Author Archives: Bigelow PTO

Final Open House for Highlands After School before 4/12 deadline

The Newton Highlands After-School Program, just for middle school children, is hosting an Open House for interested families. This is the last open house before the April 12 enrollment deadline.

Saturday, April 6 from 5:00-6:00 P.M.
Brigham House, 20 Hartford Street, Newton Highlands.

This is a terrific opportunity for parents of 5th graders to learn more about the program as they plan for the next school year. The Highlands After School Program offers  a safe, supervised, enrichment program that meets the developmental and recreational needs of the middle schooler. The program strives to provide support and foster independence in all students.

Please join us and see the wonderful space that is the home base of this terrific program. For more information please contact: Rochelle Acker (director) by phone at 617-999-4617 or email.

 

Take Only Photos, Leave Only Footprints, April 12

Women Working for Oceans and the New England Aquarium invite you to a photographic journey and ocean-friendly luncheon on April 12.

“Take Only Photos, Leave Only Footprints” is the story of humanity’s waste and nature’s resilience as told through a photographer’s lens and a scientist’s research in Kiribati, a remote island nation and marine protected area in the South Pacific.

Tuesday, April 12, 2013 at 11:30am
Simons IMAX Theatre in the New England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston
$60 includes a vegetarian lunch

Sign up online at the Women Working for Oceans website.

The Override was approved by voters on March 12th

The following letter was originally sent on March 13th directly from Dr. Fleishman.  If you did not receive it then, please check your Parent Connect to ensure your correct email is registered.  

Dear Newton Community:

As many of you already know, all three override questions were approved by Newton voters yesterday.  I know I speak for our entire system when I say we are grateful to the Newton residents for their support of the Newton Public Schools.  

I am truly excited for the opportunities that the override will provide to our students and staff.  It will allow us to immediately add educators at all levels to serve our growing population and begin to address both our facilities and space needs.  Below are some examples of what the benefits will be to our students:

  • Additional teachers and staff at the elementary, middle and high school levels will be added to serve our growing population and to reduce some existing large classes at several schools.  
  • Three brand new or fully renovated elementary schools (Angier, Cabot and Zervas) will provide not only top-notch facilities but badly needed classroom space.  In the fall of 2014, Angier students will move to a newly renovated Carr School, where they will spend two years before returning to a brand new Angier School.  We will have more details on both Cabot and Zervas in the near future.  
  • Brand new modular classrooms will be added this fall at several elementary schools, including Bowen, Mason-Rice, Horace Mann and Burr.  These classrooms will ensure that there will be reasonable class sizes at the elementary level.

It was a great pleasure answering many questions from parents and community members during the numerous town and school meetings that we held over the past several months.  Newton is a city full of highly engaged citizens and I appreciate the value that is placed on public education.  I also want to extend a special thanks to the Mayor and School Committee for their tireless efforts during the override process.

Next Monday night, March 18, 2013, I will be presenting the specifics of the proposed FY14 budget to the School Committee which will include more details of how we intend to use the override funding.  We will be certain to provide more information on the budget in the coming days and welcome your input during the process.

Sincerely,

David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
Newton Public Schools 100 Walnut Street Newton, MA 02460 

 

Thanks for making the bake sale a success!

Many thanks to all of you who provided baked goods and/or volunteered for the Bigelow Election Day bake sale. The sale raised $730 that will go to the Cyndi Dailey Smith Scholarship Fund. Thank you to Joanne Gatnick, Lori Seuch, Laura DeDominicis, Sally Brickell, Mindy Peckler, Becky Manley, Carena Cremin, Marian McDonagh, Vicki Ritterband, Liz Hoffman, Leah Arteaga, Beth Porter, Leslie Williams, Chris Kjellson, Andrea Newman, Liz Haas, Barbara Joseph, Rachel Boloyan, Donna Manley, Angela Pitter-Wright, Wendy Kritzer and others who provided items. Your time and efforts are much appreciated and helped make this fundraiser a success. Thank you.
Julie Bourgoin
PTO vice president

Newton’s Latin American Festival, March 23

Newton’s 1st annual Latin American Fiesta, Saturday March 23, at the Newton Cultural Center will bring together the sights smells, music, rhythms, foods, dances, games and arts & crafts of many of the 23 countries comprising Latin America.

3-5pm — children’s activities
5:30-9pm — dinner, music, dancing for the whole family

The gala Fiesta begins with primarily kids’ activities from 3pm – 5pm. The children will create beautiful crafts indigenous to different Latin American countries, such as bark painting from Mexico and molas from Panama. They will make musical ‘instruments’ and join in a ‘batukada’ (parade) through the Cultural Center.

The fun for the kids ends with a pinata, but begins for the whole family with music, dancing and delicious Latin American food from 5:30pm – 9pm. Bring your dancing shoes and join in the rhythms of salsa, merengue and bolero music of Brazil, Cape Verde, Venezuela and Columbia.

Artists featured are: Rosalba Dancers, Cruzamente with Tal Shaolm-Kobi, Entre Amigos and the Mauro Tortolero Band. There is beautiful jewelry for sale, created from the Tagua nuts from Colombia by Maria Olga Mizrahi’s Baloka Jewelry, and handmade leather goods by Alvaro Lucena.

Admission is free, but please bring a non-perishable food item for the Newton Food Pantries. The Latin American Fiesta is co-sponsored by the Mayor’s Office for Cultural Affairs and Newton Community Pride and its sponsors. More info is online. 

Newton Mayor’s Youth Summit II, March 20

On March 20, Mayor Setti D. Warren will host Youth Summit II, bringing teens, parents and community members back together to focus on solutions to the challenges discussed during Youth Summit I in October.

Youth Summit I was a chance to hear from and talk to our teens about what they are thinking, feeling, and experiencing.

Youth Summit II is an opportunity to learn about the priorities that emerged from our discussions in October and to help us move forward as a community to take action.

The evening will include a chance to hear from the Mayor, the Superintendent, and teens, small group discussions and an opportunity for all to express their opinion on the best solutions to pressing teen issues in Newton. Have a positive impact on the well-being of youth in our city by participating in this community event. Teens and adults are invited and encouraged attend.

Location: Brown Middle School, 125 Meadowbrook Road
Time: 6:00 – 9:00pm   A light supper will be served from 5:30-6:00pm.

The summit is free but registration is required for the event. You can register by the Youth Summit website or by phone 617-796-1436, or by email youthsummit@newtonma.gov or joleary@newtonma.gov .

Youth Summit II is sponsored by the Newton Youth Commission, City of Newton Health and Human Services Department, and The Newton Partnership. The summit has been planned with the input of two Action Groups open to the public and by the Mayor’s Newton Teen Voice Program and the Keystone Leadership Program at the Boys and Girls Club. To learn more please visit www.newtonma.gov/youthsummit

 

Writing Tutor available

Does your child have difficulty with writing assignments? Tutor Jane Hirschhorn can help your child become a better writer. During two decades as a writing tutor, she has worked with all types of students from middle school to graduate school. She tailors her approach to make the best use of each student’s strengths and learning style.

For more information, contact Jane via phone (617) 244-0108 or email.

 

 

Disability Awareness Program for Parents, March 20

People with disabilities are part of today’s society – in school and at work, in our families and communities. While it is common to feel awkward around people of differing abilities, do you wish that you could be more at ease and know what to do? Or are you comfortable around one kind of disability, but not others?

Join “Understanding Our Differences” for an important and informative program on Wednesday, March 20th – Raising the Comfort Level: Communicating and Interacting with People with Disabilities.

Wednesday, March 20
7:00-8:30 pm
Newton Ed. Center (Room 304)
, 100 Walnut Street, Newtonville
Pre-registration is required online.

Our presenter, Dr. David Ticchi, will share important tips to help you be more comfortable interacting with people with disabilities. In this 75-minute program, Dr. Ticchi will discuss the Respect for Human Differences Guidelines, which were developed at Newton North High School (NNHS). David is a long-time faculty member at NNHS; he also serves as Special Assistant to the President at Legal Sea Foods. He has been a speaker for Understanding Our Differences’ Blindness & Low Vision unit for more than 25 years.

 

Registration for Kindergarten Soccer Now Open

Registration for the spring kindergarten soccer season is open until March 22.

The program is open to all current Newton kindergartners, and all children who will enter kindergarten in Newton in the fall of 2013.  We play on Saturday mornings at Richardson Field in Waban, starting April 6.

Since 1993, Kindergarten Soccer has been introducing children to soccer in a fun and non-competitive environment, where girls and boys develop friendships, learn teamwork, and gain confidence.  Join us and meet other Newton families!

Kindergarten Soccer is a program of the Zervas Elementary PTO.  More information and for registration information is available online.