John Ward Elementary School
August 14, 2023
Dear Ward Families,
As I reflect on this school year, I am so humbled and proud that we are finishing this year in good health, and celebrating incredible growth in our children and strength in our community. While the year has been a bit unusual with unexpected interruption and extreme heat, the learning, forward progress, and kindness exemplified by your children is outstanding!
The joy and learning at Ward school is fueled by the incredible dedication and selflessness of our school faculty and amazing partnership with you, our families. Please join me in extending immense gratitude to those who served on our PTO Executive Board, Rashi Khanna, Kristin Golden, and Bryan Salzburg for their tireless efforts, selfless dedication, and boundless energy to support our school. I am certain the PTO, and the entire community, are poised for continued connection and a commitment to your children and one another. As we welcome our new co-presidents, Elizabeth Weinberg and Elizabeth Loehr, we look ahead to continuing the forWard progress next year.
As a community, we have supported one another to highlight our shared school values, the Ward School High Five: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Kind, Love Learning, and Persevere.
The passion and commitment to our Ward School community is strong and felt from every angle: students, families, and staff members. Below, you will find an update regarding staffing; there are many wonderful changes for staff members which are inevitably bittersweet for our school community. I am pleased to share that we have several amazing hires that we will welcome to Ward in the fall. I will more thoroughly introduce new staff members in the fall, and you can read a general update in this newsletter.
We have enjoyed celebrating the school year with families this month and are looking forward to the last 1 ½ days of school and the 5th-grade clap out on Wednesday!
Thank you for your ongoing support and involvement that helps to make Ward a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning community.
Truly,
Becca
Principal
Congratulations and best of luck to Jen Johnson who is taking on a Special Education Administrator position in Dover for the upcoming school year!
We are seeking a Special Education Teacher… If you know of any excellent candidates, please put them in touch with me.
Congratulations to Patricia Robillard who has accepted a 4th grade Teacher LTS position at Franklin School in NPS!
Welcome to Molly Moore, who will join the Ward team as a 4th grade teacher in the fall. Molly has been teaching 4th Grade in NYC for the past few years, most recently at Avenues the World School.
With the end of the school year quickly approaching, we find ourselves bidding farewell to some of our Ward staff as they move on to new and exciting endeavors, both within and outside of Newton. We wish each and every one of these valued community members the very best! Thank you to Jeannie Corbo-Hudak, Kadesia Woods, Rachel Ritchie, Patricia Robillard, Heather Castodio, and Jen Johnson. Their contributions to Ward are deeply appreciated!
We anticipate the following grade-level configurations and teaching teams. Families will receive classroom teacher assignments at the end of August through Aspen. Please note that this is subject to change as families move in and out of the district throughout the summer:
Kindergarten- 1 classroom; Cari MacKenzie
Grade 1- 3 classrooms; Jessica Colarusso; Caitlin Keefe & Sammantha Sylvester
Grade 2- 1 classroom; Lija Kurens
Grade 3- 2 classrooms; Megan Beaulieu Jones & Jill Kaplan
Grade 4- 2 classrooms: Katherine Goldman & Molly Moore
Grade 5- 2 classrooms: Meredith Grindrod & Mark Tugwell
Specialists: Hillary Irvine (Art) , Miles Wilcox (Music), Kim Selwyn & Rachael Lundquist (Library), and Danielle Pargoli (PEHW) with Dianne Pinto (LTS for fall)
ELL: Daniela Alvarez Bradley(.9)
SEL Interventionist: Megan Power
Social Worker: Erin Byrne
School Nurse: Deana Salameh
Literacy & Math Specialists: Hannah Franklin & Andy Guttell
Special Education Team:
Shoshana Anapolle- Special Educator
Lisa Dubinsky- Speech and Language Pathologist (.8)
Sara Feinberg- Special Educator (.8)
Marianne Heylin- Occupational Therapist (.2)
TBD- Special Educator
Meghan O’Brien- .5 Psychologist
Katelyn Smith- .6 Team Specialist & .4 Special Educator
Progress Reports will be posted on ASPEN for families to view on Tuesday, June 25. If you are unable to access your child’s progress report, please contact NPS’ Aspen Support, aspen@newton.k12.ma.us.
