2021-22 Respect, Responsibility, and Regard

2.3.22

Dates for the Calendar

Saturday, February 5th - Bishop Hot Chocolate Meetup
Monday, February 14th-Friday, March 4th - Read-A-Thon
Monday-Friday, February 21st-25th - Winter Break - All APS Schools Closed

Hello Bishop Families ~

I hope this Update finds you and your family well!

Superintendent’s Messaging
Earlier this morning, I resent Dr. Homan’s Kindergarten Registration
message as a practice of redundancy due to certain families who (for
some reason) do not receive messages from her office. If you do not
have an incoming Kindergartener, please disregard; thank you.

Health and Safety Update

The at-home test kits have arrived and will be distributed to go home via
backpacks on Thursday (TODAY)
If your child has tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 90 days, they
are exempt from testing. They will not participate in pool testing for 90
days after their positive test AND will NOT receive an at-home test kit,
even if you signed up testing program.

For more information about the APS at-home testing program at the Bishop, please
read HERE.
 Pooled Testing Schedule for the Week of 2.7.22
Grades K, 2, and 4 - Monday, the 7th
Grades 1, 3, and 5 - Tuesday, the 8th

Lunar New Year Celebrated at Bishop!

The Bishop Diversity and Inclusion Group would like to wish a Happy New Year to all
of our Bishop families who are celebrating The Lunar New Year! May good fortune
shine on you and your family in the new year!

Thank you to Bishop parent, Songnan Yu, and several other parent volunteers who
decorated the school lobby in honor of the holiday and who created a powerpoint
presentation to play on the lobby television. It looks so festive and absolutely
beautiful!

Lost and Found Items

There are a number of student items in the front foyer of the building. Please come by and
take a look before February break if your child has lost anything. All items will be donated
during the break.
 Show our teachers and staff some love
with Valentine Stars!
(order by February 8 for Valentine’s Day delivery https://www.aefma.org/stars)
Who are the 'Stars' that warm your heart?
Say thank you to your favorite teachers, school nurses, counselors, or office staff. Send warm
fuzzies to the many dedicated educators in the arts, music, theater, tech, or wellness
departments. Send Stars to those special someones you would like to honor!

Each recipient will receive a Star certificate from you and the Arlington Education
Foundation will put your donations to work to support the staff we all value.

A donation of $20 for an individual or $15 for 4 or more recipients by Tuesday, Feb
8th will ensure Valentine's Day delivery. https://www.aefma.org/stars
If you prefer to mail your donation, download this form.
Thank you!

The cupids at the Arlington Education Foundation

Portraits of Black Arlington: Sign up for a free Photo Shoot with Chanel Thervil,
February 20
Chanel Thervil is a Haitian American artist and educator winning rave reviews in the Boston
area for her vibrant mixed media portraits and powerful community-building approach to
artmaking. She's worked with the Museum of Fine Arts, DeCordova Museum, Children's
Museum, and many more. Now she's come to Arlington as Artist-in-Residence for a project
designed to celebrate Black beauty and joy in the Town. We invite Black community
members who live or work in Arlington to participate in free photo sessions to develop
source material for Chanel's final artwork. Meet Chanel, hear a little about her process, and
get your portrait taken in a relaxed and fun 25-minute session at the historic Robbins
Whittemore House behind Robbins Library. Bring family or friends if you like! One-on-one or
small group sessions, social distancing, and masks (except when being photographed) will
be used to keep everyone safe. Sign up for a session between 1 and 6 pm on Sunday,
February 20 here: https://tinyurl.com/Arlingtonphotoshoot
~Margaret~
Margaret Credle Thomas
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

BISHOP PTO NEWS AND UPDATES

Bishop Hot Chocolate Meetup

The PTO is hosting a winter meetup this Saturday, February 5th from 1 pm - 3 pm.
Dress warmly and come to the school playground to enjoy an afternoon of fun with
your fellow Bishop Bears. Hot chocolate will be provided by the PTO. Select Bishop
Spirit Wear will also be available for purchase. We hope to see you there!

Read-A-Thon is Back!
We are excited to announce the return of the Read-A-Thon fundraiser! The
Read-A-Thon is an event that brings students together with family and friends to
encourage reading and to build literacy skills. Last year, our students logged over
122,000 minutes and raised more than $14,000! The main focus of the Read-A-Thon
is for everyone to know our community is committed to improving reading skills.

The Read-A-Thon will start on Monday, February 14th and end on Friday, March 4th.
During this 3-week event, your child(ren) will be encouraged to record their reading
minutes. Reading to your child, listening to audio books, and reading books
(including ebooks) ALL count towards your child(ren)’s reading minutes! There will
be fun prizes that children can earn on an individual, class and school basis. Please
keep an eye out for sign up information that was sent home in backpack mail this
week!

Please note: it has come to our attention that some of you have received calls from
an organization about reading fundraisers. We have confirmed with Read-A-Thon,
the organization we work with for Bishop's fundraiser, that they DO NOT make calls,
store your phone number, or the numbers you text to friends/family for donations.
Read-A-Thon is also Coppa Compliant - you can visit their website for more
information.
In order for your child to log their reading minutes, you will need to set up an
account. Please go to https://www.read-a-thon.com/readers/r/wMJqed to activate
their account ahead of the Read-A-Thon which kicks off on February 14.

Please reach out to the Read-A-Thon Coordinators Grace Judge

(judge.grace@gmail.com) and Sarah Phoenix (srwphoenix@gmail.com) with any
questions.

Show Our Teachers and Staff Some Love with Valentine Stars From AEF!
Who are the 'Stars' that warm your heart? Say thank you to your favorite teachers,
school nurses, counselors, or office staff. Send warm fuzzies to the many dedicated
educators in the arts, music, theater, tech, or wellness departments. Send Stars to
those special people you would like to honor!

Each recipient will receive a Star certificate from you and the Arlington Education
Foundation will put your donations to work to support the staff we all value.

A donation of $20 for an individual or $15 for 4 or more recipients by Tuesday,

February 8th will ensure Valentine's Day delivery. https://www.aefma.org/stars

If you prefer to mail your donation, download this form.

Thank you,
The Cupids at the Arlington Education Foundation

Your PTO Dollars at Work

To date, the PTO has spent a total of $41,552.77. 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
Arlington Special Education Parent Advisory Committee
Arlington SEPAC’s next business meeting will be held via zoom at 9:00am on
Tuesday, February 8th. All are welcome.
That evening at 7:30 pm, parents and caregivers are invited to join us for a listening
session. Come share your priorities, and where you would like to see SEPAC, the
district, and even the state concentrate their energies now and moving forward. This
event is for Arlington parents and caregivers only. Talk time will be limited to allow
all voices to be heard.
Both events will be held on the SEPAC standing zoom:
link:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86234778319?pwd=ZDFPdDNZZjZxbXVwNUYyZDR1
VjJsUT09&fbclid=IwAR0L39w2pq5uM1BoUVIfISkz8zQJ49-5geLT2V69C72kgs2ZgNnZ
ORaf1vo#success

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.
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