ForWard 5.4.25
From the Co-Presidents:
We hope everyone had a fantastic April vacation and is as happy to return to the school routine as we are. We loved rooting for the Red Sox with many Ward families yesterday. Many thanks to Kevin Woo for organizing, and all the families who shared the day with us. We also want to extend our thanks to the many Ward families that joined us on Sunday for Ward Community Day to beautify our school grounds with planting, weeding, and mulching. Our painting project for the new four-square play spaces at the playground was postponed due to rain and will be rescheduled for an upcoming sunny Saturday morning. Big thanks to Mary Jo Sisk and Jessie Jackson for chairing and coordinating this event.
Teacher Appreciation Week starts tomorrow, Monday, May 5th. We encourage you and your child(ren) to write cards and notes of appreciation to our outstanding teachers. They are the heart and soul of our school and provide so much care for our kids in their personal and academic development. This week, we will show our appreciation with a 3rd Grade Staff Room restock on Monday, and then the PTO will sponsor a lunch on Wednesday and a coffee cart service at school on Thursday. Thank you so much to our Teacher Appreciation Committee, Melissa Prokop, Roberta Toporovski, and Jenn Epstein, for coordinating these events and all teacher appreciation throughout the entire school year.
The Mystery Dinner is this Saturday, May 10th, and we can’t wait! We have genuinely been looking forward to this all year. LAST CALL to grab your tickets if you haven’t already. This is such a cherished event and fundraiser. Thank you for making our Ward community so special.
We are on the home stretch to the end of the school year with just 7 weeks to go! If you haven’t already done so, we encourage you to review our events schedule above and add the dates to your calendar. We specifically wanted to highlight:
PTO Coffee with Mr. Tugwell focusing on Online Safety - Friday, May 9 at 8:30 in the Library
Grade 1 Coffee Meet-Up - May 29 from 8-8:30 AM in the library (followed by EL Celebrations in classrooms from 8:30-9 AM)
Evening of the Arts (Art Show + Concert) - Tuesday, June 3 from 6:15-7:30 PM
Ward Color Day - Wednesday, June 4
Spring Picnic - Monday, June 9th (rain date of Monday, June 16)
Last Day of School - Monday, June 23rd
Seeking Color Day Volunteers
Color Day is upon us, and we need your help! Mark those calendars for Wednesday, June 4th (rain date June 11). Color Day is when students come together as a Ward community to celebrate the year with activities throughout the day on the field. To make this day happen, we need your support. We are seeking:
Color Day Coordinator is responsible for organizing volunteers, drafting a few emails, and coordinating with our fantastic PEHW teacher, Danielle Pargoli, for day of set-up. Danielle plans and brings everything for the different stations themselves. Please email us at copresidents@wardpto.org if you are interested or have any questions. This is a straightforward event to coordinate with lots of documentation and support from the PTO co-presidents and Ms. Pargoli.
Volunteers to oversee the premade stations. There are two time slots where you can sign up for one or both! All volunteers are welcome to join in the Opening Ceremony Water Balloon Toss. Please be aware that the weather is unpredictable, so letting us know if you can attend the rain date, if needed, is extremely helpful.
This day brings joy, smiles, and memories to not just the students but also the staff and parents! We hope to see you there!
NPS Budget Update
Thank you again to everyone who called and emailed Mayor Fuller and our City Councilors to have them support and pass the Superintendent’s Level Services and budget. We had significant momentum going into the April break and hope our school community can pick up right where we left off.
Not much has changed since before the April vacation. As a reminder, the Mayor has allocated additional funds whose total matches the Superintendent and School Committee’s budget. However, the Mayor has indicated that $2.5 million of Free Cash can only be used for Building Projects, and therefore, this would mean cuts to programs and teachers would have to occur. It’s very important that Mayor Fuller change this stipulation and allow the School Committee to decide how to spend this proposed Free Cash so that our Level Services + Budget can go into effect, and cuts don’t need to be made. As a reminder, you can read this page on our website for more information and resources.
Please save the date and help us Pack the Room on May 8th for another City Council meeting, where they will discuss the NPS budget. We successfully jam-packed the room for the City Council Meeting on April 17th, and the impact and effect were huge. We would appreciate your support in showing up for this next meeting. Please have a look at the graphic in our newsletter below for more information.
