FY 22 Grant Distribution to Date $101,920
Racial / Income and Social Identity Inequities
New Approaches in the Classroom
Professional Development
NSF by the Numbers:
July 2021-Present (more to come!)
- Received gifts from 500 donors and endowment funds
- Made 29 grants totaling $101,920
- Affected 12,000+ students and faculty
- Reached 23 schools in the NPS system
Programs We Fund
Over the past 10 years, Newton Schools Foundation has granted the Newton Public Schools more than $1.4 million to support initiatives across the school system.
Newton Schools Foundation Grants Funded These Programs in the Newton Public Schools
Select a category:
New Approaches in the Classroom
4K Camcorders for Technical Theatre, Video Classes and South Stage
4K Camcorders for Technical Theatre, Video Classes and South Stage new
This grant enables students to learn and use the latest technology to explore culturally and personally relevant themes in both personal and collective work.
Applicant: Megan Leary-Crist
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $1100
AuthorFest
AuthorFest
This one-day event presented by the Creative Arts and Sciences Committee brings authors and illustrators to all elementary and middle schools to engage students in the writing and illustrating process.
Applicant: Stacey Moriarty, NPS Director of Creative Arts & Sciences
Schools: Angier, Bowen, Burr, Cabot, Countryside, Franklin, Horace-Mann, Mason-Rice, Memorial-Spaulding, Peirce, Ward, Williams, Underwood, Zervas, Bigelow, Brown, Day, Oak Hill
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $11,000
Civics/English Language Arts Holocaust Unit
READ MORE
Civics/English Language Arts Holocaust Unit
8th grade civics classes will learn the history of the Holocaust and its lasting impact, as well as to connect it to problems in society. At the same time, students will read The Boy on the Wooden Box in English classes. This text is a memoir written by the youngest person on Schindler's List. This will personalize the historical issue and bring the two contents together in a meaningful way.
Applicant: Victoria Munsell
Schools: Brown
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $500
Counseling Center Initiative
READ MORE
Counseling Center Initiative new
The newly created Counseling Center at Newton South is being staffed by four adjustment counselors/clinical social workers. In order to address the increasing mental health needs of our students, we will be facilitating skill-building focused counseling groups.
Applicant: Sarah Style
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2308
Culturally Responsive Trauma Classrooms
Culturally Responsive Trauma Classrooms
Create classroom environments with the goal of promoting wellness, integrates social and emotional learning experiences and universal instructional practices for all students.
Applicant: Stephanie Lefever, Toni Kelly and Shelia Morris
Schools: Franklin
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2580
Developing Global Curriculum
READ MORE
Developing Global Curriculum new
This grant will allow the adaptation of curriculum from the Brown University Choices Program which encourages active vs. passive learning: students grapple with complex real-world problems, engage in perspective taking, build empathy through roleplay and understand multiple perspectives, and gain confidence in their ability to formulate arguments and articulate their thoughts through debates and discussions.
Applicant: David Bedar
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $1797
Digital Storytelling and Letter Recognition/Phonetic Sounds iPad Apps
READ MORE
Digital Storytelling and Letter Recognition/Phonetic Sounds iPad Apps new
With the expansion of student 1:1 iPads in grades 1 and 2, the My Story School eBook Maker iPad app and the Writing Wizard will allow all grade 1 and 2 students across all elementary schools access to the same technology.
Applicant: Donna Busa, Lauren Dietz, Mary Manning, Jen Roy and Lisa Vancans
Schools: All Elementary Schools
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $5000
Fostering Lifelong Music Learning with the Ukulele
READ MORE
Fostering Lifelong Music Learning with the Ukulele
A team of five elementary music teachers will explore, develop, and pilot a K-5 scope and sequence of ukulele music lesson units with the goal of establishing the ukulele as a standard general music classroom instrument. Throughout the 21-22 school year, the team will share their work and experiences with the full elementary music department during fine arts department professional development meetings and will make a recommendation to the department in May, 2022, with a plan of action to establish an elementary ukulele program in Newton Public Schools elementary music programs.
Applicant: Kathleen McIntosh
Schools: Pilot: Bowen, Burr, Franklin, Mason-Rice, Ward
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $6843
Healthy Living for Emotional and Physical Development
READ MORE
Healthy Living for Emotional and Physical Development
The goal of this project is to engage students in hands on scaffolded nutrition classes. These multi-disciplinary lessons provide students with the opportunity to develop life long skills and healthy habits for independent living and improved mental health.
Applicant: Diane Locheed
Schools: Central High School
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $2800
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Book Purchase
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Book Purchase
NSF will purchase copies of the book for students in junior year biology classes to engage in learning about science through an anti-racist lens.
Applicant: Emma Lichtenstein
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $1700
Math Fact Automaticity
Math Fact Automaticity new
Hands-on educational games for students to practice math fact automaticity and mental math.
Applicant: Laura Boehm and Russel Hunt
Schools: Oak Hill
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $580
Multi-Sensory Reading Instruction
Multi-Sensory Reading Instruction new
This grant funds materials to enrich reading curriculum for students with special education services related specifically to decoding, spelling, reading fluency, and reading comprehension.
Applicant: Tierney Leary
Schools: Oak Hill
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $435
Music for All
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Music for All
Music is a critical part of the preschool curriculum and classroom experience. Music is used as a teaching tool throughout the day and across all curriculum areas. Students with disabilities often require adaptive materials, such as switch accessible instruments, in order to access musical activities and the general education curriculum. NSF will fund music materials so all can participate.
Applicant: Melissa Rice, Chelsea LeBlanc, Ashley Raven and Michelle Simon
Schools: Newton Early Childhood Program
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $4260
New Media Communities at Newton South
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New Media Communities at Newton South
New Media Communities at Newton South (NMC) is a project-based, innovation-focused smaller learning community that joins English and History with media production and media analysis. Students elect to join during their Sophomore and Junior years, and during that time, they study standards-based skills and content in English and History while applying them to the world around them through audio and audio-visual projects. This grant will help elevate the media production work that students will complete, allowing students to gain a new understanding of how the media shape consciousness and how to use media to change the world.
Applicant: David Weintraub
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $13,000
New Text to Talk Diverse Book Library
New Text to Talk Diverse Book Library
A new curated a set of books for K-3 teachers to use as a supplement to their literacy instruction and their SEL and anti-racist instruction.
Applicant: Brenna Green
Schools: Cabot
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2632
Rainbow Pride
Rainbow Pride
An affinity afterschool club for LBGTQIA students, which fosters a safe community for all students who identify as LBGTQIA, have LBGTQIA family members, or want to be allies.
Applicant: Stephanie Lefever & Melissa Chiozzi
Schools: Franklin
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $400
School Based Book Groups on Shifting the Balance: Incorporating the Science of Reading into Balanced Literacy Classrooms
READ MORE
School Based Book Groups on Shifting the Balance: Incorporating the Science of Reading into Balanced Literacy Classrooms new
K-2 teachers or Literacy Specialists will be provided with books to run 4 1-hour book clubs with interested colleagues in their buildings. They will learn science-based early literacy approaches. The final session will be dedicated to creating materials and resources to incorporate in their instruction.
