Category Archives: Community Notes

Debate and Public Speaking Academy for Middle Schoolers

Courtney Foster, a former NPS student who was involved with speech team, theater, and music, is currently a team lead on the debate and public speaking nonprofit Debate Spaces. They run a half day Academy for middle school students who are interested in public speaking and civic engagement and Courtney will lead the Academy along with one of the co-founders Matt Summers, the former #1 debater in the U.S. and a current Harvard Law student.

There will be two Academy dates offered and students are welcome to attend for one or both dates (pizza lunch included!). Feel free to email debatespacesboston@gmail.org with any questions, or visit the website debatespaces.org to sign up!

October 19th and November 23rd,  10:00 am – 2:30 pm
Suffolk University

Job opportunity

Are you a nurse looking to make a change? Maybe you want to make a difference in your own community, to reduce your commute or to have a work schedule that matches your child’s school schedule! Consider applying as a Newton School Nurse.

The City of Newton Health and Human Services Department is hiring school nurses. Newton’s school nurses work under a public health model within the Newton Public Schools and report to a nurse Director of School Health Services within the HHS Department. The program serves a district of 13,000 students and recently was awarded funding as a part of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Comprehensive School Health Services initiative. Newton school nurses provide exceptional care for students’ physical and emotional well-being so they are healthy, safe and ready to learn. Clinical expertise, management skills and an ability to work with students, families, and a range of disciplines within the school and community are required. Job responsibilities include both mandated and non-mandated school health services.

Click here for the full description of this full-time, 10-months a year position: School Nurse.

International College Options

A small but growing number of high school students are choosing to attend universities outside the U.S. for their Bachelors degree. If you want to learn more about international college options, there is a college fair in mid-November you should attend.

For more information or to pre-register,  click here
www.internationalcollegeoptions.org/new-york

November 21st, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Embassy Suites
550 Winter Street, Waltham

Middle School Hockey Program

Newton Youth Hockey has opened registration for its Boys Middle School Hockey and Girls Middle School Hockey programs. These are games-only teams open to any Newton resident in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade. Participants do not need to attend a Newton school, nor do they need to be current Newton Youth Hockey players.

Games are played on weekend evenings to minimize scheduling conflicts, and the season runs from December to February. For more information, please see www.newtonyouthhockey.com or email president@newtonyouthhockey.com.

SPINBOX is Coming to Newton!

New studio opening in November! Come try SPINBOX,  a 60 minute, 15 round boxing vs indoor cycling matchup. 7 rounds on the bag and 7 rounds on the bike. Mention Karen Burzdak (Zervas Mom) as your referral and email her at Kburzdak@gmail.com if you have any questions about the class.

You can get 30 days for $30.00 if you signup now at https://www.spinboxnewton.net/buy

978 Watertown Street, Newton

Soccer on the Mat Early Bird Registration Now OPEN!

Soccer on the Mat ™ is an innovative soccer and yoga program developed by Boston College Women’s Soccer Head Coach, Alison Foley, and hosted exclusively at Artemis Yoga in Watertown. Each class is designed to:

  • Improve soccer fitness and footwork technique while decreasing soccer-specific injuries
  • Build and celebrate physical and emotional growth with drills, poses and conversation
  • Strengthen both the body and mind of the soccer athlete
  • Grow confidence and body awareness through teamwork and mindfulness focused activities

More information including registration is available here: http://bit.ly/2ITqNtQ

Fall Basketball Clinic

BAT will be continuing their fall basketball clinics with another 4 week clinic for boys and girls ages 7-14. They work with beginners, intermediate and advanced athletes and they  split these athletes up into small groups for 2 hour sessions. All the details and registration information is below. Sign-up now to reserve your spot!

4 sessions: $240 for 1 athlete and 340 for 2 athletes or 2 Sessions: $140 for 1 athlete
*There is also a $75 Drop in Rate if space available
Registration at https://bostonathletictraining.com/current-basketball-programs/

For more information, contact Chaim Andler at chaim@bostonathletictraining.com

October 19th, November 2nd,  16th, and 23rd,  10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Hyde Community Center,  90 Lincoln Street

School Committee Update

Dear Friends,

This update is for the 10/7/2019 Newton School Committee meeting:

Superintendent Update:

  • Staff training during the first early release of the year went smoothly.

  • On October 22nd, 5:30-7pm at Newton North, State Senators Cindy Creem and Jason Lewis, Senate Chair on the Joint Committee of Education, will be presenting information about the Student Opportunity Act. The public is welcome.

  • The Boston Globe published an article about civics education, which featured students and faculty from Bigelow Middle School.

NPS Updates

  • Liam Hurley, Assistant Superintendent/Chief Financial & Administrative Officer, presented a draft of the updates to the FY20 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which included, among other things:

    • A higher estimate of construction costs for the Countryside and Franklin schools due to construction cost escalation.

    • A Recommendation for Oak Hill Addition to accommodate higher enrollment projections. Currently, $3,000,000 of that funding would be requested in the CIP, with an addition $500,000 from NPS over three years.

  • EDCO Update: School Committee Member Diana Fisher Gomberg presented a summary of updates.

Other Updates

Consent Agenda

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be Monday, October 21st at 6:00pm.  Please note this meeting begins at 6pm instead of 7pm.  There will be no public comment at this meeting to ensure that the Committee members can address the agenda items and leave promptly at 7:45pm to attend the Mayor’s Budget and CIP meeting at City Hall at 8:00pm. Extended public comment time will be available at the following meeting (November 4.)

At the meeting, we will receive the Preliminary Enrollment Report as well as data from our Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

We hope you found this summary useful. You can access all School Committee meeting documents via the NPS website (www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee). Additionally, if you are interested in watching an SC meeting from home or a recorded meeting, you can obtain access via www.newtv.org. On the district Facebook page, you can find videos of past “Virtual Office Hours,” which are held once a month and provide the community with the opportunity to ask questions through the FB Live format.

As always, we are very happy to answer any questions or discuss any concerns you may have. Please feel free to contact us via the email address below.

Sincerely,

The Newton School Committee

Opportunity to meet School Committee candidates

Come talk to some of the School Committee candidates about environmental sustainability in Newton Schools when they join the Green Newton School Connections monthly meeting to share their views and answer questions.

Please RSVP to schoolconnections@greennewton.org

School Committee members are in a position to impact sustainable practices in school facilities – including energy savings, waste management, and promoting a healthy environment for all – and to create opportunities to strengthen the environmental literacy of our students and staff.

The regular meeting will go from 3:45 – 4:10 pm and candidates will join from 4:10 – 5:00 pm. Each candidate will have 2 minutes to introduce themselves before we open the discussion for Q&A.

Currently confirmed candidates: Emily Prenner, Tamika Olszewski, Margaret Albright, Kathy Shields, Anping Shen.

October 10th,  3:45 – 5:00 pm in the third floor arc area of the Newton Free Library.

NOTE: Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Residents can vote for all school committee candidates regardless of ward. Learn more about the School Committee here: www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee.