Equity Archives - Page 5 of 5 - Newton Schools Foundation

Middle School Students MakeMusic

Supporting student subscriptions to MakeMusic, a web-based instructional technology that fosters the musical growth of students enrolled in middle school choral & instrumental ensembles and aids teachers in leading more efficient ensemble rehearsals. Beyond the original NSF grant in 2019-20, MakeMusic was funded by the district, cut from the FY24 budget due to budget cuts. The current subscriptions end on November 9th. This request is intended as a stopgap measure to maintain access to the student subscriptions for all students enrolled in music ensembles at each middle school. The timeline would mean a temporary pause in student subscriptions until NSF funding decisions are made in December. No other funding sources have been identified.

Applicant: Richard King

Schools: Middle School

Date Approved: Fall 2023

Amount: $14,578

Classroom Take a Break Spaces

The project aims to obtain materials to update “Take a Break” spaces. The spaces help to promote emotional regulation in a developmentally appropriate way. In order for students to be highly engaged in academic content and instruction in their classrooms, self-regulation and a sense of belonging and safety is crucial. “Take a Break” spaces are a small, designated area in classrooms that help to facilitate a safe learning environment for all students. This tier one classroom structure is part of the puzzle that promotes strong belonging and connectedness for all students in our elementary classrooms.

Applicant: Melissa Vigliotti

Schools: Williams

Date Approved: Fall 2023

Amount: $1,000

Career Day

This is a preventive mental health and community engagement event. Community members volunteer to speak about their career field. Students are surveyed about their fields of interest and then scheduled to hear from the most relevant speakers. This is a preventive mental health program designed to give students a hopeful and an optimistic outlook of their own futures, which has been identified as one of the 40 Developmental Assets. By ensuring a diverse range of speaker backgrounds, we are aiming to have professional mentors that represent the diversity of our student body. This is also a community engagement opportunity for middle school students to connect in a meaningful way with positive role models.

Applicant: Jackie Mann

Schools: Day MS

Date Approved: Fall 2023

Amount: $2,000

Diversifying the 6th Grade Novel Study Unit

A committee of MS ELA teachers, literacy specialists, library teachers, and a member of the DEI department, will revise and update the current 6th grade novel study unit to center around a text that is engaging, culturally responsive, and rigorous. Bringing a new novel study into 6th grade classrooms reflects innovation by incorporating a text that would be more engaging and culturally responsive. Creating curriculum as a grade level is excellent, job-embedded professional development, supporting collaboration and professional learning in a meaningful context. It also promotes equity in the sense of ensuring that all 6th grade students have a common reading experience and are held to common expectations across buildings.

Applicant: Joelle Pederson

Schools: Middle School

Date Approved: Fall 2023

Amount: $7,189.20

Comprehensible Input Library for Middle School Spanish Learners – District Pilot

I would like to create a library of comprehensible books written for Spanish language learners so that all of my Spanish students will be able to select and read novels that interest them and are …

Comprehensible Input Library for Middle School Spanish Learners – District Pilot

I would like to create a library of comprehensible books written for Spanish language learners so that all of my Spanish students will be able to select and read novels that interest them and are at their appropriate reading level. The world language department has been using methods of comprehensible input (CI) in order for our students to be able to acquire language. One very effective CI method, which has yet to be implemented in this district, is to have students select and read comprehensible books that interest them from a CI library (Innovations in the Classroom). Research shows that this helps every student in the class to be successful, not just the top learners (Programs that promote Equity for all).

Applicant: Laura Brady

Schools: Oak Hill

Date Approved: Fall 2023

Amount: $600