Equity Archives - Newton Schools Foundation

Purposeful Emergent Writing in Kindergarten

Purposeful Emergent Writing in Kindergarten new

Our Kindergarten Team will explore the stages of writing development through a book study with our Literacy Specialist. Instruction with described moves. Kindergarten writers will move from prewriting to using sentence structure and story sense. Our study and application of moves is learned through the text Kid Writing in the 21st Century. Students will have multiple chances each week to write their own story in their writing notebook.

Applicant: Jeanne Conley

Schools: Lincoln-Eliot

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $1,060.76

Empowering Emotional Growth

This project will create new “calm down spaces,” enhance an existing one, and integrate Nex Playground in middle school special ed classrooms to support emotional regulation and play-based learning, fostering social and emotional development. The …

Empowering Emotional Growth new

This project will create new "calm down spaces," enhance an existing one, and integrate Nex Playground in middle school special ed classrooms to support emotional regulation and play-based learning, fostering social and emotional development. The calm down space offers a quiet, soothing environment for self-regulation, while the Nex Playground encourages creativity, a physical outlet and social interaction, helping students engage in play-based learning. The calm down space will include posters to guide self-regulation.

Applicant: Maria Citrin

Schools: Brown Middle School

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $595.99

Voices that Teach: Expanding the Memoir, Autobiography, Biography Collection

Voices that Teach: Expanding the Memoir, Autobiography, Biography Collection new

This project expands Oak Hill MS Library’s memoir and auto/biography collection to support class projects, cultural displays, and student access to diverse, real-life stories—fostering empathy, learning, and a love of reading. Expanding the memoir, autobiography, and biography collection at Oak Hill MS Library supports ELA, Civics, Music, and cultural displays. It fosters a joyful, inclusive environment through diverse, real-life stories and aligns with district goals by enriching instruction with culturally responsive, rigorous resources.

Applicant: Jean Stehle

Schools: Oak Hill Middle School

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $2,000.00

Brisk Al Teaching Assistant Pilot

Brisk Al Teaching Assistant Pilot new

This project will be a teacher pilot of an AI teacher assistant program called Brisk AI that supports lesson planning, text leveling, and student feedback. This is a new approach for classroom instruction and curriculum, and one that some teachers in the district have already tried on a one-month trial basis but without professional development support. This would enable teachers to efficiently align their academic tasks to standards and leveled texts that are accessible for students and with tools to give AI-supported student feedback around specific parameters identified by the teacher. We will create a professional learning community and bring people together in August for training and periodically throughout the year to share practices. We will organize a showcase at the end of the year to share work.

Applicant: Gene Roundtree

Schools: Middle Schools and Education Center

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $3,000.00

Middle School Mathematics Intervention Materials

This project will build off of what we learned with our Nearpod purchase, filling gaps in need for mathematics intervention materials for middle schools. This will ensure equity of student experience across all four schools. …

Middle School Mathematics Intervention Materials

Applicant: Maria Kolbe

Schools: Middle Schools and Education Center

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $3,500.00

Enhancing Creativity & Equity in Elementary Art Through Clay Work

Funding for 16 inch Mini Might II Table Top Slab Rollers to be used in the elementary school art room. The clay slab roller will allow all students, regardless of ability, to engage in more …

Enhancing Creativity & Equity in Elementary Art Through Clay Work new

Funding for 16 inch Mini Might II Table Top Slab Rollers to be used in the elementary school art room. The clay slab roller will allow all students, regardless of ability, to engage in more advanced and meaningful clay projects. This fosters creativity, problem-solving, and cross-disciplinary learning while increasing engagement and supporting the social-emotional development of every child.

Applicant: Hillary Irvine

Schools: Ward

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $587.00

Using Bablingua to Bolster Spanish Language

This grant will provide Bablingua, a portal that provides videos, audio tracks, printed materials and lesson tools, to support teachers in developing thematically-based curriculum for students across all levels of Spanish (from Novice to Advanced).

Using Bablingua to Bolster Spanish Language

Applicant: Helena Alfonzo

Schools: Newton South

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $750

WIN (What I Need) self-regulation spaces

What I Need (WIN) spaces are a trauma-informed, Tier 1 classroom intervention that supports the development of self-regulation and emotional intelligence. This pilot study would include both general and special education classrooms.

WIN (What I Need) self-regulation spaces new

Applicant: Sophia Brion-Meisels

Schools: FA Day Middle School

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $3,309.89

Near Excellence with NearPod

This grant supports NPS’ District Initiative of using StarMath Diagnostic to plan tiered interventions and use NearPod resources. NearPod is an opportunity to give teachers focus skills, videos, and resources to provide mathematics differentiation, particularly …

Near Excellence with NearPod new

This grant supports NPS' District Initiative of using StarMath Diagnostic to plan tiered interventions and use NearPod resources. NearPod is an opportunity to give teachers focus skills, videos, and resources to provide mathematics differentiation, particularly Tier 2 interventions aligned with the district StarMath Diagnostic. This grant will purchase district-wide access to this resource for the school year, not just for Bigelow Middle School. This will help support students performing below benchmark and provide focused skills practice and preview for each student based on diagnostic performances three times a year.

Applicant: Casey Dolan

Schools: District-wide

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $1,000

Writing with Charles Coe

“Writing with Charles Coe” gives students a unique opportunity to write. Visiting six English classes, Charles provides meaningful prompts and makes everyone feel comfortable and brave, especially special needs and students of color.

Writing with Charles Coe

Applicant: Amy McMahon

Schools: Newton North

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $525

Digital Tools for Targeted Speaking Practice

This is a continuation of a 2023-24 grant to purchase 300 licenses for a speaking program called Extempore. A second grant will allow for continued data collection and creation of engaging assignments for students' language learning. Extempore is used for 4 ACP/H and 5 ACP classes for more speaking practice in language learning. We target our students taking the Seal of Biliteracy with more practice as this is the area in which they struggle most. We are creating more innovative tasks for students, and they are enjoying the practice more.

Applicant: Denise Cremin

Schools: Newton North

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $4,461.50

Exploring Inclusive Counseling Curricula

Purchasing several inclusive, neuro-affirming, anti-ableist counseling curricula for secondary use to explore as a group before deciding on which ones to use across the middle schools for counseling groups and individual meetings.

Exploring Inclusive Counseling Curricula new

Applicant: Jordanna L'Esperance

Schools: All Middle Schools

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $500