January 8, 2026

From Dr. Nolan

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a restful and fun-filled break. We missed your students during the break and are so excited to start 2026 with all of you. This is always such an exciting time of the school year. Students and staff return from break refreshed, and there are long blocks of time for learning! Yay!

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out at 617-993-5550 or enolan@belmontschools.net.

All the best,

Beth

Math Resources/Supports

In November, Jessica DeFrances, our Math and Science Curriculum Specialist, presented at our virtual Coffee with the Principal. As promised, she has shared a PDF of the presentation.

Please see below for resources to support your child at home with math.

Encouraging Math Development at Home PDF

Supporting Number Sense in K and 1

From the Mental Health Team-- Ms. Senour, Ms. Kucinkus, and Ms. Gallo

Lunch bunch groups are up and running across all grades at Butler! These small, informal groups offer a fun, relaxed way for students to build friendships, practice social skills, and connect with peers in a supportive setting. We hope to include as many students as possible in this opportunity.

Volunteering at Butler School

At the Butler School, we are so very fortunate to have many wonderful parent and family volunteers who help on field trips, during classroom activities, in our library, and during other events.  It is a valuable help to have this extra assistance and great teamwork.  For us to be able to continue to invite and benefit from volunteers, it is tremendously important that volunteers ensure the safety (emotional and physical) of students by honoring the expectation of confidentiality when volunteering.  This means that while volunteers are here to help, whatever observations made regarding students should never be discussed with anyone outside of the school setting or outside of the school staff.  Photos of or references to students should never be shared electronically or via social media.  If a volunteer has a concern about a student, that concern should be shared only with that child’s classroom teacher or with the principal

All volunteers must have current CORI forms on record in our main office.  

Please see District Policy regarding volunteers. Please see Beth or Maeve with any questions! We look forward to seeing you at our school!

Weather Reminder

A reminder for parents and guardians to send appropriate clothing with their children to school each day. This includes boots, snow pants (when there is snow on the ground), hats, gloves, and a warm winter jacket.

As long as it is not raining, snowing heavily, or icy, our goal is to get students outside for recess. While we do not have a strict cutoff, our general practice is to hold outdoor recess when temperatures are 20 degrees or higher. We will always consider factors like wind chill and prioritize our students' safety. As a general rule, please dress your children expecting that they will go outside at least once during the day. Refer to the Cold Weather Watch document we use to guide our decision-making about indoor recess.

If you need financial support for purchasing winter gear, please reach out to us - we can help! 

Please see this chart for recess apparel guidelines:

Drop off and Pick up

Please be careful when dropping off children in the morning. Everyone is in a rush in the morning, which is understandable, but we must remember that student safety is our top priority. Please do not let children walk between cars on their own, cross streets alone, or get out of cars by themselves. 

 To ensure everyone's safety, do not pull into the parking lot to drop off your child, and avoid making U-turns in front of the school.

 If you walk your children in the morning, only cross streets at intersections where crossing guards are present. We have five crossing guards at Lexington and Sycamore, Beech and White, Beech and Maple, White and Sycamore, and Trapelo Road and Hawthorne.

 Every morning, regardless of the weather, “roll-up” staff members will be available on White Street for parents who prefer to drop off their children directly from their cars. If you are dropping off your child on White Street in the morning, please help us ensure everyone's safety by pulling your car up to the front of the school and waiting until you reach a staff member to open the doors. We understand that everyone is busy, and the slow approach to the school can seem long, but dangerous incidents can happen when students exit at any point along the street from any side of the vehicle. Be mindful of other parents waiting to drop off behind you. When dropping off in front of the school, please do not get out of your car; the staff member will gladly assist your child. Also, make sure your child knows to only exit and enter the vehicle from the sidewalk side. These guidelines are based on the traffic conditions on White Street, a major thoroughfare.

FBE Spelling Bee

The FBE Spelling Bee will be on February 7th this year at Chenery (snow date: February 8th). Please see this link for more information.

Important Dates to Remember: 

January 12th: PTA Meeting: Butler Library 6:00 pm: CHILD CARE is available

January 19th: Martin Luther King Jr. Day: No School

January 23rd: Virtual Coffee with the Principal

January 23rd: PTA STEM Night

February 3rd: PTA Meeting: Virtual, 6:00 pm

February 12th:  PTA Art Show 6:00 pm

February 12th: School Advisory Council 6:00 pm

February 16th-February 20th: February Break

February 25th: PTA Event: Pizza Fundraiser

MCAS Testing: Third Grade Only

ELA  April 6th, 9th  (make-ups the 10th and week of the 13th)

Math May 11th, 14th (make-ups the 15th and week of the 18th)