The Science Fair is Coming!

Our annual Lincoln-Eliot Family Science Night is going to look a little different this year, but our committee is hard at work planning for a fun online celebration of our young scientists.  Start brainstorming now and mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 14th, and Thursday, April 15th!  More information will be coming soon about how to participate — if you’re interested in helping the committee, or if you’re a scientist willing to talk to a group of kids about your job, please reach out to us at president@lepto.org!

FORJ Meeting: March 10th at 7:30pm

METCO & FORJ: Segregation and Suburban Schools
Wednesday, March 10th at 7:30pm

REGISTER FREE (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpf–rrT0uHND5ZFXAyxElaqQGEJUqm9Y2)

FORJ is delighted to partner with METCO Headquarters, as we find joint cause in grappling with the troubling truths on our segregated schools in MA, as described in this Boston Globe article we’ll discuss at our March event: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/11/opinion/massachusetts-public-schools-are-highly-segregated-its-time-we-treated-that-like-crisis-it-is/

Resources:

Actions:

  • Vote on March 16! More information here. To complete a mail-in ballot request by March 10, view here.
  • Join Engine 6 and attend their next meeting on March 3
  • Join Uniting Citizens for Housing Affordability in Newton (U-CHAN)
  • Support the West Newton Armory Affordable Housing Development at the next meeting of the Newton Community Preservation Committee on March 9.
  • Attend and participate in Newton Zoning and Planning (ZAP) Meetings on the second and fourth Monday of each month.
  • Learn about persistent school segregation in the Boston area by attending this METCO-sponsored event on March 10

FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) is a coalition of school-aged families in Newton coming together to teach our children – and ourselves – how to stand up for racial equality. Our Lincoln-Eliot FORJ contact is parent Lanni Isenberg: lanni_harris@yahoo.com

Reminder: New Kindergarten Families Information Night this WEDNESDAY

To all families with an incoming kindergartner, we’d like to say welcome to the Kindergarten Class of 2021!  In order to join the kindergarten class in September 2021, your child must turn five years old prior to September 1, 2021.

To assist us with planning educational programs for the coming year, we are asking you to complete a short on-line survey to let us know your plans for your child’s school registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScjoOme2-O3vhS3NKVWrcp5yVSpxpOZiGpdLO84NY5q9jAdPg/viewform

This year, there will be a New Kindergarten Parent/Guardian Information Night virtual webinar
for those parents enrolling a student for the first time in the Newton Public Schools on Wednesday, March 10, at 7:00 pm.  The session will include a general overview of the kindergarten registration and screening process as well as other important topics that may be useful to new parents.  Links to the webinar will be posted on the NPS kindergarten registration page at the beginning of March 2021.

The online registration system will be open for kindergarten registration beginning March 11, 2021.  While there is no deadline for registration of students in the Newton Public Schools, we are asking if you would register your kindergarten-age child by March 31, 2021 so that school staff can prepare for class placement.

In the spring, individual schools will also host a gathering for parents and children to meet the school principal, teachers and have an opportunity to get to know each other.  Information on kindergarten orientation will be sent directly from Lincoln-Eliot at a later date.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email staff at registration@newton.k12.ma.us.

Principal / PTO Update 2.28.21

Dear families,

March is Youth Arts Month!  To celebrate, the NPS Fine Arts Coordinator is organizing a Youth Arts Month Elementary Virtual Art Exhibit, and all students in grades K-5 are invited to contribute a favorite piece of art.  Submissions are welcome March 1-26 at this link and we encourage everyone to participate!  For more information and instructions please see:

Elementary Call for Artwork

Calendar Change for K-8 on March 16th
Due to the Special City Election on Tuesday, March 16th, we need to switch the in-person day for Cohort A that week.  Cohort A will attend in person on Wednesday, March 17th.  They will follow their Wednesday remote schedule on Tuesday, March 16th.  Please contact the office with any questions.

Have a great week!

Principal Morrissey & the PTO

Upcoming STEMentors Events

STEMentors is a program at Newton North High School whose purpose is to bring engaging STEM lessons to students through classroom visits, drop-ins, 1:1 mentoring/tutoring, and STEAM Kits.

There are three at-home experiment events coming up in March for students in grades K-5.  For more information and to sign up, you can visit their website at https://sites.google.com/view/stementors/upcoming-events/drop-ins?authuser=3.

Please contact stementors.nnhs@gmail.com with any questions.

FORJ Housing Committee Meeting

Tuesday, Mar 2, 7:00-8:30pm
FORJ Housing Committee Meeting
RSVP HERE

The FORJ Housing Committee asserts that housing is a racial justice issue.  As an antiracist group, the FORJ Housing committee supports policies that will redress racist redlining policies and the entrenched segregation in housing they have produced in Newton.  The mission of the FORJ Housing committee is to educate FORJ members and the public in general about antiracism in zoning and housing and to organize families around this issue.

Everyone is welcome!  Whether you are new to thinking about housing, or have been working on the issue for years, we warmly invite you to join this discussion!  Here are our discussion norms to make sure everyone is heard and valued.

There is a severe housing crisis in our region-
What role does antiracism play in how Newton should address it?  Hear from community members who have personal experience with the fallout of racist housing policies.
Learn about some of the ways we can increase attainable housing in Newton.

Newton Fact:
Newton is less racially diverse than Massachusetts as a whole:
Only 3.1% of our population is Black or African-American (vs. state’s 6.7%), and only 5.5% is Hispanic or Latino (vs. state’s 11.2%).
2019 Greater Boston Housing Report Card

To prepare for the meeting, watch this 17 minute video,
Segregated by Design based on The Color of Law, by Richard Rothstein.
What role does antiracism play in how Newton should address it?

FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) is a coalition of school-aged families in Newton coming together to teach our children – and ourselves – how to stand up for racial equality. Our Lincoln-Eliot FORJ contact is parent Lanni Isenberg: lanni_harris@yahoo.com

Principal / PTO Update 2.14.21

Dear families,

We hope everyone has a wonderful winter break this week.  I wanted to share a list of some fun vacation week activites, organized by the Highland Street Foundation:

https://www.highlandstreet.org/sites/default/files/program_download/Winter-Camp-Opportunities2.12.pdf

And don’t forget the FORJ Concert with Claudia and Dan Zanes this Wednesday, February 17, at 6:30pm, in honor of Black History Month.  For more information and to RSVP, click here!

Calendar Change for K-8 on March 16th
Due to the Special City Election on Tuesday, March 16th, we need to switch the in-person day for Cohort A that week.  Cohort A will attend in person on Wednesday, March 17th.  They will follow their Wednesday remote schedule on Tuesday, March 16th.  Please contact the office with any questions.

Stay safe, get some rest, and have a great week!

Principal Morissey & the PTO

FORJ Concert Feb. 17th

Family Friendly FORJ Live ZOOM Concert
FEBRUARY 17th, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

RSVP HERE!

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION with Dan and Claudia Zanes

In honor of Black History Month, FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) is inviting Grammy award-winning children’s performer Dan Zanes and Haitian-American music therapist/jazz vocalist Claudia Zanes for a family-friendly FORJ event.

Dan and Claudia perform songs in folk tradition, with a focus on community, hope, and light.  They plant the seeds for families to have discussions about race, and their music introduces kids to important leaders like John Lewis.  They focus on progress and inclusion and all of their concerts are sensory-friendly.

When a national state of emergency was declared in March 2020, Dan and Claudia started their Social Isolation Song Series.  For 200 days, to stay connected and uplift others, they performed a different song every day.  This series of videos is in the Library of Congress.

Dan and Claudia released an award-winning songbook entitled Dan Zanes’ House Party: A Family Roots Music Treasury in 2018.  In 2017 they were commissioned by the Kennedy Center to create a theater piece for young audiences which was called Night Train 57: A Sensory Friendly Comic Folk Opera.

To learn more, visit Dan and Claudia Zanes’ website at https://www.danandclaudia.com/

Zoom link will be sent out the day of the event!

Principal / PTO Update 2.7.21

Dear families,

We hope you all had a safe and warm weekend and enjoyed the snow!  Thank you to everyone who participated in our Bertucci’s Fundraiser last week.  We had 35 redemptions of the Lincoln-Eliot code, which earned a total of $263.08 to support our school!

DLA families:  A reminder that on Thursday, February 11 from 9am-12pm and Friday, February 12 from 12-3pm, we are asking DLA families to drop off any books that have been given to students since the beginning of the school year.  Books can be dropped off at the Lincoln-Eliot main door on Pearl Street.  No supplies will be given out at this time.

Progress reports will be available to families via Aspen this Wednesday, February 10.  Hopefully you all saw the note that went out about progress reports on January 31; please reach out to your child’s teacher with concerns or questions.

And just a reminder that our February break is coming up, Monday, Feb. 15 to Friday, Feb. 19.

Have a great week!

Principal Morrissey & the PTO

FORJ: February Updates

RESCHEDULED: Newton Schools Foundation Presents Social Justice Warrior & Newton Police Task Force Chair Sonja Spears

On Tuesday, February 23rd, at 7 p.m., Newton Police Task Force Chair Sonja Spears will give an on-line talk exploring how her own experiences inform her work as a social justice advocate and give her hope in the restorative powers of justice.

To register for the free presentation, visit https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TiWIrtf5TXSIk6v2r1FP6w

This talk is part of the 10th annual Newton Inspires: A Celebration of Ideas and Community, a fundraiser for Newton Schools Foundation.  Once a month Newtonians — present and former — share their interests and passions via Zoom.

While a judge in New Orleans, Spears was wrongfully targeted for criminal prosecution. After two years of investigation, no wrongdoing was discovered so she was cleared and never charged, but the impact of this experience was devastating personally and professionally. After retiring from the bench, she re-dedicated her life to issues of racial justice and equity and now works as the chief equity and inclusion officer at Boston Health Care of the Homeless Program and teaches part time at Tufts University.

Happy Black History Month and Black Lives Matter Action Week!
If you’re looking for conversation and context for discussions with your family and community, have a look at these compilations provided by the FORJ City-wide initiative:

Black History Month Resources

Black Lives Matter Resources

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!
Talking to Kids About Race and Racism: A Conversation with Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, President Emerita of Spelman College, moderated by Tiziana Dearing, Host of WBUR’s Radio Boston.  The recording from the January 27th, 2021 talk is now available on YouTube with additional resources.  Dr. Tatum combines lived experience, parenting, and research to help us understand how to broach conversations about race and racism with children and youth.

FORJ is looking for the next City-Wide FORJ Coordinator

For the 2021-2022 year, Newton Public Schools authorized a stipend to hire a FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) Coordinator.  For information regarding FORJ, please visit www.forjnewton.com.  Applications are due to FORJ by February 12, 2021.

FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) is a coalition of school-aged families in Newton coming together to teach our children – and ourselves – how to stand up for racial equality. Our Lincoln-Eliot FORJ contact is parent Lanni Isenberg, lanni_harris@yahoo.com