4/29/24 - 5/3/24 Weekly Update
Newton South High School
Dear Newton South Community:
I invite you to join the Booster Club’s third annual Lions 5K on Sunday, May 19 at 9:00 a.m. The race is an exciting event that brings our school and community together to celebrate who we are and raise funds that support our school and events that build school spirit.
The Booster Club supports our athletic programs and other school initiatives such as our School Store, Teacher Appreciation Week, Southfest, Step Up Day, and more. Together with the PTSO, the Club also helped sponsor a free muffin morning for our students and Celebrate South Week.
The race is a great opportunity for our community to come together, show its spirit and support the school. We're looking forward to a great day for all current, past and future South Lions as well as staff, teachers, friends, family & more!
Be a part of the South community - Join the Lions 5K!
Running or walking not for you? Volunteer!
The Stras family, including baby Isla and dog Rocky “Rockstar” Stras, hope to see you there!
Tamii
ParentSquare is Coming to South!
Newton South will soon be switching to using ParentSquare instead of Smore/SchoolMessenger to send out communications like this one! There have been many updates regarding ParentSquare posted in the district newsletter, and all schools will be moving to ParentSquare to begin the 2024-2025 school year. South is aiming to pilot the use of ParentSquare in May and June to ease the transition.
Instructions for registering for ParentSquare can be found below. Additionally, here is an introduction video.
We did not get a chance to send out invite letters last week, but plan to do so this week. We additionally recommend you get registered (see button below) and download the app on either the App Store or Google Play!
Recirclable Is Coming to South!
We are happy to announce that the whole school will have the choice of more sustainable lunch containers beginning in these upcoming weeks.
Students can choose meals in reusable Preserve Clamshells as part of Newton’s sustainability initiative!
Why are we doing this? Most food packaging in the Newton South cafeteria is currently single-use, which creates a lot of waste. The change to include reusable containers will reduce landfill waste and elevate the dining experience. We also want to teach the students about more sustainable practices for the future of food systems. Starting with younger generations is key to raising awareness and solving the single-use waste crisis.
Over the 180 school days in a year, approximately 900 meals are served each day at each of Newton North and Newton South. That’s approximately 320,000 single-use food containers discarded and thousands of pounds of waste created each year by just two schools. With reusables, this unnecessary waste will be dramatically reduced.
Switching to these sustainable containers will also save money! Newton has a dish machine and nutrition staff that will thoroughly wash and sanitize the containers used each day. We expect the Newton nutrition department to save around $10,000 a year from not purchasing items destined to be thrown away.
Newton South Sports Equipment Drive April 29 - May 10
Students will be holding a sports equipment drive April 29th to May 10th to support underprivileged student-athletes across Massachusetts. Any brand-new or lightly used sports equipment would be a huge help! Drop-off bins can be found at the school's front entrance.
See the flyer for the QR code and more information.
South Learns Instagram Page
We are excited to announce a new update for the South community: our @south.learns Instagram page! This account will showcase all the amazing activities and events that occur every week at South, from performing arts to athletics to school focused events. Feel free to give us a follow on Instagram! In the bio, there is a link for a Google Form. If you are part of an exciting event that you want to be featured on the page, fill it out. Please let us know if you have any questions!
Brighten 2024 with NCE!
Play basketball, badminton, or pickleball OR create with pastels and watercolors! After school. evenings, and weekends, NCE offers enriching programs for all interests with scholarships so everyone can participate. Explore our offerings for grades 6-12 and register here. Ignite curiosity and build friendships right here at school.
WIN Blocks
Students use MyFlexLearning to sign up for WIN blocks.
All students are assigned to a space.
- If you do not sign up for a WIN by the day before that WIN occurs, you will be pushed to a teacher's WIN based on available space. You will be pushed to a Wednesday WIN on Tuesday afternoon, a Thursday WIN on Wednesday afternoon, etc. If you continuously do not sign up for WIN block, we will follow up with you and determine a strategy to make sure you are making the most of this important time on learning period.
- If your teacher is absent the day of your WIN, you will be unscheduled from that WIN and pushed to another space.
- You have up until an hour before a WIN block starts to reschedule; after this, your WIN assignment is locked.
The library is not freely open during WIN block. To be in the library during this block, you must be signed up with a teacher who is assigned to this space. We will ask teachers to not send you to the library, as the library will send you back to the class from which you came.