October 3rd, 2012

Dear Parents/Guardians:

I need to inform you of a situation here at Newton today. During our 8th grade lunch we had a student
warm up a chocolate doughnut in a microwave. The student left the doughnut unattended walked off and
forgot about it. The doughnut was wrapped in plastic and briefly caught on fire. Our lead custodian and
paraprofessional in the cafeteria immediately noticed the fire and unplugged the microwave and
wheeled the cart with the micro wave on it outside.

The fire alarm did sound and we immediately evacuated the entire building for precautionary reasons.
Littleton Fire Department arrived upon scene within a couple of minutes and inspected the building. We
were given the approval for our 6th and 7th graders to re-enter the building and go to class. We kept the
8th grade students outside for an additional 10 minutes in order for the fire department to set up a fan
and clear the smoke out of the cafeteria.

Upon approval from the fire department we then allowed the 8th graders to return to the cafeteria and
finish their lunch. We resumed regular classes as per our schedule and made an adjustment for the 6th
grade lunch and afternoon schedule.

I appreciate the assistance of all of our elective and 8th grade teachers who immediately came down to
the cafeteria to help. Everything went smoothly and efficiently. The students responded appropriately
and were very well behaved.

We have also checked with all of our students that we know with asthma to ensure their safety
regarding possible breathing issues.

We will have a regular schedule this afternoon and dismiss class at our usual 2:43 time.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Respectfully,

James O’Tremba
Principal, Newton Middle School