The Zervas online auction is back this year for one week only! There are hundreds of FABULOUS items available – from summer camps to restaurants, gyms, spas and more.
Bidding ends at 9:00 pm on March 15th, so don’t miss out!
Click here 32auctions.com/zervas to check it out.
For the sixth consecutive year the Boston Emeralds will be running their 3rd grade developmental program. They’ll run skills and drills with a fun scrimmage at the end. The program is developmentally based and will be an excellent preparation for the upcoming fourth grade Metro West season in the fall.
The program will be run by Coach Michael Cassidy who has worked with several AAU programs in the past as well as nine seasons coaching the Newton Travel teams.
Space is limited and last year the program filled up fast. To register and for more information visit https://bostonemeraldsbasketball.com/third-grade-developmental-program/
If you have any questions please email bostonemeraldsbasketball@gmail.com.
Hope to see you all on the court!
Scheduled to begin March 25th and meet Wednesdays, 5:15 – 6:40 pm
Oak Hill Middle School
Register now for the Discovery After School Club 2020-2021 school year. This warm, enriching after school program, conveniently located at the Leventhal-Sidman JCC in Newton, offers a variety of workshop choices with integrated Jewish content. Experience service projects, Jewish holiday celebrations and more in this vibrant community! Engaging, expert-led workshops include art, basketball, chess, coding, cooking, dance, drama, farming, floor hockey, Hebrew, music, nature exploration, robotics, STEM, tennis and yoga. For children in grades K-4. Early bird special available until May 1st.
For more information, including pricing and registration, visit bostonjcc.org/afterschool or contact discoveryclub@jccgb.org or 617-558-6483. Early release day options available. Open to the entire community.
A team at Harvard Medical School hopes to offer a training to parents of teens and young adults ages 14-24. The training will revolve around communication strategies that can help parents decrease conflict with their child and encourage healthy changes. It is a part of a study they hope will provide parents with the skills necessary to build their confidence!
Participants who enroll will learn and practice motivational interviewing skills in a group-based course with other parents.
Lunch will be provided and parking/transportation fees can be reimbursed. On-site childcare during the training is available. Participants will have the opportunity to earn up to $75.00 by completing pre- and post-course surveys. Click here for the flyer.
If you know someone who might benefit from this study, or if you have any questions, please email MIStudy@bidmc.harvard.edu, call 617- 982-3441, or visit Milostudy.com.
Sessions planned for May 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd
75 Fenwood Rd, Boston
Reading
Walking
In an effort to balance our obligation to hold public meetings with the equally imperative duty to prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19, the School Committee has implemented new Public Comment procedures with guidance from the Health and Human Services Department. Normally, the month of March is a busy time during which the Committee reviews, vigorously examines and welcomes numerous Public Comments regarding next year’s budget. Given yesterday’s decision to close schools, the risk of community spread posed by COVID-19 and the need to protect our most vulnerable residents, we simply cannot observe the normal process.
We hope that you understand and assist us to mitigate the risk as we refrain from large gatherings and maintain social distancing. This is not possible in the Ed Center’s School Committee chamber, which is small and easily overcrowded. Therefore, we urge members of the public not to attend in person and instead opt to watch the live broadcast on NewTV. For meetings with scheduled Public Comment, we ask members of the public to submit written Public Comment by 6:00 PM. Questions will be collated and read aloud during the Committee’s live broadcast at 7:00 PM on NewTV. Each Public Comment is limited to three minutes and must include your name and address. Please submit Public Comments to: schoolcommittee@newton.k12.ma.us.
Upcoming Meetings:
We hope you found this guide useful. You can access all SC meeting documents via the NPS website (www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee). Additionally, we offer “Virtual Office Hours” once a month using Facebook Live to provide the community with an opportunity to ask questions and share thoughts with members of the School Committee. Videos of past “Virtual Office Hours” are archived on the district Facebook page.
As always, we are very happy to answer any questions or discuss any concerns you may have. Please feel free to contact us via the email address below.
Sincerely,
The Newton School Committee
Dear Bigelow Families,
You should have received a message from David Fleishman with updates about our school closure. Thank you all for your patience and flexibility over the past 48 hours as we deal with this unique health challenge.
