Service Stars Afterschool Program

Service Stars is a community service program for kids run by local teachers. We have been running fun, hands-on service learning opportunities for the past four years through summer camps, vacation day programs, and weekend events. We are now expanding their organization and are offering an after-school program! The program will run on Wednesdays from 12:30 – 5:30 and Thursdays from 3:00 – 5:30. Transportation is available for the Wednesday program! Each week the kids will be doing a new community service project, along with cooperative games, outdoor time, community building, and more. The details can be found here: After-School Programs.

We have a few spots left so sign up soon!

First Lego League Info Night

Is your child interested in LEGOs or robots? The LigerBots, Newton’s award-winning high school FIRST Robotics team, is presenting an information night for parents and children about FIRST LEGO League, a robotics and STEAM program for kids K-8. FLL gives kids the chance to form teams and build robots using LEGO kits, with the purpose of completing challenges. At the info night we will go over the competition logistics, what students will do, and how to start a team. Interested families can sign up to attend here. If you are unable to make it to the info night, additional information will be sent out to all who fill out the form. If you would like a bit more background information beforehand, here is FLL’s official website. There is also information on the LigerBots FLL page. The info night is on June 22, 7:00-8:30 p.m. at Newton South High School

Principal / PTO Update 6.12

Hi LE Families,

What a way to start June with last week’s events!

Last Tuesday we filled our school with music and voices again for the 4th and 5th grade Spring Concert. Thank you, LE Music/Band/Chorus Teacher Claudia Pawlikowski and all our students for an amazing job and an evening to remember!

We came together again the very next day for the in-person return of Multicultural Night. We shared our cultures with one another through delicious food, stories, student performances, cultural displays, and presentations! Thank you to all participants, volunteers, students and staff!

Looking ahead to this week, we have:

June 15th: LE Celebration Day/Color Day from 10am-12pm (Rain date is June 16)

and

June 16th: Juneteenth Celebration from 4:30- 7:30pm

And for graduating 5th Graders, June 17th is their field trip to Hale Reservation.

Enjoy the week ahead!

Parents’ Night Out – Last chance to buy tickets!

Last chance to buy tickets for our first Parents’ Night Out on Tuesday, June 14th from 6:30-8:30. Click here to purchase your tickets and come meet other LE parents while enjoying great food and drinks at Cafe Martin on West St!

Part of the proceeds will go directly back to supporting our school thru the PTO!

Crossing Guard & Bus/Van Driver Appreciation Day – June 15

Newton school families are celebrating our Safety Superheroes on Wednesday, June 15. Help your student make a card and say a special THANK YOU to our bus/van drivers and crossing guards for another year of helping our students safely get to and from school. Download a sample card and learn more about Newton Safe Routes to School here: www.NewtonSafeRoutes.org

LE JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION – THIS WEEK! Thursday, June 16th

In partnership with Ward FORJ and with funding from Bigelow FORJ & PTO and Underwood FORJ & PTO, join us Thursday, June 16^th from 4:30 pm -7:30pm for our second annual L-E Juneteenth Celebration in the Lincoln-Eliot backyard. There will be music, food, Double Dutch, a scavenger hunt by our Bigelow Middle School student friends (some L-E alum), lawn activities, an inflatable slide, and Mr. Hani’s Ice Cream Treats. We’ll need inflatable slide helpers to get kids on and off safely and food helpers to distribute orders throughout the event. Sign up here to help: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e44aba72ea2fd0-juneteenth

LE Celebration Day on Wed, 6.15 – Volunteers Welcomed!

LE Celebration Day is back and in person on Wednesday, June 15! Other places call this day Field Day, and other schools in Newton call it Color Day. On Celebration Day, (10:00-12:00) we celebrate our school community through fun physical activities.

LE PE teacher, Dave Rota would love your assistance to run 30 activity stations. Classes travel around the stations to participate/compete in activities they choose run by family adult volunteers (parents, caregivers, grandparents, older siblings).

If you can help out and run a station on Wednesday, June 15 from 9:30 (arrive & get oriented) -12:00 (activities from 10:00-12:00), please sign up at this link: https://www. signupgenius.com/go/ 8050F44AFA822A7F58-celebration

Thank you for helping to make this the best LE Celebration Day yet!

