Tag: Newton Centre

St. Patrick’s Day Concert & Party by New Philharmonia Orchestra

The New Philharmonia Orchestra is bringing a fantastic St. Patrick’s Day concert to Newton. The event combines classical music, traditional Celtic music, and audience sing-a-long favorites for an evening of great community fun! The event kicks off with a party featuring traditional Irish fare, a craft beer tasting, and strolling Irish musicians. Performances will follow the reception and will even include Irish dancing!

Saturday, March 17th at 7:00 p.m.

First Baptist Church, 848 Beacon Street in Newton Centre

Tickets are $20/adult, $10/child under age 21

617-527-9717

March 7, 2012
Meet Your New Neighbor: Dr. Dave Oliver of Newton Wellness Center

Would you like to meet your new neighbor? Meet Dr. Dave Oliver, a chiropractor. He hails from New Jersey but has lived in the Boston area for the past five years. A little over a year ago he took over Newton Wellness Center in Piccadilly Square in Newton Centre — you know, right above Rosenfeld’s Bagels. He also is a new Newton resident. You might have seen him and his dog Marley in Newtonville.

1. What made you decide to move to Newton from New Jersey?

After chiropractic school I moved back to New Jersey where I did my internship. I started looking around for an associateship but didn’t find anything that I felt fit right. A little while after I graduated I took a trip up to Boston to visit my sister who has been living in Burlington the past 15 years. I had always enjoyed visiting Boston and really loved the area! I decided while I was up here I would see if there were any offices looking for an associate. I happened to find an office in downtown Boston that needed a new doctor to take over their patients. It seemed like a great opportunity so within a month I moved up to the area and started working. After spending 4 years working there and learning a great deal about running a chiropractic office, I decided it was time to start my own practice. After looking around a bit, I found a practice for sale in Newton that matched well with my style and was in a great location. I had always heard good things about Newton and as I began to look into the area I became more excited about starting a business here. I took over Newton Wellness Center in October 2010.

2. What did you do before taking over Newton Wellness Center?

I graduated Cum laude from Palmer College of Chiropractic in San Jose CA. While I was in school I had the opportunity to travel to Fiji where I spent several weeks traveling to the under-served areas and provided free chiropractic care to the local residents. Many of these people had never even seen a doctor in their lifetime and I found it to be one the most rewarding experiences in my life. I treated several hundred people during that trip and hope to do something similar in the future.

Shortly after, my move to Boston happened and I started working at Boston Chiropractic Associates in downtown Boston. I was the main clinic doctor in a very busy office so I learned a lot about running a business and what it takes to succeed. I established trust and great relationships with my patients – many of whom have followed me to Newton to continue their care.

3. I noticed that you have a large exercise room in your office. I’ve never seen that in Chiropractor office before and I’ve been to a few. Tell me about it and your philosophy on treating chronic pain.

I believe chiropractic care is a very effective treatment for a variety of conditions but I think there is far more we can do for our patients than simply adjust them and restore proper spinal motion. Many of the symptoms people come to me with – whether it be lower back pain, neck pain, headaches, etc.. are coming from the joint fixations/ misalignments in their spine. By adjusting them and restoring proper motion I can alleviate most of their symptoms.

However, when patients go back to their normal lives sitting at computers for hours, chasing their children, etc. (activities that most likely brought them into my office in the first place) more than likely their symptoms will come back. This is something I noticed working in Boston. Many of my patients would get a lot of relief from treatment but would inevitably come back in a a year or two and say their pain was back again. Unless they were under consistent care, many of them would have these recurrences.

This was a problem to me! There had to be a better solution, one which could provide longer lasting results. I began looking into the things that were really causing patients to come to me in the first place. I determined it was due to poor ergonomics at work – mostly desk workers and weakened or unconditioned muscles around the spine. I started learning as much as I could about proper ergonomics and spinal rehabilitation and started using what I learned on my patients. Low and behold their results were much better than before. They started to see/feel longer lasting relief and were still able to enjoy all the things they loved in life. So, when I looked for an office to open it was very important to me that I find one with a large space in which I could teach my patients simple stabilizing exercises which they could perform in the office and then perform on their own at home.

