After School Activities for 6th Graders

Bigelow offers lots of after school activities. In the Fall, 6th graders can do:

Cross Country. The sign up meeting for participation on the Bigelow Cross Country Team for the 2018 Season will be held Wednesday, September 5, 2018 in the Bigelow Library at 2:45pm. The cross country team is a coed team open to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. It is the only sport in which sixth graders are eligible to participate during the fall sports season. No experience is necessary and there are no cuts. The season goes from September to November. Practices every Mon, Wed, Thu and Fri, from 3pm to 4:15pm. There is approximately one meet per week, in schools of the region. More here.

Drama. 6th grade auditions for cast and backstage crew will be held on Wednesday, 09/05, to complete the casting for the fall show. Auditions require NO PREPARATION – just show up! Fall season runs from September to November, and rehearsals are Mon, Thu and Fri, from 3pm to 5pm – not all cast and crew are called everyday. The Fall Play will be performed November 15, 16 and 17. More here.

Clubs. There are many clubs available and they are all run by Bigelow Teachers. They don’t have a specific start date – some start in September, others in October or November. They are usually once a week from 3pm to 4pm. More here.

New After School Options


Newton Community Education

Three new classes will take place at Bigelow in the fall:

3-D Printing & Design  10/12/18 – 11/16/18 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM F
Fencing: New & Continuing Fencers  10/02/18 – 12/11/18 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM Tu
The Stock Market Game for Girls  10/02/18 – 12/11/18 2:10 PM -3:40 PM Tu

Makers’ Corner

“A brand new branch of programming presented by the established Underwood After School Program, the Makers’ Corner makerspace will enable access to a wide variety of sophisticated STEAM skills and materials in a free-flow, high-choice environment. With flexible scheduling options, students can enroll for one to five days a week, for full or half afternoons, and even club-only options for limited 6- to 8-week runs. “For more information about the program and to register, visit www.underwoodafterschool.org, or email Kate Finnan at  kate@underwoodafterschool.org.”

More After School Programs For Middle School Students

From Newton Youth Services – Middle School Resources

Financial Aid: available at all of these programs, see program websites for more information. For financial aid tips see www.newtonma.gov/middleschoolresources. Transportation: available for some of these programs. See their websites for more information.

After school options located at middle schools

After school programs located at the middle schools do not run on Tuesday early release days. Transportation available (late bus) from all schools.

Important information for voters

Here is some important information for voters from the League of Women Voters of Newton:

• The State Primary Election is on Tuesday, September 4th, which is the day after Labor Day

• If you need an absentee ballot (because there is no early voting in this September election), the last date to file an application is on Friday, August 31st.  This is the Friday before Labor Day.

• The League of Women Voters has worked with partner organizations to create several Candidates’ Forums for voters to learn more about the candidates and their positions:
o 4th Congressional District:  Kennedy and Rucinski
o District 3 Governor’s Council (Carter-Devaney) and Middlesex County DA (Patalano-Ryan)

• Click here for the Online Voters’ Guide from the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts  to read the responses from candidates for statewide office or go to www.informedvoterma.org

For other questions you might have, go to the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ or to the Elections Office for the City of Newton at http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/elections/default.asp.

School Supply List 2018-2019

School supply lists for each grade and for world language classes are posted on the Bigelow website.

It is not necessary to purchase all new materials — the school and the PTO encourage you to re-use quality materials from the past. Here are a few tips on how to clean and reuse school materials.

Newton Public Schools continue to encourage students to “lighten their load” by reducing their backpack weight. Please see the attached letter from the School Council on this topic. In Bigelow’s ongoing effort to minimize the weight that students carry daily, the number of binders that students need in 2018 was reduced, and all students will be trained to store their backpacks in their lockers during the school day.

Letter from the Superintendent

August 20th, 2018

Dear Newton Public School Families,

As part of our district’s commitment to creating welcoming, supportive, and safe communities for all, we have worked together over the past year with Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ), a parent-led group in Newton. It is our hope to provide interested families with opportunities, information, and resources to become better equipped to address issues of race, culture, and identity with their children. Last year, the work was focused in our elementary schools and this year will expand to our middle and high schools.

