Winston Weekly Update

And just like that it is a new year!

I hope that you and your family found some rest over the vacation. Students I hope that you are ready for the last two weeks of the term.....it is always a whirlwind when we return from vacation.

As we return, to a week without a Monday, it is extra important that all students make their WIN selections for the week. Spend some time now thinking about how you'd like to use WIN during the last two weeks of the term to finish strong!

Families: This video was shown in advisory a few weeks ago. It clarifies a few misconceptions that students have had about WIN. https://youtu.be/bOsq6-QimAc

• No School Monday, January 1st.
• Please make your WIN selections before coming to school on Tuesday!

• Last week of the term!
• Monday, 1/8 - Advisory - NNUpdate
• Friday 1/ 12 - Last day of Term 2. (Quarter 3 schedule pdfs will be posted to Aspen today!)
• Monday 1/15 - No School.

Next Early Dismissal: Thursday 2/1/24.

• Directions for adding the NNHS Google Calendar and the Block Calendar to your calendar. (FOR STUDENTS)
• NNHS Website Calendar
• Directions for adding the ical Feed from the website to any calendar.
• NPS Calendar

0.) Health and Safety Reminders from NPS

1.) S2/Q3/Q4 classes with space

2.) Club Reminders

3.) SuperFan Shirts

4.) New Registration Requirements for Fundraisers

5.) Parent's Night Out hosted by Gymnastics Team

6.) Parent Square is Coming

7.) Theatre Ink Updates

The colder weather and holiday gatherings are here and so is a rise in respiratory illnesses such as the common cold, influenza, COVID-19, and RSV. These infections are caused by different viruses but they can all cause similar symptoms including:

• Fever

• Cough

• Sore throat

• Runny or stuffy nose

• Body aches

• Headache

• Chills

• Feeling tired

• Sometimes vomiting and diarrhea

To protect your family and our community, please take the following everyday actions to help prevent the spread of germs:

• Keep children home from school if they have symptoms of illness- they must be fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication and there is no vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours to return to school

• Stay-at-home guidance for COVID is a minimum of 5 days since onset of symptoms or a positive covid test (whichever came first) and wearing a mask through day 10

• Avoid social gatherings if you or your children are ill

• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or an elbow

• Clean hands frequently with soap and water or hand sanitizer

• Avoid touching the eyes, nose and mouth

• Clean surfaces that may be contaminated with viruses

• Vaccinate adults and children against COVID-19 and the flu

The federal government is once again allowing every home in the U.S. to order a fresh wave of four COVID-19 tests for free. To order tests visit https://special.usps.com/testkits.

Please remember to notify the school if your child is absent. Thank you for doing all you can to keep our community healthy during this winter season.

If you/your student has more free blocks for Q3 or Q4 than they'd like, now is your opportunity to request an additional class.

Reminders:

• Many of the listed classes have pre-requisities and/or are only open to students in particular grades. Please refer to the course catalog (opportunities) on the NNHS website for details.
• We can not move other classes on your schedule to accommodate these additions.
• Each of these classes has VERY few seats available. Students with the most space in their schedule will be prioritized.

1.) There are two places where you can find accurate lists of current clubs at NNHS:

• NNHS website, club page.
• Family ID

Please don't rely on any other lists found anywhere else.

2.) Questions about clubs can be directed to Ms. Lew (lewy@newton.k12.ma.us) our club coordinator.

Hello NNHS Staff and Students! Linked below is the form to get your very own SUPERFAN T-SHIRT! To secure your own, please submit the form and payment by 1/2/2024. Each shirt is priced at $10, and you can make your payment by Submitting cash to SuperFans during lunch outside of graphics on 1/2/24, 1/4/24, or 1/5/24

"New district-wide fundraising policy: NNHS club, or classs, sports team, or organization, who would like to do any fundraising of any kind IN or OUTSIDE of school must complete this Fundraising Application Form. This includes "drives" for donations (eg Toys for Tots) or donation drives to send money after a disaster (eg Earthquake Relief) as well as bake sales, restaurant fundraisers, selling T-shirts, selling pies, etc.

All fundraisers will be posted on the NNHS Calendar. We allow two on-campus fundraisers per day, and only one can be food-related. First come, first served. Please allow 24-48 hours for processing.

TUESDAY TIGER BLOCK BAKE SALES CAN ONLY HAPPEN STARTING AT 3:15 PER THE DISTRICT. The ONLY other options for bake sales are AFTER SCHOOL (i.e. after 3:45pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday). NO BAKE SALES CAN OCCUR DURING LUNCH BLOCKS OR BEFORE SCHOOL. All bake sales will be held on Main St. near the front entrance or near the theater entrance.

