This past week, Creative Arts & Sciences welcomed poet Andy Green of Potato Hill Poetry to our 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade classrooms. Through this 3-part residency, Mr. Green makes writing poetry accessible. His focus is to create exercises to help students see and hear the joy of language. He shows students a variety of poem and note-keeping journals and talks about his writing process. Mr. Green will be back again in February. Thank you for your donations to the PTO which make programs like this possible!

Signups for Newton Youth Lacrosse spring session for grades 1-8 are taking place through February 1.  Register early to be guaranteed a spot by clicking this link (http://newtonyouthlacrosse.com/Registration/Default.asp?n=37305&org=NEWTONYOUTHLACROSSE.COM) or going to newtonyouthlacrosse.com.  Questions about registration, coaching, and volunteer opportunities can be directed to newtonlaxpresident@gmail.com.

Newton Girls Softball registration for 2019 Spring Rec League is now open.  The league welcomes players of all skill levels and will provide your daughter with an experience that fosters positive self-esteem, team spirit, and individual growth through personal achievement and as a team member.  Players have fun, make new friends, and enjoy a healthy outdoor activity.  For more information and to register, please visit http://newtongirlssoftball.org/

Check out this great video of some of our players describing why softball matters to them!

The league is always looking for unique sponsorships and volunteer parents to help with coaching, assisting, etc.  If you are interested or have any other questions, please EMAIL US!

Dear Families,

Congratulations to our 4th and 5th graders for working so hard to present a great concert last week — first during the day to our other students, and then Thursday evening to their families.  We appreciate the effort they put in, and also thank our new music teacher, Ms. Schoepflin, for bringing it all together.

Please mark your calendars:

* Monday, January 21st:  No School — Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
* Wednesday, February 6th:  Early Release Day, 12:30pm
* Friday, February 8th:  Lincoln-Eliot Movie Night
* February 18th-22nd:  No School — February Vacation Week

See you on Monday!

Principal Morrissey

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to our third PTO meeting of the year on Tuesday, January 8th!  If you missed the meeting, you can click on the links below to review the minutes and the slideshow presentation.

A special thank you to Emilly Prenner and Kathy Shields for talking to us about the NPS Equity Policy and upcoming changes to those guidelines, and to Rebecca Schmidt for her explanation of the Understanding Our Differences program.  We are looking for someone to help Rebecca coordinate the program; if you’re interested, please email secretary@lepto.org!

We look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting on Tuesday, March 12th, at 6:30pm, when David Fleishman and members of the school committee will be attending to give us updates and answer questions.

January PTO Meeting Slideshow

January PTO Meeting Minutes

If you’re interested in Green Newton’s Schools Connections group, come to our next meeting— Thursday, January 17 at 3:45pm in Newton City Hall (1000 Commonwealth Ave., Newton).  Kids are welcome.  The group’s goal is to establish “green standards” for Newton schools and to work on a variety of areas including recycling, composting, food waste recovery, and school garden projects.  Together, we can help to implement green initiatives in each Newton school.  Learn more about GN School Connections here.  If you would like to participate, please contact marcia@greennewton.org.

10 Traits of Effective Parents in Special Education
Wednesday, Jan. 16th from 7:15 – 9PM
Newton Education Center, 100 Walnut Street Newton, MA 02460
Room 210

Presented by Jeffrey Sankey
Sankey Law Offices, P.C.

Advocating for children in the special education system can be frustrating and overwhelming for parents.  Over the past decade, Attorney Jeffrey Sankey has worked with hundreds of parents to help them obtain special education services for their children.  In his experience, he has found that the parents who are best able to navigate the intricacies of the special education process share a number of common traits, which we will explore during this session.

Topics covered will include:

* Understanding key special education rules and regulations
* Maintaining accurate and complete records
* Facilitating productive relationships with school staff

Please come with any questions you may have!

Registration for the 2019 Newton Little League Spring Season is now available on the league’s website: www.newtonllbaseball.org  

Newton Little League serves players who reside within or attend private or public schools within the boundaries of Ward, Underwood, Lincoln-Eliot, Horace Mann, Peirce, Cabot, Burr, Franklin, and Williams elementary schools, and provides programs for players ages 4 through 12.

Programs for younger players are based on school grade, and teams are put together based on elementary school and friend requests: T-Ball (Pre-K), Rookie (Kindergarten), Farm (grade 1), and Single A (grade 2).

In our programs for older players, teams are put together with more of a focus on competitive balance: AA (grades 3-4), AAA (grades 4-6), and Majors (ages 10-12).

There is also a Challenger division for students with special needs who wish to enjoy the game of baseball.

All players interested in playing in the 2019 AAA division must attend an evaluation session and complete registration prior to the evaluation date.  AAA evaluations will be held on Saturday January 26, 2018 from 6-9 PM.  This event will also serve as the Majors Division makeup evaluation for players who were unable to attend tryouts in the fall.  AA evaluations will be held on Saturday February 2, 2018 from 6-8 PM.  The location for both events is the Newton North High School SOA.

Please contact us at info@newtonllbaseball.org with any questions.