Applicant: Deana Lew
Schools: Elementary
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $1152
School Store
READ MORE
School Store
Special education students will access the school store for practical and meaningful job training . It will also create a functioning school store space for students to further develop their vocational and independent living skills. Staff and students will be able to access the store as a community-building space that will grow into one that can be accessed by the entire NSHS community.
Applicant: John Curley
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1760
STEAM in the Classroom
STEAM in the Classroom
Introduce art curriculum into the 6,7 and 8th grades as part of their overall STEM education.
Applicant: Sherry Edwards
Schools: F.A. Day
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $3000
Story Champs Language Intervention Curriculum
READ MORE
Story Champs Language Intervention Curriculum new
The Story Champs program targets language comprehension for students with language-based and cognitive disabilities. This program is for students with diagnoses such as Down Syndrome, Autism and Fragile X. This program includes visual supports, kinesthetic cues, and can be carried over across a variety of subjects including oral language, reading comprehension, and writing.
Applicant: Megan Barberio
Schools: Cabot
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $298
The Portal: Gateway to Globalization
READ MORE
The Portal: Gateway to Globalization
The Portal event provides an immersive educational experience using video technology to “teleport” students to another portal around the country or across the globe, offering an interactive learning experience, to gain an understanding of one another that can only come through shared spaces.
Applicant: Tim Finnegan, English Teacher, Newton North
Schools: Newton North
Amount: $5,000
Virtual Band Project
Virtual Band Project
Funding provides for three classes; Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble to produce a virtual band recording of some of the music all students have been working on this year.
Applicant: Lisa Linde
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1900
Writing as Activism – Nic Stone Author Visit
READ MORE
Writing as Activism – Nic Stone Author Visit
In her inspiring presentation titled “Writing as Activism”, Nic Stone, shares her own experience growing up as a Black girl in a mostly white school, and how feeling under-represented in curriculum materials inspired her to be an author and to write books with characters who look like her that are now taught in schools all over the United States. She also shares how current events inspired her young adult and middle-grade novels, Dear Martin and Clean Getaway. Bringing Nic Stone to Brown, is part of a Universal Design Learning unit where students think about how to harness their energy to research a topic and advocate for racial and social justice - whether it be to write to a politician, a letter to the editor, a business, or a piece of fiction, related to a topic they feel passionate about.
Applicant: Adrian Pickworth
Schools: Brown
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $500
AuthorFest
AuthorFest
This one-day event presented by the Creative Arts and Sciences Committee brings authors and illustrators to all elementary and middle schools to engage students in the writing and illustrating process.
Applicant: Stacey Moriarty, NPS Director of Creative Arts & Sciences
Schools: Angier, Bowen, Burr, Cabot, Countryside, Franklin, Horace-Mann, Mason-Rice, Memorial-Spaulding, Peirce, Ward, Williams, Underwood, Zervas, Bigelow, Brown, Day, Oak Hill
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $11,000
Culturally Responsive Trauma Classrooms
Culturally Responsive Trauma Classrooms
Create classroom environments with the goal of promoting wellness, integrates social and emotional learning experiences and universal instructional practices for all students.
Applicant: Stephanie Lefever, Toni Kelly and Shelia Morris
Schools: Franklin
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2580
Digital Storytelling and Letter Recognition/Phonetic Sounds iPad Apps
READ MORE
Digital Storytelling and Letter Recognition/Phonetic Sounds iPad Apps new
With the expansion of student 1:1 iPads in grades 1 and 2, the My Story School eBook Maker iPad app and the Writing Wizard will allow all grade 1 and 2 students across all elementary schools access to the same technology.
Applicant: Donna Busa, Lauren Dietz, Mary Manning, Jen Roy and Lisa Vancans
Schools: All Elementary Schools
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $5000
Fostering Lifelong Music Learning with the Ukulele
READ MORE
Fostering Lifelong Music Learning with the Ukulele
A team of five elementary music teachers will explore, develop, and pilot a K-5 scope and sequence of ukulele music lesson units with the goal of establishing the ukulele as a standard general music classroom instrument. Throughout the 21-22 school year, the team will share their work and experiences with the full elementary music department during fine arts department professional development meetings and will make a recommendation to the department in May, 2022, with a plan of action to establish an elementary ukulele program in Newton Public Schools elementary music programs.
Applicant: Kathleen McIntosh
Schools: Pilot: Bowen, Burr, Franklin, Mason-Rice, Ward
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $6843
New Text to Talk Diverse Book Library
New Text to Talk Diverse Book Library
A new curated a set of books for K-3 teachers to use as a supplement to their literacy instruction and their SEL and anti-racist instruction.
Applicant: Brenna Green
Schools: Cabot
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2632
Rainbow Pride
Rainbow Pride
An affinity afterschool club for LBGTQIA students, which fosters a safe community for all students who identify as LBGTQIA, have LBGTQIA family members, or want to be allies.
Applicant: Stephanie Lefever & Melissa Chiozzi
Schools: Franklin
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $400
School Based Book Groups on Shifting the Balance: Incorporating the Science of Reading into Balanced Literacy Classrooms
READ MORE
School Based Book Groups on Shifting the Balance: Incorporating the Science of Reading into Balanced Literacy Classrooms new
K-2 teachers or Literacy Specialists will be provided with books to run 4 1-hour book clubs with interested colleagues in their buildings. They will learn science-based early literacy approaches. The final session will be dedicated to creating materials and resources to incorporate in their instruction.
Applicant: Deana Lew
Schools: Elementary
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $1152
Story Champs Language Intervention Curriculum
READ MORE
Story Champs Language Intervention Curriculum new
The Story Champs program targets language comprehension for students with language-based and cognitive disabilities. This program is for students with diagnoses such as Down Syndrome, Autism and Fragile X. This program includes visual supports, kinesthetic cues, and can be carried over across a variety of subjects including oral language, reading comprehension, and writing.
Applicant: Megan Barberio
Schools: Cabot
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $298
AuthorFest
AuthorFest
This one-day event presented by the Creative Arts and Sciences Committee brings authors and illustrators to all elementary and middle schools to engage students in the writing and illustrating process.
Applicant: Stacey Moriarty, NPS Director of Creative Arts & Sciences
Schools: Angier, Bowen, Burr, Cabot, Countryside, Franklin, Horace-Mann, Mason-Rice, Memorial-Spaulding, Peirce, Ward, Williams, Underwood, Zervas, Bigelow, Brown, Day, Oak Hill
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $11,000
Civics/English Language Arts Holocaust Unit
READ MORE
Civics/English Language Arts Holocaust Unit
8th grade civics classes will learn the history of the Holocaust and its lasting impact, as well as to connect it to problems in society. At the same time, students will read The Boy on the Wooden Box in English classes. This text is a memoir written by the youngest person on Schindler's List. This will personalize the historical issue and bring the two contents together in a meaningful way.
Applicant: Victoria Munsell
Schools: Brown
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $500
Math Fact Automaticity
Math Fact Automaticity new
Hands-on educational games for students to practice math fact automaticity and mental math.
Applicant: Laura Boehm and Russel Hunt
Schools: Oak Hill
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $580
Multi-Sensory Reading Instruction
Multi-Sensory Reading Instruction new
This grant funds materials to enrich reading curriculum for students with special education services related specifically to decoding, spelling, reading fluency, and reading comprehension.
Applicant: Tierney Leary
Schools: Oak Hill
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $435
STEAM in the Classroom
STEAM in the Classroom
Introduce art curriculum into the 6,7 and 8th grades as part of their overall STEM education.
Applicant: Sherry Edwards
Schools: F.A. Day
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $3000
Writing as Activism – Nic Stone Author Visit
READ MORE
Writing as Activism – Nic Stone Author Visit
In her inspiring presentation titled “Writing as Activism”, Nic Stone, shares her own experience growing up as a Black girl in a mostly white school, and how feeling under-represented in curriculum materials inspired her to be an author and to write books with characters who look like her that are now taught in schools all over the United States. She also shares how current events inspired her young adult and middle-grade novels, Dear Martin and Clean Getaway. Bringing Nic Stone to Brown, is part of a Universal Design Learning unit where students think about how to harness their energy to research a topic and advocate for racial and social justice - whether it be to write to a politician, a letter to the editor, a business, or a piece of fiction, related to a topic they feel passionate about.
Applicant: Adrian Pickworth
Schools: Brown
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $500
4K Camcorders for Technical Theatre, Video Classes and South Stage
4K Camcorders for Technical Theatre, Video Classes and South Stage new
This grant enables students to learn and use the latest technology to explore culturally and personally relevant themes in both personal and collective work.
Applicant: Megan Leary-Crist
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $1100
Counseling Center Initiative
READ MORE
Counseling Center Initiative new
The newly created Counseling Center at Newton South is being staffed by four adjustment counselors/clinical social workers. In order to address the increasing mental health needs of our students, we will be facilitating skill-building focused counseling groups.
Applicant: Sarah Style
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2308
Developing Global Curriculum
READ MORE
Developing Global Curriculum new
This grant will allow the adaptation of curriculum from the Brown University Choices Program which encourages active vs. passive learning: students grapple with complex real-world problems, engage in perspective taking, build empathy through roleplay and understand multiple perspectives, and gain confidence in their ability to formulate arguments and articulate their thoughts through debates and discussions.
Applicant: David Bedar
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $1797
Healthy Living for Emotional and Physical Development
READ MORE
Healthy Living for Emotional and Physical Development
The goal of this project is to engage students in hands on scaffolded nutrition classes. These multi-disciplinary lessons provide students with the opportunity to develop life long skills and healthy habits for independent living and improved mental health.
Applicant: Diane Locheed
Schools: Central High School
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $2800
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Book Purchase
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Book Purchase
NSF will purchase copies of the book for students in junior year biology classes to engage in learning about science through an anti-racist lens.
Applicant: Emma Lichtenstein
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $1700
New Media Communities at Newton South
READ MORE
New Media Communities at Newton South
New Media Communities at Newton South (NMC) is a project-based, innovation-focused smaller learning community that joins English and History with media production and media analysis. Students elect to join during their Sophomore and Junior years, and during that time, they study standards-based skills and content in English and History while applying them to the world around them through audio and audio-visual projects. This grant will help elevate the media production work that students will complete, allowing students to gain a new understanding of how the media shape consciousness and how to use media to change the world.
Applicant: David Weintraub
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $13,000
School Store
READ MORE
School Store
Special education students will access the school store for practical and meaningful job training . It will also create a functioning school store space for students to further develop their vocational and independent living skills. Staff and students will be able to access the store as a community-building space that will grow into one that can be accessed by the entire NSHS community.
Applicant: John Curley
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1760
The Portal: Gateway to Globalization
READ MORE
The Portal: Gateway to Globalization
The Portal event provides an immersive educational experience using video technology to “teleport” students to another portal around the country or across the globe, offering an interactive learning experience, to gain an understanding of one another that can only come through shared spaces.
Applicant: Tim Finnegan, English Teacher, Newton North
Schools: Newton North
Amount: $5,000
Virtual Band Project
Virtual Band Project
Funding provides for three classes; Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble to produce a virtual band recording of some of the music all students have been working on this year.
Applicant: Lisa Linde
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1900
Professional Development
“Cultivating Genius” Book Group
READ MORE
“Cultivating Genius” Book Group
This will be a four-session book group meeting to study the book Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy, by Gholdy Muhammad. Participants will meet four times and plan to incorporate this framework into literacy instruction.
Applicant: Deanna Lew
Schools: Districtwide
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $885
Anti Racist Book Club for Faculty
READ MORE
Anti Racist Book Club for Faculty
The Cabot Anti Racist Committee will run a book club with staff using the text "Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy" by Gholdy Muhammad. This book will support educators in designing instruction that reflects students' identities and engages them by recognizing their identity and the identity of their peers. The project will also be aligned with the district goal of meeting the needs of all learners to provide educational equity because it is designed for teachers to further their understanding of how to use literacy to empower students and help them think critically within our current socio-political-cultural context.
Applicant: Emily Nunez
Schools: Cabot
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1250
Decodable Books for Mason-Rice
READ MORE
Decodable Books for Mason-Rice
The grant will all the purchase of decodable books for the school’s book room for teachers to use flexibly based on the needs of their students each year. Through this project, there will be continued professional development with teachers on all of the scientific, research based components of skilled reading.
Applicant: Jennifer Lindstrom
Schools: Mason-Rice
Date Approved: November 9 2020
Amount: $1100
Educational ASL Interpreter Professional Development
READ MORE
Educational ASL Interpreter Professional Development new
Professional development for ASL interpreter to improve services for deaf students at F.A. Day. Build ASL interpreting skills utilized in the educational setting. Gain more knowledge on how to inform teachers and staff how to better serve deaf students.
Applicant: Sarah Pepitone
Schools: F.A. Day
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $425
Enhancing the Knowledge and Skills of NPS Staff to Respond to Students’ Challenging Behavior
READ MORE
Enhancing the Knowledge and Skills of NPS Staff to Respond to Students’ Challenging Behavior
Given the many stressors that students have been experiencing over the past year, and that they continue to experience, students with a wide variety of learning profiles are presenting with behavioral challenges, warranting the need for additional training for our staff. Training is needed for BCBA staff, but also for our behavior therapists, teaching assistants, general and special education teachers, and all other staff who are supporting students who present with challenging behaviors.
Applicant: James Ellis
Schools: District
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $5000
Expanding Special Education Assessment Understanding and Tools
READ MORE
Expanding Special Education Assessment Understanding and Tools
This project will expand teacher's knowledge and expertise in the area of testing students for learning disabilities. It explores new measures available that the district currently does not have/use and analyze their worth for initial and re-evaluations for special education.
Applicant: Allison Hutchinson
Schools: Horace Mann
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $2000
LIPS: Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech Training Course
LIPS: Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech Training Course
A multi-disciplinary team will use this training to support students that struggle to learn to read and do not respond to the general special education materials from which most students benefit.
Applicant: Ellie Pinsky
Schools: Williams
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1500
Modern Classrooms Project Summer Institute
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Modern Classrooms Project Summer Institute
The Modern Classrooms Project 2021 Summer Institute is a four week professional development workshop which contains expert-led presentations, connections with experts and peers and close work with an expert mentor to build instructional videos, mastery checks and other content materials for 8th grade science classrooms.
Applicant: Jessie Cadigan
Schools: Oak Hill
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $495
National Educator Anti-Racist Conference
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National Educator Anti-Racist Conference
A group of 10 Newton South teachers spearheaded a Summer 2020 national conference. Over 10,000 teachers and educators across all 50 states participated in this week-long book read and discussion by notable multi-cultural speakers on how to embed Anti-Racist teaching in Teacher Preparation Programs, School and District Leadership, Teaching Social Studies, Educator Unions, English and ELL (dual language speakers) and Foreign Language Teaching. In addition, there were sessions with practical tips for educators teaching English, Math, Science, Special Education, Early Childhood and Upper Elementary.
Applicant: Joana Chacon, Newton South English Teacher
Schools: All Schools
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $5,000
NNHS Civic Action Projects
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NNHS Civic Action Projects new
Teachers from across disciplines at Newton North High School will new Civics Action projects their curriculum. Additional participants will also include teacher/leaders who will manage and run the training workshops, and civic action project coordinators to help facilitate pilot civic action projects in the classrooms.
Applicant: Claudia Wu, Terry Yoffie, Greg Drake
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $4800
Professional Development: Practical Trauma-Informed Strategies to Reduce Anxiety in Students
Professional Development: Practical Trauma-Informed Strategies to Reduce Anxiety in Students new
17 social emotional learning interventionists across all elementary schools will attend the professional development run by Jessica Minahan: Practical Trauma-Informed Strategies to Reduce Anxiety in Students.
Applicant: Maria Kolbe
Schools: Districtwide
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2040
Storytelling Approach in the World Language Classroom
Storytelling Approach in the World Language Classroom
Professional development for all middles school world language teachers on Storytelling Strategies as a way to provide comprehensible input for middle school language students.
Applicant: Joanna Modica
Schools: All Middle Schools
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $5000
Teachers as Scholars
Teachers as Scholars
Teachers participate in a multi-day seminar led by a leading professor in humanities, social sciences, teacher collaboration, and curriculum development.
Applicant: Kate Shaughnessy English Teacher, Newton North
Schools: Newton North and Newton South
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2960
Time to Talk
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Time to Talk
NSF is funding teachers to attend professional development conferences as they pertain to the Time To Talk program, which provides students with a space to discuss and learn about race, racism and how it impacts their experiences both in and outside school.
Applicant: Elizabeth Opiyo, Alison Wilson
Schools: Oak Hill
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $600
“Cultivating Genius” Book Group
READ MORE
“Cultivating Genius” Book Group
This will be a four-session book group meeting to study the book Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy, by Gholdy Muhammad. Participants will meet four times and plan to incorporate this framework into literacy instruction.
Applicant: Deanna Lew
Schools: Districtwide
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $885
Anti Racist Book Club for Faculty
READ MORE
Anti Racist Book Club for Faculty
The Cabot Anti Racist Committee will run a book club with staff using the text "Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy" by Gholdy Muhammad. This book will support educators in designing instruction that reflects students' identities and engages them by recognizing their identity and the identity of their peers. The project will also be aligned with the district goal of meeting the needs of all learners to provide educational equity because it is designed for teachers to further their understanding of how to use literacy to empower students and help them think critically within our current socio-political-cultural context.
Applicant: Emily Nunez
Schools: Cabot
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1250
Decodable Books for Mason-Rice
READ MORE
Decodable Books for Mason-Rice
The grant will all the purchase of decodable books for the school’s book room for teachers to use flexibly based on the needs of their students each year. Through this project, there will be continued professional development with teachers on all of the scientific, research based components of skilled reading.
Applicant: Jennifer Lindstrom
Schools: Mason-Rice
Date Approved: November 9 2020
Amount: $1100
Enhancing the Knowledge and Skills of NPS Staff to Respond to Students’ Challenging Behavior
READ MORE
Enhancing the Knowledge and Skills of NPS Staff to Respond to Students’ Challenging Behavior
Given the many stressors that students have been experiencing over the past year, and that they continue to experience, students with a wide variety of learning profiles are presenting with behavioral challenges, warranting the need for additional training for our staff. Training is needed for BCBA staff, but also for our behavior therapists, teaching assistants, general and special education teachers, and all other staff who are supporting students who present with challenging behaviors.
Applicant: James Ellis
Schools: District
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $5000
Expanding Special Education Assessment Understanding and Tools
READ MORE
Expanding Special Education Assessment Understanding and Tools
This project will expand teacher's knowledge and expertise in the area of testing students for learning disabilities. It explores new measures available that the district currently does not have/use and analyze their worth for initial and re-evaluations for special education.
Applicant: Allison Hutchinson
Schools: Horace Mann
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $2000
LIPS: Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech Training Course
LIPS: Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech Training Course
A multi-disciplinary team will use this training to support students that struggle to learn to read and do not respond to the general special education materials from which most students benefit.
Applicant: Ellie Pinsky
Schools: Williams
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1500
National Educator Anti-Racist Conference
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National Educator Anti-Racist Conference
A group of 10 Newton South teachers spearheaded a Summer 2020 national conference. Over 10,000 teachers and educators across all 50 states participated in this week-long book read and discussion by notable multi-cultural speakers on how to embed Anti-Racist teaching in Teacher Preparation Programs, School and District Leadership, Teaching Social Studies, Educator Unions, English and ELL (dual language speakers) and Foreign Language Teaching. In addition, there were sessions with practical tips for educators teaching English, Math, Science, Special Education, Early Childhood and Upper Elementary.
Applicant: Joana Chacon, Newton South English Teacher
Schools: All Schools
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $5,000
Professional Development: Practical Trauma-Informed Strategies to Reduce Anxiety in Students
Professional Development: Practical Trauma-Informed Strategies to Reduce Anxiety in Students new
17 social emotional learning interventionists across all elementary schools will attend the professional development run by Jessica Minahan: Practical Trauma-Informed Strategies to Reduce Anxiety in Students.
Applicant: Maria Kolbe
Schools: Districtwide
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2040
“Cultivating Genius” Book Group
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“Cultivating Genius” Book Group
This will be a four-session book group meeting to study the book Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy, by Gholdy Muhammad. Participants will meet four times and plan to incorporate this framework into literacy instruction.
Applicant: Deanna Lew
Schools: Districtwide
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $885
Educational ASL Interpreter Professional Development
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Educational ASL Interpreter Professional Development new
Professional development for ASL interpreter to improve services for deaf students at F.A. Day. Build ASL interpreting skills utilized in the educational setting. Gain more knowledge on how to inform teachers and staff how to better serve deaf students.
Applicant: Sarah Pepitone
Schools: F.A. Day
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $425
Enhancing the Knowledge and Skills of NPS Staff to Respond to Students’ Challenging Behavior
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Enhancing the Knowledge and Skills of NPS Staff to Respond to Students’ Challenging Behavior
Given the many stressors that students have been experiencing over the past year, and that they continue to experience, students with a wide variety of learning profiles are presenting with behavioral challenges, warranting the need for additional training for our staff. Training is needed for BCBA staff, but also for our behavior therapists, teaching assistants, general and special education teachers, and all other staff who are supporting students who present with challenging behaviors.
Applicant: James Ellis
Schools: District
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $5000
Modern Classrooms Project Summer Institute
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Modern Classrooms Project Summer Institute
The Modern Classrooms Project 2021 Summer Institute is a four week professional development workshop which contains expert-led presentations, connections with experts and peers and close work with an expert mentor to build instructional videos, mastery checks and other content materials for 8th grade science classrooms.
Applicant: Jessie Cadigan
Schools: Oak Hill
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $495
National Educator Anti-Racist Conference
READ MORE
National Educator Anti-Racist Conference
A group of 10 Newton South teachers spearheaded a Summer 2020 national conference. Over 10,000 teachers and educators across all 50 states participated in this week-long book read and discussion by notable multi-cultural speakers on how to embed Anti-Racist teaching in Teacher Preparation Programs, School and District Leadership, Teaching Social Studies, Educator Unions, English and ELL (dual language speakers) and Foreign Language Teaching. In addition, there were sessions with practical tips for educators teaching English, Math, Science, Special Education, Early Childhood and Upper Elementary.
Applicant: Joana Chacon, Newton South English Teacher
Schools: All Schools
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $5,000
Storytelling Approach in the World Language Classroom
Storytelling Approach in the World Language Classroom
Professional development for all middles school world language teachers on Storytelling Strategies as a way to provide comprehensible input for middle school language students.
Applicant: Joanna Modica
Schools: All Middle Schools
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $5000
Time to Talk
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Time to Talk
NSF is funding teachers to attend professional development conferences as they pertain to the Time To Talk program, which provides students with a space to discuss and learn about race, racism and how it impacts their experiences both in and outside school.
Applicant: Elizabeth Opiyo, Alison Wilson
Schools: Oak Hill
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $600
“Cultivating Genius” Book Group
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“Cultivating Genius” Book Group
This will be a four-session book group meeting to study the book Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy, by Gholdy Muhammad. Participants will meet four times and plan to incorporate this framework into literacy instruction.
Applicant: Deanna Lew
Schools: Districtwide
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $885
Enhancing the Knowledge and Skills of NPS Staff to Respond to Students’ Challenging Behavior
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Enhancing the Knowledge and Skills of NPS Staff to Respond to Students’ Challenging Behavior
Given the many stressors that students have been experiencing over the past year, and that they continue to experience, students with a wide variety of learning profiles are presenting with behavioral challenges, warranting the need for additional training for our staff. Training is needed for BCBA staff, but also for our behavior therapists, teaching assistants, general and special education teachers, and all other staff who are supporting students who present with challenging behaviors.
Applicant: James Ellis
Schools: District
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $5000
National Educator Anti-Racist Conference
READ MORE
National Educator Anti-Racist Conference
A group of 10 Newton South teachers spearheaded a Summer 2020 national conference. Over 10,000 teachers and educators across all 50 states participated in this week-long book read and discussion by notable multi-cultural speakers on how to embed Anti-Racist teaching in Teacher Preparation Programs, School and District Leadership, Teaching Social Studies, Educator Unions, English and ELL (dual language speakers) and Foreign Language Teaching. In addition, there were sessions with practical tips for educators teaching English, Math, Science, Special Education, Early Childhood and Upper Elementary.
Applicant: Joana Chacon, Newton South English Teacher
Schools: All Schools
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $5,000
NNHS Civic Action Projects
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NNHS Civic Action Projects new
Teachers from across disciplines at Newton North High School will new Civics Action projects their curriculum. Additional participants will also include teacher/leaders who will manage and run the training workshops, and civic action project coordinators to help facilitate pilot civic action projects in the classrooms.
Applicant: Claudia Wu, Terry Yoffie, Greg Drake
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $4800
Teachers as Scholars
Teachers as Scholars
Teachers participate in a multi-day seminar led by a leading professor in humanities, social sciences, teacher collaboration, and curriculum development.
Applicant: Kate Shaughnessy English Teacher, Newton North
Schools: Newton North and Newton South
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2960
Programs that address Inequities
All Are Welcome — AAPI Library Books
All Are Welcome — AAPI Library Books
The All Are Welcome project will bring fiction texts to the Angier Library that features Asian American and Pacific Islander main characters.
Applicant: Liz Donovan
Schools: Angier
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $1140
Anti-Racist and Diverse Representations in Classroom Libraries
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Anti-Racist and Diverse Representations in Classroom Libraries
Classroom libraries are a critical resource for students and are, right now, perhaps more important than ever to maintain. Research has shown that a student's academic achievement is closely tied to the amount of time spent reading. For classroom teachers to quickly and easily put contemporary and high-interest titles from their classroom library directly in the hands of students is critical for both reluctant and avid readers. It is also important to maintain a classroom library that is both current and represents the diversity of the student population by providing current to titles by authors of color and LGBTQ authors.
Applicant: Adrian Pickworth
Schools: Brown
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $3900
Diversify Grade 2 Classroom Libraries
Diversify Grade 2 Classroom Libraries
This collection of books will lead to discussions and action that will highlight our similarities and differences in our classrooms, while respecting and protecting each other through and through.
Applicant: Carla Uzell
Schools: Memorial-Spaulding
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $1140
Diversifying the SPED Classroom Library
Diversifying the SPED Classroom Library
This collection of books will help supply two 7th grade Special Education classrooms. The books will feature a variety of voices, perspectives, and experiences at a variety of reading levels.
Applicant: Meredith Crowe
Schools: Brown
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $256
Eighth Grade English Language Arts Novel Selection
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Eighth Grade English Language Arts Novel Selection
This project will enable 8th grade ELA teachers to collaborate in the service of finding a replacement for Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird as a novel study unit. The 8th grade ELA team will continue to build itself as a community of learners and establish open dialogue around issues of representation in the curriculum, racial identity, and culturally responsive teaching. Students of color in 8th grade ELA classes will have an opportunity to read new novels written by authors of color that are affirming of their diverse identities.
Applicant: Joelle Pederson
Schools: District -- Various Middle Schools
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $5339
Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ)
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Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ)
This group of diverse Newton families helps children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. The organization seeks to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.
Applicant: Superintendent’s office
Schools: K-12
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2500 ($11,500 total )
Increasing Academic Access: Sensory Pathways
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Increasing Academic Access: Sensory Pathways new
This project will increase student access to sensory movement activities to increase academic engagement and teach self-regulation skills. Through the installation of Sensory Pathway(s) (copyright), all students within the school will be given equitable access to an evidence-based tool, with scaffolding from mental health team members as appropriate.
Applicant: Multiple Elementary Schools
Schools: Angier, Burr, Franklin, Lincoln-Eliot, Memorial Spaulding, Zervas
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $9000
Increasing LGBTQ Representation Among Classroom Libraries
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Increasing LGBTQ Representation Among Classroom Libraries
The goal of this project is to increase the visibility and representation of nonbinary and LGBTQ students at the elementary school level. One objective is to make these students feel represented in their classroom libraries. Another objective is to raise awareness for students who do not identify as LGBTQ so that they can be allies to their classmates if issues arise related to gender.
Applicant: Toni-Marie Kelly
Schools: Franklin
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $500
LETRS Units 5-8 Reading Intervention Professional Development
LETRS Units 5-8 Reading Intervention Professional Development
Professional expertise is needed to diagnose and remediate reading difficulties. Participation by a Title 1 reading teacher in this program will help struggling readers at an early age.
Applicant: Alli Franke
Schools: Bowen and Countryside
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $410
Literacy Equity Project
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Literacy Equity Project new
A year-long professional learning community of 1st grade reading teachers (classroom teachers, literacy specialists, and interventionists) from across Newton Public Schools. The community will study culturally responsive reading instruction and best practices for teaching reading to BIPOC children. The cohort of teachers will put those ideas into practice by engaging in multiple, data- based inquiry cycles aimed at boosting Black and Hispanic students’ reading achievement.
Applicant: Alice Wong Tucker
Schools: All Elementary Schools
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $45,000
Newton North Cluster Program
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Newton North Cluster Program new
NSF continues to fund this program based on research by socio-psychologist Claude Steele that has found that clustering high-achieving and academically invested students together can alleviate stereotype threat, we have created a program to support our Black and Latinx students. The NNHS Cluster Program creates cohorts of Latinx students in METCO and the Dover Legacy Scholars program, as well as Black students to help disrupt any unconscious anxiety around potentially reinforcing negative racial stereotypes. The program also offers professional development for teachers of clustered classes.
Applicant: Michele Leong and Dave Bennett
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $4118
Newton South’s Leadership for Social Justice Course
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Newton South’s Leadership for Social Justice Course new
The course at South, grades 10-12, is explicitly focused on developing and supporting actively anti-racist student leaders. The students who take this peer leadership course will also be instrumental in facilitating future conversations in 9th grade history classes and potentially as members of our Courageous Conversations on Race group.
Applicant: Katani Sumner and Sarah Style
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2620
Playground Core Communication Boards — STRIDE Program
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Playground Core Communication Boards — STRIDE Program new
The STRIDE program is a district-wide program to support students with autism and related disorders in which learners have significant impairments in the areas of communication, behavior, social skills, academics, and adaptive functioning. The playground communication boards assist children who are nonverbal and utilize Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and would provide easier access to a communication system that allows for free play and inclusive peer experiences on the playground.
Schools: Districtwide
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2000
Race in the Shakespeare Classroom
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Race in the Shakespeare Classroom
Keith Hamilton Cobb, writer and actor of American Moor, will provide a workshop for 50 students in the senior Shakespeare classes. The play is about race in Shakespeare and he will teach how to approach Shakespeare in a culturally responsive, meaningful way.
Applicant: Jasmine Lellock
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1000
Reflections Kitchenette
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Reflections Kitchenette new
The Reflections Program serves middle school students with severe disabilities that require significant life skills support. By having the ability to cook in the classroom, it would greatly enrich the Reflection program's life skills based curriculum to increase student independence, safety skills and employability upon promotion to high school.
Applicant: Jim O'Donnell
Schools: F.A. Day
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $3000
Smart Music Training
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Smart Music Training
Seven middle school music teachers participate in a three-day training to implement Smart Music, a software program that allows them to assess music students individually, which the current large ensemble model does not. This enables the student to work towards specific musical skills and concepts that relate to the class and ensemble.
Applicant: Caleb Cutler, middle school music teacher and Richard King, K-8 Fine Arts Coordinator
Schools: Brown, Bigelow, Day, Oak Hill
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $10,000
Staff of Color Affinity Groups
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Staff of Color Affinity Groups new
Staff of Color in NPS represent a small percentage of the overall population and with this comes challenges of isolation, de-validation about personal experiences, and lack of community. The hope is that providing programs and a save space to engage and exchange ideas and experiences will offer a place of support and safety, which will positively impact their experience in NPS.
Applicant: Kathy Lopes
Schools: District
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $5000
Telling the History of Racial Justice, from the 19th century to 2021: A Conversation with Historians Kellie Carter Jackson and Kevin Levin
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Telling the History of Racial Justice, from the 19th century to 2021: A Conversation with Historians Kellie Carter Jackson and Kevin Levin
A virtual webinar for NNHS students with special guests, Kellie Carter Jackson and Kevin Levin, both local and esteemed historians. Both are experts in 19th century American history. They would speak to their own areas of expertise (Black abolitionism and dispelling the myth of Black Confederate soldiers, respectively) and make connections to modern times – political division, transfer of power and racial backlash.
Applicant: Max Roberts
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $750
The Calculus Project
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The Calculus Project
Research indicates that success in higher-level high school mathematics is strongly associated with college enrollment and is one of the most reliable predictors of college completion. The Calculus Project aims to narrow the achievement gap in mathematics by increasing the number of African American, Hispanic and low-income students who enroll in and successfully complete calculus in high school.
Applicant: Jennifer Shore, K-8, Math Curriculum Coordinator
Schools: Brown, Bigelow, Day, Oak Hill, Newton North and Newton South
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $290,000
Urban Improv’s Rehearsal for Life Presentation
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Urban Improv’s Rehearsal for Life Presentation new
Rehearsal for Life's Urban Improv program focuses on microaggressions. They will present to all students at Brown, Day and Oak Hill Middle Schools. Urban Improv uses a structured, interactive, improvisational theater workshop to help students learn about microaggressions. The goal of this project is to educate students and staff about what microaggressions are, the impact they have, how to constructively respond to them, and how to seek support when they experience or witness them. (They have already presented to Bigelow Middle School.)
Applicant: Middle School Principals
Schools: Brown, F.A. Day, Oak Hill
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $13,000
Vertical Whiteboards
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Vertical Whiteboards new
Math teachers will increase their vertical whiteboard space to enable them to implement more student-first teaching strategies. Vertical non-permanent surfaces encourage responsible mathematical risk-taking, facilitate group interactions, and allows teachers to target interventions and extensions in a more efficient, timely manner.
Applicant: Kanchan Kant
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2674
Visiting Poet Project
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Visiting Poet Project new
Regionally recognized Black poet, Charlies Coe has been a frequent visitor to Newton North High School over the past four years, visiting approximately 12 classrooms and inspiring over 300 students per year. Charles' impact as a poet and writer who can provide writing prompts, feedback, reflection, humor, and insight into student work is remarkable; many of my students' writing has been transformed through Charles' work. Since students of color represent 87% of my classes (Black, Latino, and Asian), my goal is to have Charles present a variety of writing prompts focused on my students' identities, in order to have them create poetry and prose that help them see themselves as writers.