4. If I come to you in pain — headache, neck or back pain — what is the first thing that you do?

The first thing that is done is that we sit down to go over your history to get a clear picture of who you are and get clues as to why you are experiencing these symptoms. Then an exam is performed to check range of motion to see if there are any restrictions to movement as well as specific orthopedic tests. Finally I will examine your spine by gently assessing for motion. At this time, I will determine if chiropractic adjustments are appropriate in order to treat you. I will let you know what I have found, what I believe to be the cause of your symptoms and if and how I can help you. Many patients tell me that they really appreciate this portion of the initial meeting. They feel that a lot of doctors don’t give them true explanations for their symptoms. I find it is essential that my patients understand why they are in my office and what has caused their problem(s). If they don’t understand this, then how are they going to prevent it from from coming back? My goal is not to make people dependent upon me. It is to empower them to take control of their health.

5. How do you like Newton and where might we bump into you?

So far my time in Newton has been great. I moved to Newtonville 6 months ago and have to say I really love the area. I have a black lab who loves walks so I try to take him as often as I can! It’s great that there are a lot of other dog lovers in the area. I have also taken trips over to the dog park at Crystal Springs. My patients have definitely made me feel more at home here – always recommending great local hangouts and restaurants to try. My girlfriend and I enjoy going out to eat on the weekends and have found several great restaurants in the area. We are big fans of Paddy’s, The Local and the newly opened Max and Leo’s for pizza. I also love to travel and get away when possible on the weekends often heading up to Maine or visiting family in New Jersey.

Running a School Auction? Take Note!

To introduce himself to the Newton Community, Dr. Oliver would like to donate gift certificate for a massage and chiropractic consultation/examination to any school auction in Newton including preschool, public or private school. Please email him at droliverdc@gmail.com to arrange to pick up your school auction item donation.

Introductory “Meet Us!” Rate

Dr. Oliver is offering a special Introductory Rate of $49 for a 50 minute massage and chiropractic consultation/exam — normally $230. He’d love for you to come in with no strings attached and see for themselves what his office is about. And on top of that, you get a 50 minute massage!

I’ve asked Dr. Oliver to be a regular contributor to this blog. Look for future posts from him on Top 10 Ergonomic Safety Tips!

Newton Wellness Center is a an chiropractic office which is dedicated to helping you become the healthiest person possible. Besides chiropractic care and spinal rehab instruction we have an excellent massage therapist who has a lot of experience and is highly trained in treating musculoskeletal conditions.

February 15, 2012
Best Tutors, Private Coaches, Music Teachers etc.

I hate to tell you how many tutors I hire for my 3 kids. It’s a little embarrassing because it’s quite a lot but I do use tutors to teach my kids things that I can not and/or to help them when they don’t want my help. I am known to do a long, investigative search to find the right match for my kids so I decided to share my Rolodex of Newton Tutors, Teachers and Coaches. I am sure there are other wonderful ones out there. Will you share? Please do by leaving a comment and I’ll update the list.

Requests for Referrals:

— My Mom Friend Melissa is seeking a Voice coach for her 6th grade daughter.

— My Mom Friend Penny is seeking a piano teacher for her 4th grade daughter.

p.s. A great source for an academic tutor: hire from a school that your child doesn’t attend. Ask your teacher for referrals!

p.p.s Here’s a post on How To: Select a Music Teacher

Best Flute Teacher: Barbara Nakazawa (Newton Highlands)

Best Classical Guitar Teacher: Dan Ascadi (Nonantum)

Best Soccer Private Coach: Ahead of the Game

Best Academic (Math but also other subjects) Peer Tutor: Lily Skerjl (email me for her info, she’s an 8th grader and she tutors my 6th grader)

Best Math or Reading Tutors for Boys: Hire teachers from Fessenden School

Best Spanish Tutor: Spanish by Martha.

Best Mandarin Chinese Tutor: Stella Pan (email me for her info, no website)

Cynthia Carpenter for Reading:

I’m a “retired” Brookline, Lexington, and Concord and New York City teacher, with 30 years experience teaching grades Pre-K through high school. In addition to having taught in elementary classrooms and as a middle and high school English teacher, I’m a certified Reading Specialist (providing consulting to teachers, direct support to students, and doing diagnostic testing.)

