Do you feel your kids don’t listen to you?  Does every request turn into a battle?  Do you feel all alone with these issues?  Are you ready for a solution?   The free parenting series, Parent Management Training, is enrolling now.  It will be held for 6 sessions from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays starting on February 28.  The group will me at the Newton Outpatient Center, 64 Eldredge St, 02458.  Pre-registration is required.  Call Rachel Nenner-Payton at 617-969-4925 x5958.  Co-sponsored by The Newton Partnership and Riverside Community Care.  Join other parents of elementary-aged children and a professional facilitator to explore these issues and learn new strategies using Parent Management Training (PMT), an evidence-based program for parents developed by Alan Kazdin, Ph.D., of Yale University’s Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic.  PMT has been consistently proven to decrease behavioral problems and increase positive behavior in children.   It is highly effective in reducing tantrums, fighting, and disruptiveness.  If you have tried other methods of changing your child’s problem behavior and haven’t had any success, then PMT may be the solution for you.  This group will be co-led by Rachel Nenner-Payton, LICSW and Elizabeth Pond.  Rachel is a senior clinician at Riverside Community Care in Newton.  Co-sponsored by The Newton Partnership and Riverside Community Care.is enrolling now.  It will be held for 6 sessions from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays starting on February 28th.  The group will me at the Newton Outpatient Center, 64 Eldredge St, 02458.  Pre-registration is required.  Call Rachel Nenner-Payton at 617-969-4925 x5958.  Co-sponsored by The Newton Partnership and Riverside Community Care.  Join other parents of elementary-aged children and a professional facilitator to explore these issues and learn new strategies using Parent Management Training (PMT), an evidence-based program for parents developed by Alan Kazdin, Ph.D., of Yale University’s Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic.  PMT has been consistently proven to decrease behavioral problems and increase positive behavior in children.   It is highly effective in reducing tantrums, fighting, and disruptiveness.  If you have tried other methods of changing your child’s problem behavior and haven’t had any success, then PMT may be the solution for you.  This group will be co-led by Rachel Nenner-Payton, LICSW and Elizabeth Pond.  Rachel is a senior clinician at Riverside Community Care in Newton.  Co-sponsored by The Newton Partnership and Riverside Community Care.

Whole Foods in Newton Four Corners (the one on Beacon St, NOT the one on Washington Street) is doing a 5% Day for the Centre Street Food Pantry on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28. This means that the Pantry will receive a cash donation from WF equal to 5% of the amount of their gross receipts that day. Naturally, we would like to get everyone we know to shop there on Feb. 28!

Newton Community Preservation Committee
Public Hearing on Housing Proposal for West Newton
Tuesday, February 28th, Newton City Hall

The Newton Community Preservation Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 28th at 7:00 p.m. in City Hall Room 202. The agenda includes a public hearing on the Myrtle Village affordable housing proposal (at 12 and 18-30 Curve Street, West Newton; CPA funds requested: $938,063). The CPC will hold a working session and possible funding vote on this proposal after the public hearing. The full text of the proposal will be available at the Planning Dept. (City Hall basement level) and from the “Proposals & Projects” page of the program website by Monday, February 13. Other agenda items include an update on the fy12 budget, the proposed fy13 program budget, and special events for the program’s 10th anniversary. For additional information, see www.newtonma.gov/cpa or contact Alice E. Ingerson, Community Preservation Program Manager at 617.796.1144 or aingerson@newtonma.gov.

Looking for a great volunteer job in a lively office with purposeful and fun people?
Join us at Newton at Home!
Newton at Home (NAH) is a quickly-growing non-profit organization in Newton, dedicated to enabling older adults to remain living in their homes safely and independently as they grow older. NAH is looking for a volunteer to serve as an office adminstrator. This means providing general office support for the Executive Director, handling member requests for services, maintaining and entering data into NAH databases, assisting with events and mailings, and scheduling meetings. Volunteers need good computer and communication skills. Must be willing to commit to three days per week from 9:30am-1:30pm through the rest of the school year (until June 2012). For more information please contact: Julie Plaut Mahoney, Ph.D., Coordinator of Volunteers, Newton at Home, 617-795-2560 or volcoord@newtonathome.org.

Join Mayor Warren and Superintendent of Schools, David Fleishman to discuss our capital and financial needs. Our finances are back on track because of our zero base budgeting approach and the 100 million dollars we will save over the next 5 years thanks to our recently negotiated union contracts. For the first time in our city’s history we have a capital assessment of all of our infrastructure needs- aided by revolutionary software that allows us to evaluate our needs on a risked based assessment. Although we have done tremendous work there is still more we need to do. We will discuss ways to address our capital needs, growth in the schools and continuing to make Newton one of the safest cities to live. The Mayor and Superintendent want to hear from you on the decisions we need to make going forward. We hope you can join us for one of these very important meetings.

