I Love Newton

Category: All About Newton

News, events, children’s activities in Newton, MA.

  • Juice Press Opens in Chestnut Hill’s The Street

    Juice Press Opens in Chestnut Hill’s The Street

    Juice Press Opens in Chestnut Hill’s The Street. Here’s footage from the blogger event.

    At Juice Press, we are committed to providing a premium plant-based product that tastes great and is free of all processed ingredients. Throughout the food and beverage industry descriptions including “healthy,” “low fat,” and “low sugar,” are overused and misused to confuse people about what the correct decisions are about food consumption.

    But in fact, there is not much to be confused about. At Juice Press, we believe the foundation of every diet should be based on leaving out processed foods. JP never uses preservatives, refined sugars, nor salts and only uses the highest quality organic produce. Customers have become hooked to our products because a diet made of real foods, makes them feel good!

    Juice Press Opens in Chestnut Hill's The Street

  • Newton #13 Happiest Place in MA

    Newton #13 Happiest Place in MA

    Newton ranks #13 on this list compiled by career expert site Zippia. It measures happiness by income, education, employment, commute, cost of living, family, home ownership and poverty rate.

    Newton Happy Place #13

    Top 20 Happiest Places:

    1. Longmeadow
    2. Winchester
    3. Needham
    4. Lynnfied
    5. Reading
    6. Sharon
    7. Wellesley
    8. Northborough
    9. Wilmington
    10. Marblehead
    11. Bliss Corner
    12. Hingham
    13. Newton
    14. Lexington
    15. Swampscott
    16. Walpole
    17. Melrose
    18. Pinehurst
    19. Cochituate
    20. Belmont

    Read the survey and get the rankings here.

  • Valeo FC Partners with NE Revolution

    Valeo FC Partners with NE Revolution

    Valeo Futbol Club Announces New U12 Academy Alliance Partnership

    with the New England Revolution

    Valeo FC Partners with NE Revolution

    Valeo FC is excited to announce a new partnership with the New England Revolution Academy that will create enhanced opportunities for elite player development and provide worthy players with a defined pathway to professional soccer.

    The U12 Academy Alliance is a new collaboration between the Revolution Academy, Valeo FC and two other U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams. It will provide a high-level age-appropriate development platform for the region’s top young male players.

    “Gaining access for some of our players to compete at the highest level of youth soccer is a tremendous enhancement to our club,” says Valeo FC Director Emelio Williams. “Our mission is to develop a collaborative program to assist in identifying and developing elite-level soccer players within the New England region.”

    The Alliance will begin training players during the 2016-17 season and includes two other U.S. Soccer Development Academy clubs.

    The alliance clubs will work together on player development methods, best practices and other integrated MLS Youth Development inititives throughout the year. Players from any of the three U12 alliance teams will have a clear pathway into the New England Revolution Academy, starting at the new U13 age group.

    “We will have the opportunity to reach some of the region’s most talented youth players,” said Garry Hall, head coach of the Revolution Academy’s Under-14 team and the director of the new alliance. “The alliance offers young players an important number of training and competition opportunities at a critical age and allows us to identify and influence more players at a younger age level than a stand-alone team.  We look forward to helping prepare these young players to compete and continue their careers at the highest levels.”

    Once within the club partnership structure, the top players will be closely monitored and may be selected to transition to New England Revolution Academy’s new U13 Development Alliance team.

    Valeo Futbol Club’s mission is to provide the very best environment for soccer and personal development for committed players who are passionate about the game. Valeo coaches work closely with each player individually to instill the virtues of teamwork, discipline, respect, commitment, leadership and a strong work ethic.

  • STEM for Kids at Newton Free Library

    STEM for Kids at Newton Free Library

    Minecraft Club: Come play Minecraft with your friends on the library’s server. We’ll have different challenges each session. Don’t have an account? No problem, use one of the library’s. The club meets the first Thursday of every month. Minecraft Club is brought to you with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Grades 6-12. Register online. Thursday, June 2, 4:00 pm, second floor Computer Center.

