January 12, 2024

Please view revised links for ParentSquare below. The new links include a video introduction and instructions for registering your account.

Dear NPS Families,

Below please find a New Year’s message I shared with the Newton Beacon for publication at the start of the year. If you missed it, I share it again with you below:

My intention is to lead the school community with care and courage and provide a world-class education for our students and ensure that NPS is the most desirable place to teach in the nation.

While we are being the strongest learning organization out there, I sincerely hope we can continue to strengthen our bonds and care as a community. I read poetry daily and I share this favorite to inspire us all.

Turning to One Another

There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about.

Ask “What’s possible?” not “What’s wrong?” Keep asking.

Notice what you care about.

Assume that many others share your dreams.

Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.

Talk to people you know.

Talk to people you don’t know.

Talk to people you never talk to.

Be intrigued by the differences you hear.

Expect to be surprised.

Treasure curiosity more than certainty.

Invite in everybody who cares to work on what’s possible.

Acknowledge that everyone is an expert about something.

Know that creative solutions come from new connections.

Remember, you don’t fear people whose story you know.

Real listening always brings people closer together.

Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world.

Rely on human goodness. Stay together.

—Margaret Wheatley, “Turning to One Another,” 2002

.

On November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law, designating the third Monday in January a federal holiday in observance of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, it is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer and improve their communities.

Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

The City of Newton will host its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of celebration on Monday, January 15, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. at Newton North High School. The day of events includes:

Day of Event Program Details

• 9:15 Arrival

• 9:30 Program Start

• 10:15 Story Starters

• 11:30 Program End

• 11:30 - 12:30 Reception

• 12:45 Service Education and Lunch for Participants (NNHS)

• 1-3 Service (on site at NNHS and at Cradles to Crayons)

Registration is required. Here is the registration link. Learn more about the event on the MLK, Jr. Celebration event webpage.

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.

The Lincoln-Eliot School Building Project is scheduled for completion in Summer 2025. Follow along here: City of Newton Lincoln-Eliot Building Project Webpage

Please see a message below from the City:

The Lincoln-Eliot Project is off to a great start. Construction fencing is up, construction trailers are in place, and we are beginning selective demolition.

On Tuesday, January 23rd at 6:00pm we will host our first community construction update meeting. We will provide an update of the status of the project, what to expect in the coming weeks and months, and field questions.

You can follow along here:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070249892653

https://www.instagram.com/newtonmapbd/

https://twitter.com/NewtonMAPBD

Next week we will our Portrait of a Graduate work with you, our NPS community. These meetings will set the stage for developing the shared vision for what we want for our students. The sessions will explore the following questions:

• What are the hopes, dreams, and aspirations that our community has for our young people?

• What are the skills and mindsets that our children need for success in this rapidly changing and complex world?

• What are the implications for the design of the learning experiences—and equitable access to those experiences—we provide in our school systems?

The session dates and locations are as follows:

• Wednesday, January 17 at 6:00 p.m - 8:00 p.m. at Newton North

• Thursday, January 18 at 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Newton South

Please choose to attend just one session. RSVP using this Google Form - POG Community Session RSVP

We are excited to begin the process of developing the NPS Portrait of a Graduate with these community sessions. Your voice and input is critical to creating a portrait that reflects our community and the skills our students should have when they graduate.

Next week, you will receive an email from the Newton Public Schools inviting you to register with ParentSquare, our new central communications hub.

The district will be slowly rolling out the use of ParentSquare over the next several months. You will continue to receive communications from your school through all the usual channels. However, at the district level, you will start to see newsletters and other communications come via ParentSquare. At our pilot schools - Angier, Bowen, Bigelow, and North, you will also start to receive communication via ParentSquare. By fall 2024, all NPS communications from district, school, and staff will come via ParentSquare.

Here is a ParentSquare Introduction Video

During the week of January 15, 2024, you will receive an invitation from the NPS ParentSquare portal to register your account and download the app. Please do so when you receive the invitation.

Here are instructions for registering with ParentSquare

While all features will not yet be activated in ParentSquare, we urge you to create a ParentSquare account now and download the app. Registering with ParentSquare and accessing information via the app will help you to familiarize yourself with this new tool.