Sunday February 12^th 2:00 PM
Lasell College, Winslow Academic Center
80 Maple St, Newton, MA

AND

Wednesday February 15^th 7:00 PM
Oak Hill Middle School Café
130 Wheeler Rd Newton MA

Thursday, February 9 at 7:30 pm – Effective Communication and the IEP: a Workshop for Parents

Thursday, February 16 at 7:30 pm (New Date – meeting was rescheduled) – SPED Review and Trend Report: Follow-up and Next Steps

Thursday, February 9, 9:00 – 10:30 AM<> – NewtonPAC Planning Meeting

Thursday, February 9 at 7:30 pm
Effective Communication and the IEP: a Workshop for Parents

Participating in IEP Team meetings can be challenging! 

This free workshop addresses the communication skills needed by parents participating as members of the IEP Team. The presentation includes communication skill building techniques to help parents engage effectively in the IEP process through clear concise communication. Participants will learn about pitfalls to avoid and applying best practice strategies to resolve conflict when it occurs. 

Presented by the Federation for Children with Special Needs, hosted by Newton Parent Advisory Council (NewtonPAC) for Special Education.

Presentation from 7:30 – 9:00 PM in Room 210 at 100 Walnut Street, Newtonville.  Light refreshments and networking begin at 7:15 PM.

Please RSVP to info@newtonpac.org so that we have enough handouts.

Thursday, February 16 at 7:30 pm (New Date – meeting was rescheduled)
SPED Review and Trend Report: Follow-up and Next Steps

Superintendent David Fleishman and Judy Levin-Charns, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, are hosting an evening meeting for discussion of special education in Newton with NewtonPAC. Also attending will be Dorsey Yearley, the consultant helping to implement the changes at Newton South HS and who will be working with staff to make changes to middle school sped programing.

The evening will provide an opportunity to share and discuss special education planning by NPS in light of the release of new information available in the sped review, the trends report, and the ongoing work at South and the middle schools by Dorsey Yearley and NPS staff.

Room 210 at 100 Walnut Street, Newtonville.

Networking and light refreshments beginning at 7:15 pm.

Please plan to attend!   Questions, contact Sandy and Jo-Louise at info@newtonpac.org.

Thursday, February 9, 9:00 – 10:30 AM
NewtonPAC Planning Meeting

Want to be more involved with special education in Newton?  Meet with other parents of children with IEPs and 504 plans.  We will be planning: topics for meetings with the administration, supports for parents and maintaining and growing the organization.  The meeting will be at The Village Cafe, 719 Washington St., Newtonville.

NewtonPAC for Special Education meetings are free and open to all people interested in learning more about special education in Newton. See www.newtonpac.org for more information.

Looking for a great volunteer job in a lively office with purposeful and fun people?
Join us at Newton at Home!
Newton at Home (NAH) is a quickly-growing non-profit organization in Newton, dedicated to enabling older adults to remain living in their homes safely and independently as they grow older. NAH is looking for a volunteer to serve as the Assistant to the Executive Director. This means providing general office support for the Executive Director, handling member requests for services, maintaining and entering data into NAH databases, assisting with events and mailings, and scheduling meetings. Volunteers need good computer and communication skills. Must be willing to commit to three days per week from 9:30am-1:30pm through the rest of the school year (until June 2012). For more information please contact: Julie Plaut Mahoney, Ph.D., Coordinator of Volunteers, Newton at Home, 617-795-2560 or volcoord@newtonathome.org.

Drive a Senior–Make a Friend!  Newton at Home, a member organization dedicated to helping Newton seniors age in their own homes, is looking for volunteers who can give rides to seniors.  Make a new friend while helping someone get to a doctor’s appointment, the supermarket, a social event or the airport.  Volunteer as much as you can at your convenience, and know that you have made a difference in a Newton senior’s life. You’ll meet interesting people and share great conversation along the way!  For more information, call Julie Plaut Mahoney at volcoord@newtonathome.org.

Students (grades 7-12), parents, and teachers are invited to attend the fifth annual TeenLife LIVE! Community Service Fair & Expo in Greater Boston. It will take place on Sunday, February 12th from 12-4 pm at The Mall at Chestnut Hill in Chestnut Hill, MA. Meet face-to-face with representatives from more than 150 local non-profits willing to engage teens as volunteers as well as representatives from other programs and services. Each student will receive a free copy of the 2012 Guide to Community Service in Greater Boston. There will also be a High School A Cappella Sing Off.

Newton’s Community Preservation Program asks you to take an 8-question survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/NYFZCDH. And if you have an item for the agenda of the February 28 CPA meeting, please contact Alice E. Ingerson, Community Preservation Program Manager, at 617.796.1144 or aingerson@newtonma.gov.