Category Archives: Community Notes

Players needed – Beginners welcome – This is a great program!

Register now for Newton Girls Softball (NGS), a recreational league for Newton girls in grades K-7. For tons of information and registration, visit www.newtongirlssoftball.org.

NGS welcomes players of all skill levels and will provide your daughter with an experience that fosters positive self-esteem, team spirit, and individual growth through personal achievement and as a team member. Hear all about it directly from the kids in this Video  then register your daughter(s). You’ll be glad you did!

Goals of Newton Girls Softball

  • To Teach the fundamentals of the game.
  • To Encourage development and good sportsmanship of all players through participation in a team environment.
  • To Have Fun, make new friends, and grow as a member of a team.
  • To Win enough games to feel good about the team and the season. The league makes every effort to create balanced teams,allowing for the highest level of fair competition within each grade and ensuring that players feel good about their team and the season.

2019 Registration Dates:

  • January 31st: Deadline to register without paying a late fee. 
  • February 28th: Deadline to register with guaranteed placement and pair-me-with rights. A $15 late fee will be applied.
  • February 28th: Last day to withdraw and receive a full refund. Sorry, no refunds after this date.
  • March 1st – April 15th: Still accepting registrations. Player is placed on the wait list, no pair-me-with rights, and a $15 late fee. Openings filled on a first come, first served basis.

Winter Basketball Program

Chaim Andler of Boston Athletic Training is running 2 hour basketball clinics on weekend mornings that are designed to help all young basketball players improve their skills and conditioning while also having fun! The program was set up as an 8 week program, but Chaim is offering a “drop-in” option, which means you can simply join for a day whenever you’d like.

Clinic sessions will include individual based skills work such as shooting, dribbling, passing, driving to the hoop and defense. The sessions will also have group based drills, 2v2 and 3v3 game situation drills, which help young athletes improve their basketball IQ.

For the next 2 weekends, he is offering a special for new athletes to try out his program for half the cost! This means it will be $30.00 for your first session. Contact Chaim at 857-313-8442 or ch***@********************ng.com by Thursday evening each week to opt-in for the Saturday and/ or Sunday session that weekend.

Saturdays and Sundays, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
The Hyde Community Center, Newton
$60.00* for the day (option to pay for 7 dates at $350 or 14 dates for $600)

*New athlete special = $30 for the first drop-in session

Maine Arts Camp!

Maine Arts Camp! Find out what makes it so special at the Teen Summer Program Expo.

If you are looking for a great overnight summer experience for your creative 9-16 year-old, come and check out Maine Arts Camp at the Teen Summer Program Expo on Monday, January 28th.

Located on the campus of Colby College, MAC is a small, friendly camp community that is big on empathy and personal growth – and embracing creative opportunity! With an extensive program of activities covering visual arts, theatre, music, dance, culinary arts, robotics and rocketry, film-making, individual sports and more, and with access to Colby’s state-of-the-art facilities, Maine Arts Camp offers exceptionally high quality instruction across a wide range of interests.

Visit www.maineartscamp.com to find out more.

Summer Program Expo
January 28th, 5:30-8:00 pm
Newton South High School, 140 Brandeis Road

SAT/ACT Tutor

Chris Orr has worked with students of a wide age range, specializing in preparing high school students for the SAT and ACT. Most of his SAT prep students enjoy a score improvement of over 150 points, which far exceeds the results of any national or regional tutoring company. His approach relies on a 3 pronged focus on Strategy, Content, and Practice with the material to maximize his students’ results.

Families hire Chris to help students with English, writing, Algebra, Geometry, History, SATs, ACTs, SSAT, ISEE and the SAT Subject tests. He works with students in their homes or a library so he can provide the most tailored and personalized service. You may find more information about his services at www.orracademicadvising.com or contact him at 781-304-8805.

Parent of a Junior?

Are you stressed out after the recent College Night? Feeling overwhelmed about the entire college application process? If you answered yes, Dr. Maruta Vitols can help. She’s an independent comprehensive college consultant and founder of A+ College Consulting (Newton South grad, class of 1994).

Contact Maruta at mv*****@***il.com for a free 45 minute consultation to learn how she make the process of finding the right fit colleges for your student as fun and stress-free as possible. Discover more at www.apluscollegeconsult.com.

Varsity female athletes

A parent of former NPS students, who is passionate about a Harvard Medical School study examining whether there might be a unique EKG biomarker for anorexia nervosa, is looking for healthy female athletes age 14-18 in any varsity sport who could take part as normal controls in an EKG study.

The study is noninvasive, and the student gets $25.00 gift certificate to Amazon and a tour of the physiology laboratory at Spaulding Rehab in Cambridge. Please contact Barbara Scolnick at 617-803-6353 or sc******@**.edu or Cristen at 617- 758-5502 or cm*******@******rs.org for more information and to sign up.

Troop for Girls within the Boy Scouts Information session

Starting in February of 2019, the iconic program of the Boy Scouts of America will be welcoming young women ages 11-17. For 100+ years the BSA program has focused on providing youth with opportunities for adventure, leadership training, service to communities and personal growth. Please come to learn more and get involved. Questions? Contact Barb Bower at bd********@***oo.com

Scouts BSA TROOP FOR GIRLS Information Session
January 27th, 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Union Church of Waban, 14 Collins Road

Free Yoga and Mindfulness for Kids and Tweens in January

Looking for a winter activity for you child or pre-teen? Try a Yoga and Mindfulness Class this month, all January classes are open to try for free for new students.

Wednesdays with Tracy Affonso – now through February 27th
K – 2: 3:30 – 4:15 pm
Grades 3 – 5: 4:30 – 5:30 pm

Thursdays with Amy Hrobak – now through February 27
Grades 6 – 8: 4:00 – 5:00 pm

For questions please email Liz Padula at li*@*********ga.com. Register at https://www.artemisyoga.com/classes/kids-teen-classes/

Artemis Yoga, 639 Mt. Auburn Street, Watertown

About Kids love learning yoga. From stretching in poses to relaxing with soft bolsters, they simply enjoy how yoga makes them feel. Adding in a bit of mindfulness with breath work and self-care, this class is a wonderful option for today’s busy kids. Tailored by the age group, these classes are led by two experienced educators and yoga teachers, Tracy Affonso who taught in Newton Public School for many years as a beloved teacher at Bowen and Amy Hrobak who is a licensed clinical social worker, has worked as a Middle School Counselor for many years and has as a special focus on adolescence in her private practice.