Newton Schools Foundation (NSF) is a vital catalyst of community support for the Newton Public Schools. NSF raises private funds from sources across the Newton community, not only from parents and alumni, but also from individuals, local businesses and foundations who want to make a difference by supporting education and local schools. NSF works closely with school leadership to find ways to enhance and enrich the ongoing curriculum and helps provide opportunities to explore ideas that would not otherwise be possible under the usual constraints of the annual school budget.

NSF supported programs impact schoolchildren of all age groups throughout Newton. These programs range the gamut of content areas, including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Environment and Sustainability, Closing the Achievement Gap, Arts, Literacy, Social/Emotional Learning, and Global Learning.

Initiatives supported by NSF for the elementary schools, specifically, include new curricula and learning opportunities that foster high achievement for all students, such as Instrumental Music Programs (professional instrumental clinicians support ensemble music programs and give individualized instruction to students); Zones of Regulation (a cohesive social-emotional curriculum that helps K-1st students learn to self-regulate); Integrated Arts Curriculum: (art teachers coordinating with the science and social studies curriculum); and One Book, One Kindness Convention – Race and Culture (a school-wide reading initiative designed to create greater understanding about the impact of race and racial identity on the school experience).

In addition, NSF supports programs for the professional development of elementary school educators to identify and pursue new methods of teaching and deepen their knowledge of critical content areas, such as Elementary Teacher Summer Writing Institute (a program fostering successful teaching strategies for implementing the Common Core-aligned writing curriculum); Book Study on Race and Culture for Teachers (teachers explore through books and discussion racial and cultural experiences); Race and Achievement Working Group – Culturally Appropriate Teaching and the Brain (helps build professional understanding and skills around the linkages between Race and Achievement, and develop strategies identified through brain research, as well as the programs Courageous Conversations and Culturally Proficient Teaching), the Research and Writing Institute (a program open to library, classroom, ESL and SPED teachers that focuses on the specific writing skills that students use in research projects, and helps develop strategies on how to best implement these skills to children in grades 2-5), and Responsive Classroom Training (a nationally used, research-and evidence-based way of teaching that improves students’ social and academic skills and raises teachers’ instructional quality). A sample flyer describing these programs is attached for your information.

NSF also supports an array of exciting programs at the middle and high school levels. For details, you can visit the NSF website at www.newtonschoolsfoundation.org.

Flyers with more information regarding the campaign will be sent home with the elementary school students in their backpacks shortly.