Thursday, October 29th from 7-8:15PM
Hosted by the Newton South PTSO.

Please join us for our Newton South Q&A with Superintendent Fleishman, School Committee Chair Ruth Goldman, and Interim Newton South Principal Mark Aronson.  The meeting is an opportunity for community discussion and to ask questions to help us improve our community’s experience at South this year.   After a brief welcome and opening remarks, participants will be able to ask questions.  Thank you.

Join Zoom Meeting  https://newton-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/83339248362

Meeting ID: 833 3924 8362
Passcode: 390121

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Find your local number: https://newton-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/u/kzVnMbKsz
Meeting ID: 833 3924 8362
Passcode: 390121

Dear Newton South and Newton North Parents/Guardians, 

The High School Working Group (HSWG) can only succeed with the involvement and input from our key stakeholders in our school community and by learning from other district implementations. We also want to assure you, our parent community, that regardless of how we got here, the sense of urgency is clear for the HSWG to assess options for more in-person learning for all our 4,000 high schoolers in Newton.  As part of the parent representatives on the group, we wanted to provide some more details about the HSWG process and work ahead in the coming weeks. 

On October 14, 2020, the School Committee convened the High School Working Group that includes representatives from a diverse group of community stakeholders. This working group has been charged by the School Committee to develop a recommendation to phase-in implementation of in-person learning at Newton high schools for this school year.  While the high schools started in full remote learning, students with high needs and special needs have been in the buildings since school started on September 16, 2020. The HSWG is now focused on expanding in-person learning for all of our high school students and is expected to complete our recommendation by November 30, 2020 to present to the School Committee on December 2, 2020.     

The HSWG’s process includes outreach to parents, teachers, and students to ensure that we incorporate the needs and concerns of our stakeholders in our recommendations.  A survey link will be emailed on Monday, October 26th to all parents/guardians with high school students enrolled in Newton Public Schools.   Student Services, METCO, SEPAC and ELL departments will also be doing outreach to ensure those families have access and are able to complete the survey.  Please be on the lookout for the email from NPS with the link to the survey on Monday, October 26, 2020.  All survey responses must be received by Thursday, October 29, 2020. 

All students and teachers will also receive surveys and will have the opportunity to respond during the coming week during class and/or Flex block. Please encourage your child to complete the survey. Both high schools will also have student focus groups next week to obtain further feedback.

The surveys are one of several data points that the HSWG is incorporating to ensure our school community is proactively represented in our work to develop our recommendation.  Initial survey results will be shared by Friday, November 5th on our dashboard at http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/npshighschoolplan. Based on the results of the surveys, we also expect to hold public forums and/or focus groups in the coming weeks, as we work toward our recommendations.   

Concurrently with the stakeholder surveys, the HSWG is finalizing a list of school districts that have implemented a range of in-person learning models and will connect with them to learn about their experience and gather insights on their implementation.  This current list includes, but is not exclusive to, Lexington, Lincoln-Sudbury, Needham, Wellesley, and Westport, CT.  We appreciate the feedback and information that we have already received from many members of the community about these districts and their in-person learning models.  Lastly, the group will be diving into the known past and current obstacles next week so we can better assess any impacts on our recommendation.   

To learn more about the HSWG work and progress,  please check our dashboard and please don’t hesitate to contact us at npshighschoolplan@newton.k12.ma.us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing your Survey responses and working together to support our high schoolers. Thank you.  

~ May Chiu, Newton South Parent Representative (NSHS PTSO co-President)
~ Janna Lacatell, Newton North Parent Representative (NNHS PTSO co-Secretary, NNHS PTSO Representative – Academic Standards Committee)
NPS High School Working Group

Thank you to the families who have reached out to the Mandel Family.

The family is holding shiva this week Monday to Friday – 10 am – 6 pm at the home of Howard Mandel at 15 Bound Brook Road, Newton MA.

There is also a CareCalendar where people can sign up for meals and other things that he and Zach’s brother Ethan may need. Please click on this link and use the CalendarID and code to view:  https://www.carecalendar.org/v2/calendar.php

CalendarID is 294348
Code is 3828

Thank you for supporting our school community.

The Buddies and Mentors have been matched.  We have more mentors than buddies.

If you didn’t receive the information by now, that means we don’t have buddy to match yet.  Thank you very much for your support and we hope our students find a new connection at South.

Any student interested in being a buddy, please sign up here:  
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfyJQ-YhGlEYlVIEgPeLijLOnfeFSKqN9Vcdj1jAGP9Er0ZPg/viewform?usp=sf_link

The Class of 2021 Officers and the PTSO is excited to host a second special event – Seniors Sunset on Wed Oct 7 from 6-7PM at the NSHS Baseball Field. 

Parent Volunteers are required to support social distancing protocols for all PTSO event.  We need parents to help with student check-in and to chaperone the event. Please sign up at this link by Tuesday, October 6th so we can make this event happen: https://signup.com/go/XeLkytm.  THANK YOU!

Seniors who are comfortable coming to an in-person event are invited to come to see their classmates and hang out to watch the sunset.   The recent updated State Guidelines restrict our event to the first 100 people who register, along with masks and 6ft social distancing guidelines.  Students must click to REGISTER by Oct 6th at 12 Noon to participate. 

The Class Officers will also host a live ZOOM event for those unable to attend in person.  Seniors should contact their Class Officers if they have any questions.  Look forward to seeing everyone!  

As of today, we have 468 out of 1600 families who have confirmed their contact information in the PTSO School Directory.   Please note that the School Directory will include all confirmed and non-confirmed family information.  Families from Oak Hill and Brown information are included.

As part of the confirmation process, you can indicate any information you want to opt-out of releasing. The PTSO School Directory is only available to the current South community – enrolled families, teachers, and staff at Newton South High School.  Membership is required to gain access to the Directory online. 

CLICK ON THIS LINK to CONFIRM your INFORMATION TODAY

The PTSO also relies on the Dues Campaign to raise the necessary funds this year to support our programs.  We are short $12,000 of our reduced fundraising goal of $44,000 for this school year.  If you are able to contribute this year, please choose the option that best suits your family.  This can be done as you confirm your Directory information or you can  CLICK HERE to CONTRIBUTE to the PTSO.    Thank you.

If you have any questions relating to the information in your directory entry, please contact the Directory Committee at directory@newtonsouthptso.org. Please be sure to tell us your student’s name.