Category Archives: Other

Upcoming Nature Walks and Invasive Plant Pulls with the Newton Conservators

Join the Newton Conservators for walks and/or invasive plant pulls in Newton’s parks and conservation areas. All walks and invasive pulls last about an hour or two, are free and open to the public, and are led by knowledgeable leaders. Invasive plant pulls are a great way to get involved with community service and give back to your community. For more detailed information about the walks and invasive pulls, visit www.newtonconservators.org/walks.htm.

March/April Walks:

March 31st, 1:00 pm, and April 1st,  1:00 pm: The Hidden Life of Vernal Pools: Forest and Vernal Pool Exploration at Webster Woods; meet at the end of Warren Street on the western edge of Webster Conservation Area (rain or shine)

April 21st, 10:30 am: A Walk Around Hammond Pond and Nearby Plant Communities; meet at the Chestnut Hill Shopping Center parking lot at Hammond Pond by the informational kiosk (cancelled if raining at 9:30 am)

April Invasive Plant Pulls:

April 15th, 9:30 am – noon: Buckthorn Demonstration Project, Cold Spring Park; 1200 Beacon Street, Newton

April 29th, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm: Garlic Mustard Pull at Dolan Pond (Newton SERVES project); 76 Webster Park, Newton

April 29th, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm: Cold Spring Park Invasives Pull (Newton SERVES project); 1200 Beacon Street, Newton

April 29th, 1:00pm – 3:00pm: Invasives Pull at Blue Heron Bridge (Newton SERVES project); near Super Stop & Shop, 700 Pleasant Street, Watertown

The Newton Conservators is Newton’s land trust, working to preserve open space since 1961. Get to know them! Visit www.newtonconservators.org.

10th anniversary GELF dinner

Help support our students by coming to the GELF dinner on May 5th!

GELF (Jennifer Price Global Education Leadership Fund) enables low-income Newton high school students to participate in Newton Public Schools’ life-changing educational travel opportunities. This not-to-be-missed community event features a 5-course gourmet meal paired with fine beer and wine, as well as an auction, live band, dancing, and table service by Newton administrators.

Click here for tickets.

The annual GELF dinner raises more than $30,000, which allows 20-25 low-income students to participate in the dozen different international programs offered every year through Newton Public Schools–providing learning opportunities they could not otherwise have.

Whether or not you are coming, please consider donating to support a teacher to attend the event ($100/person) or making a tax-deductible donation here. For questions or more information, please email Samantha Mandel at Samantha_mandel@newton.k12.ma.us.

Payment by check: Make checks ($150/per person for dinner tickets) payable to Newton Schools Foundation with GELF dinner in the memo line, and mail to Newton Schools Foundation, 100 Walnut Street, Newton MA 02460.

Thank you for your support!

May 5th, 6:30 – 11:30 pm
Newton North High School

Congregation Dorshei Tzedek Religious School Open House

Prospective families are invited to an Open House at a Sunday morning Jewish learning community. Join at 9:30 for z’man rishon, where everyone comes together for a weekly assembly. When the students go to class, there will be time to meet with the school director and hear about the outline of the program. After that, a parent volunteer will take you on a tour of the school so you can see the learning in action. Childcare will be provided upon request.

To sign up to participate, please contact our Director of Congregational Learning, Rabbi Shahar Colt – dcl@dorsheitzedek.org. For more information on the West Newton congregation, please visit https://dorsheitzedek.org/

April 29th, 9:30 – 11:30 am
Jewish Community Day School, 57 Stanley Avenue, Watertown

Ride for Food 2018!

Join the Newton Food Pantry team participating in the Ride for Food! On September 23rd, their first ever team will be participating in this annual ride that supports food pantries, community farms and food rescue organizations and they need your help.

Why ride?

The NFP numbers demonstrate the need. They serve over 750 Newton residents each month and that number has been rising. There has been a 16% rise in the average number of households served in 2017.

Total Bags Distributed in 2017 = 16,381 (37% increase). $10,000+ matters. As an independent fully volunteer-run organization, every chance to raise significant amounts of money matters. Expand our community. Develop new friendships and deepen your own commitment to this effort to respond to food insecurity in our city.

How can you help?

  • By joining the team!
  • By volunteering to help with the ride.
  • By donating to NFP team members!

How do you sign up?

Sign up by contacting Lisa Tieszen at latieszen@gmail.com or 617-875-9047.

Donor Will Match $25,000 for Calculus Project in March!

The Calculus Project at Newton’s middle and high schools is closing the achievement gap in higher-level mathematics. Newton Schools Foundation is honored for the third consecutive year to have a very generous donor who will match up to $25,000 in contributions from the community to the Calculus Project during the month of March.

The Calculus Project has been transformational for Newton students. Since the program’s 2013 launch, enrollment growth in higher-level mathematics among traditionally underrepresented student groups has been significant:
• Hispanic student enrollment has increased 70 percent.
• African-American student enrollment has tripled.
• Low-income student enrollment has increased nine-fold!