The NPS Office of Teaching and Learning is assembling a collection of materials to provide enrichment and connectedness opportunities for your children during this closure. The materials will provide educational opportunities and activities at grade level for your children while school is closed. They are not intended to replace classroom instruction, or to substitute for instruction in any way. Rather, they are supplemental–grade-level activities that are interesting and fun and encourage students to explore new topics on their own.
As David mentioned, all school activities have been postponed. We’ll revise our schedule for trimester 2 report cards and other key events once we resume normal school functioning. In regards to the grade 8 New York City field trip in June, no decision has been made about it yet. We are working with our travel company, EF, to explore options for the trip, and will re-assess the situation later in March. Please refrain from contacting EF’s travel support team directly until we determine our plan for going forward.
Please take care. We will be in touch with further information. Stay well.
Todd
Todd M. Harrison
Principal’s
617-559-6800
03.11.20 – Principal’s Update on School Events and Activities
Dear NPS Families,
We write to provide you with an update on our school closure related to COVID-19. While we continue to assess the situation and ultimately make a firm decision on the length of our closure, we want to let you know what to expect over the next few days.
Because we had only used one of our five “snow days” when we decided to close, the days out of school until Wednesday, March 18th, will be considered “snow days.” Only these four days are required to be made up at the end of the school year, which means that the last day of school for students is now firmly set for Wednesday, June 24th. As with any snow day, there are no expectations of academic work by students and teachers are not expected to provide assignments or instruction. Next week, we will provide you with an update on next steps to support student learning.
We know a school closure may impact our most vulnerable families, especially those experiencing food scarcity. Food resources, as well as additional resources and updates related to COVID-19, can be found on our website at: https://www.newton.k12.ma.us/COVID19
As a reminder, the decision to close schools is an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. It will only be effective if the community also takes steps to practice self-isolation, monitor for any symptoms, and avoid large gatherings. We need all community members to do their part or the school closure will not be successful in limiting the spread of the virus. Of course, all school activities regardless of location, including athletics, parent/teacher conferences, club meetings, and extra-curricular classes are cancelled until further notice.
We will be in touch with you next week as our plans progress. Thank you for your patience as we navigate this unprecedented situation.
Sincerely,
David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
March 12, 2020
Dear NPS Families,
For the past two weeks, we have been working closely with the Newton Department of Health and Human Services to reduce the community spread of COVID-19. We have received many emails from concerned families and understand that this is a stressful and unsettling time.
Given the rising number of COVID-19 cases in our region, coupled with new guidance from the Governor, the state, infectious disease experts, and our local health partners, we have made the difficult decision to close the Newton Public Schools beginning tomorrow, Friday, March 13. There will be no school tomorrow, next week and possibly for a longer period.
The decision to close schools is an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. It will only be effective if the community also takes steps to practice self-isolation, monitor for any symptoms, and avoid large gatherings. We need all community members to do their part or the school closure will not be successful in limiting the spread of the virus.
We know the cancellation of school, its associated activities, and events that use our school buildings is disappointing and extremely disruptive to our daily lives. However, we believe we must do so for the health and well-being of our community.
We expect to provide an update to you next week as we further assess the situation. We also know you will have questions regarding learning opportunities for your children while school is closed and we will have more information on this subject late next week.
This is a unique public health situation that is rapidly changing. Our hope is that if we all work together, we can reduce the spread of this virus, protect residents, especially those most vulnerable, and resume normal activities as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
Dear Bigelow parents and caregivers,
As you know, all school related events have been cancelled due to COVID-19. This includes all PTO sponsored events, such as Big Night, PTO Meetings, Skate Night, and Bigelow Unplugged (a PTO event of various board games set up for play in the gym for Bigelow students).
The PTO Board is discussing how we will handle these rapidly evolving changes, and we will continue to communicate with you in a timely fashion. While we are disappointed that these events have been canceled, we know that the concern for the health of our Bigelow community is of paramount importance.
Big Night, as you may know, is the PTO’s biggest annual source of funds. So we are now working on our Plan B to raise as much money as we can without holding this event. We are fortunate that our chairs, Alexia Giannakopoulos and Cheryl Abramson, so wisely suggested we hold an online auction as part of Big Night. So we will continue with this plan and will be in touch in the coming days with further information.
As always, we are extraordinarily grateful to the Bigelow community for their generous support of the Bigelow PTO. We are lucky to be part of such a wonderful group of parents and caregivers.
Please contact us at bigelowbulldog@gmail.com if you have any suggestions, questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
The Bigelow PTO Board