Category Archives: Community Notes

Meet the candidates at these two non-partisan events to inform your vote on November 3rd

With less than one month until the Municipal Election on November 3rd, the three Area Councils of Ward 5 are jumping into the electoral season on October 4th and producing the first candidate showcase event since the preliminary election.

With 39 candidates to be introduced to the voting public in seven citywide races, the three Councils (Newton Highlands, Newton Upper Falls and Waban) have determined that two events would be necessary to manage the logistics of this unusually large program properly. Consequently, there will be two sessions, both on the same day, designed to bring all the candidates running in Newton’s contested citywide races into public view.

On Sunday, October 4th from 2:00 – 4:30pm the first session will convene at the Hyde Community Center, 90 Lincoln St., Newton Highlands, and will feature introductions and questions for the 22 candidates running for the Charter Review Commission. This session will be moderated by Gloria Gavris, a retired lawyer and lobbyist and the recent author of E is for Election Day, a book for young readers that encourages children‘s interest in electoral politics. Attendees may submit written questions on cards that will be provided.

Later that same day, the second part of this showcase will feature the candidates for Aldermen-at-Large from Wards 2, 3, 5 and 8 and the School Committee candidates from Wards 2 and 5, all of whom are running in citywide contested races. This second event will be held from 7:00 – 9:30pm at the Woman’s Club of Newton Highlands, 72 Columbus St., Newton Highlands. The moderator for this session will be Marjorie Arons-Barron, President of Barron Associates Worldwide, a communications consultancy, and a distinguished print and broadcast journalist, recipient of Emmys and national awards for excellence as editorial director of WCVB-TV, Channel 5. Questions will be taken from the audience.

This is the second time that the Ward 5 Area Councils have sponsored a Candidates’ Showcase. These contested races are citywide and voters in every Ward have a stake in their outcome and can vote for the candidates of their choice in all of them. Meet the candidates and take your measure of them to inform your vote on November 3rd.

Newton Child Assault Prevention (CAP) Program Seeking Volunteers

Are you someone that believes that all children have the right to be “Safe, Strong and Free?” If so, then join the dynamic team of trained CAP volunteers who are committed to teaching children in the Newton Elementary Schools the skills that they would need to stand up for themselves if faced with a situation involving verbal, physical or sexual assault.

Now accepting applications for the 2015-2016 school year. The next multi-session training begins on October 17th. For more information please visit the website at http://familyaccess.org/family-support/child-assault-prevention/ or email Gail Sommer at gsommer@familyaccess.org.

19 Continuing Education Credits available for MSW’s.

Science/Tech/Engineering/Math: Sign up for the NewtonSTEM newsletter

NewtonSTEM.org is a clearinghouse for information relevant to building Newton students’ interest and abilities in Science/Tech/Engineering/Math, both in and outside of school. Now in its fifth year, NewtonSTEM publishes announcements about STEM achievements, events, opportunities, and resources for Newton students, parents, and teachers.

The NewtonSTEM newsletter is emailed every week during the school year. You can sign up here, and you can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, email info@newtonstem.org.

Fall Tree Tour at Newton Cemetery

Newton Cemetery arborist Robert Reardon will guide a tour showcasing the interesting variety of trees and their true colors. The tour will take place rain or shine. Comfortable walking shoes, water, a camera and plenty of questions are recommended.

The tour will last approximately 90 minutes. Meet just inside the main gate in front of the office. Parking is available along the cemetery road or in the chapel parking lot. Free and open to all. For more information, call 617-332-0047.

October 17th,  1:00 pm
Newton Cemetery
791 Walnut Street, Newton

Newton Youth Hockey’s Learn to Skate and Learn to Play programs

Registration is now open.

Learn to Skate  This program is intended for kids who are new to skating or need further work on skating basics. The focus is on having fun while teaching them through games and other activities. They work on getting up, balancing, pushing, gliding and stopping. There is one practice per week. NYH runs two 9 week sessions. The first session starts November 21st at Daly Rink.

Register online: http://assn.la/Reg/?r=4:98927

Learn to Play  This is the introduction to hockey program. Participants need the full complement of hockey pads. The program will build on skating skills, and introduce hockey stops, cross overs, more advanced balancing, stick use and puck handling, etc. Kids are placed into the program based on their birth year. From there, they are assigned teams and will continue with those same teams for the whole season. The program will run for 18 weeks and starts in November.

Register online: http://assn.la/Reg/?r=4:95428

Newton PTO Council 2015-09-27 08:18:36

Aidan Chavez, a sophomore at Harvard, is reaching out on behalf of the Leadership Institute at Harvard College. They are an organization on Harvard’s campus that consists completely of undergraduate students devoted to leadership training and development. Your students are invited to apply to the Third Annual Forum for Leadership Initiatives (FLI) Conference at Harvard University.

Here are some key details about the conference.
● Aimed at high school juniors, seniors and sophomores
● 8:00 am – 5:00 pm conference on Saturday, November 14th at Harvard’s campus
● Structured with workshops and panels for leadership in careers such as business, medicine, politics and technology
● Opportunity to network with and get advice on the college admissions process from Harvard students
● Apply at http://bit.ly/harvardFLI

For additional information, please email Aidan at aidanchavez@college.harvard.edu.

Online High School Tutoring for all levels of Math, Science, SAT and ACT

An NYU Dental Student with an electrical engineering background and more than fifteen years of tutoring experience will help your child not only to improve academically, but also to become confident, and enjoy math and sciences the way she does. She has extensive experience with Newton high school students and would happily provide reference from that area if need be.

Please visit the website to learn more http://azadehzadmehr.wix.com/azi-tutoring.

Book reading / signing

Luke Reynolds, author of THE LOONEY EXPERIMENT* and a 7th grade English teacher in the public school system in Harvard, MA, will be reading from and signing copies of his middle grade novel.

October 9th, 7:00 pm
The Blue Bunny Bookstore, Dedham, MA

*THE LOONEY EXPERIMENT: Atticus Hobart couldn’t feel lower. He’s an 8th grader who is in love with a girl who doesn’t know he exists, he is the class bully’s personal punching bag, and to top it all off, his dad has just left the family. Into this drama steps Mr. Looney, a 77-year-old substitute English teacher with uncanny insight and a most unconventional approach to teaching. But Atticus soon discovers there’s more to Mr. Looney’s methods than he’d first thought. And as Atticus begins to unlock the truths within his own name, he finds that his hyper-imagination can help him forge his own voice, and maybe—just maybe—discover that the power to face his problems was inside him all along.

Friday Mega Night! Middle Schoolers Only!

Special Volunteer and Social EventL Cradles to Crayons is hosting a special event just for Middle Schoolers. The event will include a volunteer session to sort and package donated and new clothing, shoes, books, toys and school supplies for homeless and low income children. An ice cream sundae social, fun party music, snacks and soft drinks will be provided. Parents are welcome to drop off their middle schooler and friends, or stay and volunteer with other chaperones. Attendees are encouraged to bring a new set of winter gloves and hats for a child in need.

Donations of gently-worn clothing, shoes, books and toys are always welcome. Cradles to Crayons is conveniently located at 155 North Beacon Street in Brighton. Parents can RSVP directly to Megan Collins at mcollins@cradlestocrayons.org or call 617-779-4732. For more information about Cradles to Crayons, please visit the website: www.cradlestocrayons.org.

September 25th, 7:00 pm – 8:30pm