NSF is looking to include all NPS families in their community of work, which has supported the Newton Public Schools since 1985 by providing funding and awarding grants in three strategic areas to "teachers and staff totaling over $4 million. Supporters and donors include parents, community members, and businesses who share the belief that strong public schools are essential to the quality of life and future well-being of the City. Through these grants, educators at all levels have developed new curricula, generated innovative teaching methods that have been used throughout the system, enhanced their professional skills, and augmented the learning opportunities available to all NPS students."

To learn more about the Newton Schools Foundation's work to support the Newton Public Schools, please visit the NSF website where you can subscribe to their email list.

To assist us with planning for the coming year, we ask that families with students eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the 2024-25 school year, please complete this short online survey to let us know your plans for your child’s school registration.

Providing this information now helps us to plan for staffing and support in your child’s potential school for the upcoming school year. Even if you will not be registering your child to attend kindergarten in the Newton Public Schools or are unsure, information about your plans is incredibly helpful for our planning for the year ahead.

Below please find a timeline for kindergarten registration:

• November 7, 2023: Kindergarten Census Survey open. Please complete.

• February 29, 2024: New Kindergarten Parent/Guardian Information Night virtual webinar for all families enrolling a student for the first time in the Newton Public Schools. Links to the webinar will be posted on our kindergarten registration page in late February.

• March 1, 2024: Our online registration system will be open for kindergarten registration. Please register your kindergarten-age child by March 22, 2024, so that we can plan staffing and programming for the year ahead.

Please check your MySchoolBucks (MSB) account for any outstanding invoices.

You can pay directly online on MSB (please keep in mind, you are not allowed to use your lunch account balance to pay for invoices.) Check payments are also accepted by mailing your payment with your statement to:

Newton Public Schools
Attn: Business Office
100 Walnut Street
Newtonville, MA 02460

Visit this webpage for additional information about the fee policy and instructions to request a waiver, if needed.

If you have any questions regarding Chromebook invoices, please contact the IT department at 617-559-6190. If you have questions regarding your library or textbooks invoices, please contact your school.

NECP is enrolling for the 2024-2025 school year! Come and join the fun! Find the application on our website under application process.

The Newton South Preschool program has openings for the 2024-2025 school year. If you are looking for a high quality preschool program or if you know someone who is, please reach out.

Here is our New Parent Packet, which contains information about our program, an application and links to our website and Facebook page.

Chronic absenteeism (missing 10 percent or more of the school year) appears in every type of district – urban, suburban, rural, regional, traditional public schools, career technical schools, charter schools, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.

We know that there are often valid reasons for students to be absent, but, to a troubling extent, students are missing more school now than they did prior to the pandemic. Before the pandemic, 13 percent of students statewide were chronically absent. Last year, 22 percent of students – close to 1 in 4 statewide – were chronically absent.

Newton Public Schools is not immune to this trend. In all but two of our 22 schools, the chronic absenteeism rate in FY23 increased from FY19. In many cases, it is double or triple what it was in FY19.

As of 12/21/2023, the district’s chronic absenteeism rate K-12 is 10.6%, which means that about 11% of the district’s students (over 1,200 students) have missed 10% or more of the school year so far.

We are asking you to commit to making daily school attendance part of your family’s routine again. As a leader of your family, you are the best and most important influencer of your child. When you make a point of getting them to school every day, they will understand that it is important for their success.

NPS is committed to partnering with you to find ways to remove any barriers that may be hindering any child from coming to school every day. Please reach out to your student’s school for any assistance or support you might need.

We are currently recruiting for open positions and would love to hear from you. Visit our JOB POSTINGS page for detailed information and application instructions.

We need School Nurses! Join the City of Newton Health and Human Services Team as a School Nurse to support the health and well-being of Newton Public School (NPS) students. The City is hiring full-time and part-time Nurses. School Nurses work during the school year, have summers off, and follow the NPS school year calendar. Substitute School Nurses (part-time) work as needed, with a minimum commitment of ten (10) hours per week.

To learn more and to apply, click on the link below or scan the QR code.

Apply to be a School Nurse