8th Grade Families – Directory information

Newton North High School uses the same online directory software that we use here at Bigelow (MySchoolAnywhere). We will be authorizing them to automatically import graduating students from our account so that no student is overlooked. This would be a great time to log in and make sure your information and share settings are up to date. Just login to: https://www.myschoolanywhere.com/login.a5w

If you still have children at Bigelow next year, you will be able to select which school to view upon logging in. If your child is not moving on to Newton North, please be sure to let the Newton North directory administration know so they can have the PTSO remove your child from the directory. Let us know if you have any other questions about this.

Honor a Bigelow graduate or staff member

Honor a graduate or thank a teacher at the end of this school year by purchasing a book through the Support Our School Library website. This service allows you to choose a book and include a personalized bookplate to honor a student or thank a staff member at Bigelow. In addition, each book is bound in a special way to make it last and processed quickly so students can have it in their hands as soon as possible. Consider donating today to help maintain Bigelow Library’s rich collection of independent reading books. Donations can be made through the end of the school year. Thank you, in advance, for your generosity.

Summer Reminders from the School Nurse

Medication Pick-up: Parents of students who have medication stored in the health room should pick it up by the last day of school, June 18. All medication (pills, epi-pens, inhalers, etc.) not picked up will be discarded. Please plan ahead to pick medication up so it is not wasted! Medication may not be carried home by the student — it must be picked up by an adult. School nurses will not be available after June 18 to return medication to families.

Medication Order Reminder: All medication orders expire at the end of the school year. If you are visiting your child’s health care provider during the summer, consider requesting a new medication order for your child. All medication, prescription or over-the-counter, requires an order. The Medication Permission Form and the Medication Policy are both available online at www.newtonma.gov/schoolhealth

West Nile Virus and Lyme Disease Prevention: Mosquito and tick-borne diseases like West Nile Virus and Lyme disease occur in Newton residents. Take steps to avoid getting sick!

Mosquito repellant not only works for mosquitoes, but helps repel ticks as well. Use a repellant with DEET, and follow label instructions for concentrations appropriate for children.
Avoid being outdoors during peak mosquito hours, particularly once West Nile Virus has been detected in the mosquito population.
Remove containers around your home (tires, kid pools, pots, tarps) that could allow mosquitoes to breed.
Check your body for ticks after being outdoors and remove them immediately to avoid disease transmission.

Shoo the flu! Seasonal influenza vaccine will be offered this fall during the school day to students and employees. The vaccine will be available to all students in Kindergarten through grade 12, by parental consent only. Consent and screening forms will be posted at www.newtonma.gov/flu by early September, in preparation for the fall clinics.

Have a happy and healthy summer!

Newton PTO Council 2019-06-13 19:25:08

Dear Friends,

This update is for the 6/10/2019 Newton School Committee meeting:

Superintendent Update:

Both NNHS and NSHS hosted successful graduation ceremonies. Good luck to the Class of 2019!

Agenda Items:

Liam Hurley, Assistant Superintendent of Finance, and Josh Morse, Newton’s Public Buildings Commissioner. presented a facilities update focused on the Newton Early Childhood Program building. Initial cost estimates are over budget so they are exploring options to reduce costs. One key cost is the two classrooms planned to be constructed by infilling the gym. An exterior addition will now be considered. It was noted that none of these changes will affect the plan to have air conditioning, a separate van drop-off loop, and an appropriate playground.
Toby Romer, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education, presented a School Start Time, Schedule and Transportation Update. Three options were presented for possible shifts to the start time with a goal set of implementing a new start time by Fall of 2020. Steps to get there include community input and negotiating a successful contract with the NTA. The start time presentationoutlines the three options. For a deeper dive, please see the full transportation report.
Newton Special Education Parents Advisory Council (SEPAC) co-chairs Christine Carey and Rajeev Parlikar, presented an End of Year Report. They also referenced a more detailed report which covered broad themes, success and areas of improvement.
The NPS administrative team gathered to share several year-end reports including Superintendent’s Goals and Systemwide Goals. The School Committee will discuss these in greater detail at the next scheduled meeting.

Consent Agenda

The School Committee voted unanimously to re-elect Diana Fisher Gomberg as the EDCO Board Member.
The School Committee voted unanimously to approve several grants.
The School Committee voted unanimously to approve the 5/13/2019 minutes.

Next Meeting

On Monday June 17 at 7:00pm, we will hear a Fiscal and Operational Update, a Facilities Update, an Equity Committee Update and an Equity Working Group Update. We will also be discussing the Superintendent’s Assessment.

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 Facebook 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.

