Author Archives: Newton PTO Council

Mason-Rice PTO online auction

The Mason-Rice Elementary School PTO’s annual online auction is now live and runs until January 28th!

Go to www.biddingforgood.com/masonrice. The auction has something for everyone…discounts on all of the popular kids’ summer camps, classes for kids, fitness classes and health club memberships, vacation rentals, tickets to games, museum passes, theater tickets, gift cards to local salons, spas, stores, restaurants…and SO MUCH MORE!

Ward PTO online auction

Please visit the Ward Elementary School PTO Auction and get ready to be wow’ed by:

  • Fantastic Sports Tickets and Memorabilia
  • Luxurious Gold Outings
  • Relaxing Beauty and Spa Services
  • Exciting adventures and hotel stays
  • Stimulating lessons and activities for kids including many camps
  • Gift cards to all your favorite restaurants
  • and much more!!

Bidding is open January 24th – 31st
BID Here EARLY AND OFTEN!

Future Chefs Challenge

Once again, the Newton Public Schools food service partner Sodexo, is hosting the Future Chefs culinary competition! This year, the theme is Mexican. Just fill out the entry form with your favorite Mexican recipe. One winner from each school will be chosen to participate in a cooking contest at Newton North High School on March 26th. We can’t wait to see your creative recipes and taste those amazing dishes!

Entries are due February 8th. Forms can be picked up in the main office or the cafeteria at each elementary school and then returned to either location by the deadline. For more information, please visit the NPS website.

Executive Function Skills in Children and Adolescents

Teach children to manage their time, space and materials and keep their emotions in check!

This presentation will cover powerful strategies to help your child develop independent executive function; teach students to internally sense the sweep of time, self-monitor in order to sustain concentration, manage pace, and complete tasks in allocated time frames; improve students’ motivation and task initiation, help them to plan homework and long-term projects/papers, and coach students to think in an organized way; and encourage self-initiative to manage homework and personal belongings.

Ms. Kristen Jacobsen, MS CCC-SLP is a trained speech-language pathologist who is Co-Director at the Cognitive Connections Executive Function Practice. She is currently working with Newton Public Schools to develop an Executive Function program for middle school students. She provides training and coaching for teachers and professionals, parent consultations, as well as student coaching services. Ms. Jacobsen has worked as an educational consultant and speech-language pathologist in public education, private schools and hospital settings, and has provided teacher training seminars and school consultations nationally.

Sponsored by Newton SEPAC and Newton Public Schools

February 13th, 7:30 – 9:00 pm
Newton North High School Auditorium
457 Walnut Street, Newton

February Vacation Activities & Early Spring Clubs

Announcing February Vacation activities and Spring clubs at the Makers’ Corner!
The Makers’ Corner after school program serves students in grades 6-8, and is located in the Underwood School. To see activity and club descriptions, register for those and for the regular Makers’ Corner program, visit www.underwoodafterschool.org/makerscorner.

February Vacation week
February 19th – 21st, 8:15 am – 5:30 pm each day (sign up by the day)
February 19th: Woodworking Day – Make Your Own Candy Dispenser
February 20th: Intro to Glassblowing at the Diablo Glass School
February 21st: Studio Tour & Making a Mock Newscast at NewTV

Spring Clubs
Sewing Stuffed Animals Club, Tuesdays, 2:00-4:15 pm, March 5th – April 9th
Scene Shop Props, Costumes, & Sets Club, Thursdays, 2:45 – 4:15 pm , March 7th – May 9th
Build Your Own Infinity Light Table Club, Fridays, 2:45 – 4:15 pm, March 1st – Apr 5th

Players needed – Beginners welcome – This is a great program!

Register now for Newton Girls Softball (NGS), a recreational league for Newton girls in grades K-7. For tons of information and registration, visit www.newtongirlssoftball.org.