I have a Master’s + 70 post-grad credits in Education, Comparative Literature, and Art History, and my classrooms have served as placement sites for many student teachers. I am especially interested in multicultural teaching, received a Lowell Scholarship to study Linguistics at Harvard, and am listed as an “executive functioning” specialist on the Concord SEPAC website.

Cynthia Carpenter
(978) 952-8871

p.s. Other Guides to Newton:

Best Preschools in Newton

A Fairly Comprehensive List of Birthday Party Locations and Ideas for Kids in Newton and Boston

Best Martial Arts Schools for Kids and Adult in Newton

A Fairly Comprehensive List of After School Supplemental Math Classes in Newton

A Fairly Comprehensive List of Dance Studios in Newton

Best Gymnastics for Toddlers and Kids in Newton Area

Best Caretaker and Child Music Classes in Newton

February 8, 2012
A Fairly Comprehensive List of Dance Studios for Adults and Kids in Newton

My girls were not dancers, alas, but we did try it out at Boston Ballet School both in Newton and Boston, and I even have one of them taking Hip Hop at Joanne Langione Dance Center. Through the years, we’ve also attended really excellent dance parties at All That Jazz and The Dance Academy. How about you? What dance studio do your kids like?

I guess it’s no surprise with the popularity of Dancing with the Stars that there are so many ballroom dance studios but still I was surprised to see how many we have here in Newton. So, put your dancing shoes on and dance the night away!

If I’ve left out any dance studios, please leave a comment and I’ll add to the list. Thank you!

Dance for Children and Adults

All That Jazz, 232 California Street, Newton, MA 02458

Boston Ballet School, 863 Washington St, Newtonville, MA 02460

The Dance Academy, 94 Rowe Street, Newton, MA 02466

Creative Steps Dance Studio, Eliot Church Of Newton, 474 Centre Street, Newton, Ma. 02459

Joanne Langione Dance Center, 35 Border St., West Newton, Ma 02465

Paulette’s Dance Studio, 190 Oak St. Newton, MA 02464

Dance Fever, 200 Wells Avenue Newton, MA 02459

Newton Music Academy, 14 Roland St, Newton, MA 02461

Sullivan School of Irish Dance, Newton

The American Chinese Art Society, 111 Truman Road, Newton, MA 02459-2640

Newton Community Education Dance Classes

MetroWest YMCA Dance Classes

Ballroom Dancing

Barbara’s Ballroom Dance Studio, 15 Linda Lane Newton MA 02461

Boston Ballroom Dance Center, 141 California Street Newton, MA 02458

Star Dance Studio, 50 Winchester Street Newton, MA 02461

Balera Ballroom School of Ballroom Dance, 105 Rumford Avenue Newton, MA 02466

Newton Community Education Ballroom Dance Classes

Dance Gear

Dancer’s Image, 849 Washington St, Newton, MA 02460

p.s. Other Guides to Newton:

Best Preschools in Newton

A Fairly Comprehensive List of Birthday Party Locations and Ideas for Kids in Newton and Boston

Best Martial Arts Schools for Kids and Adult in Newton

A Fairly Comprehensive List of After School Supplemental Math Classes in Newton

Best Gymnastics for Toddlers and Kids in Newton Area

Best Caretaker and Child Music Classes in Newton

Best Tutors, Music Teachers etc in Newton

January 26, 2012
Featured Store: Kiki D. Design & Consign

Beth Kurson has been a jewelry designer for a number of years and just this past year she decided to combine her love of designing jewelry and high end designer clothes and opened Kiki D. Design & Consign on 214 Sumner Street in Newton Centre. This lovely shop has designer clothes beautifully displayed and in fantastic condition. Recent finds: Chanel jacket, Malo cashmere sweater, Louis Vuitton and Coach bags in perfect condition. Beth is meticulous and also has a great eye. Have a designer item in your closet that is getting no wear? Bring it by and have Beth look it over. You will most likely leave with a new addition to your wardrobe! Ask her to put together a new look for you – she can work with existing pieces and really pull an outfit together.

From the website:

At Kiki D. Design & Consign, owner Beth Kurson has filled her store with a fantastic array of consigned high end designer clothing, handbags and accessories for women. Bottega Veneta – Prada – Girbaud – Marni – Jimmy Choo – Louis Vuitton and so much more is waiting for you when you walk in the door!

