Clara Barton Open School

Plant Sale Forms Available Online - - - - - - >

Our 26th Annual Plant Sale is underway! Students have been given a supply of order forms. An order form is also available on this site under the heading ANNUAL PLANT SALE in the right-hand column.  You can print extra forms or view plant sale information and instructions there.  Photos and descriptions of the plants are also available, so tell your friends and neighbors to have a look if they are not sure what to order.

There's more information on the plant sale kick-off and about volunteering to help in this week's Barton Bugle.

The deadline for ordering plants this year is Monday, April 21st.  Happy selling!

Leadership Council Meeting

Minutes from the March 13th Leadership Council Meeting have been posted to this website. Included in a packed agenda were: a decision on a Minneapolis Kids program at Barton and reflections from the Council retreat in February.

Pi Day Observed

March 14th    3/14     π     3.1415926...

Uppers and some middles classrooms celebrated this very important mathematics holiday on Friday, March 14 with pie and other events related to roundness.  In Sarah's classroom, there was an Oreo eating contest, and a pi digit memorization contest - with the winner reciting 192 digits!  Thirty pies were ordered in advance and consumed by the uppers (Oreo was the favorite), and many more excellent homemade and pot luck contributions by students.  As thanks for spreading the positive message of mathematics, all staff was invited for pie at 3.1415926 or 3/14 1:59pm 26 seconds.

Middles Skiing

The middles team took to the slopes at Afton Alps on February 12th.  See for yourself how much fun they had!  Here's a link to more photos.

All You Need is Love

The Barton Family Dance "All You Need is Love" on February 8 was a blast! Thanks to Shawn Gibbons, The Melvilles and Cosmoline (all Barton parent musicians).  We raised $1,500 to support the Uppers musical (The Sound of Music, coming May 21 and 22 @ 7:00 PM).

Introduction to Somali Culture Conversation for Parents

On Thursday, March 6, at 7 pm, Faduma Roble, our Somali Bilingual Educator, and Shamso Farah, one of our parent Council members, will give a short presentation on the Somali culture.  They will be joined by a few other Barton Somali parents.  The presentation will be followed by a time for questions and answers.  This program is intended for adults only.  The idea for this class grew out of requests by some Barton parents for more information on Somali culture so they could answer questions that their own kids were bringing home from school.  The class will meet in the media center for an hour.  Please join us if this is a topic you'd like to learn more about and bring your questions.

Karen Karis, ESL Teacher

No Bugle Today, No School Thursday and Friday

There is no school the remainder of this week.  Teachers and staff will be working on the school improvement agenda at the Leadership Council Retreat and participating in district workshops.

Because of the short school week, the Barton Bugle is not available today.  Look for the next Bugle to be published on March 5th.   

Garth Fagan Dance

Middles and Uppers students enjoyed watching dancers in elaborate costumes leaping through the air to a diverse collection of music in a performance by  Garth Fagan Dance at the Ordway Center in early February.  Here are some excellent links for a program study guide and a short video.

Barton Students Rock the MathCounts Competition

Eight Uppers "mathletes" competed in the MATHCOUNTS Minneapolis chapter competition at the U of M last week and finished strongly, bringing home the top individual prize!  MATHCOUNTS is a national enrichment, coaching and competition program that promotes middle school math achievement.  Congratulations mathletes and coach Allison Rubin Forester.  Read more about it in this weeks Bugle.

Our fifth and sixth grade also send students to the Minneapolis Public Schools math competitions held in March and April.  There are some really smart "mathletes" in need of more parents to help coach them.  If you would like to help, please contact Katrina Belding.  (email:   Katrina.Belding@mpls.k12.mn.us)

New Science Teacher Welcomed

We welcome a new teacher, Lizzie Paulson, to Barton for the second semester.  Lizzie is teaching uppers biology while John Klein is on a sabbatical to complete his master's degree in environmental science education. 

Lizzie studied Biology at the University of Minnesota and her teaching licensure at St. Catherine's.  She teaches youth classes at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  She loves kayaking and is currently training for a triathlon.   Welcome Lizzie!