Standards:
4- Consistently exceeds standard
3- Meeting expectations at this time of year
2- Making progress toward the standard, but not meeting expectations for this time of year.
1- Making limited or inconsistent progress toward the standard
We hold high standards for all of our students.
A three on any given standard means the student is meeting benchmark, and a four means the student is independently performing at least a solid grade level above.
We want to encourage a love of reading and lifelong learning.... Read throughout the summer to find the joy & adventure in books, and continue to build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. Chek out the following resources for NPS Summer reading:
Every year the city of Newton is collecting data with the goal of improving sidewalks around one selected school. This year will be Ward school! Please help provide the DPW with a list of missing, uneven or obstructed sidewalks and access ramps.
If you live in the circled area or pass through it on your way to school, please take a walk with your student and take notice of potential obstacles to a safe and accessible route to school. Add any finding to this form or email keren.wainger@gmail.com.
Let me know if you have any questions and thank you for your help!
Keren Wainger - Safe Routes to School
BUS REGISTRATION FOR 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR
Bus registration for the 2024-25 school year will begin in early June. All students who wish to ride the bus MUST register for a bus pass (even if you are not required to pay a fee.)
A reminder about changes implemented last year:
The bus fee is $400 with a family cap of two passes ($800.)
All elementary students who reside LESS than 2 miles from their elementary school and wish to ride the bus must pay a bus fee.
Students in Grades K-6 who reside MORE than 2 miles from their school and wish to ride the bus DO NOT pay a bus fee. All students in grades 7-12 pay the bus fee if they wish to ride the bus. Please visit our NPS Bus Fee webpage for details.
Please use this link to determine your distance from your school.
When bus registration opens in early June, you will be notified via email. You will register and pay via MySchoolBucks. Installment payment plans will be available. More information on bus registration can be found on our NPS Bus Registration webpage.
The application for the 2024-2025 district-wide financial assistance waiver is now available in Aspen. We encourage you to apply now so that your waiver is in place for your bus registration. Visit the fee waiver information and instructions webpage to apply via the Aspen portal. The instructions for completing the form in Aspen are here: Fee Waiver Application Instructions.
ARE YOU MOVING BEFORE SEPTEMBER?
If you are planning to move out of the Ward district before September 2023, please complete the NPS Withdrawal Instructions.pdf. This will help us gather the required information to share with the new school as well as help us to create more accurate class placements for the upcoming school year.
June was declared the official Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in 2000 and was chosen as the month in honor of the Stonewall Uprising in June 1969. The official name was changed in 2009, when President Barack Obama declared June “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month” to be more inclusive.
In schools and classrooms, LGBTQ+ Pride Month is an excellent time to talk with students about LGBTQ+ people and their struggles to achieve equity and justice in all aspects of their lives. It is an opportunity to learn about important LGBTQ+ people in history, read literature that features LGBTQ+ people, analyze heterosexism, and explore its causes and solutions. As with other similarly themed months, it is important not to isolate the exploration of LGBTQ+ people and culture into one month during the year. LGBTQ history is U.S. history.
Here are some resources for families to check out:
Adventures in reading abound! Check out the Newton Public Library Summer Reading Programs!
IMPORTANT FAMILY LINKS
Ward School
Ward PTO
Newton Public Schools (NPS)
- NPS Family Website Page, this page includes district news and quick links
NPS Tech Support: ftsupport@newton.k12.ma.us or aspen@newton.k12.ma.us
Rebecca Brogadir, Principal
Email: brogadirr@newton.k12.ma.us
Phone: 617-559-6450
Website: https://www.newton.k12.ma.us/ward
Address: 10 Dolphin Rd. Newton, MA 02459