December 21, 2018

Message From Head of School

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This Coming Week at BDS

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Looking Ahead

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BDS News

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PA News

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Auction

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Beyond BDS

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Seventh grade students review a team project in their French class.

Ms. Henry leads the pre-kindergarten class during the first sharing assembly in the Barn.

This Coming Week at BDS

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January 7 through 11

All School

School Closed for Winter Break until January 7

Monday, January 7
8–9:00 a.m., Committee on Trustees, Head’s Office

Tuesday, January 8
6–9:00 p.m., Parent SEED Group, Coolidge Hall

Wednesday, January 9
8–9:00 a.m., Finance Committee
3:30 p.m., Girls’ Varsity Basketball at Rashi; Boys’ Varsity Basketball at Rashi

Thursday, January 10
Priority Round Admissions Application Deadline
3:30 p.m., Girls’ JV Basketball at DCD; Boys’ JV Basketball vs DCD; Fencing at Beaver; Wrestling vs Park
5–6:00 p.m., Camp Drop-in Tour

Friday, January 11
8:50–9:35 a.m., Cross-graded Partners
11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m., PA Executive Committee, Head’s Office

Admissions

Priority Application Deadline January 10, 2019

If you have friends, neighbors, or colleagues considering an independent school education for their child, it is not too late for them to learn about the school and apply for admission for fall 2019!

Invite them to contact admissions@belmontday.org today to learn about our expedited process options.

Go With the Flow!

Beginning on Monday, January 7, all traffic will enter campus via the new driveway from Concord Avenue.

The driveway is single lane only.
Traffic and dismissal patterns will change, and students will be dismissed from two doors only—the PAC door and the front door.
A faculty/staff member on traffic duty will help cars navigate the correct lane in the first few weeks.
All traffic will exit campus via Day School Lane. Reminder: Day School Lane remains a two-way lane for resident traffic, so please stay in a single lane as you depart campus.

Remember, the Belmont Day campus is an idle-free zone!

Lunch & Snack Menu

January 7 to January 11

Monday
Snack: chocolate chip cookies; fruit cup
Lunch: cheese ravioli; chef’s choice vegetables; warm French rolls; mixed greens with balsamic

Tuesday
Snack: saltines and Wheat Thins; bananas
Lunch: chicken vegetable fried rice; vegetable fried rice; chef’s choice vegetables; bok choi and romaine and Mandarin orange with soy sesame dressing

Wednesday
Snack: Cheez-Its; apples
Lunch: herb roasted salmon; chef’s choice vegetables; garlicky Israeli couscous; spinach salad with pomegranate and cider vinaigrette

Thursday
Snack: Smartfood; clementines
Lunch: butternut squash soup; bagel muensters; chef’s choice vegetables; Caesar salad

Friday
Snack: carrots
No Lunch

Looking Ahead

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New Traffic/Dismissal Pattern Begins January 7

All traffic will enter the new driveway from Concord Avenue.
The driveway is single lane only.
We will dismiss from two doors: the PAC door (the door inside the PAC that opens to the back parking lot) and the front door.
At the bend in the driveway, just past the stone wall (cones will identify), traffic will split into two lanes. The right lane is for vehicles picking up at the PAC door; the left lane is for vehicles picking up at the front door.
A faculty/staff member on traffic duty will help cars navigate the correct lane in the first few weeks.
Reminder: Day School Lane remains a two-way lane for resident traffic, so please stay in a single lane as you depart campus.

Dismissal Doors and Traffic Flow Map

The PAC Door:

The right-hand lane will proceed to the stop sign and then turn right through the upper parking lot, past the Barn entrance and walkway to begin to pick up at the PAC doors.

Students will be dismissed through the walkway doors in winter and through the PAC doors in fall and spring.
During the winter term, pre-k to grade two students will be seated in the walkway hallway.
During the winter term, students in grades three to five will be seated in the area outside the PAC.
During the fall and spring terms, all students will be dismissed from the PAC stage.
Buckling into car seats will be done by the adults picking up students, not by faculty or staff on duty.
Cars will exit the PAC line, and on the instruction of the faculty/staff member on traffic duty, will drive straight and into the lower parking lot to exit onto Day School Lane at the top of the circle. Another faculty/staff member positioned at the top of the circle will direct traffic exiting from the lower lot and the front door.

