9/11/23 - 9/15/23 Weekly Update

Monday marks the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 attacks. We want to take a moment to acknowledge all those who have been impacted by this tragedy that befell our nation. We will be holding a moment of silence in school tomorrow to commemorate all those who lost their lives on this day.

Newton South Students and Families,

We hope you had a great first week of school! As we move into the first full week of school, there are few items we would like to highlight:

Students will be signing up for WIN blocks for the first time this school year during Advisory on Monday, September 11. They will use the MyFlexLearning website to do so. There will be two special programs for certain grades this week:

• Wednesday, September 13: All grade 9 students have been preassigned to an Alcohol, Tobacco, & Other Drugs (ATOD) assembly in the Field House
• Friday, September 15: All grade 10 students in Wheeler House will meet in the Field House for a Counseling Center activity

We invite all families to come to Back to School Night on Thursday, September 14! This event runs from 6:30 - 8:30pm at Newton South High School and will be in person. We invite families to come prior to 6:30pm and/or carpool as parking on campus is limited.

Later this week, a document will be posted to Aspen with your student's schedule. Families will have an opportunity to visit students' advisory and A-G block classes throughout the evening. Please print this schedule prior to coming to school on Thursday evening. We will let you know via email when these are posted.

Please note that directed studies and small studies will not meet on this evening. During these blocks, we invite families to visit the Student Center (cafeteria) to meet the deans and ask questions.

We additionally anticipate the PTSO, GELF (Global Education Leadership Fund), and Newton Community Education to have tables during the evening to present information while families are walking between classes.

Here's to another week at South! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Jason Williams (he/him)

Vice Principal

Newton South High School

Due to crowding issues on a couple of buses, Transportation will be making the following changes starting on Tuesday, September 12:

Changing the bus for the Glen & Warren stop

• This stop will be removed from the CC bus (#7513)
• This stop will now move to the the SS morning and NN/VV afternoon buses (#7509)
• The CC bus route will now begin at the Langley & Langley Path bus stop at 8:25am

Changing the bus for the Chestnut & Amherst stop

• This stop will be removed from the AD bus (#7507)
• This stop will now move to the the JJ bus (#7501)
  
• The AD bus route will now begin at the Gordon & Paulson bus stop at 8:20am

The team has been hard at work approving and processing schedule changes throughout this week and through the weekend. Please note that any schedule changes that are made will show up on your Aspen account. To view your schedule on Aspen, go to My Info, then the Current Schedule side tab. Make sure that Q1 is selected in the Time section. See below for a visual.

Note that your schedule on Aspen is dynamic and will change if schedule changes are made. The PDF copy of the schedule that we provided on 9/4 will not updated and is no longer viewable on Aspen. Please discard any paper copy of your schedule from this printout as it will not be accurate if any changes were made.

If you requested a schedule change with your counselor last week and have not yet seen changes on your Aspen account, please reach out to your counselor again so they can update you. We have had more change requests than usual at the beginning of this year and we will work to resolve them as quickly as we can. We thank you for your patience!

As a reminder, grade 9 students do not have open campus and should be assigned to a Directed Study block during any period they do not have a class. While building Directed Studies, we ran into an error with Aspen where not every student was placed in a study hall during blocks they should have been in one, so some ninth graders had empty blocks instead of a Directed Study.

We will be rebuilding Directed Studies Sunday afternoon/evening to ensure that all grade 9 students are properly assigned. Note that this may mean your Directed Study teacher and location may have changed since last week, so please use the instructions above to access these blocks along with the rest of your schedule. As before, we thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this issue.

Special thanks to all of you who took time out of your busy evening to meet with the deans and counselors during our virtual New to South night on Thursday, September 7! You can now find the recording here.

As a reminder, when picking up and dropping off your students, please avoid using the Breezeway lot where the buses pick up and drop off between 8:45 - 9:00am and between 3:30 - 4:00pm. Families attempting to do dropoff that intermingles with buses can cause safety issues or cause a driver to be stuck between two buses. Even if it looks like few buses are present, more may be coming. Thank you for your cooperation.

Students and families: To order pictures, you can go to shop.legacyphotos.com and enter code 3597F24. Paper forms will also be sent to Newton South. If you or your family have any questions about ordering pictures through Legacy Studios, you can reach out to them directly at customercare@legacystudios.com.

Photo retake day is Wednesday, October 18.

