Category: Newton Schools

Everything you want to know about the Newton Public School System in Newton, MA.

“Oliver!” named Best Musical in the State

“Oliver!” named Best Musical in the State by Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild

More than 50 students and Theatre Ink staff from Newton North attended the Music Theatre Awards at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston this week after being nominated in many areas of production including best musical. Theatre Ink is excited to announce that “Oliver!” brought home the top honor.

Special thanks to the wonderful Newton North Staff below.

Bradley Jensen – Director/Choreographer/English Teacher

Ruth Talvacchia- Costumes Teacher/Coordinator

Michael Barrington-Haber-Technical Theatre Teacher/Technical Director

Jay Zawacki- Asst. Technical Director/Lighting Teacher

Dan Fabrizio-Asst. Program Director/World Language Teacher

Awards won

Best Hair and Make-up Design

Best Acting Ensemble

Best Dance Ensemble

Best Musical Production

Read Theatre Ink chair Adam Brown’s letter at NorthPTSO.org.

June 29, 2016
Brian Turner Leaving FA Day as Principal

There were rumors flying around last month that Brian Turner would be leaving F. A. Day as principal largely due to the handling of the swastikas found twice in and around the school. Not reporting this to the police in a timely way is the point of contention. Brian Turner did really great things for F. A. Day so it’s a shame that he’s leaving.

Mark Aronson was the interim principal at Newton North High School where he did an amazing job and is a beloved institution. He did such a good job that many wished he would stay as principal but he’s trying to retire so it’s nice that he’s willing to step into F. A. Day for a year.

Here’s the official announcements:

Dear Day Family,

I write to let you know that I am transitioning to a new position in the Newton Public Schools effective June 30, 2016. On July 1, I will be serving as the district’s director of professional development and assessment in the office of Teaching and Learning.

While I am looking forward to my new role, I leave the F.A. Day Middle School with mixed emotions. Since 2010, I have been privileged to serve as principal and will miss this incredibly vibrant community. Although it has been a challenging past year, I nonetheless reflect on the past six years and am proud of our many accomplishments. We increased technology in the classroom, launched and expanded multiple programs to support students academically and socially, adopted instructional strategies to cultivate critical thinking skills, and embraced the language and practices that foster growth mindsets. We have also put in place new programs and initiatives that will serve to increase awareness of and respect for the rich diversity among us and strengthen our efforts to create a safe and supportive school community.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize our outstanding teachers and staff who routinely go above and beyond to create a positive school culture that is focused on academic excellence and students’ social-emotional growth. Because of their caring ways and tireless passion for high-quality education, I know Day’s students will continue to thrive: learning about themselves, understanding and appreciating others, and exploring their ever-expanding worlds.

David Fleishman has already identified an interim principal for the upcoming year. This summer, I will work closely with the interim principal to ensure a smooth transition throughout the upcoming academic year.

Please know that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Day and will miss my daily interactions with everyone. Thank you for your tremendous support over the years. I will cherish the many lessons I have learned at Day.

Sincerely,

Brian Turner

Principal

_____________________________________________

Dear Day Community,

As you know, Brian Turner will be transitioning from his position as principal of Day to a new role as director of professional development and assessment. I want to thank Brian for his many contributions over the past six years. He is a thoughtful and dedicated educational leader who cares deeply that students have positive school experiences. I know Brian is greatly appreciative of the parent support that he has received during his tenure and has thoroughly valued working with the entire community. He is a highly knowledgeable instructional leader and will be moving to a position that will benefit from his background and experience in this area.

It is important to acknowledge that it has been a challenging year at Day. As a district, we are committed to ensure that Day is a healthy, positive and supportive environment for students and staff. In selecting an interim principal, I wanted to find a leader who knows our schools well and can continue to support students, teachers and families.

I am very pleased to announce that Mark Aronson, currently the interim principal at Newton North, will serve as interim principal at Day for the 2016-2017 school year. Mark is highly respected by all stakeholders at North because he has a capacity for leadership that is thoughtful, collaborative and fair. Over the course of the past year, Mark was able to gracefully and skillfully lead his school through a major leadership transition. I am so pleased that we will have an interim principal who brings wonderful wisdom and experience to the position.

Mark has spent his entire career in the Newton Public Schools. He began as a math teacher at Day, where he served for 13 years. He then transitioned to North as a math teacher and assistant housemaster. Mark was a housemaster (now Dean) for 13 years before becoming interim principal this past year. He is excited to return to the school at which he began his career over 30 years ago.

Mark will officially start at Day in the middle of July. I know Brian has done an excellent job preparing for next year, and know he will work closely with Mark to ensure that there will be a smooth opening in September.

Best wishes for a wonderful summer.

Sincerely,

David Fleishman

Superintendent of Schools

June 24, 2016
West Nile Virus and Lyme Disease Prevention
West Nile Virus and Lyme Disease Prevention: Mosquito and tick-borne diseases like West Nile Virus and Lyme disease occur in Newton residents. Take steps to avoid getting sick!
- Mosquito repellant not only works for mosquitoes, but helps repel ticks as well. Use a repellant with DEET, and follow label instructions for concentrations appropriate for children.
- Avoid being outdoors during peak mosquito hours, particularly once West Nile Virus has been detected in the mosquito population.
- Remove containers around your home (tires, kid pools, pots, tarps) that could allow mosquitoes to breed.
- Check your body for ticks after being outdoors and remove them immediately to avoid disease transmission.
This great advice from Day Middle School’s News from the Nurse.
June 22, 2016
Theatre Pre-College Scholarship at Marist College

Summer Pre-College Program
Scholarship Opportunity

This is one of those opportunities I want to pass along to you because it’s a good one and I’m not getting paid to promote anything.

As you may know, my daughter Morgan attended the Summer Pre-College program last year at Marist College. The course was such a positive experience for Morgan, our family has maintained close communication with Marist ever since. I was recently notified that they still have a couple spots left in their Theatre Pre-College course, starting on June 26th so, thanks to our relationship, Marist has given me the opportunity to promote a handful of half tuition scholarship to listeners of MomTalk Radio!

This course offers high school students the opportunity to “test-drive” a college theatre course while living on campus for two weeks. Upon successful completion of the Summer Theatre Institute, each student earns three transferrable college credits for the Marist course ENG 150 Introduction to Theatre. The program also includes seeing live theatre, both locally and with a trip to Broadway with a backstage tour (last summer’s Theatre Institute toured “The Book of Mormon” and had a private talk-back with the cast of “Jersey Boys”.) Best of all, they keep their program small so that the student’s experience is an intimate and rewarding one.

I really don’t want these scholarships to go to waste so please feel free to pass it along to a mom who might have a child who is interested.

If you are interested in learning more, contact program director, Brian Apfel (mention my name) at 845.575.3996 or precollege@marist.edu

Program Website | Video | Printable Brochure

Best of luck,

Maria Bailey

June 17, 2016
Racist Controversy at Newton North High School

Good Morning,

As we enter the last month of our school year, I would like to thank the entire NNHS community for their trust in and support of me this year. I am grateful for your willingness to work with me in a spirit of cooperation.

Every school year contains predictable rhythms as well as unexpected challenges. The challenges faced this year, including fan behavior at the NNHS and Catholic Memorial basketball game, as well as incidents of racial and religious insensitivity, sparked deeper conversations about our school community. Following these incidents, we began a series of school-based conversations that have resulted in promising new initiatives. I am confident that when we support mental health and create a welcoming and inclusive school environment, students and staff are in the right frame of mind to teach and learn to their potential.

To begin, I held open meetings with students and staff during which we discussed the incidents specifically and shared emotions, thoughts, and feelings’ surrounding these unfortunate acts. From these conversations, it was clear there was a strong desire for an ongoing discussion, as well as the creation of a sustainable action plan to acknowledge, support, and celebrate the diversity in our school.

I am very pleased to announce the establishment of Voices of Inter-Cultural Engagement and Empowerment (V.O.I.C.E.), a new student group working, with staff support on a variety of initiatives including a Diversity Day, One School One Book, and Anti-Bullying. This group also plans to create an advisory council to provide a sounding board for the principal, support individual clubs, promote cultural competency, and work to ensure everyone feels included and respected. V.O.I.C.E. and G.S.A. ( Gay Straight Alliance) recently presented at our faculty meeting to share insights and proposals for the future. In addition, I am working to create a dedicated space within our building, to be open in September of 2016, for students and staff who are working on Cultural Competency initiatives.

To illustrate the importance of this ongoing work, I share with you information about an activity included in our Sophomore Carnival last week. The activity, which had been included for many years, involved students bouncing off each other in padded Sumo wrestling suits. Members of our community reached out to me to share that this costume was demeaning and hurtful. On behalf of the entire Newton North community, I apologize for the pain and upset caused by the inclusion of this activity.

NNHS has and will continue to be a reflective institution, striving to be a community that is safe and welcoming for each and every individual. This year, it has become clear to me that we must have a stronger focus on how our choices and behaviors, regardless of intent, impact others and cause pain. As a school, we have solidified our commitment to improve our school culture by putting in place new structures and spaces that will allow us to continue the conversation next year. This task will always be a work in progress, but I look forward to what is to come and thank you again for your ongoing support.

Regards,

Mark Aronson

Principal of Newton North High School

June 10, 2016
Newton High School Students Ace AP Exams

More than 90 percent of students in the Newton high schools receiving scores of 3-5 on the AP exams.

Tests Taken: 1,585

Scores:

1 – 22

2 – 80

3 – 287

4 – 497

5 – 699

Percent Score 1-2: 6.4

Percent Score 3-5: 93.6

This data is for 2014-2015 school year and sourced from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

June 5, 2016
Lead in Water at Newton Elementary School

Dear Newton Community,

On Tuesday, we wrote to inform the Newton Community about the recent water testing conducted by the City of Newton in the school district buildings. For the past 14 years, in compliance with state mandates, the City of Newton has sampled the water for lead and copper in two school buildings per year on a rotating basis. This year, the City made the decision to test samples from all schools because of the national focus on water quality in cities, towns, and school districts across the country.

Attached you will find the results of the tests conducted (results pending at Carr as bubblers were tested later). As reported on Tuesday, all samples from school buildings fell below EPA actionable levels for Lead (>15 ug/L) and Copper (>1300 ug/L), with the exception of Burr Elementary. All water fountains at Burr have been shut off and bottled water has been made available to students and staff. A second round of testing was conducted at Burr on Wednesday and results are pending. A remediation plan will be put in place once the issue is diagnosed.

Out of an abundance of caution, the City will conduct additional testing at Horace Mann and Ward, where results at two fountains showed a level above 10 (EPA actionable level >15 ug/L). We do not believe there is reason to turn off the fountains at these schools given the result was below the actionable level.

We are working closely with the Mayor and city officials to address water monitoring in our school buildings going forward. As always, the health and safety of our students, staff, and families are a top priority for the Newton Public Schools.

Sincerely,

Setti D. Warren                                        David Fleishman

Mayor of Newton                                    Superintendent of Schools

Please select the following link for a pdf version of this letter: Water Testing Results.pdf

Please select the following link for the results of the testing: Water Quality Testing – District Results.xlsx

June 4, 2016
Teachers Union Want Access to Anti-Semitic Investigation

From The Newton Patch:

Newton Teachers Association President Michael Zilles sent a letter to City Solicitor Donnalyn B. Lynch Kahn, requesting the full report without redaction, the Boston Globe reported.

The union representing Newton school teachers has filed a formal request for the complete report about the investigation into how two incidents of anti-Semitic speech at F.A. Day Middle School were handled.

Newton Teachers Association President Michael Zilles sent a letter to City Solicitor Donnalyn B. Lynch Kahn, requesting the full report without redaction, the Boston Globe reported.

In the letter, published by the Globe, Zilles requested that any disciplinary actions recommended or taken towards Day Principal Brian Turner be made public, along with the role middle school teachers and counselors had in reporting and responding to the incidents.

“Thus, the public still does not know the lengths to which teachers at Day Middle School went to protect their children,” Zilles wrote. “We are perplexed because we believe that if the public were to know these facts, their confidence that their children remain in safe hands would be enhanced.”

Zilles also asked that any correspondence that led to the decision to redact the original public report be released as well.

An investigation into the incidents was launched after it was revealed they had gone unreported for months. In February, Turner sent a letter out to parents detailing the incidents, which included anti-Semitic writing found etched on a bathroom stall in October and a swastika branded into the snow in January, and acknowledged that he should have reported them sooner.

June 2, 2016
Lead in Water at Burr Elementary

Dear Newton Community,

To ensure the health and safety of all students, staff and visitors to the Newton Public Schools, the City of Newton Department of Public Works, in conjunction with the Health and Human Services Department, recently conducted water quality testing of drinking fountains in all 23 school buildings in Newton. This testing went beyond the state-mandated testing conducted yearly and was done as a precautionary measure to safeguard the health and wellness of all students and staff.

With the exception of Burr Elementary, the samples tested in all of the schools showed lead levels below the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (Mass DEP) safe drinking water standard of 15 micrograms per liter. Specific data and results for all schools will be sent out as soon as they are received and will be posted on the district website. The water is safe to drink in all of these schools. We will continue to monitor the buildings to ensure the water quality moving forward.

At Burr Elementary School, a sample from one drinking fountain found slightly elevated levels of lead (26.6 mcg/L vs.15 mcg/L Mass DEP standard). As a result of this finding, we immediately shut off the water to this drinking fountain and all other drinking fountains at the Burr School. Additional testing was conducted this morning. When those results are received, we will immediately take action to remediate the issue and eliminate the problem. Until the results are confirmed and the issue resolved, bottled water will be provided to all students and staff at Burr.

We will provide test results for Burr School once they are received and outline the remediation action plan and the monitoring protocol. For additional resources on lead in drinking water, please see the attached fact sheet from Mass DEP or visit the CDC website at: www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/water.htm.

The health and safety of all Newton students and staff is paramount. Every action step will be taken to ensure the ongoing safety of water in our school buildings. Should you have any questions, please contact the Newton Department of Health and Human Services at 617-796-1420.

Sincerely,

David Fleishman

Superintendent of Schools

May 20, 2016
Openings at Weekday Nursery School

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

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

May 15, 2016