Tag Archives: mid

Congregation Dorshei Tzedek Religious School Open House

Prospective families are invited to an Open House at a Sunday morning Jewish learning community. Join at 9:30 for z’man rishon, where everyone comes together for a weekly assembly. When the students go to class, there will be time to meet with the school director and hear about the outline of the program. After that, a parent volunteer will take you on a tour of the school so you can see the learning in action. Childcare will be provided upon request.

To sign up to participate, please contact our Director of Congregational Learning, Rabbi Shahar Colt – dcl@dorsheitzedek.org. For more information on the West Newton congregation, please visit https://dorsheitzedek.org/

April 29th, 9:30 – 11:30 am
Jewish Community Day School, 57 Stanley Avenue, Watertown

Ride for Food 2018!

Join the Newton Food Pantry team participating in the Ride for Food! On September 23rd, their first ever team will be participating in this annual ride that supports food pantries, community farms and food rescue organizations and they need your help.

Why ride?

The NFP numbers demonstrate the need. They serve over 750 Newton residents each month and that number has been rising. There has been a 16% rise in the average number of households served in 2017.

Total Bags Distributed in 2017 = 16,381 (37% increase). $10,000+ matters. As an independent fully volunteer-run organization, every chance to raise significant amounts of money matters. Expand our community. Develop new friendships and deepen your own commitment to this effort to respond to food insecurity in our city.

How can you help?

  • By joining the team!
  • By volunteering to help with the ride.
  • By donating to NFP team members!

How do you sign up?

Sign up by contacting Lisa Tieszen at latieszen@gmail.com or 617-875-9047.

March 24th Newton Family Conference Postponement

Dear NPS Community,

On Monday night at the School Committee meeting, I shared with the community that the district is postponing the Family Conference scheduled for Saturday, March 24th. A new date has not yet been set, but we aim to reschedule the event in Fall 2018.

We are disappointed to postpone the conference as it has been such a valuable experience for participants in previous years. However, there are March for Our Lives events in Boston and across the country now occurring that afternoon and some of our facilitators and participants would like to attend. In order to have a successful conference, it is essential that we have the right facilitators there to share information and guide the conversations.

The Newton Family Conference is one way in which the Newton Public School District is seeking to create culturally responsive school communities. While the conference is postponed for now, our work with faculty and staff around Courageous Conversations on Race will continue, as laid out in our six-year plan. Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ) will also continue to support parent/family groups as they seek to explore issues of race in their individual schools.

We look forward to continuing this work through the end of the year and hope that we will see you next fall at the Family Conference.

Sincerely,
David Fleishman

Donor Will Match $25,000 for Calculus Project in March!

The Calculus Project at Newton’s middle and high schools is closing the achievement gap in higher-level mathematics. Newton Schools Foundation is honored for the third consecutive year to have a very generous donor who will match up to $25,000 in contributions from the community to the Calculus Project during the month of March.

The Calculus Project has been transformational for Newton students. Since the program’s 2013 launch, enrollment growth in higher-level mathematics among traditionally underrepresented student groups has been significant:
• Hispanic student enrollment has increased 70 percent.
• African-American student enrollment has tripled.
• Low-income student enrollment has increased nine-fold!

Additionally, the enrollment rate of Calculus Project 9th graders in honors math exceeds that of total Newton Public Schools 9th graders, and is nearly twice the rate of 9th graders who were eligible for The Calculus Project but did not participate.

Here’s how the program works: Students selected to participate in the Calculus Project attend intensive small-group summer classes to preview upcoming curriculum, boost their math skills, foster attitudes that support academic risk-taking and perseverance, and cultivate relationships among peers in the program.

The 2018 summer program includes instruction in Computer Science, field trips to STEM-related companies, and college campus visits for rising 11th graders with a focus on STEM majors and careers, During the school year, students receive mentoring and after-school academic support. The program also uses lessons and activities designed to improve self-perceptions about academic accomplishment. Currently serving 138 students, the Calculus Project will reach full scale next year with five cohorts of students in grades 8-12.

