The district heard our community voices about the need for Asymptomatic COVID-19 Testing to re-open schools safely and responded with The NPS Testing Program.  It’s Free and is Here.  Click to Sign up today so your child(ren) can participate in the weekly testing at South.  Let’s move 30% participation to 75%.  

As we prepare to return to full in-person days on April 26, we NEED the support of our Newton South families to student(s) in the NPS COVID-19 testing program. Testing is the best way we have to quickly identifyinfection and reduce the possibility of in-school transmission.

Mark your calendars for May 2nd and join Newton South students, families, and staff to beautify school grounds.

Be on the lookout for Newton Serves to post signup link within the next few weeks. If you have any questions, please email Katharina.Elbert@yahoo.com

If you missed Nancy Davis Kho’s engaging and inspiring talk about the power of gratitude on March 31st, the recorded video of the presentation is available here.   The link will be available for 2 weeks until April 18th.

The PTSO has also purchased copies of Nancy Davis Kho’s book,   THE THANK-YOU PROJECT: Cultivating Happiness One Letter of Gratitude at a Time and they will be available in the school library.

Unfortunately there was a malicious zoom bombing during a recent PTSO sponsored speaker event The Power of Gratitude on March 31st.  About 30 mins into the presentation, unknown individuals entered the zoom meeting and made several racial and religious slurs, as well as sharing inappropriate visual content.

The Newton South administration was notified and the recorded video was shared with Newton Police and the ADL for further investigation.

The PTSO is excited to host Nancy Davis Kho, author of  THE THANK-YOU PROJECT: Cultivating Happiness One Letter of Gratitude at a Time (zoom info below). Both parents and students are invited to join this discussion about the unexpected power and lasting benefits of thanking those who helped, shaped, and inspired them.  With humor and compassion, Nancy invites her audience to remember and acknowledge those who have helped them in their lives. You can read more about Nancy’s work and the science of gratitude in this  recent New York Times article.

In addition to being an author, Nancy talks about “the years between being hip and breaking one” on her Midlife Mixtape Podcast, which The Wall Street Journal named in 2019 as one of the 8 Top Podcasts for Anyone Nervously Facing Retirement.

For more information about the event, please contact PTSO Programming Coordinators, Paula Ito  or Julie Irish

Topic: Gratitude Speaker Event
Time: Mar 31, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82627310277?pwd=Q2ppSE1XOUh0ME1yTmJQZTlDQ292QT09

Meeting ID: 826 2731 0277
Passcode: Thanks

The PTSO is excited to host Nancy Davis Kho, author of  THE THANK-YOU PROJECT: Cultivating Happiness One Letter of Gratitude at a Time (zoom info below). Both parents and students are invited to join this discussion about the unexpected power and lasting benefits of thanking those who helped, shaped, and inspired them.  With humor and compassion, Nancy invites her audience to remember and acknowledge those who have helped them in their lives. You can read more about Nancy’s work and the science of gratitude in this  recent New York Times article.

In addition to being an author, Nancy talks about “the years between being hip and breaking one” on her Midlife Mixtape Podcast, which The Wall Street Journal named in 2019 as one of the 8 Top Podcasts for Anyone Nervously Facing Retirement.

For more information about the event, please contact PTSO Programming Coordinators, Paula Ito  or Julie Irish

Topic: Gratitude Speaker Event
Time: Mar 31, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82627310277?pwd=Q2ppSE1XOUh0ME1yTmJQZTlDQ292QT09

Meeting ID: 826 2731 0277
Passcode: Thanks

Dear Newton South Community,

It has been a great pleasure to work with various stakeholders in the South community on the principal search process. The Selection Advisory Committee did a terrific job throughout the entire search and I am grateful for their commitment to ensuring that the school would find a highly capable leader. I am also thankful to the students, faculty, administrators and parents/guardians who asked such thoughtful questions of our finalist candidate. 

I am delighted to announce that Haverhill High School Assistant Principal Tamara (Tamii) Stras will be the next principal at Newton South High School. Tamii did an excellent job during the entire interview process and demonstrated that she is prepared to work with the community to lead Newton South to new heights following this most challenging year. During her lengthy finalist day, which included in-depth interviews with faculty and administrators, parents/guardians and students, she clearly articulated her vision and goals for the future of Newton South.   

Throughout the search, Tamii impressed us with her outstanding record as an assistant high school principal, her experience in meeting the needs of a diverse range of students, and her ability to work successfully in a collaborative manner. In addition, she has demonstrated a capacity for leadership that is characterized by thoughtfulness and fairness. Tamii is not afraid to tackle complicated challenges and is a skilled problem solver. She is also deeply committed to her own learning and is skilled at receiving and acting on the feedback she receives.  

Tamii is a highly knowledgeable instructional leader with a keen understanding of teaching and learning. At the same time, she is deeply committed to the social and emotional well-being of students and fully understands the importance of the nature of this work right now. She is also passionate about educational equity and racial justice and is excited to join a school community that is deeply committed to making progress during this historic time.

Previously, Tamii was the science department head at Lawrence High School where she also served as acting assistant principal. She was also a science teacher in Lawrence where she taught AP and other levels of Biology and Chemistry. She has a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Zoology from St. Xavier’s College (Mumbai, India), and a master’s degree from Boston College in secondary education with a concentration in Biology. Tamii is currently a fellow at the Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College.

I do want to recognize the outstanding leadership that Mark Aronson has provided to South over the past year. His thoughtfulness and compassion has been most appreciated and we are so fortunate to have him as the interim principal. 

I am very much looking forward to having Tamii join our leadership team. She will officially begin her position on July 1, 2021. I know that Mark will work closely with Tamii to make the transition seamless.

Sincerely,

David Fleishman

Superintendent of Schools

NSHS Students and Families,

Our planning for combining cohorts at the end of April is now in high gear.  We look forward to having all in-person students back in the building four days per week!

If you are interested in changing your student’s learning model for this final phase of the school year, you may do so.  You will receive a google form with a personalized link for each high school student very soon to indicate if you want to make a change.  This form is totally optional.  You only need to return it if you want to change your student’s learning model from distance to in-person, or from in-person to distance.  The deadline to return this optional form is Sunday, April 4.  If you have questions about this transition, please submit them HERE so that we can start an FAQ document. All learning model changes will take effect on Monday April 26.

 Important Notes:

• This will be the LAST opportunity to request a move FROM distance TO in-person learning. By end of Monday, March 29, families should have received a google form sent from the district with a personalized link for each high school student to indicate if you want to make a change.  This form is totally optional.  The deadline to return the optional form is Sunday, April 4.  If you have questions about this transition, please submit them HERE so that we can start an FAQ document. All learning model changes will take effect on Monday April 26.  If you do not receive an email/google form link by the end of the day on Monday, 3/29, please contact Interim Vice Principal Hardiman at hardimanc@newton.k12.ma.us.

  • All students who are enrolled in the Distance Model on April 26th will remain in the Distance model through the end of the school year.

  • Students who are in the distance model may come to school for MCAS testing, AP testing, athletics and/or extracurricular activities.

• Our current plan is to maintain our current block schedule which means that Wednesdays will continue to be a remote day for the large majority of students.

• Based on the recommendation of the NPS Ad Hoc Medical Advisory Group, we will be transitioning to a minimum of 3ft distancing in classrooms but we will continue to require 6ft distancing when eating.

• Asymptomatic Surveillance testing is an important added tool, alongside our pillars,  as we increase the number of students in the building each day and the number of students in each classroom. NPS is offering free weekly pooled testing to all in-person students and all high school distance students participating in in-person activities.  Highlights to know:

  • • Because the JCM program is able to immediately test and identify the positive sample in a pool (reflex testing), we expect to receive individual results back, and no need to quarantine entire pools.

    • The nasal swab is completed at home on the morning of testing.

    • Visiting the testing center and submitting the test kit takes less than 5 minutes.

    • Students may not participate if they have tested positive in the last 90 days or if they are exhibiting symptoms.

    • For more information, please visit the NPS Covid-19 Testing Page and NSHS Testing FAQ

    • A surveillance testing program works best with a high rate of participation. Let’s work together to keep our students, staff, and community safe.

Thank you,

Chris Hardiman
NSHS Interim Vice Principal