guessed 800.

A HUGE thank you to Karin Moellering who organized this favorite fall event and to
all the parent volunteers who assisted with set up, sales and clean up.

Walk-A-Thon is Thursday, October 21st and Friday, October 22nd!

There is still time to register your child for our 11th annual Walk-A-Thon and help
raise funds for the Bishop PTO! The Walk-A-Thon will be held on Thursday, October
21st (Grades K-2), and Friday, October 22nd (Grades 3-5). The students walk/run laps
around the field with the option of earning pledges per lap or by a fixed donation. As
a further incentive, classrooms receive prizes for participating!

Follow the steps below to register your child today!

●Go to http://pledgestar.com/bishop
●Click “Not Registered For This Year’s Event”
●Enter your name and email address, then click “Submit”
●Follow the instructions
Donations may also be made by check to the “Bishop PTO” and dropped off in the
main office.
We are still looking for several volunteers to help make this event a success. Please
click here to volunteer. Please contact Elisa Komoni with any questions.

Arlington’s Project 351

My name is Maeve Padien. I am one of Arlington's representatives to Project 351. Two years
ago I was selected by Arlington to serve for Project 351. Project 351 is a service organization
that instills a passion for leadership, community, and service to our own communities.
Started by Governor Deval Patrick in 2011, every year Project 351 brings change to
Massachusetts. Throughout high school as a member of Project 351, I will lead younger
students through their own Ambassador Program as an older member of Project 351. Every
year students run service projects in their own towns. For Fall Service, I lead a food drive in
partnership with the Arlington food pantry, Arlington EATS, to fight local hunger. Our
community has the ability to prevent hunger in Arlington and make sure no child goes
hungry. I am running this food drive with the support of Project 351 as COVID-19 has
perpetured the situation. This drive will span across multiple elementary schools: Peirce
School, Bishop School, Dallin School, and Hardy School. At each of these locations, there
will be a collection bin in the lobby. Please do not donate opened items and check to make
sure they are not expired. Also, please avoid donations that include small individual
packages such as mini cereal boxes. Arlington EATS cannot take them. The dates are
November 15 to December 10. If you would prefer to have your donations picked up, THIS
form will sign you up. Every donation goes directly to Arlington EATS and into our
community. If you have any questions, please email us at arlington351@gmail.com. More
information is attached on THIS slideshow. Below are the items Arlington EATS needs most.
All donations are greatly appreciated, but if you can, please focus on these items. Thank you
so much for your support.

Most Needed Items

● Soup
● Cereal (especially Cheerios)
 ● Cake mix
● Laundry Detergent
● Shelf Stable Soy or Almond Milk
● Hygiene Products

The Bishop main website is a great place to find resources and answers to frequently
asked questions. You can also find information about our staff and curriculum.

Please make sure to reference the school calendar for upcoming professional
development days for staff and holidays. The full yearly calendar can be found here:
2021-2022 APS Yearly Calendar

BISHOP PTO NEWS AND UPDATES

Fall Clean-Up Day

Saturday October 23rd, 9 AM - Noon
Bring your family and friends and come spruce up Bishop at our Annual Fall
Clean-Up Day! Trash pick up, weeding, edging, and anything else we can do to
beautify the space. We will provide some tools, but please bring anything you have
to help! Gloves, rakes and clippers are especially helpful. Pizza lunch will be
provided. We hope you can join us to spruce up the Bishop grounds - click here to
volunteer!

Please contact Amanda Maltais or Alex Rehm with questions.

Original Works Deadline Extended!

Update: Original Works orders are due back to your child’s teacher by Monday,
October 25. We’d like to give families one more weekend to put together orders. This
is our yearly, art-based fundraiser where your child’s artwork can be transformed into
individual, quality products that can be shared with family and friends. Products will
be ready in time for holiday gift-giving, including Hanukkah.

For more information and instructions, please see the Original Works website here
and reach out to Lindsay Sweeney with any questions.