    Classical Guitar Performance at Newton Free Library

    Teen Tinker Club: Learn how to code LEGO WeDos using Scratch! Tinker Club is brought to you with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Grades 6-12. Space is limited, please register online (registration begins April 28) . Thursday, May 19, 4:00 pm, second floor Computer Center.
  • Mayor’s Community Prayer Breakfast

    Mayor’s Community Prayer Breakfast

    Dear Resident,

    You are cordially invited to join me for the 42nd annual Theodore D. Mann Mayor’s Community Prayer Breakfast.

    Each year, the Prayer Breakfast is an opportunity for residents, businesses, non-profits, clergy and staff to come together and celebrate the strength and diversity of our community.

    This year, I am pleased to welcome as our keynote speaker MassChallenge CEO and Founder John Harthorne.

    MassChallenge is a leading global startup accelerator, driving growth and innovation throughout the world. Last year we welcomed MassChallenge to Newton as they opened a site at 124 Vernon Street in Newton Corner.

    The breakfast will be held on Wednesday, May 25th 7:30am-9:00am
    at the McElroy Commons building at Boston College.

    In addition to remarks from Mr. Harthorne, the breakfast will also feature readings from an interfaith representation of clergy, musical performances from Newton Public Schools students, and the presentation of awards, including the annual Community Service Award some very dedicated residents of Newton.

    Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available now. This year, we are partnering with the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce to make tickets available for purchase online. To purchase tickets today, please click here and then click on the “Register Now” button.

    Tickets can also be purchased by contacting Tony Bibbo at Tony Bibbo at 617-969-5906 x305, or ajbibbo@aol.com.

    Proceeds from the event will go toward the Foundation for Racial, Ethnic and Religious Harmony, a terrific local non-profit which provides grants for worthy organizations in Newton and beyond.

    Thank you so much, and I look forward to seeing you there!

    Sincerely,
    Setti D. Warren
    Mayor
    City of Newton, MA

    Setti Warren, Newton Override

  • Openings at Weekday Nursery School

    Openings at Weekday Nursery School

    Weekday Nursery School has openings for our summer camp program and limited openings for the fall program.

    Openings at Weekday Nursery School

    Weekday Nursery School provides care for children between the ages of 2.9 and 5 in Newton Highlands.

    A preschool designed to meet the needs and interests of young children and their families since 1971.

    We currently have limited openings in our three and four year old programs for school year 2016/2017 .

    We believe that “play” is children’s work. Through play, children learn to build foundational skills such as cooperation, respect for others, problem solving, self regulation, and build a strong sense of self. Our environment promotes and encourages a natural sense of curiosity and nurtures each child to be able to explore , ask questions, and make connections about the world he/she lives in.

    Weekday Nursery School offers classes for ages 2.9 – 5 year old children with 3, 4 or 5 day options.

    Hours : 9:00 – 12:00 with optional early drop off and extended day.

    For more info or to schedule a tour , please contact Director, Faye

    Tonkonogy at 617-527- 8895 or email: Weekdaynursey@gmail.com

    54 Lincoln St.

    Newton Highlands MA 02461

  • Massachusetts 5th Best State for Working Moms

    Massachusetts 5th Best State for Working Moms

    Massachusetts Is the 5th Best State for Working Moms

    MA 5th best state for working moms

    Solo moms with young children constituting nearly three-quarters of all working women, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016’s Best & Worst States for Working Moms.

    In order to help ease the burden on an underappreciated segment of the population, WalletHub’s analysts compared the attractiveness of each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia to a working mother. We did so using 13 key metrics such as median women’s salary, female unemployment rate and day-care quality.

    Life as a Working Mom in Massachusetts (1=Best; 25=Avg.)

    • 17th – Day-Care Quality
    • 4th – Access to Pediatric Services
    • 15th – Gender Pay Gap (Women’s Earnings as % of Men’s)
    • 21st – Ratio of Female Executives to Male Executives
    • 21st – Female Unemployment Rate
    • 16th – Parental Leave Policy
    • 7th – Length of Average Woman’s Workday
    • 11th – % of Single-Mom Families in Poverty

    For the full report, please visit here.

