Middle - Newton Schools Foundation

Color Printer for Districtwide Special Education Program

Color Printer for Districtwide Special Education Program new

Purchase a color printer to provide enrichment to our students. Presenting curriculum in color provide our students, especially with vision impairments, a more productive manner in which to access and understand the content of the curriculum. A color printer will provide our non and low readers pictorial materials that allow a clearer understanding of the material. It will also allow our students with vision impairments to access the curriculum at a higher capacity by contrasts that are easier for these students to see. Having multiple students with a variety of needs, a color printer will provide an obvious approach for all students in the program to access the curriculum equally.

Applicant: Darlene MacIntyre

Schools: Day

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $773.03

Connecting Through Conflict

Creating a dynamic interconnected system/curriculum for the delivering, teaching and supporting of social emotional and relational skills for the most vulnerable students at Brown. Teachers Pay Teachers lessons and subscriptions

Connecting Through Conflict new

Applicant: Kathleen Espelin

Schools: Brown

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $425

CAS Tour 23-24 – Crocodile River Music

CAS Tour 23-24 – Crocodile River Music new

Crocodile River Music will tour all elementary and middle schools in 2023-24 as part of the annual CAS Performing Arts Tour. Through music and dance, CRM spreads awareness and inspires new ways of cultural thinking. CRM allows students to see African artists as experts and leaders-expanding student worldviews. To see artists in this light, increases what young audiences see as possibilities in their own lives. Highly engaging, and culturally responsive -- CRM affirms students’ backgrounds and identities and fosters the ability to understand and respect each other’s cultures. As part of the CAS Tour, students in grades K-8 share the same experience with their peers throughout the district.

Applicant: Stacey Moriarty

Schools: All Elementary and Middle Schools

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $1,000

PD for Mental Health Staff

PD for Mental Health Staff new

The mental health and social and emotional well being of our students remains a district priority, however, mental health staff get no opportunities for professional learning in district. Unlike our other colleagues who receive ongoing and relevant professional learning, mental health staff are forced to pay for their own professional learning outside of the district. Since COVID, and the mental health crisis that has followed, school mental health needs are as intense and dynamic as ever.

Applicant: Jesse Krotick

Schools: District Wide

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $10,000

Literacy Research Annual Association Meeting

Literacy Research Annual Association Meeting new

The proposal will support the MS ELA coordinator in presenting a paper at the Literacy Research Association (LRA) annual meeting, providing a powerful opportunity to learn from other presenters and bring cutting-edge literacy research back to NPS. The middle school ELA coordinator will present her research paper on a panel called “Crossing Boundaries and Borders to Interrogate Curricular Practices” and engage with discussion around relevant topics (e.g. equitable writing assessment and pedagogy) with other panelists. She will also attend sessions addressing all facets of literacy research and literacy instruction over the course of the 3-day conference and network with leading thinkers and practitioners in the field.

Applicant: Joelle Pedersen

Schools: K-8/District

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $1,100

Therapeutic Resource Development

Therapeutic Resource Development new

To create an inviting and functional therapeutic environment as well as provide students with curriculum and strategies to promote social and emotional health to students in the Bridge Program. Curriculum and therapeutic activities will be introduced on a daily basis and room transformation will be ongoing and developing through the entire school year.

Applicant: Donna Caruso

Schools: F.A. Day

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $390

Social Justice Mathematics Curriculum – The Calculus Project

Social Justice Mathematics Curriculum – The Calculus Project new

I want to create a social justice mathematics curriculum for the Calculus Project summer program. This curriculum will allow students to see how mathematics can be used to pursue justice and equity in society. Towards the end of the 2023 school year, I will begin drafting a SJM curriculum for the 8th grade Calculus Project cohort so it can be used in the 2023 summer program. Over the summer, I will work on finalizing the SJM curriculum for 8th grade and work on 9th grade (and possibly 10th grade). The intent is that the 8th and 9th grade curriculum can be used in the summer program of 2024.

Applicant: Amanda Ghilarde

Schools: MS & HS

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: 3,584

Friday Morning Book Group

Friday Morning Book Group new

A Friday morning book group that meets with METCO students who arrive to Brown at 7:30 am each day. Parents will be consulted and surveyed and asked to encourage their students to participate. Each week, a set number of pages will be added for students to read during their extensions at Brown. Each Friday we'll discuss what's happened so far and map out the next week. Support will also be provided in grade-level writing assignments.

Applicant: Kate Mullen

Schools: Brown

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $1,673

Anti-racist Library

Anti-racist Library new

In an effort to engage all students with independent reading that aligns with our anti-racist focus in 7th grade, we would like to expand our classroom libraries to continue to books that are both windows and mirrors of their own life experiences We will use various sources (School Library Journal, National Council for Teachers of English, Colors of Us, We Need Diverse Books, etc. ) to gather a list of book titles that meet our criteria for this grant. Once the titles are received, we will spend some time doing book talks to promote the new books.

Applicant: Sara Azzam, Kate Mullen, Adrian Pickworth

Schools: Brown

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $4,075

Summer Theatre Camp Scholarship

In 2022, Newton Community Education launched its first 5-week summer theater camp. The cost of this camp is $2,500 per student. We hope to provide a scholarship so that a child can attend this camp …

Summer Theatre Camp Scholarship new

Applicant: Paige Davis

Schools: NCE

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $2,500

Focused and alert furniture for the ADHD student

My project is to purchase 3 Storex Wiggle Stools to help students maintain focus in class.

Focused and alert furniture for the ADHD student new

My project is to purchase 3 Storex Wiggle Stools to help students maintain focus in class.

Applicant: Charlotte Ross

Schools: Day

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $185

Comprehensive Input Training Project

Comprehensive Input Training Project new

Last year all the world language teachers received eye opening training about a teaching strategy called Comprehensible Input (CI). However, there are not many CI skills and knowledge that are shared about Chinese, because almost all the CI training is focused on romance languages. Therefore, this year, I want to write a separate grant for all the Chinese teachers who are interested in Chinese CI workshops. We did some basic research and we found a Chinese teacher who is a pioneer of Chinese CI teaching. Her name is Haiyun Lu. She is one of the Chinese CI teachers that we want to have a zoom training with.

Applicant: Yiran Zhang

Schools: Oak Hill

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $2,000