Fitness & Movement

Izizwe Dance Studio: Daily Dance classes

You simply download the app from your computer or phone (Apple | Android) and send Izizwe Dance Studio your email address at amy.performingarts@gmail.com. Once they email you an invite to the Zoom group, you accept and the dancing shall begin! Please share and keep moving!

Visit their Facebook page for more information.

Free Online Salsa + Bachata for Kids

YMCA launches 60 free online classes

Planet Fitness has Live streaming workouts

Visit their Facebook page for upcoming times and sessions. No membership required.

Online Library and Learning Resources

Libby, by Overdrive

All you need is your library card and to download the app to your computer or device! Learn more here

Storytime at MSPCA Nevins Farm

Tiny Tunes! Live Music Education

Art Daily by Fabiola Martinez

Suggested materials for the two weeks:

• Pencils HB, H, 4H
• Paper or flat canvas
• acrylic paint (red, blue, yellow, white, brown….) any colours you already have!.
• We can use crayons and pencil crayons as well!.
• our fingers and q-tips!

Sesame Street Caring

This site provides content and resources you can use with your family to offer comfort and spark playful learning activities. Children thrive with structure in their lives and they learn best through play, even in everyday moments like mealtimes and morning and evening routines. We hope the content and resources help you and your family breathe, laugh, and play together! Learn more at Sesamestreet.org/caring

Church services & Podcast

Saint Mary’s Parish

St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Lawrence is live-streaming! 
Daily + Sunday Masses (English and Spanish)
Visit their YouTube page for services.

Saint Patrick’s podcast online

Click here for a downloadable PDF on how Bellesini has transitioned to online learning.

This past Friday, March 13, 2020, following the lead of Lawrence Public Schools, we chose to close the doors of Bellesini Academy in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19). As of Wednesday, March 25, we will be closed through April in accordance with the Massachusetts state order. Although the students and alumni will not be in the building, we have not wavered in our commitment to continue to provide excellent education, programs, and enrichment activities for our community. 

The health and safety of our students and alumni, their families, our faculty, staff, and volunteers is of the utmost importance. In response to the situation, we have crafted plans and discerned what technology and resources we need to best meet our students, alumni, and families where they are at.

• Our faculty will begin to teach remotely and provide on-going comfort and support to our students starting on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Students will receive instruction in all subjects and follow their regular academic schedule at home using video conferencing and other programs to make sure that they continue to receive the excellent academic instruction that is a hallmark of a Bellesini education. 

• The new resources we are using for remote academic learning will also enable us to continue some of our after school enrichment activities starting next week. We are in the process of planning activities for our students and alumni including online yoga, dance, fitness, chess tournament, computer programming and more. Even though we are physically apart, we are committed to maintaining the strong sense of community that supports each of our students and alumni. 

• Bellesini is here for our students, alumni, and their families. We will be holding online parent meetings to provide outreach support, answer questions and connect them with important information and resources to address health concerns and food insecurity. We have created a resource page for our families (https://bellesiniacademy.org/coronavirus) and will continue to provide updates via email and social media.

• Our alumni staff is committed to supporting our alumni as many transition to online learning. We will also continue supporting alumni through the college admissions process and other support services. Investing in our alumni’s futures is a big piece of what we do at Bellesini, as such we will offer alumni some fun enrichment programs as well to give them opportunities to stay connected to their home community.

I want to thank our faculty and staff for their commitment to learning and their dedication to the young men and women we serve as we move forward into this new learning environment.

While we are confident we are doing our best in these challenging times, this situation has created obstacles to overcome. We have provided additional tools to our teachers to enable them to teach remotely. Our students have limited technology and equipment that has to be carefully considered, and our families count on us to provide their child with their meals and snacks throughout the day. We are acutely aware of the impact these circumstances will have on some of our most vulnerable neighbors, communities, families, and students. It is with this in mind that we ask you to partner with us in our commitment to continue, now more than ever, to meet these needs.

Donations can be made online:

Or mailed to:
P.O. Box 1021, Lawrence, MA 01842

We are deeply grateful for your consideration during these unsettling times. We would never have been able to provide so many children with brighter futures without your past support. As we look forward, uncertainties abound, but the hope our children deserve remains steadfast. 

Please know you are all in our prayers and that we are always grateful for your continuing support.