There are other ways for you to be engaged. We encourage the following:
1. Come to the City Council Meeting on May 8 to help us pack the room.
2. Write or call the City Council to express your support for the Superintendent’s Proposed Budget and ask them not to approve the Mayor’s Free Cash allocation of $2.5 million for building projects. If the City Council does not pass this allocation, these funds could be allocated differently, and a message could be sent that our City Councilors do not support the Mayor’s NPS budget allocation.
3. Write or call the Mayor to ask her to change her $2.5 million Free Cash allocation so that it could be used to save our teachers and avoid cuts.
4. Talk to your neighbors and friends, especially those without students in the Newton Public Schools. Only 30% of Newton voters have children enrolled at NPS, and many who don’t have students may not be aware of this issue.
Your involvement is crucial!
As always, please email us anytime at copresidents@wardpto.org with your ideas, questions, concerns, or ways we can help.
- Elizabeth Loehr + Elizabeth Weinberg, Ward PTO Co-Presidents 2024-26
Please Join Us for Ward School’s Mystery Dinner - Our Biggest Event of the Year!
The most fun you’ll ever have as an elementary school parent/caregiver!
6:00 pm - Appetizers at the home of Elizabeth and Jon Loehr
8:00 pm - Dinner
9:30 pm - Dessert Party
Email us with any questions about what this fun, adults-only community event and fundraiser entails. This is THE event of the year. Please save the date and get those babysitters lined up!! Thank you to Betsy Blazar and Emily Derr for leading this incredible event!
(This is an adults-only event.)
SAVE THE DATE!
All parents and guardians are invited to a PTO Coffee with Mr. Tugwell focusing on online safety.
Friday, May 9 at 8:30 am at Ward School.
SAVE THE DATE!
May 14, 6:30-
8:00 PM
Let’s Talk Reading!
Newton Public Schools’ Office of Student Services
and the Newton Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC)
are pleased to share that world-renowned literacy expert and fellow Newton parent,
Dr. Nadine Gaab, will offer a FREE presentation and Q&A for NPS families, entitled
“Let’s Talk Reading! How children learn to read, and why creating a strong community is important.”
The session will be held on Wednesday, May 14, 6:30-8:00 pm in Newton North High School’s Film Lecture Hall.
See the attached flyer for more details, and email NewtonSEPAC@gmail.com with questions.
This event is open to all, so please spread the word!
SEPAC News
Dear NPS Families,
As you may know, each year, parents, guardians, and students are able to nominate NPS and Out of District teachers and staff for a Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) Award. A SEPAC Award recognizes exceptional NPS and Out of District teachers, aides, behavior therapists, psychologists, bus drivers, crossing guards, administrators, and other staff for the role they played in a student’s special education journey this past academic year. Interested in nominating an exceptional NPS or Out of District teacher and/or staff member? The deadline for nominations is Monday, May 19th. Here’s how the process works:
Submit a nomination through the nomination form
All celebratory nominations will be recognized
The week of June 16th, your nominee will receive:
An email with the kind words you wrote about them and a short slideshow of anonymized nominations lifting up the good work taking place across the district.
A printed SEPAC Award certificate delivered to their school.
Each principal will receive a list of nominees from their school.
Do you need to nominate everyone from your student’s team? Please only nominate the teachers and staff members who you feel have been exceptional!
Questions? Reach out to: newtonspecialeducationawards@gmail.com
Thank you so much for your participation recognizing the exceptional NPS and Out of District teachers and staff who work so hard to support special education students. Please help us share this message as widely as possible so the SEPAC Awards can reach all corners of our community!
Warmly,
2024-2025 SEPAC Board
Register Now for Kindergarten 2025-26 - Don’t Delay:
Please fill out your kindergarten form as soon as possible! To join the kindergarten class in September 2025, your child must turn five years old on or before August 31, 2025. It is essential that you log on to the REGISTRATION GATEWAY now to register your child for the 2025-26 school year!
Without this information, we cannot include you in all of the related upcoming events and scheduling, and plan for classrooms for the fall!