Support The Celtics and Wear Green on Monday, 6.13

Attention LE staff and students!

Game 5 of NBA Finals is on Monday! Wear your favorite Celtics jersey, t-shirt or anything green on Monday, June 13th to show your support!

Go C’s!

FORJ Updates – 6.12.22

BOSTON’S LGBTQ PAST – WALKING TOUR (June 13^th, June 16^th, or June 23^rd)

Presented in partnership with The History Project, this guided walking tour follows the footsteps of Boston’s gay and lesbian friends from the 1840s to the 1980s, “from Thoreau’s walks along the Common and Charlotte Cushman’s cross-dressing roles, to the World War II bars and baths, to the AIDS Action Committee and the AIDS memorial quilt project.” Children $8/ Adults $15 (Kids under 6 free). For more info: https://www.bostonusa.com/event/bostons-lgbtq-past/67643/

LET’S SAY GAY! A COMMUNITY PRIDE EVENT – Saturday, June 18^th

The Mosesian Center for the Arts is proud to partner with the Boston chapter of Drag Queen Story Hour for Let’s Say Gay! A Community Pride Event. LGBTQ+ role models from both organizations will lead this afternoon of family-oriented visual and performing arts activities that celebrate creativity, inclusivity and self-expression. The event will feature an all-ages read-along by the performers of Drag Queen Story Hour, collaborative visual arts projects and acting and movement workshops, and a Pride-themed dance party! Most arts activities will be geared towards 3rd-5th graders, but everyone ages 5 and up is welcome to attend and join the fun! 12p-4p at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown. FREE. Register here.

NNHS JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION – Sunday, June 19^th

THE LEGACY OF JUNETEENTH: Access to Education that Empowers Us All – Tuesday, June 21^st

An interactive discussion on Tuesday, June 21^st, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Newton Free Library. The discussion will be led by Jesse Tauriac, Assistant Vice President & Chief Diversity Officer at Lasell University and is part of the Overdue: Confronting Race and Racism in Newton series. Register for this program here.

THE BOUNTY OF THE SEASON: A WAMPANOAG DINNER BY CHEF POCKNETT – Tuesday, June 21^st

Join Chef Sherry Pocknett, Chef Owner of Sly Fox Den Catering, Sly Fox Den Too Restaurant in Charlestown RI, for a delicious five-course dinner featuring local Indigenous ingredients of the late spring and early summer seasons. Chef Sherry is a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and daughter of Chief Sly Fox and Bernadine Hendricks-Pocknett. June 21^st at 6:30pm at Eliot Church of Newton UCC on Centre St. Suggested donation, $150 per Individual, $250 per Couple. All proceeds will go to fund Newton’s 2022 Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration.

BREATHE LIFE TOGETHER FESTIVAL – Saturday, June 25^th

FREE and open to all, enjoy a pop-up roller rink, free skate rentals, live music, performances, DJs, painting, and food trucks along the Rose Kennedy Greenway (next to South Station in Boston). This event will feature celebrate and activate Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs’ mural Breathe Life Together. The aim of the afternoon is to cultivate an accessible, collective public space of joy, care, sustenance, and belonging that centers and supports diverse communities, families, and youth from across Boston. From 2-8pm in Dewey Square, Boston.

WALKING TOUR OF METCO HQ AND NUBIAN SQUARE – Saturday, July 9th at 10am

Join METCO high school students as they uncover the past and present of Boston’s historic Nubian Square in Roxbury. This unique 90-minute walking tour highlights their research into the artistry, activism, and achievement in the backyard of METCO’s new Headquarters. RSVP here

PARENT GROUP ON EDUCATION ABOUT ANTISEMITISM AND ALLYSHIP

This year the FORJ community has been in dialogue about how to best support our Jewish community. One of the initiatives, being led by a Newton Temple, is a working parent group that aims to continue education about antisemitism and allyship to our community. If you are interested in participating please contact Melissa Waltuck @ melissa@slpworks.com.

FAMILIES ORGANIZING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (FORJ) is a group of diverse Newton families helping our children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. We seek to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.

Principal / PTO Update 6.5