Cash or checks only. Checks should be payable to "Newton Public Schools." No Venmo or any other electronic method of payment."

PARENT’S NIGHT OUT presented by Newton North and South Gymnastics Teams

Friday, January 5th

Newton North High School

5:45 - 8:00pm

$30 per kid ($20 if siblings)

Registration

As you may have read in the NPS news before vacation, I will be piloting the use of ParentSquare for communications from NNHS to students and families. Information regarding ParentSquare is below. In preparation for our ParentSquare launch, I encourage parents/guardians to login to Aspen and to check your contact information including your primary language. If you need to update any parent/guardian contact information, please be in touch with your student's house office.

We are thrilled to announce that ParentSquare is coming to the Newton Public Schools! After two years of surveying staff, and families, and conducting a thorough review of different communication tools on the market, the district has signed an agreement with ParentSquare.

What is ParentSquare? ParentSquare is a one-stop shop for communications and engagement with our NPS families and our community. From a single dashboard on your desktop or app, you will have access to all school and district information for your students. No more searching for emails or asking teachers, staff, or administrators to re-send information. You will simply log onto your dashboard or open their app to find news and information.

One of the most amazing features of ParentSquare is that families will receive your communications in the language you choose. Information will automatically be translated and transmitted to you. You can write back in your home language and teachers/staff will receive it in English.

We are beginning our pilot phase now and we thank the principals and vice-principals at North, Bigelow, Angier, and Bowen for volunteering to test the product and utilize the tools. If you are at one of these schools, you may notice a change in format. You will also be asked to create a ParentSquare account. This will give you full access to all of the amazing features of ParentSquare and we highly recommend doing so.

Once administrators do some testing, and the district starts to use it for districtwide communications, some teachers and staff may try it out in the spring. The full launch will be next fall when all administrators, teachers, and staff will use it for communications with families.

We will continue to share more in the coming weeks. We are thrilled to be able to offer this tool to you to make communication and engagement easier and more manageable!

Theatre Ink-Newton North's Theatre Dept.

23-24 Season Schedule HERE

Social Media: Catch us on Instagram HERE

Any questions, contact the Director of Theatre Ink, Mr. Brown at Browna@Newton.k12.ma.us or go to Theatreink.net

Review NNHS Student Attendance at A Glance 23-24. This doc includes links to all attendance related docs. One very important change this year: attendance MUST be reported in writing. (no more phone calls to the house office). PLEASE bookmark the attendance google form: https://tinyurl.com/NNHSAbsence

Early Dismissal procedures are outlined in the Student Handbook.

1. Complete the attendance form prior to 11am. (Can be done in advance or the morning of the dismissal.)
2. Discuss the dismissal with your student. Choose a location to meet the student. (You do not need to come into the building.) Note that we do not have the capacity to find and remind your student if they don't remember.
3. Send your student to THEIR house office on the morning of the dismissal. The house admin assistant will give them a note for their dismissal from class.
4. Meet your student somewhere outside.
5. If the student is returning to the building on the same day, they must report to the house office upon their return.
6. If the dismissal was for an appointment (medical, dentist etc), please send a note to the house office after the appointment so that the period absence(s) can be excused.

Add these phone numbers to your contacts on your phone. The house office should always be your first call at NNHS.

Grade 9, Class of 2027, Beals House, Ms. Stover, stoverc@newton.k12.ma.us, 617-559-6330

Grade 10, Class of 2026, Riley House, Ms. Castellano, castellanol@newton.k12.ma.us, 617-559-6340

Grade 11, Class of 2025, Barry House, Ms. Perruzzi, perruzzie@newton.k12.ma.us, 617-559-6320

Grade 12, Class of 2024, Adams House, Ms. Rivera, riveram@newton.k12.ma.us, 617-559-6310

Grade SP (Students beyond grade 12), may contact any house office.

Important Reminder: Attendance can NO LONGER be reported by phone.

• Students may see their House Administrative Assistant at any time to update their preferred name and/or pronouns in Aspen. These fields are easy to update. Students may also choose to "push" their preferred name to Schoology and Google.
• The state of MA recognizes common law name changes which means that court orders are not necessary for name or gender identity changes.
• School counselors, deans, and house admin assistants are also able to review the NNHS/NPS name and/or gender identity change process with any student/family who would like to change their legal name/gender identity in Aspen.

https://www.smore.com/u/amy.winston

Earlier newsletters included lots of info! If you haven't read them yet, you can always return to the archive.