Applicant: Amy McMahon
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $700
Zervas Kaleidoscope Bags
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Zervas Kaleidoscope Bags new
This grant provides one backpack full of grade-appropriate books, games, and activities for each classroom at Zervas. Students may borrow a bag for a week at a time. The books and activities in each bag provide students and families with content to explore a variety of races, cultures, and social identities. Binders in each bag provide ideas for how to use the bags contents as well as an opportunity for families to contribute a traditional recipe to share with future families who borrow the bag.
Applicant: Rebecca Deeks
Schools: Zervas
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $500
Zervas One Book, One School Project
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Zervas One Book, One School Project
All students will read one of two books that highlight issues of race and racism in our society (Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker for K-2 students and Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly for grade 3-5 students ). Students will read this book in school and at home and will have follow up activities to engage in. Focused on issue of race and equity, families will be supported in learning how to use children's literature to talk with their children about issues of race. Books will be purchased from Black-owned bookstores.
Applicant: Diana Beck
Schools: Zervas
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1900
All Are Welcome — AAPI Library Books
All Are Welcome — AAPI Library Books
The All Are Welcome project will bring fiction texts to the Angier Library that features Asian American and Pacific Islander main characters.
Applicant: Liz Donovan
Schools: Angier
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $1140
Diversify Grade 2 Classroom Libraries
Diversify Grade 2 Classroom Libraries
This collection of books will lead to discussions and action that will highlight our similarities and differences in our classrooms, while respecting and protecting each other through and through.
Applicant: Carla Uzell
Schools: Memorial-Spaulding
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $1140
Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ)
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Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ)
This group of diverse Newton families helps children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. The organization seeks to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.
Applicant: Superintendent’s office
Schools: K-12
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2500 ($11,500 total )
Increasing Academic Access: Sensory Pathways
READ MORE
Increasing Academic Access: Sensory Pathways new
This project will increase student access to sensory movement activities to increase academic engagement and teach self-regulation skills. Through the installation of Sensory Pathway(s) (copyright), all students within the school will be given equitable access to an evidence-based tool, with scaffolding from mental health team members as appropriate.
Applicant: Multiple Elementary Schools
Schools: Angier, Burr, Franklin, Lincoln-Eliot, Memorial Spaulding, Zervas
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $9000
Increasing LGBTQ Representation Among Classroom Libraries
READ MORE
Increasing LGBTQ Representation Among Classroom Libraries
The goal of this project is to increase the visibility and representation of nonbinary and LGBTQ students at the elementary school level. One objective is to make these students feel represented in their classroom libraries. Another objective is to raise awareness for students who do not identify as LGBTQ so that they can be allies to their classmates if issues arise related to gender.
Applicant: Toni-Marie Kelly
Schools: Franklin
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $500
LETRS Units 5-8 Reading Intervention Professional Development
LETRS Units 5-8 Reading Intervention Professional Development
Professional expertise is needed to diagnose and remediate reading difficulties. Participation by a Title 1 reading teacher in this program will help struggling readers at an early age.
Applicant: Alli Franke
Schools: Bowen and Countryside
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $410
Literacy Equity Project
READ MORE
Literacy Equity Project new
A year-long professional learning community of 1st grade reading teachers (classroom teachers, literacy specialists, and interventionists) from across Newton Public Schools. The community will study culturally responsive reading instruction and best practices for teaching reading to BIPOC children. The cohort of teachers will put those ideas into practice by engaging in multiple, data- based inquiry cycles aimed at boosting Black and Hispanic students’ reading achievement.
Applicant: Alice Wong Tucker
Schools: All Elementary Schools
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $45,000
Playground Core Communication Boards — STRIDE Program
READ MORE
Playground Core Communication Boards — STRIDE Program new
The STRIDE program is a district-wide program to support students with autism and related disorders in which learners have significant impairments in the areas of communication, behavior, social skills, academics, and adaptive functioning. The playground communication boards assist children who are nonverbal and utilize Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and would provide easier access to a communication system that allows for free play and inclusive peer experiences on the playground.
Schools: Districtwide
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2000
Staff of Color Affinity Groups
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Staff of Color Affinity Groups new
Staff of Color in NPS represent a small percentage of the overall population and with this comes challenges of isolation, de-validation about personal experiences, and lack of community. The hope is that providing programs and a save space to engage and exchange ideas and experiences will offer a place of support and safety, which will positively impact their experience in NPS.
Applicant: Kathy Lopes
Schools: District
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $5000
Zervas Kaleidoscope Bags
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Zervas Kaleidoscope Bags new
This grant provides one backpack full of grade-appropriate books, games, and activities for each classroom at Zervas. Students may borrow a bag for a week at a time. The books and activities in each bag provide students and families with content to explore a variety of races, cultures, and social identities. Binders in each bag provide ideas for how to use the bags contents as well as an opportunity for families to contribute a traditional recipe to share with future families who borrow the bag.
Applicant: Rebecca Deeks
Schools: Zervas
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $500
Zervas One Book, One School Project
READ MORE
Zervas One Book, One School Project
All students will read one of two books that highlight issues of race and racism in our society (Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker for K-2 students and Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly for grade 3-5 students ). Students will read this book in school and at home and will have follow up activities to engage in. Focused on issue of race and equity, families will be supported in learning how to use children's literature to talk with their children about issues of race. Books will be purchased from Black-owned bookstores.
Applicant: Diana Beck
Schools: Zervas
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1900
Anti-Racist and Diverse Representations in Classroom Libraries
READ MORE
Anti-Racist and Diverse Representations in Classroom Libraries
Classroom libraries are a critical resource for students and are, right now, perhaps more important than ever to maintain. Research has shown that a student's academic achievement is closely tied to the amount of time spent reading. For classroom teachers to quickly and easily put contemporary and high-interest titles from their classroom library directly in the hands of students is critical for both reluctant and avid readers. It is also important to maintain a classroom library that is both current and represents the diversity of the student population by providing current to titles by authors of color and LGBTQ authors.
Applicant: Adrian Pickworth
Schools: Brown
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $3900
Diversifying the SPED Classroom Library
Diversifying the SPED Classroom Library
This collection of books will help supply two 7th grade Special Education classrooms. The books will feature a variety of voices, perspectives, and experiences at a variety of reading levels.
Applicant: Meredith Crowe
Schools: Brown
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $256
Eighth Grade English Language Arts Novel Selection
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Eighth Grade English Language Arts Novel Selection
This project will enable 8th grade ELA teachers to collaborate in the service of finding a replacement for Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird as a novel study unit. The 8th grade ELA team will continue to build itself as a community of learners and establish open dialogue around issues of representation in the curriculum, racial identity, and culturally responsive teaching. Students of color in 8th grade ELA classes will have an opportunity to read new novels written by authors of color that are affirming of their diverse identities.
Applicant: Joelle Pederson
Schools: District -- Various Middle Schools
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $5339
Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ)
READ MORE
Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ)
This group of diverse Newton families helps children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. The organization seeks to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.
Applicant: Superintendent’s office
Schools: K-12
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2500 ($11,500 total )
Reflections Kitchenette
READ MORE
Reflections Kitchenette new
The Reflections Program serves middle school students with severe disabilities that require significant life skills support. By having the ability to cook in the classroom, it would greatly enrich the Reflection program's life skills based curriculum to increase student independence, safety skills and employability upon promotion to high school.