  • Children’s Art Scavenger Hunt

    Children’s Art Scavenger Hunt

    Arsenal Project – Watertown Art Association

    Arsenal Project - Watertown Art Association

  • City of Newton Fiscal Budget 2017

    City of Newton Fiscal Budget 2017

    Dear Resident,
    Earlier tonight, I was pleased to present to the City Council my proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2017.
    Below are some highlights from my remarks this evening, as well as links to the full text, and the budget document itself. I hope you will take a moment to read it through.
    Thank you.

    City Finances

    Before I first took office 6 years ago, our budget was not oriented towards delivering outcomes for Newton residents. In 2010, our finances were in bad shape and the outlook was bleak:
    • the City was facing an annual structural deficit projected to be more than $40 million by 2013;
    • our expenses were growing by 2 percentage points more than our revenues every year;
    • there was no emergency or rainy day reserve account;
    • our pension trust fund had suffered a significant loss in principal;
    • we had not even begun to think about addressing our other post-employment benefits, or OPEB, which is “health insurance for retirees”; and
    • our triple A bond rating was in jeopardy.
    Through hard work and dedication and an unwavering, disciplined focus on a strategy of zero basing our budgets, making data-driven financial decisions, and restructuring our union contracts we have been able to eliminate the structural deficit and get our expenditure growth in line with our revenue growth.
    In addition to balancing our budget, we recognized that it was important to establish a reserve fund for emergencies or catastrophic events.  I am proud to announce that with the City Council’s approval of the Rainy Day Docket Item and this budget, we will begin FY17 with almost $19 million, a full 5% of our FY17 operating budget in a rainy day reserve.
    Our pension fund, which had suffered significant losses in the crash of 2008, continues to be a top priority.  And while it was acceptable when I first took office to have a plan that fully funded our pension liability by the year 2038, financial sustainability requires more. Therefore, this budget includes an increase of $1.9 million to continue to support a funding schedule aimed at fully funding the City’s pension liability by the year 2029-almost a decade ahead of schedule.
    Commitment to this funding schedule is an integral component of my administration’s plan to address OPEB liabilities and is therefore key to the City’s long term financial stability strategy.
    Recently, we announced that a third party actuary has confirmed the Administration’s funding strategy, which will enable the City of Newton to eliminate the City’s unfunded pension liability by the year 2029 and the OPEB liability by the year 2042.  The actuarial valuation of the City’s OPEB Liabilities for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 confirms the administration’s plan is financially sound and sustainable. The valuation by Financial Risk Analysts, LLC, is in keeping with the national standards of practice of the actuarial profession and is in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 45, or GASB-45. The FY17 Budget contains a $350,000 increase in the OPEB appropriation, with that allocation now totaling more than $1.7 million.
    And finally on our finances, not only have we been able to maintain our triple A bond rating with Moody’s Investor Services throughout the past 6 years, this year for the first time we went beyond and also asked Standard and Poor’s to rate the City. As many of you know, in January we were pleased to announce that Standard and Poor’s also assigned a triple A rating to the City, citing, and I quote, “strong management, with ‘good’ financial policies and practices under our Financial Management Assessment methodology and strong budgetary performance, with balanced operating results in the general fund.”
    This is a major achievement. With this double triple A rating, the City of Newton has joined a very small group of municipalities who have earned triple A ratings from these two highly regarded institutions.
    Education
    As you’ve heard me say many times before, education is the bedrock of our community. Our commitment to preparing all of our young people to meet their full potential is unwavering.
    The Angier School has opened on time and under budget, the Zervas School community has moved to Carr, as part of our comprehensive, multi-year school facilities plan. A plan that is smart about using swing spaces to minimize disruption as well as embark on an aggressive school buildings upgrade plan in the most cost effective way possible.
    The Cabot School project continues to meet major milestones and in September our pre-k program will be moving to the recently acquired Aquinas property and the Ed Center basement will be renovated to house Central High.
    Additionally, the School Department budget highlights investments in both students and staff to ensure Newton continues to deliver a high-quality education to all students. In developing the FY17 budget, NPS paid special attention to dedicating significant resources to continue to improve student achievement, close the achievement gap, and support the positive social and emotional development of all of our students.
    Over the past five years, achievement gaps in high school English language arts, math, and science MCAS have narrowed. We have seen significant increases in the enrollment of traditionally underrepresented students in higher-level classes at both high schools. This initiative began as a pilot at Newton North and has now expanded to Newton South. The schools continue to expand special education programs so that most students can be educated within the district.
    NPS continues to pilot exciting initiatives in the area of science and technology. This year, the DaVinci Program, an interdisciplinary project based approach to learning science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, is being piloted at Newton South with 10th grade students. This successful pilot will expand to 11th graders next year. Schools have introduced the teaching of computer coding at the elementary level and plans are underway to expand coding lessons in the coming year.
    Condition of Roads
    Six years ago my administration inherited crumbling roads and sidewalks and no comprehensive plan for maintaining and updating our city’s infrastructure. Addressing this serious need has been another priority of my administration and that has been-and will continue to be-reflected in our budget strategy as we invest in our infrastructure and look at our community’s needs in the coming decades. We continue to use the $1 million dollars allocated from the override in 2013 each year to make sure we have safe, updated infrastructure. We are working extensively on upgrading our sidewalks and intersections to be ADA compliant, making them safer for all pedestrians. In FY17, we are installing over 300 ADA compliant ramps at 71 intersections across the City.
    This year, for the first time, under the direction of Public Works Commissioner Jim McGonagle, the City will be using a data-driven approach to our streets with StreetScan, a pavement inspection service that utilizes rapid-sensor inspection technology to diagnose surface and subsurface roadway defects. StreetScan was also a 2015 MassChallenge finalist. Working with them will provide us with the data, tools, and cutting-edge methods that will help us formulate optimum strategies to maintain and improve our roadways. This will produce an organized data-driven approach for pavement management.  This technology will lead to our development of an accelerated street paving action plan based on empirical data and best practices. We expect to present this accelerated action plan to the public in the fall because we know how important it is to have quality roads and sidewalks in our city.
    Smart-Phone App Parking
    I am also pleased to announce that this summer the City will deploy a citywide mobile parking app, which will allow any driver parking at a metered space to have the option of paying either by phone or by coin. We believe this will be immensely more convenient for visitors to our village centers and are excited to roll out this parking initiative.
    BigBelly Trash/Recycling Units
    In addition to the items listed above, this year’s budget includes the installation of
    340 BigBelly smart, solar-powered stations, many with compactors to enable the City to improve waste and recycling management volume, collection, and efficiency by delivering real-time data to a web-based dashboard.
    To view the full text of my remarks from this evening, please click here.
    To view the budget in its entirety, click here.
    Sincerely,
    E-Signature
    Setti D. Warren
    Mayor
    City of Newton, MA
    Setti Warren, Newton Override
  • Newton Family Singers Benefit Concert

