Equity Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Newton Schools Foundation

Help All Hands have Ceramics Hand Building

This grant will provide one banding wheel per student to use for hand Building. This is an invaluable professional tool for all skill levels working with clay in the round.

Help All Hands have Ceramics Hand Building new

This grant will provide one banding wheel per student to use for hand Building. This is an invaluable professional tool for all skill levels working with clay in the round.

Applicant: Molly Baring-Gould

Schools: Newton South

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $400

Adaptive Art Program

We seek to acquire specialized materials, tools, and equipment to support newly created adaptive art classes for students in the STRIDE (Cabot, Bowen, Zervas), Reflections (Williams) and SPARK (Countryside) programs. This request follows a SY24 award for adaptative art Professional Development for the art department at the schools with specialized programs.

Applicant: Christine Phillips

Schools: Cabot, Bowen, Williams, Zervas, and Countryside

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $2,500

Digi Blocks

Digi blocks are a fantastic math manipulative. They allow students a tactile and visual way to understand regrouping. Using this tool will increase student understanding and independence in math.

Digi Blocks new

Digi blocks are a fantastic math manipulative. They allow students a tactile and visual way to understand regrouping. Using this tool will increase student understanding and independence in math.

Applicant: Shayna Packer

Schools: Countryside

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $705

Coding with Ozobots K-5

Ozobots are robots used to teach coding. The students learn to program using color-coded patterns drawn on paper. Students will create simple programs to develop coding skills.

Coding with Ozobots K-5 new

Ozobots are robots used to teach coding. The students learn to program using color-coded patterns drawn on paper. Students will create simple programs to develop coding skills.

Applicant: Donna Busa

Schools: District-wide K-5

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $11,250

Dreamfar

NSF’s grant will fund uniforms and race fees for Dreamfar’s NNHS/NSHS students and program leaders.To promote accessibility for all, Dreamfar is provided at no cost to participants, and students of diverse backgrounds and abilities are …

Dreamfar

Applicant: Ethan Peritz / Holly Kee

Schools: Newton North & Newton South High Schools

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $5,000

Professional Learning Communities – Creating the Foundation For Personalized Student Support

Train principals to then train teacher teams in their buildings on the expectations for robust Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) work and outcomes.

Professional Learning Communities – Creating the Foundation For Personalized Student Support new

Train principals to then train teacher teams in their buildings on the expectations for robust Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) work and outcomes.

Applicant: Anna Nolin

Schools: District-wide

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $50,000

Building Therapeutic Milieu

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NPS will partner with Brookline Center to pilot therapeutic milieu programming. BRYT programming supports students who are not yet ready to access supportive, joyful learning environments or high-quality instruction due to mental health, medical, or life challenges. By providing intensive transition support, therapeutic care, and academic coordination, BRYT helps students stabilize, rebuild skills, and re-engage with learning, ensuring they can fully access rigorous instruction when ready.

Applicant: Casey Ngo-Miller

Schools: Newton North & Newton South High Schools

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $15,000

Story Starters

Story Starters new

This program seeks to thoughtfully provide resources (books) and strategies to families to engage in conversations about race at home to support our collective work as a school community. Story Starters will offer its 8-week Family Conversations program to families at Ward and Mason-Rice. Families will receive books on topics of racial identity and parent discussion guides. The program includes on-site family events and online parent workshops. We will have participating families join together for this program. Each school will host one in-person family event for all participating families, and adults from both school communities will have online learning opportunities.

Applicant: Jake Bultema & Becca Brodadir

Schools: Mason Rice & Ward Elementary Schools

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $2,925.60

Preschool LEGO Learning Library

Preschool LEGO Learning Library new

We are asking for LEGO Education building sets to create a community library for all classrooms across NECP to share. This would allow all students to have access to high quality, multi-sensory, and accessible materials that enhance their learning. LEGO Education sets include a variety of engaging materials that will support a joyful learning environment and provide high quality instruction. These sets include lesson plans linked to learning standards, visual directions, diverse LEGO figures, alphabet blocks, and beginning STEM elements that are accessible for all students. This will give opportunities for students to increase fine motor skills, play collaboratively, and gain self-efficacy as they persevere through building projects (220 students – 14 classroom sets).

Applicant: Darcy Howell

Schools: NECP

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $2,400

National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention

The NCTE Convention is an annual event for ELA and literacy educators held all over the country. This November it will be in Boston, providing an excellent opportunity for NPS literacy educators to attend a …

National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention

Literacy experts, researchers, & practitioners lead sessions in these strands:
Early Literacy - situated in social, historical, & cultural contexts.
Professional Development
LGBTQIA - critical pedagogy, and democratic teaching practices. Sessions encourage a broad definition of diversity and creation of safer, more inclusive schools
National Writing Project writing strand
Strand on issues, strategies regarding teaching and affirming BIPOC & ELL students
Research Strand - original research studies

Applicant: Deana Lew

Schools: Elementary

Date Approved: Spring 2024

Amount: $8,250

Co-Teacher Development Pilot Program

We are piloting a program for co-teachers to improve practices. We aim to shift the culture to one that increases parity in co-teaching relationships and provides opportunities for collaboration, collective resources and professional development. While co-teaching is not a new model, approaching co-teaching holistically and collaboratively will give educators opportunities to approach their pedagogy differently. By piloting different models of co-teaching, teachers and Unit C staff will use their strengths in tandem, further developing professional skills. Refining the co-teaching dynamic will add to the educational experience for students. Effective collaboration will increase equity and accessibility for students.

Applicant: Emily Shire and Lillian Robinson

Schools: NSHS

Date Approved: Spring 2024

Amount: $9,247.08

Deepening Teachers’ Math Content Knowledge

Teachers will work on math activities and examine case studies. Teachers will develop skills to identify the next step for each student and be able to formulate effective questions to push students of all levels to a deeper understanding. This will provide a meaningful professional development opportunity for teachers. Engaging in math with other adults and deepening one’s understanding of math concepts helps teachers to be prepared to challenge the range of learners in their class.

Applicant: Kelly Gartside

Schools: Memorial-Spaulding

Date Approved: Spring 2024

Amount: $4,536.28