Applicant: Jim O'Donnell
Schools: F.A. Day
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $3000
Smart Music Training
READ MORE
Smart Music Training
Seven middle school music teachers participate in a three-day training to implement Smart Music, a software program that allows them to assess music students individually, which the current large ensemble model does not. This enables the student to work towards specific musical skills and concepts that relate to the class and ensemble.
Applicant: Caleb Cutler, middle school music teacher and Richard King, K-8 Fine Arts Coordinator
Schools: Brown, Bigelow, Day, Oak Hill
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $10,000
Staff of Color Affinity Groups
READ MORE
Staff of Color Affinity Groups new
Staff of Color in NPS represent a small percentage of the overall population and with this comes challenges of isolation, de-validation about personal experiences, and lack of community. The hope is that providing programs and a save space to engage and exchange ideas and experiences will offer a place of support and safety, which will positively impact their experience in NPS.
Applicant: Kathy Lopes
Schools: District
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $5000
The Calculus Project
READ MORE
The Calculus Project
Research indicates that success in higher-level high school mathematics is strongly associated with college enrollment and is one of the most reliable predictors of college completion. The Calculus Project aims to narrow the achievement gap in mathematics by increasing the number of African American, Hispanic and low-income students who enroll in and successfully complete calculus in high school.
Applicant: Jennifer Shore, K-8, Math Curriculum Coordinator
Schools: Brown, Bigelow, Day, Oak Hill, Newton North and Newton South
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $290,000
Urban Improv’s Rehearsal for Life Presentation
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Urban Improv’s Rehearsal for Life Presentation new
Rehearsal for Life's Urban Improv program focuses on microaggressions. They will present to all students at Brown, Day and Oak Hill Middle Schools. Urban Improv uses a structured, interactive, improvisational theater workshop to help students learn about microaggressions. The goal of this project is to educate students and staff about what microaggressions are, the impact they have, how to constructively respond to them, and how to seek support when they experience or witness them. (They have already presented to Bigelow Middle School.)
Applicant: Middle School Principals
Schools: Brown, F.A. Day, Oak Hill
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $13,000
Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ)
READ MORE
Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ)
This group of diverse Newton families helps children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. The organization seeks to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.
Applicant: Superintendent’s office
Schools: K-12
Date Approved: May 3, 2021
Amount: $2500 ($11,500 total )
Newton North Cluster Program
READ MORE
Newton North Cluster Program new
NSF continues to fund this program based on research by socio-psychologist Claude Steele that has found that clustering high-achieving and academically invested students together can alleviate stereotype threat, we have created a program to support our Black and Latinx students. The NNHS Cluster Program creates cohorts of Latinx students in METCO and the Dover Legacy Scholars program, as well as Black students to help disrupt any unconscious anxiety around potentially reinforcing negative racial stereotypes. The program also offers professional development for teachers of clustered classes.
Applicant: Michele Leong and Dave Bennett
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $4118
Newton South’s Leadership for Social Justice Course
READ MORE
Newton South’s Leadership for Social Justice Course new
The course at South, grades 10-12, is explicitly focused on developing and supporting actively anti-racist student leaders. The students who take this peer leadership course will also be instrumental in facilitating future conversations in 9th grade history classes and potentially as members of our Courageous Conversations on Race group.
Applicant: Katani Sumner and Sarah Style
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2620
Race in the Shakespeare Classroom
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Race in the Shakespeare Classroom
Keith Hamilton Cobb, writer and actor of American Moor, will provide a workshop for 50 students in the senior Shakespeare classes. The play is about race in Shakespeare and he will teach how to approach Shakespeare in a culturally responsive, meaningful way.
Applicant: Jasmine Lellock
Schools: Newton South
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $1000
Staff of Color Affinity Groups
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Staff of Color Affinity Groups new
Staff of Color in NPS represent a small percentage of the overall population and with this comes challenges of isolation, de-validation about personal experiences, and lack of community. The hope is that providing programs and a save space to engage and exchange ideas and experiences will offer a place of support and safety, which will positively impact their experience in NPS.
Applicant: Kathy Lopes
Schools: District
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $5000
Telling the History of Racial Justice, from the 19th century to 2021: A Conversation with Historians Kellie Carter Jackson and Kevin Levin
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Telling the History of Racial Justice, from the 19th century to 2021: A Conversation with Historians Kellie Carter Jackson and Kevin Levin
A virtual webinar for NNHS students with special guests, Kellie Carter Jackson and Kevin Levin, both local and esteemed historians. Both are experts in 19th century American history. They would speak to their own areas of expertise (Black abolitionism and dispelling the myth of Black Confederate soldiers, respectively) and make connections to modern times – political division, transfer of power and racial backlash.
Applicant: Max Roberts
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: Jan. 19 2021
Amount: $750
The Calculus Project
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The Calculus Project
Research indicates that success in higher-level high school mathematics is strongly associated with college enrollment and is one of the most reliable predictors of college completion. The Calculus Project aims to narrow the achievement gap in mathematics by increasing the number of African American, Hispanic and low-income students who enroll in and successfully complete calculus in high school.
Applicant: Jennifer Shore, K-8, Math Curriculum Coordinator
Schools: Brown, Bigelow, Day, Oak Hill, Newton North and Newton South
Date Approved: FY 2020
Amount: $290,000
Vertical Whiteboards
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Vertical Whiteboards new
Math teachers will increase their vertical whiteboard space to enable them to implement more student-first teaching strategies. Vertical non-permanent surfaces encourage responsible mathematical risk-taking, facilitate group interactions, and allows teachers to target interventions and extensions in a more efficient, timely manner.
Applicant: Kanchan Kant
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $2674
Visiting Poet Project
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Visiting Poet Project new
Regionally recognized Black poet, Charlies Coe has been a frequent visitor to Newton North High School over the past four years, visiting approximately 12 classrooms and inspiring over 300 students per year. Charles' impact as a poet and writer who can provide writing prompts, feedback, reflection, humor, and insight into student work is remarkable; many of my students' writing has been transformed through Charles' work. Since students of color represent 87% of my classes (Black, Latino, and Asian), my goal is to have Charles present a variety of writing prompts focused on my students' identities, in order to have them create poetry and prose that help them see themselves as writers.
Applicant: Amy McMahon
Schools: Newton North
Date Approved: January, 2022
Amount: $700
Other Programs NSF Supports
Ligerbots
Ligerbots is a robotics club that includes students, teacher coaches and parent mentors from both Newton North and Newton South High Schools. In 2008 NSF provided financial support to help build the program in Newton. The following year, NSF assumed financial oversight of the program, allowing for a more flexible use of funds than the Newton Public Schools can provide.
Beijing Jingshan Exchange Program
Each spring, the Newton-Beijing Jingshan School Exchange Program sends Newton teachers and high school students to the Jingshan School, Newton Public Schools’ sister school in Beijing. Newton hosts a similar group from the Jingshan School every fall. While in Beijing, teachers teach English and continue their own study of Chinese (Mandarin). Students attend classes in Chinese language, history, art, music, math, science, and martial arts — all in Chinese.
