Category Archives: From the PTO

NPS Budget Hearing: Mon April 1st @6:30 pm

As Newton Public Schools (NPS) Superindendent Anna Nolin mentioned in her District Newsletter yesterday, budget season is underway. Dr. Nolin shared the kick off overview presentation.

Dr. Nolin invites you to a public budget hearing where community members can ask questions and give feedback on April 1, 2024, 6:30pm. Your involvement is critical to ensuring adequate funding and support for our schools. Instructions for the public to listen to, or participate, in the public hearing can be found via this link.

More information, including the school committee calendar, can be found on the school committee website. Meeting materials are also posted before each meeting.

“The Gift of Failure” Author Visit: Tues April 2nd @7pm

Newton North High School PTSO invites Bigelow parents and caregivers to hear New York Times Bestselling Author Jessica Lahey, Tuesday April 2nd at 7 pm. RSVP here for this free event.

Save your seat to hear New York Times Bestselling Author Jessica Lahey!

  • Tuesday, April 2, NNHS Auditorium, 7 p.m
  • Topic: “The Gift of Failure: Parenting for Motivation, Engagement, and Competence in Kids”
  • *The event is FREE, hosted by the NNHS PTSO, but please rsvp here 

In this presentation, Jessica Lahey helps parents & guardians understand how “overparenting,” whether that means parenting that’s overly directive, protective, or based on a high level of control and surveillance, has the potential to both undermine children’s sense of self-efficacy and their ability to learn. By letting go and allowing children to learn how to solve problems on their own, parents can give kids the tools they need to become self-reliant, confident and fulfilled adults. In this powerful presentation rooted in deeply researched evidence, 20+ years’ experience as an educator and a parent herself, Lahey champions failure as a crucial element of long-term success. She also provides indispensable advice for handling homework, report cards, social dynamics, competitive sports and the how the elements of The Gift of Failure do double duty as powerful tools for substance use prevention. You may find more on Jessica Lahey here.

FORJ Discussion “Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning” Thurs April 11th 7-8:30 pm

Please join the Bigelow community to participate in a discussion group presented by Bigelow FORJ. The discussion will explore themes of race, class and the criminal justice system as presented in the Boston Globe article seriesMurder Nightmare in Mission Hill: The Untold Story of the Charles & Carol Stuart Shooting and the Boston Globe podcast and HBO Max docuseriesMurder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning.

  • When: April 11th, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
  • Where: Bigelow Middle School, Library
  • To register, follow this link: REGISTER
  • For more information, please email bigelowforj@gmail.com

The discussion will be facilitated by Amy Cook, Ph.D., Bigelow parent and Associate Professor and the Department Chair of Counseling and School Psychology Department, College of Education and Human Development at UMass Boston.

Save the Date for NewtonServes! Sunday, May 5th

Save the Date for NewtonServes at Bigelow Grounds: Sunday May 5, 2024
NewtonSERVES is a city-wide day of building community through service. NewtonSERVES projects focus on cleaning and improving our parks, school grounds, open space areas, and conservation lands. Save the date, Sunday, May 5th, to build our Bigelow Community while reinvigorating the green areas around the school.

Learn more: https://www.newtonma.gov/government/parks-recreation-culture/newton-serves

Sharon Math & Science Tournament: Saturday, April 6th

Newton students are invited to participate in the 10th Annual Sharon Math and Science Tournament (SMST) on Saturday, April 6th, from 9 am to 5 pm at Sharon High School. SMST is an annual middle school STEM-based team competition with math, science, team, and engineering rounds.

This tournament is designed to inspire students in STEM, and help them learn new collaboration skills that will help them for the future!

All of the information about the competition can be found at https://sharonmathscitourn.wixsite.com/smst.

Sign up for the tournament at https://forms.gle/M4U8vGCc7FXXJRma8! * REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS March 30th, 2024 *

Please contact smst.sharonschools@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.

Creative Arts & Sciences Event: George O’Connor

On Wednesday, Bigelow 7th graders attended a presentation by New York Times bestselling author, illustrator, and cartoonist George O’Connor. George is a Greek mythology buff and a classic superhero comics fan, and he’s out to remind us how much our pantheon of superheroes (Superman, Batman, the X-Men, etc) owes to mankind’s original superheroes: the Greek pantheon. Now he has brought his attention to OLYMPIANS, an ongoing series retelling the classic Greek myths in comics form.

The presentation of the Olympians series enriches the educational experience of our students, and is in alignment with their study of Greek mythology. This program is part of Creative Arts & Sciences and is funded by your generous donations to the Bigelow PTO.

More about the author: In his New York Times bestselling Olympians series, O’Connor draws from primary documents to reconstruct and retell classic Greek myths. But these stories aren’t sedate, scholarly works. They’re action-packed, fast-paced, high-drama adventures, with monsters, romance, and not a few huge explosions. O’Connor’s vibrant, kinetic art brings ancient tales to undeniable life, in a perfect fusion of super-hero aesthetics and ancient Greek mythology. George talks to students about his path to being an author/illustrator of his series “The Olympians.” Through anecdotes, humor, a slide show of his art, George explains how a 7th grade skit stoked his interest in mythology. He shares images from his books, why he focused on a particular god, and the story behind that god. He is a charismatic, humorous, engaging presenter and an excellent story teller and artist.