Professional Development 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

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

Instructional Strategies for Assisting Students with Language-Based Learning Disabilities

Registration for a 2-day summer workshop through the Landmark School for 7 teachers. Attendees will receive training in the following areas: Observations of teachers Data such as grades, iReady/STAR math benchmarks, informal reading screeners and…

Instructional Strategies for Assisting Students with Language-Based Learning Disabilities new

Registration for a 2-day summer workshop through the Landmark School for 7 teachers. Attendees will receive training in the following areas:

Observations of teachers
Data such as grades, iReady/STAR math benchmarks, informal reading screeners and progress monitoring tools, and progress toward IEP goals and objectives
Observations of students in the general education setting

Applicant: Samantha Bracy

Schools: Brown Middle School

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $1,500.00

Keys to Literacy

Newton North will continue training teachers in Keys to Comprehension. Fourteen teachers in the science department will participate in this virtual course. The Keys to Comprehension Routine has strategies that provide frameworks for teaching comprehension …

Keys to Literacy

Applicant: Melanie Pennison

Schools: Newton North

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $2,800.00

Curriculum Design at MAFLA Proficiency Academy

Curriculum Design at MAFLA Proficiency Academy new

Four Teachers representing each Middle School and Language will attend a three-day long Proficiency Academy to work on curriculum at Westfield State University. Guided by the MA World Languages Framework, participants will design a unit of their choice that leads language learners to meeting or exceeding proficiency targets. Participants will analyze examples of proficiency-based units after which they will use the backward design principles to design their own unit of instruction. Attention will be paid to addressing social and emotional wellbeing, social justice, centering student diversity and differentiating for equity within the units.

Applicant: Alison Tarbell

Schools: Middle Schools and Education Center

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $2,680.00

Data-based Proficiency Targets & Assessment

A day of professional development in August for 10 teachers to follow up on DESE grant funded Avant Advance proficiency training and make data based recommendations for proficiency targets based on the 8th grade STAMP 4-S assessment given in June. This is a new approach in that this will be the first time that we have given the STAMP 4S assessment to our 8th graders. It is part of a DESE grant that, among other goals, encourages us to adjust our programming to meet the needs of multilingual learners and to possibly expand our program options to meet the changing needs of the NPS community.

Applicant: Alison Tarbell

Schools: Middle Schools and Education Center

Date Approved: Spring 2025

Amount: $3,233.40

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

Facilitating Circles Training for Restorative Practices Early-Adopters

Pathways to Restorative Communities will provide a professional development training workshop to teachers who have already expressed interest in learning to facilitate classroom community circles, some of whom already practice facilitating circles.

Facilitating Circles Training for Restorative Practices Early-Adopters

Applicant: Alan Reinstein

Schools: Newton South

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $3,900

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

Teachers as Scholars

Teachers participate in small, 2-day seminars led by university staff in the arts, humanities, math, and science, reconnecting them to the world of scholarship. Participants will explore a niche area of content to progress their …

Teachers as Scholars

Applicant: Dani Johnson

Schools: Newton North

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $3,475

METCO Directors Association Educators’ Conference

Attendance at the 40th METCO Director’s Association (MDA) Educators’ Conference.

METCO Directors Association Educators’ Conference new

Attendance at the 40th METCO Director's Association (MDA) Educators' Conference.

Applicant: Peter Goddard

Schools: Newton South

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $450

PROMPT for Motor Speech Disorders

PROMPT for Motor Speech Disorders new

This grant is for high quality professional development in the area of motor speech disorders, specifically Childhood Apraxia of Speech. The PROMPT model is a tactile-kinesthetic approach in conjunction with a holistic approach to therapy. The PROMPT approach would be a new therapeutic technique to use with students with motor speech disorders. It has been recommended in reports from outside speech and language pathologists for Newton students. Professional development in this area would help expand my practice and improve functional outcomes for students.

Applicant: Lori Franzella

Schools: Countryside

Date Approved: Fall 2024

Amount: $850