Dear families,

I hope everyone is staying healthy and enjoying time outside with your families as the weather has been in our favor so far.  I know it is an unsettling time right now and I plan to keep you updated with important district information as soon as it I receive it.

By now, you should have received a message from David Fleishman with updates about our school closure.  I’ve pasted the text of his letter below for your reference.  Thank you all for your messages of support and for reaching out with questions over the past few days.

The NPS Office of Teaching and Learning is assembling a collection of materials to provide enrichment and connectedness opportunities for your children during this unprecedented time of school closing.  The materials will provide educational opportunities and activities at grade level for your children while school is closed.  They are not intended to replace classroom instruction, or to substitute for instruction in any way.  Rather, they are supplemental — curated grade-level activities that are interesting and fun and encourage students to explore new topics on their own.

As David mentioned, parent/teacher conferences and other meetings and school activities have been postponed.  We’ll likely revise our schedule for report cards and progress reports once we resume normal school functioning.  I look forward to rescheduling other key events that we had to postpone this week and next.  

During these challenging and uncertain times, I am also aware that families may need food resources.  I wanted to share some local Newton and Boston resources for food.  There are three pantries in Newton:

Centre Street Food Pantry
11 Homer Street, Newton Center
www.centrestfoodpantry.org
617-340-9554

Newton Food Pantry
1000 Commonwealth Avenue (City Hall)
www.newtonfoodpantry.org
617-796-1233

Arabic Food Pantry
187 Church Street, Newton Corner
www.arabicbaptist.org
617-723-9766

Project Bread (1-800-645-8333) will also be able to support families in need, especially if you are unable to go to work.

Also, please take note of Newton Neighbors Helping Newton Neighbors, a group created to match residents needing help with volunteers who are willing and able to help.  They have created the following intake form to service our community as we navigate the disruptions caused by COVID-19 — please consider filling it out if you can volunteer or if you need any assistance:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScQNTahca3LS8GkS0mht7d3JAVsAc5Apy2H_LJLiGntlwTVOw/viewform

Stay healthy!

Principal Morrissey