Category Archives: SEPAC

Nominate staff members for SEPAC special education awards

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Newton PTO Council in Community Notes, SEPAC

As you may know, each year, parents, guardians, and students are able to nominate NPS and
Out of District teachers and staff for a Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC)
Award. A SEPAC Award recognizes exceptional NPS and Out of District teachers, aides,
behavior therapists, psychologists, bus drivers, crossing guards, administrators, and other staff
for the role they played in a student’s special education journey this past academic year.
Interested in nominating an exceptional NPS or Out of District teacher and/or staff member?
The deadline for nominations is Monday, May 22nd. Here’s how the process works:
? Submit a nomination through the nomination form
? All celebratory nominations will be recognized
? In early June, your nominee will receive:
? A printed SEPAC Award delivered to their home school
? A note with the kind words you wrote about your nominee
? A short slideshow of anonymized nominations lifting up the good work taking
place across the district

? Each principal will receive a list of nominees from their school
Do you need to nominate everyone from your student’s team? Please only nominate the
teachers and staff members who you feel have been exceptional!
Questions? Reach out to: newtonspecialeducationawards@gmail.com
Thank you so much for your participation recognizing the exceptional NPS and Out of District
teachers and staff who work so hard to support special education students. Please help us
share this message as widely as possible so the SEPAC Awards can reach all corners of our
community!

Disrupting Implicit Bias Presentation

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Newton PTO Council in Community Notes, Education/Enrichment, From Our PTOs, Lecture, Newton PTO Council, Newton Public Schools, SEPAC

SEPAC is co-hosting an event with the Newton PTOC (Parent Teacher Organization
Council), FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice), and ELPAC (English Learners Parent
Advisory Council). The event will be held at the Angier Elementary School cafeteria for those who are
able to attend in-person 7:30-9pm and over Zoom: 
HTTPS://US02WEB.ZOOM.US/J/83085228831 
MEETING ID: 830 8522 8831

We’ll first hear a presentation from Dr. Tessa Charlesworth, a researcher at Harvard who studies how
and why beliefs and attitudes about different social groups can change. Her presentation will
provide an overview of bias in society with respect to various social groups and explore what
research tells us are the best interventions to shift the biases of a society, organization, and
individual. Q&A and then a community discussion to follow.