The Newton School Committee

We need a Directory manager

And volunteers for a few other Bigelow PTO positions! Get involved next year: the Bigelow community depends on the generosity and energy of parent/guardian volunteers to help keep our community informed, connected, and strong. Can you help? See several excellent opportunities HERE. Some important open positions are:

School Directory Manager	Manage online database of parents/students and produce the hardcopy version of the family directory.
Back to school picnic Chair	Help organize the family picnic at Burr Park (September 11, 2019)
Scholarship Fund Chair	Develop the Cyndi Dailey-Smith and Howard B. Smith Scholarship Fund, which provides support for Bigelow students who might not be able to otherwise participate in cultural and curricular enrichment learning opportunities, such as field trips
Nominating Committee Members	Look for new PTO board and committee members. There are 5 members: the chair and 4 feeder schools representatives: Lincoln Eliot, Underwood, Ward and Mason Rice.

Equity Working Group Community Survey

Dear Newton Public School Families,

The Newton Public Schools Equity Working Group is looking for community feedback on questions relating to equity in PTO spending. We have developed a survey that will provide us with important information to continue our work. We would very much appreciate your assistance by answering our survey.

Please click on this link to answer the survey in English. Please respond to the survey only once. It is due on June 28, 2019. Thank you for your time and effort on this project.

Any questions or comments can be sent to the EWG: equityworkinggroupnewton@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
The Equity Working Group

Back-to-School Supplies: let’s buy less

The Bigelow school supply lists for next year is available on the school website. The PTO invites you to think about school supplies in a sustainable way, applying the 3 Rs: Rethink, Reduce and Reuse. Our students are already doing that!

We invite all families to reduce your school shopping list by reusing items that are still in good condition. This can save money, will reduce waste and it can be a great opportunity to embrace our sustainable values with our children. There’s a reason reduce & reuse come before recycle – not just because it sounds good, but it’s the order in which we should approach sustainability.

Working with your students when school is over:

Empty backpacks, pencil cases, binders, folders.
Clean everything (a swipe of rubbing alcohol can remove marker and make everything looks like new).
Organize pens, pencils, markers, scissors, calculators, etc.
Take out the used pages of notebooks and evaluate if the notebook can be reused in school or at home.

Then compare the supply list suggested by the school with what you have organized and cleaned. You might find out that there’s very little to buy! A good investment for next year is a reusable water bottle – the classes of 2017 and 2018 have gifted the school with water fountains.

8th Gr. Supply List | 7th Gr. Supply List | 6th Gr. Supply List | World Languages Supply List

Check out more resources:

One School, One Book Program 2019

As part of Bigelow’s One School, One Book Program, staff and students will read Refugee by Alan Gratz this summer. The book tells the story of the refugee experience through the eyes of three young people. Each of their experiences teaches us about the resiliency, courage, and hope of young people fleeing their countries in search of safety and freedom.

Parents are encouraged to read and discuss the book with their child and can refer to the Bigelow Library’s One School, One Book page for support materials and summer reading assignments. In addition, each child will receive a bookmark with their copy of the book that includes three questions students can think about while reading:

Which refugee story in the book do you feel most connected to?
If you had to leave your home tomorrow, how would you feel?
What were Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud hoping for throughout their experiences?

At the start of the new school year, students will participate in small group discussions and activities related to the book in their advisory groups. Discussing these questions with your child will help prepare him/her for the fall activities. To simplify payment for the book, the cost of the book ($5) will be added to the amount for the first field trip in the fall.

Paddles and Picnics

The Crystal Lake Conservancy and the Newton Parks and Recreation Department invite you to come to a Sunday afternoon of activities on Crystal Lake.

Participants may sign up for half hour slots between 1:00 – 4:30 pm to enjoy the pleasures of canoeing/kayaking/paddle boarding. A lifeguard will be on duty and all participants will be required to wear life jackets and sign a waiver. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult while on the water.

A $15 donation per canoe/kayak/paddleboard supports the Crystal Lake Conservancy’s efforts to keep Crystal Lake healthy. To learn more, visit www.CrystalLakeConservancy.org or call Janice Bourque at 617-967-0797.

June 16th (rain date June 23rd), 1:00 – 5:00 pm
20 Rogers Street, Newton Highlands

Planning for Arts & Culture in Newton – Please take a brief survey

The City of Newton is currently undertaking a 7-month planning process to create a Comprehensive Arts & Cultural Plan for the City.

The plan, entitled Create Newton, will identify all of Newton’s arts and cultural assets – from our buildings and non-profits, to the events and festivals we host, to the local traditions and initiatives in our villages and neighborhoods. We will explore how arts and cultural goals and interests are aligned with our businesses, recreational opportunities, and commercial districts, and identify goals, set out recommendations, and seek opportunities to collaborate and expand our pool of funding.

Input from parents, and children 12 years and older, who enjoy Newton’s arts and cultural events is greatly valued. Please take 10 minutes to complete this anonymous survey to assist in the planning process: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QWJW2QH

(Please note that the survey is best taken on your computer and not on your smart phone or smaller device.)