NGS welcomes players of all skill levels and will provide your daughter with an experience that fosters positive self-esteem, team spirit, and individual growth through personal achievement and as a team member. Hear all about it directly from the kids in this Video  then register your daughter(s). You’ll be glad you did!

Goals of Newton Girls Softball

  • To Teach the fundamentals of the game.
  • To Encourage development and good sportsmanship of all players through participation in a team environment.
  • To Have Fun, make new friends, and grow as a member of a team.
  • To Win enough games to feel good about the team and the season. The league makes every effort to create balanced teams,allowing for the highest level of fair competition within each grade and ensuring that players feel good about their team and the season.

2019 Registration Dates:

  • January 31st: Deadline to register without paying a late fee. 
  • February 28th: Deadline to register with guaranteed placement and pair-me-with rights. A $15 late fee will be applied.
  • February 28th: Last day to withdraw and receive a full refund. Sorry, no refunds after this date.
  • March 1st – April 15th: Still accepting registrations. Player is placed on the wait list, no pair-me-with rights, and a $15 late fee. Openings filled on a first come, first served basis.

Winter Basketball Program

Chaim Andler of Boston Athletic Training is running 2 hour basketball clinics on weekend mornings that are designed to help all young basketball players improve their skills and conditioning while also having fun! The program was set up as an 8 week program, but Chaim is offering a “drop-in” option, which means you can simply join for a day whenever you’d like.

Clinic sessions will include individual based skills work such as shooting, dribbling, passing, driving to the hoop and defense. The sessions will also have group based drills, 2v2 and 3v3 game situation drills, which help young athletes improve their basketball IQ.

For the next 2 weekends, he is offering a special for new athletes to try out his program for half the cost! This means it will be $30.00 for your first session. Contact Chaim at 857-313-8442 or chaim@bostonathletictraining.com by Thursday evening each week to opt-in for the Saturday and/ or Sunday session that weekend.

Saturdays and Sundays, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
The Hyde Community Center, Newton
$60.00* for the day (option to pay for 7 dates at $350 or 14 dates for $600)

*New athlete special = $30 for the first drop-in session

Maine Arts Camp!

Maine Arts Camp! Find out what makes it so special at the Teen Summer Program Expo.

If you are looking for a great overnight summer experience for your creative 9-16 year-old, come and check out Maine Arts Camp at the Teen Summer Program Expo on Monday, January 28th.

Located on the campus of Colby College, MAC is a small, friendly camp community that is big on empathy and personal growth – and embracing creative opportunity! With an extensive program of activities covering visual arts, theatre, music, dance, culinary arts, robotics and rocketry, film-making, individual sports and more, and with access to Colby’s state-of-the-art facilities, Maine Arts Camp offers exceptionally high quality instruction across a wide range of interests.

Visit www.maineartscamp.com to find out more.

Summer Program Expo
January 28th, 5:30-8:00 pm
Newton South High School, 140 Brandeis Road

SAT/ACT Tutor

Chris Orr has worked with students of a wide age range, specializing in preparing high school students for the SAT and ACT. Most of his SAT prep students enjoy a score improvement of over 150 points, which far exceeds the results of any national or regional tutoring company. His approach relies on a 3 pronged focus on Strategy, Content, and Practice with the material to maximize his students’ results.

Families hire Chris to help students with English, writing, Algebra, Geometry, History, SATs, ACTs, SSAT, ISEE and the SAT Subject tests. He works with students in their homes or a library so he can provide the most tailored and personalized service. You may find more information about his services at www.orracademicadvising.com or contact him at 781-304-8805.

Parent of a Junior?

Are you stressed out after the recent College Night? Feeling overwhelmed about the entire college application process? If you answered yes, Dr. Maruta Vitols can help. She’s an independent comprehensive college consultant and founder of A+ College Consulting (Newton South grad, class of 1994).

Contact Maruta at mvitols@gmail.com for a free 45 minute consultation to learn how she make the process of finding the right fit colleges for your student as fun and stress-free as possible. Discover more at www.apluscollegeconsult.com.