Are you a student athlete in grade 10-12 and thinking about continuing your athletic career in college? If so, this WIN block is for you! Come learn from NSHS counselors and athletic department staff who have played and/or coached sports at the collegiate level. This seminar will cover requirements as a prospective student-athlete and an insider's look at what coaches are looking for when they recruit athletes.

Sign up using MyFlexLearning.

The Counseling Department sent out a newsletter on Friday, September 8. You can find this here.

Absence reporting will now require the use of a Google Form (phone calls will no longer be accepted for absences). Report absences using this form below, depending on what house your student is in:

• Cutler

• Goldrick

• Wheeler

• Goodwin

Attendance Standard for the 2023-2024 School Year

Last year, the high schools debuted a new attendance standard. We have updated the document for the 2023-2024 school year. There is new information regarding tardies, and we have modified the document to make it easier to read and understand.

Attendance Standard FAQs

Attached are the attendance standard frequently asked questions.

District Procedures Regarding Attendance

In the August 23 district newsletter, NPS released the linked document above. They have updated and clarified our K-12 student attendance and absence procedures to ensure alignment across levels and compliance with school committee and state guidance. This document includes clarification on absences that are considered excused and unexcused. It also includes an FAQ to answer common questions.

Our academic honesty protocol can be found here. This protocol is taken directly from the district's Rights & Responsibilities Handbook.

Cell phones should not be seen or heard in class. Three acceptable locations for phones during class are a student's pocket, backpack, or door holder in the classroom. Consequences include a verbal warning, the teacher temporarily taking the phone, etc. If you need to contact your student during school, you should go through the house office, as students will not be able to check their messages during class.

We aware aware and mindful that students may need a cell phone for vital functions such as glucose monitoring. If you have any concerns, please reach out to your house office and work with them to find a solution that works best for both parties.

Please see the following letter from the Newton South Faculty Council regarding cell phone use.

As mentioned in Principal Stras's newsletter two weeks ago, Caitlin Brown will be the new dean of Goodwin House starting this school year. She has been working with us closely while completing her contract in her prior district, and she will begin her first day full-time at Newton South on Monday, September 18.

If you need any assistance in the meantime, please feel free to contact any of the other deans:

• Marc Banks (Goldrick House), banksm@newton.k12.ma.us
• Meaghan Martin (Wheeler House), martinmea@newton.k12.ma.us
• Theodore Dalicandro (Cutler House), dalicandrot@newton.k12.ma.us

See above for the bus schedules. The PTSO put together a great guide on the different ways students can get to school. Access this here:

In anticipation of the beginning of the school year, there are various dates that we wanted to send your way so you can mark your calendars. More details about these events will be forthcoming.

Upcoming Student Events

• Friday, September 8: Student Photo Day in Gym B
• Use code 3597F24 at shop.legacyphotos.com to preorder photos. Questions can be directed to customercare@legacystudios.com.

Upcoming Family Events:

• Thursday, September 14, 6:30pm: Back to School Night (in person)
• Thursday, September 21, 6:30pm: Senior Family Night (virtual)

• Year at a Glance: Overview of the 2023-2024 school year
• Term 1 Calendar. This calendar has more specific dates and times. One will be released each term.
• Lunch Schedule for Semester 1. Classes are assigned lunches based on what wing of the building they are in.
• Public Calendar of Events: We keep an updated calendar of events on the school website - this is a combination of events from the NPS calendar and our individual school's calendar.

The PSAT and SAT coordinator is Namal Sadiq. She can be reached at sadiqn@newton.k12.ma.us.

The AP coordinator is Brandon Johnson. He can be reached at johnsonbra@newton.k12.ma.us.

Sign up for Newton Community Education college prep and enrichment classes this fall! From arts to academics, NCE programs empower your child to learn, grow, and connect. NCE classes can also inspire their passions and boost confidence. Preview our wide range of classes in the Teens At-a-Glance. Secure your teen's spot now at www.newtoncommunityed.org!

The most recently released district newsletter was on Thursday, August 31. You can access it here.

All students in grades 6-12 are issued a Chromebook to use both in school and at home. As part of the Chromebook Loan Agreement, families are responsible for accidental damages to the device.

In lieu of purchasing outside insurance, NPS is offering families the option to participate in a NPS Repair Fund that will fully cover the costs of accidental damages.

Please see this document for more information and how to apply.

In addition, we encourage you to examine some of the resources on Online Safety and Digital Citizenship posted on our website, and engage your children in conversations on these topics on a regular basis.

More information about the 1:1 Device program can be found on the NPS 1:1 Technology Overview Page.