Julie DiFilippo
Head of School 
Jdifilippo@bellesiniacademy.org

Meal Pick Ups

Bag Lunch Pick ups for Students

Monday – Friday 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m

Lawrence YMCA: Grab & Go Dinners

“To-Go” Dinners for kids of all ages

Cor Unum Meal Center

Food Insecurity

Senior Shopping Hours

Food Pantries

Health and Screenings

Lawrence General Opens Exterior Coronavirus Test Tent

Internet Access for Low-Income

Comcast Increases Access Speeds of Internet Essentials’ Low-Income Internet Service during COVID-19.

Utilities and Fuel

National Grid suspends collections-related activities

Columbia Gas to Suspend Shutoffs for Non-Payment

Fuel Assistance Check Pick-up

Rent/Mortgage

Mayor’s Eviction Moratorium Unanimously Passes – Rent/Mortgage Moratorium Resolution

Mayor Daniel Rivera announces today, the unanimous enactment of an emergency resolution calling for a sixty (60) day moratorium on rent and mortgage payments for Lawrence residents who experience an interruption of pay due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) and resulting school or business closures. Learn More

Building Bridges to a Brighter Future Capital Expansion Campaign

Bellesini is now a co-institutional school since we admitted our first class of girls in 2015. We have grown to serve 60 girls in grades 5-8 by the 2018-2019 school year, doubling our size.

We have made much progress expanding the building and adding learning spaces, and continue to press forward to meet our goals. With the help of those who have donated to our Building Bridges to a Brighter Future Capital Campaign, those funds go directly to support the financial needs necessary to accommodate this growth.

We encourage you to partner with us as we enter the home stretch with the last phase of this campaign!

Bellesini’s Summer Program plays a critical role in preparing our students for success in preparatory high school. Studies show that a large part of the achievement gap that exists between low-income and middle-class students is the result of a lack of intellectual engagement during the summer months. Low-income students actually lose academic skills between June and September.

Bellesini’s Summer Program prevents summer learning loss while allowing our students to continue to make academic gains, enjoy safe summer camp activities, experience educational and fun field trips, and visit colleges and private high schools.

This summer we will be utilizing a hybrid on-campus/virtual model. Students will attend school in-person on our campus two days a week. Another two days a week learning will be done remotely. The fifth day we plan to make an outside activity day. In order to follow social distancing recommendations, only half of our students will be in the school building at any given time. Students will also participate in virtual field trips.

Each grade will become a cohort supervised by two faculty members and one college alumnus. They will stay together throughout the day. We are planning on purchasing outdoor chairs to hold classes outside when possible and to use our larger indoor spaces where it will be possible to maintain safe distances between students. 

We will have the following core academic classes:

• Reading and Writing
• Math 
• Social Studies
• Health and Life Skills (grade 5-8)
• Citizenship and Computer Class (5th grade)
• Spanish (6th & 7th grade)
• High School Placement and SSAT Prep (8th grade)

During Remote Learning days students will receive core class instruction and will also be able to select from among the following elective classes:

• Sustainability
• Forensic Science 
• Current Events
• Civil Rights Movement
• Graphic Novel Study

Afternoon Enrichment Program will include:

• Coding
• Digital Art 
• Anime
• Sign Language
• Video Making, Editing and Photography
• Theater (online)
• Chess Club (online)
• Fitness Club (remote and in-person)
• Dance (remote)
• Yoga (remote)

We need your help to provide our students and alumni with a safe place to learn and grow this summer!   Would you like to Sponsor a Student for the Summer Program?

$50  = 1 day of camp
$250 = 1 week of camp
$500  = 2 weeks of camp
$1000 = All 4 weeks of camp

Alumni Summer Experience

A hallmark of our program is the Alumni Support Program which tracks, supports, and engages with alumni through college and beyond. We are redesigning the way we will run our Summer Alumni Experience to provide the same impact in new circumstances. Bellesini will be offering support services, college preparation, and fun activities for our alumni this summer, keeping them safe and on track to achieve a college degree.  The cost to provide these programs is $200 for each alumnus.

Please support our alumni summer experience for our 100 high school-aged alumni. Activities include:

• College Prep Program 
• SAT Prep 
• Essay Writing 
• College Visits (virtual)
• Scholarship Applications and Essays
• Community Service Opportunities 
• Base Mentoring Program 
• Grade level class meetings 
• Girls High School Health, Fitness and Leadership Program 
• Boys Fitness Program and Basketball Tournament (if appropriate)