The shop also houses Beth’s own line of jewelry, Kiki D. Design. The line includes an eclectic mix of vintage and new elements, creating at once, classic and contemporary designs for today’s fashionable woman. You will find her layering one-of-a-kind pieces that mix rough cut pave diamond beads or pendants with vintage watch chains and findings, pearls mixed with antiqued sterling silver chain and even a stingray cuff with a vintage rhinestone shoe buckle.

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am-5pm

All major credit cards, debit cards, checks and cash accepted.

Kiki D. Design & Consign is conveniently located in Newton Centre at 214 Sumner St. right next to Lee’s Burgers and across the street from Home on Sumner and the old post office.

January 7, 2012
Newton Ranks #3 As Best Place to Live According to CNN!

According to CNN, Newton ranked as the number 3 best place to live in America!

WINNER

Top 100 rank: 3
Population: 82,000
Unemployment: 6.0%
Compare Newton to Top 10 Best Places

Less than 45 minutes from downtown Boston via train, subway, or express bus, Newton is divided into 13 “villages” loaded with classic New England charm. Most have pedestrian-friendly shopping districts, parks, and playgrounds.The town weathered the economic downturn fairly well, thanks to such stable local employers as Boston College and Newton-Wellesley Hospital. And Greater Boston, of course, offers a wealth of health care, education, and government jobs.Residents rave about the top-ranked schools, and parents are excited for the new high school opening this fall. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” says Claudia Wu, 51, an attorney with three school-age kids who has lived in Newton for 20 years. It should be: The school cost $197 million, an amount that sparked plenty of local outrage.After all, living in this community is expensive enough: a three-bedroom house runs nearly $600,000. If it weren’t for those hefty price tags, this town would be pretty close to perfect. —Beth Braverman

August 27, 2011
Wikipedia on Newton, Massachusetts
Newton has a Wikipedia page! I guess this is useful for anyone thinking of moving to Newton and right now the real estate in Newton, MA is a hot market.

Villages

Newton is a suburban city approximately seven miles from downtown Boston. Rather than having a single city center, Newton is a patchwork of thirteen “villages”, many boasting small “downtown” areas of their own. The 13 villages are:Auburndale, Chestnut Hill, Newton Centre, Newton Corner, Newton Highlands, Newton Lower Falls, Newton Upper Falls (both on the Charles River, and both once small industrial sites), Newtonville, Nonantum (also called “The Lake”), Oak Hill,Thompsonville, Waban and West Newton. Oak Hill Park is a place within the village of Oak Hill that itself is shown as a separate and distinct village on some city maps, (including a map dated 2010 on the official City of Newton website) and Four Corners is also shown as a village on some city maps. Although most of the villages have a post office, they have no legal definition and no firmly defined borders. This village-based system often causes some confusion with addresses and for first time visitors.

History

Newton was settled in 1630 as part of “the newe towne”, which was renamed Cambridge in 1638. It was incorporated as a separate town, known as Cambridge Village, in 1688, then renamed Newtown in 1691, and finally Newton in 1766.^[3] It became a city in 1873. Newton is known as The Garden City.

In Reflections in Bullough’s Pond, Newton historian Diana Muir describes the early industries that developed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in a series of mills built to take advantage of the water power available at Newton Upper Fallsand Newton Lower Falls. Snuff, chocolate, glue, paper and other products were produced in these small mills but, according to Muir, the water power available in Newton was not sufficient to turn Newton into a manufacturing city.

Newton, according to Muir, became one of America’s earliest commuter suburbs. The Boston and Worcester, one of America’s earliest railroads, reached West Newton in 1834. Gracious homes sprang up almost instantly on erstwhile farmland on West Newton hill, as men wealthy enough to afford a country seat, but whose business demanded that they be in their downtown Boston offices during the business day, took advantage of the new commuting opportunity offered by the railroad. Muir points out that these early commuters needed sufficient wealth to employ a groom and keep horses, to drive them from their hilltop homes to the station.