For more information about the kindergarten registration process, please click HERE. And feel free to contact Ms. Tempesta at 617.559.6450 directly with any questions or concerns.
Upcoming Creative Arts and Sciences (CAS) Programming:
May 5th - 3rd Grade: Origamido
May 21st - 4th Grade: Mitali Perkins
June 6th - 3rd & 5th Grade: Techsploration
Volunteers Needed
Ward Color Day, June 4: Color Day is held during the school day, and kids are assigned to one of three teams: red, green, or blue. They are encouraged to come to school on Color Day proudly representing their team colors (t-shirts, socks, colored hairspray, etc.). Teams then spend the day playing field games such as a water balloon toss and three-legged races. It's great to see everyone building camaraderie with their teammates and cheering each other on.
Parent volunteers are the glue that makes this event a success. Volunteers help lead and/or oversee pre-organized games in which our kids compete by team color. Volunteers may also be asked to help at the water tent or provide general assistance to Ms. Pargoli.
Please help make this day a success by volunteering! We encourage you to consider helping for the entire morning; otherwise, select the time slot that suits your schedule. Keep the day open if you can, and we will have a signup list available soon!
Please be sure your CORI form is up to date!
Attention 5th Grade Parents: Would you like to see some more great events for your Bigelow students in the next school year? Volunteering with the PTO can enhance your student’s middle school experience while meeting other parents and building a stronger school connection.
It is time to start to planning for the 2025-26 school year! We are actively recruiting for several positions that will be open next year as 8th grade families move on from Bigelow. Now is the ideal time to volunteer as overlap with current volunteers will make for an easy transition. In particular, we would like to identify volunteers for the following:
President/Co-President Lead and support the team, preside over PTO meetings, serve as primary contact and representative of the PTO.Communications/Website Send weekly PTO newsletters and other communications. Maintain PTO website. **Training available from current volunteer!**
In addition to the positions highlighted above, there are many other ways to get involved in the PTO. Please email bigelowbulldog@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering or learning more about any of the opportunities to become involved with the Bigelow PTO. Co-volunteers welcome!
Upcoming Event Highlights
Newton Community Education Classes! Are you looking for fun and enriching activities for your child after school? NCE has two classes that will take place at Ward:
Check out their full schedule here!
Newton’s S.P.A.C.E. (Summer Program for Academic and Creative Endeavors)
Newton’s S.P.A.C.E. is a four-week summer enrichment program run by the Newton Public Schools from July 7th through July 31st. Students entering kindergarten through 9th grade in the Fall of 2025 are eligible to attend. We offer two programs - an upper camp (entering 5th-9th grade) and a lower camp (entering kindergarten- 4th grade).
LOWER CAMP - Campers are assigned to age-appropriate classes taught by two licensed teachers. Teachers create project-based activities that focus on the theme of the lower camp. Last summer, the theme was “Summer Olympics”. Campers learned about the history, countries, cultures, and sports of the Olympics. Lower Campers will also attend various specials throughout the week led by certified staff, which include Physical Education, Yoga/Minfulness, Art and Science classes.
UPPER CAMP - Campers will create their own schedules by choosing from a variety of electives to design their own camp program. Elective choices include studio and digital arts, performing arts, athletics, STEM, music, and language arts classes.
Check out the S.P.A.C.E.website for more information or REGISTER NOW!
Questions?SPACE@newton.k12.ma.us
LigerBoxes: A STEAM Extravaganza with the LigerBots!
Ever wondered how to make magnetic slime, tie-dye milk or a robotic arm? In this fun and engaging class developed and led by members of the LigerBots, Newton's award-winning high school robotics team, get ready to explore chemistry and physics properties, conduct labs with friends, and gain a better understanding of the world we live in all through STEAM activities! Register here!
Students are welcome to join us for one, or both weeks- no prior experience or knowledge is necessary!
Grades 3-6
Angier Elementary School
August 11-15, 2025 from 9:00-12:00 pm
August 18-22, 2025 from 9:00-12:00 pm
Please reach out to Sarah Housman, Summer Program Coordinator at NCE with any questions: housmans@newton.k12.ma.us.
Please reach out to us by emailing copresidents@wardpto.org