The Senior Picnic,
May 11th, 11:30 – 1pm, on the Newton South Baseball Field
The Outdoor Collective, organized by Ms. Tyack and fellow teachers have organized hikes and polar swims for our Seniors since October 2020.   Join us on the baseball field to have fun playing lawn games and eating snacks while the rest of the school is taking MCAS. Bring a blanket and sit on the grass with friends or enjoy a snack while playing frisbee.  Price: Free

Link to sign-up (students must use their NPS log in to sign-up): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSezdfIpZ8NigNgUIzwcRyNYqdj0Eo2cZvZ3bVjcpZagLXfahA/viewform

Graduation Countdown Event.  May 18th, 6:30 – 8pm, outside by the tent at South. Check in will be on the sidewalk on Brandeis Rd by the tent.  Please note that participants can pick up your meal at the food station based on your arrival time you selected during registration to minimize the food pickup line.  Thank you!  Map of the location of the event is available in the sign-up form.

Masks and social distancing will be required at all times.  This is an event for the current enrolled Class of 2021 Newton South Seniors only.  Catering by Blue Ribbon BBQ and Mo’s Ice Cream Truck.  Price: Free

We need a few more PARENT VOLUNTEERS. Please sign up here:  https://signup.com/go/nXhmOJJ

REGISTRATION CLOSES  TODAY.  NO WALK-INS. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/7Z8Jq9YuPyhgpjgs7

THANK YOU to our PTSO parent organizers and ALL our student and parent volunteers who added some beautiful curb appeal to Newton South on May 2nd.

Hello Seniors and Families,

I wanted to share the preliminary details for graduation for the class of 2021 to assist in your planning. Please know that many more details will be forthcoming when the information is finalized, but for now, here is what we know and can share:

1. The graduation date is June 10th (times below). Rain date is June 11th.

2. Keeping in mind state guidelines, there will be TWO graduation ceremonies, one for Cutler and Goodwin House and another for Goldrick and Wheeler House.

3. The exact times are:

• 4:00 PM Cutler and Goodwin
• 6:00 PM Goldrick and Wheeler

4. The ceremonies will be held at Winkler Stadium (South’s multi-purpose turf field).

5. Following state guidelines and keeping in mind our space limitations, there will be a limit of 4 TICKETS per graduate.

6. NEW TV will be live streaming the entire event for those that are unable to attend.

Again, more information will be forthcoming so please stay tuned.

We look forward to celebrating the Class of 2021!

Chris Hardiman

NSHS Interim Vice Principal

Email from Vice Principal Hardiman on May 14th.

Class of 2021: This is the time of year when we start sharing a lot of information specifically related to the graduating class of seniors. A separate email to those students and families will be coming shortly from me regarding MySchoolBucks, but for now, please be aware that the following info will be emailed out NEXT Friday, May 14th to senior students and families:

• Pre-registration for graduation and a graduation attendance survey 
• Information regarding senior students returning Chromebooks and books
• Other details, as confirmed

*Please note: Any updated information on the senior end of year celebration on Sunday, June 6th will be shared out by the senior class officers, advisors, or deans

From the Vice Principal, Mr. Hardiman:

May/June School Calendar: To help with planning for the end of the year activities, I have put together a May/June calendar to hopefully make it easier for viewing weeks at a time. Please know that we will do our best to keep this calendar updated with relevant events and share out any updates in the weekly Friday memo. 

Update on the calendar for this week: 

• Graduation on June 10th will be a ½ day with dismissal for students at 11:30 am.

Wednesday Schedules: Due to the state’s requirement of a full five-day-a-week return to learning for students beginning on Wednesday, May 19th, our Wednesday schedules will no longer have a combination of synchronous and asynchronous blocks beginning that day. Here are the schedules for Wednesdays beginning 5/19, including lunch times:

–> Wednesdays

COVID Surveillance/Pool Testing Reminder and Update

Our testing participation levels are hovering around 40% in all schools. We really need to increase participation to 70-80% for testing to be effective. 

 We NEED YOUR participation to make this work. The more students who participate, the better data we have on infection rates in our community. This means we can:

• Quickly identify infection
• Reduce the risk of in school transmission
• Limit quarantines
• Keep our schools, athletics, and other important activities open for the rest of the year

Please note: Testing is now MANDATORY for all high school students participating in athletics or extracurricular activities. 