Further suburbanization came in waves. One wave began with the streetcar lines that made many parts of Newton accessible for commuters in the late nineteenth century, the next wave came in the 1920s when automobiles became affordable to a growing upper middle class. Even then, however, Oak Hill continued to be farmed, mostly market gardening, until the prosperity of the 1950s made all of Newton more densely settled. Newton is not a typical “commuter suburb” since many people who live in Newton do not work in downtown Boston. Most Newtonites work in Newton and other surrounding cities and towns.

The city has two symphony orchestras, the New Philharmonia Orchestra of Massachusetts and the Newton Symphony Orchestra.

The Newton Free Library possesses more than 500,000 volumes of print materials (2004), as well as art, both original and prints, sound recordings and videos: the largest collection in the Minuteman Library Network.^{[citation needed]}

Each April on Patriots Day, the Boston Marathon is run through the city, entering from Wellesley on Route 16 (Washington Street) where runners encounter the first of the four infamous Newton Hills. It then turns right onto Route 30 (Commonwealth Avenue) for the long haul into Boston. There are two more hills before reaching Centre Street, and then the fourth and most infamous of all, Heartbreak Hill, rises shortly after Centre Street. Residents and visitors line the race route along Washington Street and Commonwealth Avenue to cheer the runners.

Here’s an except of our schools:

Preschools
- Rosenshine Nursery School, Temple Reyim, 1860 Washington Street
- Presbyterian Church Nursery School 75 Vernon Street
- Temple Beth Avodah Nursery School, 45 Puddingstone Lane
- Beth-El Pre-School, 561 Ward St.
- Burr Cooperative Nursery School [1], 64 Hancock St., Auburndale
- The Teddy Bear Club Preschool, 1466 Commonwealth Ave, West Newton.
- Bernice B. Godine JCC Early Learning Center [2], Leventhal-Sidman JCC, 333 Nahanton St.
- The Children’s Cooperative Nursery School, 848 Beacon St.
- Temple Shalom Nursery School, 175 Temple St.
- Walnut PK Montessori School [3], 47 Walnut Park
- Auburndale Community Nursery School, 230 Central St.
- Rockwell Nursery School at Lasell College [4], 70 Studio Road
- Newton Community Service Center, 492 Waltham Street
- Parkside Preschool, 474 Centre Street, Newton Corner
- Preschool Experience, Centre Street
- Upper Falls Nursery School, 45 Pettee St, Newton Upper Falls
- Bilingual Beginnings at Pine Village Preschool 1326 Washington Street, West Newton
- West Newton Children’s Center Washington ST, West Newton
- Little Red Wagon Playschool 50 Winchester Street, Newton Highlands
This list was not comprehensive so we did another post here that has pretty much every preschool we’ve ever heard of in Newton, MA.

[edit]Primary and secondary education

Public: Newton Public Schools

Public Elementary Schools include:
- Angier
- Bowen
- Burr
- Cabot School
- Countryside
- Franklin
- Horace Mann
- Lincoln Eliot
- Mason Rice
- Memorial Spaulding
- Peirce
- Underwood
- Ward
- Williams
- Zervas
Newton has four public middle schools:
- Bigelow
- Brown
- Oak Hill
- Day
Brown Middle School and Oak Hill Middle School graduates go on to Newton South while Frank A. Day Middle School and Bigelow Middle School graduates go on to Newton North. There are exceptions based on exact location of the student’s home.

Newton has two public high schools:
- Newton North High School
- Newton South High School
- Private
  - Fessenden School [5], A K-9 day and 5-9 boarding school for boys at 250 Waltham Street in West Newton
  - Jackson School [6], Jackson School is a private, Catholic, elementary school sponsored by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Boston.
  - Newton Country Day School [7], 785 Centre St
  - Trinity Catholic High School, 575 Washington Street. See also: Trinity Catholic High School Website
  - The Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston [8], A K-8 Conservative Jewish dayschool
  - The Newton Montessori School [9] 80 Crescent Ave.
  - The Rashi school 18 Walnut Park(now in Dedham)
  - Clearway School 61 Chestnut Street. Clearway is a small, private school specializing in educating gifted children suffering from learning disabilities.
  - Mt. Alvernia High School [10], a private girls’ school for grades 7-12 located at 790 Centre Street.
August 26, 2011