    Newton Family Singers Benefit Concert

    Newton Family Singers

    Long May You Run

    Songs by Neil Young and Friends

    A Benefit for the Newton Community Farm
    Newton Family Singers benefit concert for Newton Community Farm

    Join the Newton Family Singers for a very special concert on Saturday, May 14th at 3:30pm at the Newton South High School auditorium. In addition to performing songs by legendary folk rock artist Neil Young, NFS will be singing some well-known and beloved songs by Crosby Stills & Nash, John Fogerty and Buffalo Springfield, as well as a few song surprises. In recognition of Neil Young’s environmentalism and advocacy for small farmers, proceeds from this concert will benefit the educational programs of the Newton Community Farm. The farm’s mission is to teach and model sustainable agricultural and environmental practices in our community, on the historic Angino Farm.

    Bring your family to enjoy the Newton Family Singers benefit concert on Saturday May 14th! We’ll have a fun filled afternoon including great music, concern for our environment, education and community. To purchase tickets online ($10 per adult, $8 per child), please visit our Events Page.

    Please consider purchasing a family sponsorship for $100. Family Sponsors will receive four tickets, a mention in our program and our undying gratitude! For a family sponsorship, please email us at newfamilysingers@gmail.com.

    The Newton Family Singers is a 65 person intergenerational chorus celebrating family, community and American (and sometimes Canadian) folk music since 2010.

    Tickets on sale here.