Bishop Day at Abbott’s Frozen Custard!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Abbott’s Frozen Custard! On Tuesday,
November 2nd, Abbott’s Frozen Custard will donate 20% of all sales to Bishop
Elementary School! All you have to do is go to any Abbott’s location, show this
certificate, and enjoy your frozen treat!. How easy is that?

Great Pumpkin Rescue (Pumpkin Recycling/Composting)

November 3rd, Drop-Off
Did you know pumpkins cannot go in yard waste as they are considered food waste?
They are heavy and water-filled and we don’t want them going in the trash to be
incinerated and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The Bishop Green Team is
asking you to please bring your pumpkins, ghords, and jack o’lanterns to drop off on
Wednesday, November 3rd so they can be composted with the help of Black Earth
Compost!

Pumpkin recycling drop off guidelines:

● Families should bring their pumpkins to drop-off during the drop off
period (via car, wagon, stroller, etc)
● Pumpkins and gourds of any size will be accepted
● Remove candles/tea lights/stickers/bejeweling
● Pumpkins with paint or bling will NOT be accepted -if you can, cut
those pieces off, Black Earth Compost will accept the rest.

PTO Community Meeting

November 3rd, 7:00 pm via Zoom
We hope you can join our next Community PTO Meeting on Wednesday, November
3rd at 7pm. In addition to our usual business, we are excited to be joined by Dr.
Elizabeth Homan, new Superintendent of Arlington Public Schools. This will be a
great opportunity to meet Dr. Homan and discuss topics relevant to Bishop School.
All are welcome to attend! A zoom link will be advertised closer to the meeting date.

Bishop Spirit Day

Friday November 5th is Bishop Spirit Day! The first Friday of each month students
are encouraged to showcase their Bishop spirit by wearing Bishop Spirit Wear or
Bishop school colors (yellow/gold and blue). If you need to purchase new Spirit
Wear, check out our sale!

Bishop Annual Fund

Thank you to the families who have already made their Annual Fund donation! We
really appreciate your contributions! If you haven’t had a chance to make your
donation, there is still time!
Our goal as the PTO Board is to enrich our children’s educational experience and
build community spirit at Bishop School. In past years, the PTO has asked Bishop
families for a suggested donation of $135/child towards the PTO Annual Fund .
The Annual Fund helps support supplementary programs and costs, such as teacher
and classroom funds, online subscriptions that enhance
math/science/spelling/etc., and enrichment programs, to name a few.

This year, we are once again asking families to consider donating $135/child so that
we can continue to support our teachers, classrooms, and students to the best of
our ability. We realize there are many challenges facing Bishop families, including
economic hardship due to the pandemic, and humbly ask you to consider your own
economic situation when making your donation.

Donations to the Bishop PTO Annual Fund can be made in the following ways:

● PayPal - Please visit the PTO Website, scroll down and click on the PayPal
link in the “Quick Links” section.
● Check payable to “John A. Bishop PTO” (check can be dropped off at the main
office).

Thank you for your consideration and support of our fantastic Bishop community!
Donations are welcome at any point during the school year but, if possible, we
would greatly appreciate that you make your donation by October 29, 2021 for
planning purposes and so that we can support our school as soon as possible.

AmazonSmile for Bishop!

As of August 2021, Bishop has received $1,508 from AmazonSmile, just by people
making their regular Amazon purchases and selecting Bishop as their non-profit of
choice!!

Did you know you can sign up for AmazonSmile in just three steps? AmazonSmile
will donate 0.5% of all eligible purchases to Bishop (search for John A. Bishop PTO) at
no cost to you!

In a time when we are ordering more online and donations are more important than
ever, this is an easy way to support Bishop. Also, anyone can add Bishop as a charity
for AmazonSmile so please forward this information to family and friends who want
to help support our awesome community!