To facilitate this effort, we are working with Amy Behrens, a FORJ Leader, diversity educator, and parent coach and Gloria Pascual, a seasoned community leader in Boston and Framingham, who will be the FORJ Co-Coordinators for 2018-2019. They, and a diverse set of parent leaders, will continue supporting parent volunteers from all Newton schools to help them:

· Identify needs and action plans specific to their schools

· Create opportunities, through events and activities, for face-to-face conversations and dialogue

· Provide families with valuable information, tools, and resources

Amy and Gloria will work in concert with PTOs and existing school groups to develop personalized programs for each school community. The work will rely on volunteers interested in engaging their schools on issues of race, culture, and identity. Please sign up here https://goo.gl/forms/ZBa8uQTcKkUeLXHC2 OR email Amy at amy@amybehrens.com to be placed on the mailing list for information about upcoming meetings.

The first FORJ meeting of the year will be on Tuesday, October 2nd 7:30-9pm at the Angier Elementary School, 1697 Beacon St, Waban, MA 02468, accessible by the Waban T stop on the Green D Line.

We are eager to continue expanding this partnership with families this school year. I hope that you will consider getting involved.

Sincerely,

David Fleishman
Superintendent

Newton Destination Imagination Registration OPEN

The 2018 – 2019 Season for Newton Destination Imagination (DI) is open!  Click HERE to register.

Endorsed by Superintendent David Fleishman, Newton DI is an inclusive STEAM- based creative problem solving competition for students in grades K-12. Teams of up to 7 kids will choose to work on one of six challenges that will test their teamwork, project management and creativity skills.

To learn more about the program, please go to the website for FAQs and a short intro video. Questions? Please email matthew@newtondi.org.

Newton Kindergarten Soccer

Register now for the fall season of Newton Kindergarten Soccer. The fall program is for those children currently in kindergarten in 2018-2019. The games will be at Oak Hill Middle School Saturday mornings beginning in September. To be eligible, children must live or attend school in Newton, including private schools. The cost is $80 through August 25th.

To find out more or to register, please visit http://kindergartensoccer.org/.

Note that Lincoln-Eliot, Franklin, and Burr families generally participate in Garden City Soccer, and that Memorial Spaulding usually has its own program.

Newton Kindergarten Soccer, run by the Zervas PTO, is an introduction to soccer with a focus on making friends, learning teamwork, and developing confidence. Each spring, over 200 incoming kindergarteners throughout Newton play in the league. Players are grouped with other children who either live in the same neighborhood or who attend the same school for kindergarten, so that incoming kindergartners can meet future classmates.

Newton Area Flag Football League (NAFFL)

The NAFFL season begins on September 2nd with pre-season scrimmages and then regular season games starting September 9th at the recently renovated Daly Field on Nonantum Road. Games take less than one hour and are held on Sundays between 4:00 and 9:00 pm. All games are coached, professionally refereed and scored. Registration guarantees each player 8 games, including playoffs. Divisions are available for kids ages 5 – 14.

NAFFL is dedicated to giving back to the community, and so when players register with the coupon code SCHOOL,  they will donate $10 to the school where players are enrolled, and they will receive $10 off their registration. More information can be found on their website https://www.newtonareaflagfootball.com/ and on the attached flyer here: Flag Football.

NAFFL offers the following:

  • a safe environment and sport
  • respect for rules
  • fun while still being competitive
  • boosts confidence
  • perseverance
  • builds community
  • weekly exercise
  • an understanding of the importance of playing/working together as a team
  • good sportsmanship

A New STEAM-Focused Middle School After School Program

Announcing the Makers’ Corner. Is your middle schooler a creative engineer? Analytic artist? Comedic cinematographer? Above all, do they love to MAKE things and learn new ways to build, program, and design the world around them? They are all invited to come join a community of makers at the Makers’ Corner!

A brand new branch of programming presented by the established Underwood After School Program,  the Makers’ Corner makerspace, will enable access to a wide variety of sophisticated STEAM skills and materials in a free-flow, high-choice environment. With flexible scheduling options, students can enroll for one to five days a week, for full or half afternoons, and even club-only options for limited 6- to 8-week runs.

Skills and activities offered in the Makers’ Corner will include 3-D design and printing, stop-motion animation, sewing by hand and machine, electronics and robotics, engineering and construction challenges, Scratch computer programming, a variety of arts programming including printmaking, painting, kinetic sculpture, and much more. The Makers’ Corner environment will allow participants to join a pre-planned activity or learn a new skill each day, or work at their own pace on their own projects, either individually or collaboratively with peers. For students attending the full afternoon, time and resources will also be available for homework completion and physical recreation.

For more information, email Kate Finnan at kate@underwoodafterschool.org, or call 617-244-1810. To register, visit www.underwoodafterschool.org, and scroll down to click, “Click here to apply today!”

Check out the flyer: Maker’s Corner