Dear families,

We know there are a lot of questions about the upcoming changes to the elementary school schedule and about the new MCAS testing window.  As soon as we know more from DESE about MCAS, we will send out an updated schedule to everyone.

You can also see the current information from the district below and on their webpage, and we will update you with anything we know at our next PTO meeting: Tuesday, March 16th at 6:30pm.  A link for the meeting will be sent out the day before; we hope you can join us!

Elementary Return to Full In-Person School
The Newton Public Schools plans to return elementary students to full in-person school the week of March 29th or April 5th.  This means that Cohort A and Cohort B will be merged and will attend school together five days a week.  More details on the class schedule, school hours, and health and safety protocols will be shared as soon as the planning is finalized.

To return to full in-person school, distancing in classrooms will be reduced to approximately 3 ft.  Given this change, we are asking ELEMENTARY families to complete this form to indicate their intent to request a change in learning model for their student.  Please complete this survey ONLY if you intend to request a change to learning model: survey linked here.

At the same time, a planning group is meeting to make comparable improvements to the Elementary Distance Learning Academy.  More details will be shared with DLA families as those plans take shape.

All information from the planning teams can be found on this webpage.

Calendar Changes and Updates
City Special Election:  Due to the Special City Election on Tuesday, March 16th, the in-person day for Cohort A will be switched.  Cohort A will attend in person on Wednesday, March 17th.  They will follow their Wednesday remote schedule on Tuesday, March 16th.  DLA students will also be switching their usual remote schedules that Tuesday and Wednesday.  Please contact the office with any questions.

Elementary Conferences:  Students will be dismissed at 12:30 p.m. on April 5th and April 8th to provide time for elementary school conferences.

Juneteenth:  The City of Newton is observing Juneteenth on Friday, June 18th.  The Newton Public Schools will be doing the same to observe this important day in our history.  Therefore, our current last day of school for students is Tuesday, June 22nd.

Have a great week!

Principal Morrissey and the PTO