Sign up for Amazon Smile in these three easy steps:

 ● Join Amazon Smile (If you’re not already an AmazonSmile member, sign up on
your web browser. Simply select John A. Bishop to start generating donations,
at no cost to you.)
● Get the app (Download or update the latest version of the Amazon Shopping
app on your phone.)
● Turn on AmazonSmile (Open the app and find ‘Settings’ in the main menu. Tap
on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on
AmazonSmile on your phone.)

Your PTO Dollars At Work

To date, the PTO has spent a total of $24,265. The below graph shows the
breakdown of our spending.

Community News:
Interested in getting information to the Bishop community? Information that you’d
like to share with the Bishop community can be included in the weekly Principal’s
Update. Please email the relevant information to Amanda Maltais (Communications
Coordinator, Bishop PTO) at aemaltais@gmail.com

Varallo Orthodontics Partners in Education Program

At Varallo Orthodontics, we love giving back to our community in any way we can!
Varallo Orthodontics has started the Partners in Education Program, or P.I.E. For
every patient in grades K-8 who starts orthodontic treatment with us, we will donate
$25 to the patient's school PTO. To schedule a free consultation or find out more,
visit us at varalloortho.com.

Research Study for National Institute of Health

The Cognitive Neuroscience Group at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in
Boston is recruiting children between the ages of 8 and 11 years to participate in a
research study funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH).

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the learning patterns of children with typical
and atypical language development. We are looking for children who were late to
develop language, have received services for language or learning difficulties, or still
have difficulty with language, reading comprehension, or learning. We are also
recruiting children with typical language development.

More information can be found at:

https://rally.partners.org/study/does_your_child_stru

Payment is $120 for completing all study visits. We provide free all-day parking near
our lab in the Charlestown Navy Yard. We will mail you a report of your child’s scores on
the cognitive and language assessments. Please email us at cnglead@mghihp.edu or
call us at (617) 724-7363 if you are interested or if you have any questions.

Girl Scouts
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world
a better place. Come join Girl Scouts! Daisy Troop 64789 is currently forming for girls
in Kindergarten. The troop needs at least 5 girls and 2 leaders to get started. Meeting
place and time TBD. Visit www.girlscouts.org to learn more or www.gsema.org/join
to register! Questions can be emailed to Terrill Levering (troop leader and Bishop
Kindergarten mom) at Tllevering@gmail.com

Music Lessons with Maestro Musicians Academy

Are your kids looking for a creative and confidence building after-school activity to
start the new school year? Music Lessons are the perfect enrichment activity for
kids! Located across from Hastings School in Lexington, we offer lessons both online
and in person and parents and kids love our music instructors! Lessons in Piano,
Violin, Voice, Guitar, Cello, Trumpet, Sax, and much more!
Lesson slots are first come first serve, so get your spot before the good ones fill up! If
you contact us to sign up for a month of lessons before September 15 and quote
"PTA45", we'll give you FREE registration ($45 value)!
Signing up has never been easier. Request info at
maestromusicianslexington.com/request-info, lessons@maestromusicians.com, or
857-756-5230. Find out more today!

IvyMath - Online Math Coaching

IvyMath offers private online math coaching, enrichment and tutoring for students in
grades 3-8. Their current back-to-school promotion includes a FREE math
assessment and 6 FREE, private, math sessions.

At IvyMath, your child will work 1-on-1 in focused, 30 minute sessions with fun and
engaging math instructors. IvyMath is the best way to make sure your child has a
mastery of basic math fundamentals and gets a head start on more advanced
concepts.

Get started by scheduling a FREE online assessment for your child. We’ll talk
through your child’s strengths and weaknesses with you and set up a plan just for
them, starting with six free sessions. Contact us at info@ivymath.com to schedule
your free assessment! Or sign up now at ivymath.com.

Stay Up to Date
Bishop PTO Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BishopPTO/

Websites:
Bishop School (general info, links to the school system):
http://www.arlington.k12.ma.us/bishop/
Bishop School (news and events): https://bishopschool.net/
Bishop PTO: http://www.bishopschoolpto.com/
DIG website: https://bishopdig.weebly.com/. To join our mailing list, please email
bishopdig@gmail.com