Winter is on its way, and the City of Newton is preparing a list of students and adults willing to volunteer to shovel snow for local seniors and/or disabled residents who are unable to clear the sidewalks. Please help keep Newton’s sidewalks safe for walking this winter — and warm yourself inside and out! Volunteer information & sign up forms are online here from the City of Newton’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation.

Get your Russo’s Thanksgiving pies at South on Wednesday, November 23. Only $15 gets you a delicious apple, blueberry, pecan, or pumpkin pie!  To pre-order and pay online, type www.southptso.org/thanksgiving-pie, or print the order form on that page and send to Nina Levin, Newton South PTSO Treasurer, 27 Oak Street, Newton Upper Falls, 02464. Any questions: call Nina Levin at 617-584-2714.

Meeting on Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The CPC will meet next at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, 18 October 2011, at the Newton Senior Center (345 Walnut Street, Newtonville), to review draft materials for its year-long series of “Happy 10th Birthday, Newton CPA!” neighborhood events.

The CPC will hold the first in of its Newton CPA 10th birthday parties, with a focus on Nonantum, Newton Corner, and Newtonville (Wards 1 & 2), on Tuesday, November 15, from 7 to 9 pm in the Newton North High School Film Lecture Hall. Refreshments provided! Come ask questions and share your ideas about the Community Preservation Act. Add your own photos & notes about what makes Newton a community worth preserving to our interactive exhibit of community maps. For details and a schedule of CPA birthday parties for Newton’s other neighborhoods, see www.newtonma.gov/cpa or contact Alice Ingerson at 617.796.1144 or aingerson@newtonma.gov.

Understanding Our Differences 2011 Gala Celebrates People Who Make a Difference:  Parents, you are invited to join us as we honor Understanding Our Difference’s retiring executive director Beth Mendel and all our volunteer speakers on Sunday, October 16, at 6:30pm at the Brae Burn Country Club in Newton. Featured speakers include Steven Rothstein, President, Perkins School for the Blind, and Steve Grossman, Treasurer of Massachusetts. For ticket information or more information on the Understanding Our Differences program, visit www.UnderstandingOurDifferences.org.

The League of Women Voters Newton is participating in a national League education study on The Role of the Federal Government in Public Education.  An informational meeting will be held on Monday, October 3 from 7:00-9:30 p.m. in the Newton City Hall cafeteria.  We are honored to have David Fleishman, Superintendent, and Ann Koufman, Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning of the Newton Public Schools as resources for our education study discussion. The study includes questions on Common Core Standards and Equity and Funding. The meeting is open to the public, especially potential League members. For your reference, you can click on this link to take you to the questions in this education study: The Role of the Federal Government in Public Education Consensus questions.

The Child Assault Prevention (CAP) program in Newton is looking for committed and dedicated child advocates to present its personal safety curriculum in local elementary schools.

Join up with current and experienced volunteer Prevention Specialists to teach children to recognize and respond to verbal, physical and sexual assault and abuse. Potential volunteers are community members who believe that children have the right to information, skills and the support of adults. We offer a flexible schedule to volunteers who enjoy teamwork and can make a yearlong commitment of three or four mornings a month.

To make it easier for people with busy schedules to train we have decided to offer 4 short morning sessions, 9 am to noon on W and F in Oct. The dates are 12, 14, 19 and 21. We are reserving the option to extend each session by an hour each day depending on the demographics of the trainees.

Part 1 of the training will prepare trainees to present one of the three facilitations and participate in all of the role plays. Part 2, on Review Time will be scheduled for late November, early December, based on the trainees’ availability.

For information or to set up an interview call Gail Sommer, 617-969-5906, x143 or email, gsommer@ncscweb.org. Newton CAP is a program of Newton Community Service Center. Visit our webpage at www.ncscweb.org for a description of the program and of the volunteer Prevention Specialist position.

The Bigelow PTO posts Community Notes on the Local Notes page of our website and emails them to PTO members on Sunday evenings. These are separate from our PTO Announcements.

If you don’t want to receive Community Notes, please use the update your profile link at the bottom of any PTO email. (This will keep you subscribed to PTO Announcements, which go to everyone on the PTO list.)

Alternatively, to stop receiving ALL emails from the Bigelow PTO, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any PTO email to be removed from our list.  If you have any questions, please email bigelowbulldog@gmail.com.

Newton’s non-profit environmental organization, Green Decade, would like to invite liaisons from each of Newton’s elementary schools and middle schools to participate in its School Outreach Committee. Representatives meet regularly to shared ideas, which have turned into worthy projects covering recycling, gardening, education, art, etc. There will be a 2-hour interactive meeting of all school representatives Tuesday, October 11th at 7pm at 334 Auburndale Ave., Auburndale. If you have any questions, please contact the leaders of the School Outreach Committee, Eric Bobby (ericpbobby@hotmail.com) and Sunwoo Kahng (bobergkahng@msn.com). If you would like to represent Bigelow, please contact bigelowbulldog@gmail.com.