9/25/23 - 9/29/23 Weekly Update

Newton South Students and Families,

Welcome to the first full week of autumn! Believe it or not, we are one week away from the halfway point of term 1!

Our club coordinator, Mr. Hardiman, has updated the 2023-2024 clubs for the year. Take a look through and find a way to get involved!

Since there is no school on Monday, there is also no Advisory block this week. As there will be no Advisory, please be sure to sign up for your WIN blocks at some point during this week in preparation for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Note that we will begin pushing unassigned students into WIN block for the next day on Tuesday afternoon (see below for more details).

A few important highlights this week:

We have our first early release day of the year on Thursday, September 28. A, B, WIN 2, and E blocks will meet on this day, and the last class will end at 12:30. Students will have an opportunity to get lunch from the cafeteria starting at 12:30 PM, and buses will leave Newton South at 12:55 PM. Teachers will be doing professional development in the afternoon. All late buses (Boston and Newton) will run as usual.

See below for the schedule:

In an effort to make biking to Newton South safer, a few students in cooperation with the City of Newton and Safe Routes to School are planning to pilot a traffic cone-protected bike lane on Thursday, September 28.

In the morning between 8:30 AM - 9 AM, cones will be positioned on the school side of the road from the Parker Street direction. At dismissal (between 12:30 - 1 PM as it will be a half day), the cones will be switched to the other side of the road as traffic leaves Newton South towards Parker Street. During both windows of time, the parking area in red in the pictures above will be restricted. There will be a table near the respective bike route to hand out bike safety flyers, hand out bike-related takeaways (pins, stickers, pamphlets, etc.), and have coordinators be readily available to answer any questions about the bike route.

We are making one change to our attendance procedures for college visits: We will excuse up to two college visits per term in terms 3 and 4 for juniors, and any time for seniors.

Enjoy the rest of your long weekend and we will see you on Tuesday!

Sincerely,

Jason Williams (he/him)

Vice Principal

Newton South High School

As a reminder, when picking up and dropping off your students, do not use 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.

Please do not park along the fence near the athletic fields and Cutler House, or in any fire lane. This is an important access point for city and emergency vehicles and a vital pickup and dropoff point for our school vans. We appreciate your cooperation as we help ensure the safety of all students.

Only seniors who have earned a spot through the parking lottery and have paid for their spot are allowed to park on campus, and are only allowed to park in their designated, numbered, yellow-lined space.

Vehicles illegally parked on campus will receive a warning ticket after their first violation. If the vehicle receives a second ticket, it is subject to being towed, at the owner's expense, if it receives another one.

Here is the parking handbook for the 2023-2024 school year.

Special thanks to all of you who took time out of your busy evening to watch our webinar on Thursday evening! You can find the recording here.

Please join us for the SECOND club fair of the 2023-24 school year which will be held on Tuesday, 9/26 Lion Block in the lower student center/cafeteria. Come check out a new group of diverse clubs representing academic interests, advocacy and affinity groups, community service, culture, arts, games, journalism, and more!

As with last week, students will continue to use MyFlexLearning to sign up for WIN blocks. Please note a few things as we completed our first week of WIN:

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.

There will be two special programs for certain grades this week:

• Wednesday, September 27: All grade 10 students in Goldrick House will meet in the Field House for a Counseling Center activity
• Thursday, September 28: All grade 10 students will meet in the Field House for a Social Media assembly

Seniors: Be sure to sign up to schedule your senior portrait! Please use this website to book a time: https://seniors.legacystudios.com/newton-south-hs-ma/. For now, September 23 and 30 are available, but other slots will open up as these slots fill. Please check regularly for additional appointments.

Questions about senior portraits can be directed to customercare@legacystudios.com, or our yearbook advisor, Mr. Brian Baron.

Our fall visits with college reps begin on Monday, September 18th. You may see the full list of 150+ colleges through your SCOIR account. Find the list on your dashboard/homepage under the heading,"Your Application Deadlines & Registered Visits". Register to attend.

If the visit occurs during a class, you must have permission to attend from your teacher. Please bring this form signed 24 hours prior to the visit. If a visit is during WIN, no pass is needed. If you have a free block or canceled class, no pass is needed.

Here is the list for our visits next week. All visits are in the College & Career Center unless noted in SCOIR.

Please note: colleges visit with seniors occurs from September through December only. If you are applying to colleges with regular deadlines (January-March), you should take advantage of learning about a range of college options now. If you have any questions, please reach out to the College and Career Counselor, Ms. Kathy Sabet.

Please login to Aspen to update your student’s contact information and permissions. This review must be done every year so that the district has accurate and up-to-date information on addresses, emergency contacts, health records, and permissions. Please update all records and permissions by Friday, September 29th. See below for directions.

Directions for Updating Student Information and Permissions

Monday, September 25: No School (Yom Kippur)

Thursday, September 28: Early Release (12:45pm Dismissal)

Wednesday, October 4: Q1 Midterm Comments Due (Progress Reports will come out later this week)

Thursday, October 5, 7:30pm: Jazz Showcase, Seasholes Auditorium

Use this form to report an absence:

• Cutler

• Goldrick

• Wheeler

• Goodwin

Attendance Standard for the 2023-2024 School Year

Attendance Standard FAQs

District Procedures Regarding Attendance

IMPORTANT CHANGE IN ATTENDANCE STANDARD: We will excuse up to two college visits per term in term 3 and 4 for juniors, and anytime during the year for seniors.

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

Bus Schedules

Boston Bus Schedules

Cell phones should not be seen or heard in class, and should be in 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.

• 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.

Students on the TT and JJ buses were given important memos on Friday regarding bus changes. If you or your student takes ones of these buses, please read the appropriate memo below.

JJ Bus Changes

The AM bus stop order will change.

The Avalon stop will change in the morning to be on bus AB at 8:30 AM.

TT Bus Changes

All stops in the morning will begin 10 minutes earlier.

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 Wednesday, September 13. You can access it here.

All students in grades 6-10 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.