The Newton Parent Advisory Council (PAC) for Special Education is pleased to announce:

The 7th Annual NewtonPAC Special Educator Awards
Newton North High School Cafeteria, 457 Walnut Street
June 13th, 6:00 pm: Buffet Dinner, Beverages, and Mingling, 6:45 pm: Ceremony (and Dessert)

The Special Educator Awards are presented to Newton faculty and staff members who have done exceptional work with students receiving special education services. Parents/guardians and students may submit nominations and may nominate any staff member who they believe has done exceptional work; in the past we’ve had regular and special education teachers, aides, BTs, secretaries, principals, and custodians receive awards.

Nominations are now open for the awards! Please note that the awards do not identify you or your child by name, to preserve the child’s confidentiality. Only the honoree is given the name of the family who nominated him or her.

Please send your nomination to specialedawards2016@gmail.com with the following information:
Your name and your email
Your school
Your school principal’s name and email
Name and email address of the SPED contact at your child’s school (inclusion facilitator/assistant principal)
Nominee’s name and email
A brief descripton of why your nominee is so special

· Try to include details and examples (try not to just say, “Miss Smith is great!”)
· Keep the nominating paragraph to 3 sentences (we plan to read this aloud at the ceremony).
· Don’t use your child’s name. (If you do, we will edit it out for the award ceremony).
· If you like, you may also include a longer nomination or a letter to your nominee (which will not be read out loud), and will only be given to the nominee with their award.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
1. DON’T feel like you must nominate your child’s whole team to avoid hurt feelings. PLEASE only nominate those who have done exceptional work.
2. PLEASE nominate your educator ASAP (to enable your honoree to plan to attend the ceremony and bring family/friends) and to give us time to make sure we have enough food and beverage for all.
The deadline for the awards is June 3, 2016 (NO late nominations)
On the night of the awards, you can choose to have a photograph taken with your nominee

The district’s High School Start Time Working Group will hold a general information session on Monday, May 23rd at 6:00 pm at the Ed. Center to update the community on the status of its work. The presentation will include a brief review of relevant sleep science data, data from the surveys and case studies completed this year, and the opportunity for members of the community to ask questions, raise concerns and provide feedback directly to district leaders engaged in this discussion.

We look forward to your attendance and ask you to encourage others to attend as well. For additional information, please visit the high school start time section of the NPS website at: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/laterstarttime The working group will also be making its year end report to the school committee at the June 20th School Committee meeting at 6:00 pm.