• It’s a quick process to enroll:

• Complete the opt-in in Aspen through the PARENT/FAMILY ACCOUNT (here’s the link!). 

• Students then create an account at JCM (do it here!) enter your NPS email, select “Forgot Password prompt”, follow the email verification process, log in and the QR Code will appear. You can then take a picture of your QR code and you will use that same code every week that you test.

1. 1. For the first time you are going to test, you can either go to the main office to pick up a test kit, or come to the faculty dining room at the times listed further down in the email below.
   2. If step b. above is too confusing or you get stuck, as long as your parent/guardian completed step a. above, you can just show up to the South testing center on the designated days (more info below) and a staff member will give you a test kit with instructions and we will also gladly give you your QR code that you will need each week when you come to test (taking a picture of the QR code with your phone is a common strategy that works since most students always have their phone with them).

*Over the next week, due to the special schedules for MCAS, the testing center hours will be slightly different than this past week. Please follow the schedule below for this week ONLY*

Week of 10th:

1. Monday, May 10th:
   1. The testing center will be open from 12:15 – 1:15pm in the Faculty Dining Room …located next to the cafeteria in the hallway near the lecture hall—AVAILABLE FOR ALL IN-BUILDING STUDENTS

• Tuesday, May 11th:
• The testing center will be open from 12:15 – 1:15pm in the Faculty Dining Room …located next to the cafeteria in the hallway near the lecture hall—AVAILABLE FOR ALL IN-BUILDING STUDENTS
• Tuesday, May 11th:
• The testing center will be open from 3:45 to 4:45pm in the Faculty Dining Room…located next to the cafeteria in the hallway near the lecture hall–designed for students who are distance learning who are involved in extracurricular activities regularly at South
• As a way to incentivize participation in the pool testing program, we have purchased Dunkin’ gift cards that we have then placed into random test kits. When students come to submit a test and pick up another test for the following week, they may be among the lucky winners who pick up a kit that contains a gift card. Another reason to SIGN UP FOR TESTING IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY!

If you have any questions, please see this NPS page: https://www.newton.k12.ma.us/Page/3826 or if you can’t find your answer there, please reach out to Mr. Hardiman and I will see if I can help or point you in the right direction. Thank you!

MCAS: A reminder that this week is the Math MCAS for grades 10 and 11. Here is the block schedule for the week:

May and June MCAS Schedule

Afternoon classes (1:05 – 3:55 pm) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday the week of 5/3 and 5/10 WILL be offered IN SCHOOL for any student who is able to either take the bus or get a ride to school for these afternoon classes. If any students are usually in-person but are NOT able to come into school for these classes for whatever reason over the next two weeks, they should just let their teacher know that they will be zooming in from home instead of coming into school so they can be marked appropriately for attendance in Aspen.

b) Students who are taking the mid-day bus to school for the afternoon classes should know that the buses will be starting their routes at approximately 12:15pm with arrival at school by approximately 12:45pm. If you have more specific questions about your route and exact times, you will need to contact the NPS transportation department..contact info at this page: https://www.newton.k12.ma.us/transportation

c) For distance learning 10th or 11th graders taking the MCAS test in school over the next couple of weeks, please be aware that there are no buses available to take students back home mid-day after taking the test. Students who finish the test can either:

i) contact a parent/guardian to get a ride home at the conclusion of the test (at approximately 12:00 noon

ii) zoom into their afternoon classes from one of our overflow spaces (library, field house, gym B– someone will direct students where to go) and take the bus home at the regular dismissal time of 4:00 pm or get a ride from a parent/guardian at that time.

Dear Class of 2021 Parents and Guardians,

As you near the end of your school year you may have questions about the funds in your student’s My School Bucks lunch account. We realize that you may not have added any funds to this account this year but may have lingering funds from previous years and want to let you know there are two ways to handle those funds:

If you have another student attending NPS you can request that the MSB funds be transferred to that student’s account. You can also request a refund of the MSB funds.
To process a transfer or refund request please submit the following information to Stephen Marshall in the Business & Finance Office with the heading “MSB Lunch Transfer” or MSB Lunch Refund”.

Transfer

Student Name, LASID, and School for account to be transferred FROM
Student Name, LASID, and School for account to be transferred TO
Refund

Student Name
Student LASID
School
Mailing Address
If you have any questions please contact Stephen Marshall at [email protected]. Please note, that as the volume of refunds and transfers increases these transactions could take four to six weeks and we thank you in advance for your patience.