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 our 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.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2013-2014 school year. The next training begins the week of October 20th (16 Continuing Education Credits available for MSWs). For more information or an application, please visit our website at http://www.ncscweb.org/programs/familyservices/cap or email Gail Sommer at gsommer@ncscweb.org.

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT – Thursday, September 26 7-9pm

After a brief welcome in homebase from Principal Harrison and the PTO, you will follow an abbreviated version of your child’s Day 2 schedule. Parking is tight, so please give yourself plenty of time to arrive by 7 pm.  All students will receive a special Back To School Night schedule on Monday, September 23. Please check with your child for this copy.  In addition, your child’s BTSN schedule can be downloaded from the Parent Connect portal.

The PTO will have tables set up at the main entrance and gym entrance with information regarding upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.  We will also have tables with water and light snacks available for purchase.

Tour de Newton

Sign up for the “Tour de Newton” – The first annual Tour de Newton is scheduled for October 6th and it promises to be a great event for everyone – kids, adults, experienced bicyclists and casual riders. The Tour will be a 20 mile bicycle ride that will start simultaneously in all 13 villages at 9:30 am.

Here in Oak Hill we’ll be starting at Newton South. You’ll be riding the whole loop with a group of your Oak Hill neighbors and be guided by a leader and a sweeper who know the route. The route’s been carefully chosen to be a fun, safe and pleasant ride.

As the group arrives at each village, you’ll be met by greeters who’ll give you a specially designed village badge and tell you a bit about the highlights of their village. Complete the whole route and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a new bike from International Bicycle on Needham St. It should be a great event, so sign up here.

Oak Hill Greeters Needed – If you don’t want to ride 20 miles on a bike, how about volunteering to be one of the Oak Hill greeters. Your job will be to meet each of the incoming groups of riders, hand out the Oak Hill badges and water, tell them a bit about Oak Hill, and generally be an ambassador for the village. Drop us an email at Jerreilly@yahoo.com if you’d consider taking on that fun job for a few hours on Oct 6.

Highlands After School Program

Limited space still available in the HIGHLANDS AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM: The Newton Highlands After-School Program is having a terrific start to the new school year with lots of fun activities for middle school kids. They meet in a great space in Newton Highlands, with transportation from Oak Hill available. For more information please contact: Rochelle Acker at 617-999-4617 or highlandsafterschool@gmail.com or visit the website.

Demystifying Teen Relationships

Working together with our teens to develop safe and healthy dating
relationships, Demystifying Teen Relationships is an educational community meeting for parents of middle and high school students.

Informative Presentations by:

  • REACH Beyond Domestic Violence
  • Journey to Safety, the domestic abuse  program of JF&CS
  • Boston Area Rape Crisis Center
  • Newton-Wellesley Hospital

Waban Library Center
1608 Beacon Street, Waban
October 22nd, 7:00–8:30 pm

Space is Limited. Please RSVP and direct questions to Debby Belt at dbelt@hammondre.com.

Endorsed by:
REACH Beyond Domestic Violence
Journey to Safety, the domestic abuse program of JF&CS
Newton-Wellesley Hospital
Boston Area Rape Crisis Center
The Second Step
Newton Crime Commission

Former Cabot Families: Retirement Reception for Deb Driscoll

PTO Retirement Reception for Deb Driscoll 

September 27th

3:15-4:30pm

Please join us in the Cabot Community Park (Cabot Garden) for the PTO retirement reception to say goodbye to our beloved Executive Administrative Assistant Mrs. Driscoll. Deb has touched many lives during her tenure at Cabot School, and we would like to invite you all to come and wish her well. If you know of any other friends or past students who would like to join us, please reach out to them, too.

Sports Injury Expert to Speak at JCC

Dr. William Meehan, III, a national expert on sports injury prevention and director of The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention in Waltham, will discuss sports injuries and concussion prevention at a free talk at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center in Newton on October 6 at 9:00 am.

Dr. Meehan is also the director of the Sports Concussion Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital, the author of Kids, Sports and Concussions: A Guide for Coaches and Parents, and the director of Research for the Brain Injury Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is the team physician for the Northeastern University men’s ice hockey team.

“Organized sports participation by children and teenagers is at an all-time high,” says Dr. Meehan. “Approximately 38 million children and teenagers participate in organized sports. The benefits of sports participation are numerous. However, these benefits come with the risk of injuries. Proper preparation for individual sports that involves injury prevention education and training is where parents, coaches and schools can make a difference.”   The talk is open to the entire community.  For more information, contact 617-558-6459 or visit the JCC website.

JCC
333 Nahanton Street
Newton Center

The Sunday School for Jewish Studies Open Enrollment

The Sunday School for Jewish Studies is now accepting registrations for grades K-7 for the 2013-2014 school year. The Sunday School is an independent school offering a once-a-week program for children in the greater Boston area for over 40 years.

Located at the Oak Hill Middle School in Newton, the school is committed to providing a Jewish education that fosters a strong sense of Jewish identity for children and families with diverse traditions of Jewish observance. Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation is available but not required, and students may enter in any grade. Interfaith and nontraditional families are welcome.

For additional information, please visit the website at www.SundaySchoolForJewishStudies.org or call 617-264-8855.

Bigelow Directory

This year Bigelow converted to a new directory program.  The PTO is very excited about the change as this new system should enable us to get the directory out faster and easier. 

Last week you should have received an email with a link at the bottom asking you to confirm the information we have for your family. 

If you did not receive the confirmation please email us at bigelowbulldog@gmail.com .

Our directory is an opt out system.  Unless you actively let us know otherwise the information we have for you will be included in the directory.

Please be aware that there are three systems in place asking for your information and you need to update and make decisions on all three:

  1. The Bigelow Directory– this information is used for our family directory.  The information is shared with Bigelow families to facilitate contacting one another.  As you go through the confirmation process there is a step to opt out of the directory if you choose.
  2. The PTO email list– the primary source of communication from the PTO is email. At the start of the year all emails from the directory were added to the PTO email list.  Every Sunday (and Tuesday if needed) we send the “PTO Notes” which contains important information on student activities and events as well as updates for parents.  Sometimes we send ad hoc emails during the week or grade specific emails.

Everyone was also included in the following subgroups:

  • Community Notes email group which we also send Sundays and contains community based information that we think would be useful to families.  If you previously opted out of community notes you were not added to this subgroup.
  • Grade specific lists for your child(ren) grades.  These are used when a message is targeted to a specific grade.

If you do not wish to receive PTO emails you can either select “unsubscribe” at the bottom of this (or any) PTO email and you will be removed from the entire PTO email system.  Or, you can select “update your profile” to unsubscribe or change a specific subgroup (e.g., Community Notes) while still receiving emails from the PTO.  The email list is separate from the directory so  information needs to be changed in both places!

3. Parent Connect:   The school sent information at the start of the year asking families to update/confirm contact information in Parent Connect.  That information is used by the city and school to reach families.  Changes you make in this system are not automatically transferred to the directory or PTO email list so updates need to be made in all necessary places.

We appreciate your help ensuring all lists are accurate and that you are receiving all the important information.  If you have any questions email us at bigelowbulldog@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Advertising in the Bigelow Directory

Unique Advertising Opportunity!

Do you own your own business?  Do you work for a company that is looking for new ways to reach out to potential customers?  The Bigelow PTO would like to present you and your employer with a unique advertising opportunity and a chance to help the school as well as your business!

For more information, Click here, or contact Heather Kelly at hkelly@rcn.com.

This opportunity will only be available until Friday, October 4, 2013 so act quickly! 

We thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Bigelow PTO