BLUE WEEK
Newton South Families,

We are on to week 3 and halfway through the month of September! It was great to see everyone at Back to School Night this past Thursday, navigating the building and meeting all of our amazing teachers! We hope that for those of you who were able to make it, that you had a great experience and were able to get a feel for what a day at Newton South feels like. Additionally, we hope you had a chance to meet our Deans in the Student Center to learn more about our new Attendance Policy.

The Attendance FAQ can be found here.
The full Attendance Policy can be found here.

Students: looking for a way to get involved? Check out the list of clubs here that you can visit during Lion block, and be sure to take a look at the athletics schedule to see what games are coming up.

Acting Principal Josepha Blocker put out a community update on Friday, September 16. This can be found here.

Last but certainly not least, remember that the district will release a newsletter every two weeks. The most recent newsletter is from Wednesday, September 14 and can be found here.

Here’s to another great week at South! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Jason Williams (he/him/his)
Vice Principal
Newton South High School

This Week’s Updates
Sign Up for WIN Blocks During Advisory on Monday

Students will sign up for WIN blocks during Advisory on Monday, September 19. They will use the MyFlexLearning app to do so. There will be some special programming for certain grades this week:

Wednesday 9/21: All grade 10 students in Wheeler House will meet in the Field House for a Counseling Center activity
Thursday 9/22: All grade 9 students will meet in the Field House for a presentation by Rob Greenfield
Friday 9/23: All grade 10 students in Goldrick House will meet in the Field House for a Counseling Center activity

List of Colleges Attending Newton South This Week

Attached is a list of colleges visiting Newton South for the week of 9/19 – 9/23. If you have any questions, please reach out to Kathy Sabet, our College and Career Counselor.

The College and Career Center webpage is here.

Senior Parent Post-Secondary Planning Webinar on Thursday, September 22

On Thursday, September 22 at 6:30 PM, we will hold a Senior Parent Post-Secondary Planning Webinar. During this virtual webinar, the Newton South school counselors will discuss everything students and families need to know about school procedures to support students applying to colleges, technical schools, gap years and otherwise preparing for life after high school.

Our Counseling department head, Dan Rubin, sent an email to all seniors on September 8 with more information. Here is a link to the webinar:

https://newton-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/89477861834
Passcode: Lions2023

Annual Student Information Update – Please Complete!

Every year, you are required to update student information in Aspen, our student information system. It is very important that families update addresses, emergency contacts, health records, and permissions so that schools have the most accurate and up to date information for students.

This system is also used to determine what student information can be released. Please note that we do have new Opt Out Permissions for the 2022-2023 school year that need your review and preference selections.

Families must update their students’ records by Friday, September 30th. Please use these instructions to access the information and forms in Aspen: Student Information Update Instructions.

Reminders for Students
Lunch

Please be sure to clean up after yourselves when you are done eating. We have sometimes had trash left at tables which has created extra, unnecessary work for our custodial staff. Remember our school values – Choose Kindness, Listen First, Show Respect, and Take Responsibility.

Please note the following from our school handbook, The Orange Lion, regarding lunch:

Students are permitted to eat in the following locations:
The Student Center
Outside, when the weather permits (picnic tables are outside Wheeler House and in the Student Center Courtyard)
The Wheeler, Goldrick or Goodwin Commons
The Field House Lobby
Any supervised area where staff give expressed permission
Auditorium Lobby Tables

Students are NOT permitted to eat in the Library, Auditorium, Lecture Hall, or in hallways.
Students are also not permitted to eat on the floor.

We appreciate your cooperation as we work together to maintain a safe, healthy environment for all.

Parking On Campus

Please do not park along the fence near the athletic fields and Cutler House, or in any fire lane. This is an important access point for city and emergency vehicles and a vital pickup and dropoff point for our school vans. We appreciate your cooperation as we help ensure the safety of all students.

Only seniors who have earned a spot through the parking lottery are allowed to park on campus. Only seniors who have paid for a parking pass at the beginning of the semester are allowed to park on campus, and are only allowed to park in their designated, numbered, yellow-lined space.

Vehicles illegally parked on campus will receive a warning ticket after their first violation. If the vehicle receives a second ticket, it is subject to being towed, at the owner’s expense, if it receives another one.

Here is the parking handbook for Semester 1.

Off-Campus Parking

Students: When parking in off-campus locations in the surrounding neighborhood, please be mindful of the following:
Observe parking restrictions on these roads
Park at least 5 feet away from a driveway so residents can get in and out of their homes
Park near but not on the grass edges if there is no curb so that there is space for pedestrians to walk and for fire trucks and other vehicles to pass through the street
Park thoughtfully to avoid having unparkable spaces between your car and another vehicle
On one-way streets, park in the direction of traffic

Following these guidelines will help keep our surrounding neighborhood safe and reduce congestion in the area. We thank you for your consideration.

Consider Opting-In to the NPS Chromebook Repair Fund

We encourage you to sign up for our Optional Chromebook Repair Fund. For $25 per year, all accidental damage to the device, including screen cracks, liquid spills, damages from dropping, etc. will be covered. Sign-up and payment for the Chromebook Repair Fund is done through the MySchoolBucks Portal.