Calling all parents who want to get involved in working for connected school communities and racial justice!

Join FORJ – Families Organizing for Racial Justice – to learn what several Newton Public Schools are doing to bring their communities together while working to reduce racism and injustice on many levels.

After the presentations, you will have time to meet and talk with other parents at your child’s or teen’s school. This is a great opportunity to get inspired and meet people across Newton who care about racial justice and want to develop their cultural competence.

February 8th, 7:30 – 9:30 pm
Angier Elementary School

Please RSVP here: https://goo.gl/forms/B75q1Qyfsx5ZG4m93

To learn more, visit https://forjnewton.com/. Want to join the mailing list to learn about future opportunities? Please email the FORJ Coordinator at amy@amybehrens.com and put “JOIN FORJ” in the subject. Be sure to include your name and what schools your children attend.

The next meeting on February 28th,  6:30 – 8:30 pm is “Talking to Children about Race and Racism: Why and How?” Come to learn effective ways to talk with your children about race and racism next week in Boston at the beautiful Salvation Army Kroc Center, 650 Dudley St. Dorchester, MA 02125. There is ample parking around this community center, but you can also carpool or take the T to Dudley Station and walk over easily.
Please RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/newton-metco-parent-meeting-tickets-41384289524

Newton SEPAC and Newton Public Schools present: Jessica Minahan, M.Ed, BCBA who will speak on Reducing Anxiety in Kids.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that one in four thirteen-eighteen year olds has had an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Without intervention, these children are at risk for poor performance, diminished learning, and social/behavior problems in school. Understanding the role anxiety plays in a student’s behavior is crucial and using preventive strategies are key to successful intervention. Effective behavior plans for these students must avoid the reward and punishment-based consequences from traditional behavior methods and focus instead on the use of preventive strategies and on explicitly teaching coping skills, self-monitoring, and alternative responses. Easy to implement preventive tools, strategies, and interventions for reducing anxiety, increasing self-regulation, executive functioning, and self-monitoring will be discussed. This event is free of charge.

Bio: Jessica Minahan, MEd, BCBA, is a board-certified behavior analyst and special educator and a consultant to schools nationwide (www.jessicaminahan.com). Jessica has over seventeen years of experience supporting students who exhibit challenging behavior in urban public school systems. She is a blogger on The Huffington Post, as well as the author of The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students, with Nancy Rappaport (Harvard Education Press, 2012) and author of The Behavior Code Companion: Strategies, Tools, and Interventions for Supporting Students with Anxiety-Related or Oppositional Behaviors (Harvard Education Press, 2014).

February 28th, 7:00 pm
Newton North High School Auditorium