At a cost of $1,000 per student for a full year of programming, the Calculus Project’s success depends on a public-private partnership between the Newton Public Schools, private foundations and corporate donors, and the Newton community through donations to Newton Schools Foundation. To learn more about this innovative program that’s making a meaningful impact for Newton students, or to make a donation, visit www.NewtonSchoolsFoundation.org.

Psychological First Aid training

Free Psychological First Aid training. Psychological First Aid has long been established as the gold standard of disaster responses. Created by a global team of experts, it is the only intervention endorsed by both the World Health Organization & the U.S. government for use in the aftermath of traumatic events.

The goal of this comprehensive two-day training is to prepare participants to deliver basic behavioral health disaster response skills following large-scale disasters or critical incidents, such as homicides, suicides, accidental deaths, & similarly distressing events.

This program is free & open to all. Nursing CEUs available. Registration is required. To sign up, go to region4bvolunteer.org and register as ‘guest’. For more information, view this flyer.

March 13th and 14th, 5:00 – 9:00 pm
345 Walnut Street, Newton

Newton Power Choice Program

The City of Newton is developing a plan for a new electricity program called Newton Power Choice, which will provide an opportunity for Newton to significantly increase the amount of renewable energy in the community’s electricity supply. Newton Power Choice is a form of group purchasing known as an electricity aggregation.

Newton Power Choice will provide:

  • Greener electricity
  • Price stability
  • Consumer protections
  • New electricity choices

As a program participant, you will have greater control over the environmental characteristics and price of your electricity supply. You will receive a standard amount of renewable electricity automatically, above the minimum amount required by state law, without choosing any of the options. (The standard amount is still to be determined.)

Or you can choose to:

  • Opt up to 100% renewable electricity.
  • Opt down to receive no additional renewable energy electricity above the state law requirement, but retain the program benefits of price stability and consumer protections.

More than 125 communities in Massachusetts are already engaged in electricity aggregation. But no other community has done what Newton is doing, which is to undertake an ambitious campaign to persuade electricity customers to opt up to 100% renewable electricity. Newton aims to have many more customers getting all of their electricity from New England renewable projects than any other community.

Participating and opting out: All Eversource Basic Service customers will be automatically enrolled. But participation is not required. Electricity customers may opt out of the program before being enrolled or at any time with no fee or penalty.

For more details on Newton Power Choice, see www.newtonpowerchoice.com.

Newton Area Flag Football League registration is open

Newton Area Flag Football League (NAFFL) is a new youth sports league offered during the spring season. All games are coached, refereed and scored. Registration guarantees each player 8 games, including playoffs. Divisions are available for kids ages 5 – 12. More information can be found on the website and on the attached flyer.

As Newton parents and community members, the founders believe NAFFL offers:

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

The season begins May 6th at Daly Field on Nonantum Road. Games take less than one hour and are held on Sunday afternoons between 2:00 and 7:00 pm.

Leadership and Public Speaking Workshop

Lumos is running a 2-day Debate Workshop during April Vacation Break. Your child will study public speaking, critical thinking, and leadership with experienced instructors.

The class is lots of fun and very active – a good class even for shy or quiet kids. The class is open to students Grades 6-9. For more information call 617-901-4564. Register at: camp.lumosdebate.com/workshop/

Live in Auburndale?

Save the date! Spread the word!

PorchFest is coming to Newton. On June 2nd, Auburndale (for now*) is throwing open its porches (driveways and yards) for an afternoon of FREE music between noon and 4:00 pm.

Information about the event, sign-ups for porch owners to host (Auburndale only!), and musicians (all sorts, any variety, from anywhere and everywhere) to play on porches, is now available at https://newton.porchfest.info/. Deadline for sign-ups is April 1st.

*the Newton PorchFest Steering Committee hopes to make PorchFest an annual citywide event beginning next year.

Underwood Spring Online Auction

The Underwood Elementary School PTO is holding a HUGE auction fundraiser with fantastic items donated by many local organizations. You’ll find auction items from restaurants, retailers, gyms, spas and salons, hotels, classes, activity providers, museums, theaters, and much more! There’s something for all ages, interests and budget.

BID HERE!

April 4th, 8:00 am – April 9th, 9:00 pm
Auction Link: https://www.biddingforgood.com/underwood