The Front Door:

The left-hand lane will proceed to the stop sign and then move straight through Coolidge Way towards the front door.

Students will either wait inside or be seated on the benches outside the front door.
Buckling into car seats will be done by the adults picking up the students, not by faculty or staff on duty.
Cars will exit the front door line and proceed around the circle. On instruction from the faculty or staff member on traffic duty, they will exit the school heading down Day School Lane.

Receptionist Barbara Carey will create new lists of students for each door over winter break and email new dismissal spots to families.
Parking spaces facing the PAC will become partially restricted, with parking only from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Friday.
Please keep in mind that arriving at 3:35 p.m. rather than close to 3:00 p.m. often enables a faster pick up.
Our campus is a no-idling zone.
4:30 p.m. dismissal will be from the front door for students in after school and from the PAC door for athletics. Parents picking up siblings from after school and athletics will in most cases default to the younger student’s location.
BDS buses (Boston, Cambridge, Belmont) will continue to be dismissed from the sixth grade classroom corner.
Visiting team buses will drop at the Barn and park beside the B&G garage.
Friday dismissal will follow the same dismissal pattern as above.

Please refer to the map for review traffic flow.

BDS News

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TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Resolve to Protect Yourself Online in 2019

As we quickly head toward the start of a new year, the technology team thought it would be a perfect time to share this helpful article on simple ways to protect yourself, your identity, and your financial wellbeing from online predators. The article, in its entirety, is in the Read More section below. Have a very happy, healthy, and safe winter break!

What’s really going on: The site looks legitimate but it is a duplicate website of a provider like Verizon or AT&T. However, it is actually being run by a criminal with a laptop sitting nearby. If it’s a “free” site the criminal is mining your computer for password and bank account information. If it’s a fake pay site, the criminal takes your pay information and card number and sells it to another criminal.

What you an do: Make sure you are not set up to auto connect to non-preferred wifi by checking your wifi preferences. Before traveling buy a $20 mastercard and use it to connect to airport wifi’s or set your phone to be a personal hotspot.

It says “free” but is it? – Be on the lookout for those “win a free – insert item here-” popups, emails and tweets. When you click on the link it will download a bot (software robot) designed to add your computer to a botnet of “zombies” that scammers use to send emails.

What you can do: Look carefully at URLs, especially when using Twitter. Scammers take advantage of URL shortening services that allow them to break down a long link into a shorter one so you cannot see the whole link, making it easy for criminals to post malicious links. Before clicking on a link check out the user’s profile. f somebody is following thousands of users but nobody is following them, it’s a bot.

Your computer is infected, how can we help? You get a popup that looks like a legitimate security site alerting you that your machine has a virus. For a fee, they will clean up your computer. When you click on the link it downloads malicious softare and captures your credit card.

What you can do: Scareware is one of the most popular and costly scams. If you get a popover virus update, immediately close the window without clicking on any links. Run a full scan using your anti-virus program. If you don’t have anti-virus on your machine, go out and purchase one.

Cell Phone/Text Messages: You get a text from your bank or credit card company. There is a problem with your account and you need to call them right away with account information. This is called “smishing” or SMS phishing, the text message version of email scams. Scammers take advantage that you are less likely to check out the source, as you might do if you were on your computer.

What you can do: Real banks and businesses do offer text messaging services if you have signed up for it. However, they never ask for account information. If you are unsure call the bank, business or Better Business Bureau. You could also Google the phone number to see if a scam report shows up.

Emotional Chaos – Online Shopping, Charities & Social Networks: Beware of the scam artist who plays on your emotions with pictures of orphans or donations for disaster relief. Donate to charities on their own websites by finding the site on your own and checking the URL. Legitimate sites will not ask for wire transfers, account information, or social security numbers. Donations via text messages is okay as long as you check the number. Social networking can be a great way to meet new friends. If someone you met online asks for money sign off quickly! You find an deal on Amazon, a site you trust and place an order. The seller can be a scammer who can send a conterfeit product and keep your money by taking advantage of Amazon’s policies. They post delivery dates that are three or four weeks out. Amazon pays their sellers every two weeks, so they will get their money before you even discover it’s a scam. Watch out for new or “just launched” sellers and look carefully at the reviews. If you fall victim to a scam immediately contact Amazon.