Additionally, the enrollment rate of Calculus Project 9th graders in honors math exceeds that of total Newton Public Schools 9th graders, and is nearly twice the rate of 9th graders who were eligible for The Calculus Project but did not participate.

Here’s how the program works: Students selected to participate in the Calculus Project attend intensive small-group summer classes to preview upcoming curriculum, boost their math skills, foster attitudes that support academic risk-taking and perseverance, and cultivate relationships among peers in the program.

The 2018 summer program includes instruction in Computer Science, field trips to STEM-related companies, and college campus visits for rising 11th graders with a focus on STEM majors and careers, During the school year, students receive mentoring and after-school academic support. The program also uses lessons and activities designed to improve self-perceptions about academic accomplishment. Currently serving 138 students, the Calculus Project will reach full scale next year with five cohorts of students in grades 8-12.

At a cost of $1,000 per student for a full year of programming, the Calculus Project’s success depends on a public-private partnership between the Newton Public Schools, private foundations and corporate donors, and the Newton community through donations to Newton Schools Foundation. To learn more about this innovative program that’s making a meaningful impact for Newton students, or to make a donation, visit www.NewtonSchoolsFoundation.org.

Psychological First Aid training

Free Psychological First Aid training. Psychological First Aid has long been established as the gold standard of disaster responses. Created by a global team of experts, it is the only intervention endorsed by both the World Health Organization & the U.S. government for use in the aftermath of traumatic events.

The goal of this comprehensive two-day training is to prepare participants to deliver basic behavioral health disaster response skills following large-scale disasters or critical incidents, such as homicides, suicides, accidental deaths, & similarly distressing events.

This program is free & open to all. Nursing CEUs available. Registration is required. To sign up, go to region4bvolunteer.org and register as ‘guest’. For more information, view this flyer.

March 13th and 14th, 5:00 – 9:00 pm
345 Walnut Street, Newton

Newton Power Choice Program

The City of Newton is developing a plan for a new electricity program called Newton Power Choice, which will provide an opportunity for Newton to significantly increase the amount of renewable energy in the community’s electricity supply. Newton Power Choice is a form of group purchasing known as an electricity aggregation.

Newton Power Choice will provide:

  • Greener electricity
  • Price stability
  • Consumer protections
  • New electricity choices

As a program participant, you will have greater control over the environmental characteristics and price of your electricity supply. You will receive a standard amount of renewable electricity automatically, above the minimum amount required by state law, without choosing any of the options. (The standard amount is still to be determined.)

Or you can choose to:

  • Opt up to 100% renewable electricity.
  • Opt down to receive no additional renewable energy electricity above the state law requirement, but retain the program benefits of price stability and consumer protections.

More than 125 communities in Massachusetts are already engaged in electricity aggregation. But no other community has done what Newton is doing, which is to undertake an ambitious campaign to persuade electricity customers to opt up to 100% renewable electricity. Newton aims to have many more customers getting all of their electricity from New England renewable projects than any other community.

Participating and opting out: All Eversource Basic Service customers will be automatically enrolled. But participation is not required. Electricity customers may opt out of the program before being enrolled or at any time with no fee or penalty.

For more details on Newton Power Choice, see www.newtonpowerchoice.com.

Zervas Online Auction

Grab a great deal at the Zervas Online Auction!

Need a night out? Bid on a gift card to Grill 23, The Beehive or the Cambridge Brewing Company.

Want to fulfill your goal to exercise more in 2018? Scoop up some classes at Barry’s Boot Camp, Pure Barre or Soul Cycle.

How about a summer camp for the kids? Check out the offerings for LINX camps, Camp Chickami or Dexter Southfield summer camps, among many others.

Grab a great deal, and support your local Newton Zervas Elementary School! Opening March 5th and running through March 12th, check out the amazing offerings at www.biddingforgood.com/zervas.

Best viewed on desktop, laptop or tablet but if viewing on a phone, click on “View standard version of site” on the bottom for a more user-friendly browsing experience and fun pics!

Newton has Talent needs you

In order to fund valuable youth programs (including Students of the Month, RYLA, Interact, and yearly scholarships) and community grants, the Rotary Club of Newton produces a musical talent competition called Newton Has Talent.

This year they’re trying REALLY hard to get adults to enter.  To participate in the competition, an individual (or one member of an ensemble) has to work, live, or go to school in Newton. And entries are FREE before March 1st so don’t wait!

Check out more information on this flyer.

The Chaos of Clutter: Why it Happens and How to Help

Do you have a family member or friend whose home is cluttered? Are you worried about their safety and well-being?

Join Patty Underwood (LICSW) for a workshop that will provide information about the psychological reasons why clutter happens and how you can help. RSVP is requested, not required: www.surveymonkey.com/r/clutter2

March 1st, 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Newton Free Library