Category: News

Video #7 – School Year Finale Check out the “finale” of Nurse Carrie and her student puppets as they talk about how to be safe and healthy and also have fun this summer. I pay a special tribute at the end to our 5th grade graduates who started as kindergartners my first year at Underwood 6 years ago. Thank you all for your positive feedback and support of these videos. I hope to make more in the future. I don’t know what school will look like in September but I am crossing my fingers that we will be able to be safely together in some capacity. Please reach out to me anytime if you have any questions, concerns or just want to give me updates about your kids. I will be checking my email semi-regularly and would love to hear READ MORE

Dear Underwood Community, The Underwood PTO would like to acknowledge the sadness, anger, and fear many may feel after watching the injustice surrounding the death of Mr. Floyd and the subsequent unrest throughout our country. Our school expectations are to take care of ourselves, others, and the environment. Part of “taking care” is recognizing and speaking up when we, others, and the environment are being treated unjustly. Many of our students have been learning about being an upstander – about recognizing when something is wrong, and acting to make it right.  Below are a few resources to help Underwood families as they think about how to be upstanders in this time.   FORJ City-Wide Meeting: Symptoms of COVID-19 and Racism in our CommunityAll members of the Underwood community are invited to join Newton Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ) at READ MORE

Join Mrs. Stacey Mann, Underwood’s Literacy Specialist, to hear her top three tips for parents on how to keep students motivated in reading and writing. Please email her at faneuils@newton.k12.ma.us if you have any questions.

The Underwood teachers and staff have been working extremely hard in this transition to distance learning. If time allows, please consider one of the following ways to show your appreciation: Zoom Meeting: Have your student draw a picture or write a short note to their teacher(s) and hold it up during their whole class Zoom meeting next week. Email (from you and/or your student): Snap a photo of your student holding a drawing or letter by your student and email it to your teacher(s) with a note of appreciation from you or your student. NPS Social Media: Please join us to say thank you to all NPS teachers by submitting a thank you card, photo or video. Use this form to submit your creation and look for it on our social media channels next week!https://forms.gle/65Wao2kNJHcShX6F7 Newton Schools Foundation Honor Thy READ MORE

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the generous donations of gift cards to grocery stores (Shaws, Stop and Shop) from so many Underwood families. There is a tremendous need for them and your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated. If you are considering donating grocery store gift cards for our families with food insecurity, we ask that you send e-gifts or mail physical gift cards in increments of $20, $25 or $50. For example, if you are looking to donate $100 please break that in to 2 – $50 gift cards or 4 – $25.00 gift cards. Please know that all donations both large and small make a big difference! As a reminder you can email your donation as an e-gift to Nurse Carrie at gatelyca@newton.k12.ma.us or send them via UPS to: Underwood Gift Card DriveAttn: Carrie Gately316 Franklin READ MORE

All PTO Events are cancelled for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact the Underwood PTO at underwoodpto@gmail.com. No School Apr 10th – Good Friday Apr 20th – Patriot’s Day   Virtual Apr 28th – PTO Meeting   Cancelled Mar 11th – PTO Meeting Mar 13th – 5th Grade B-ball Game Mar 18th – Bertucci’s Dining for Dollars Mar 18th – 5th Grade Yogurt Beach Fundraiser Apr 3rd – Bertucci’s Pizza Making Night Apr 8th – Cultural Fair Poster Making Session Apr 14th – Teacher Appreciation Luncheon Apr 26th and 29th – Newton Serves May 29th – Underwood Carnival Jun 5th – Movie Night Jun 16th – Color Day  Rescheduled to Fall 2020 Apr 15th – Cultural Fair May 6th – Fun Run

June 16, 2020 See Principal Harold’s final message below with June, July and August birthday announcements!  May 31, 2020 May 29, 2020 Ms. Harold says hello and announces the May Birthdays. May 28, 2020 May 27, 2020 May 18, 2020 May 15, 2020 Dear Underwood Community, Please see the video below to see whooo’s cooking. Please add to our community cookbook and share your favorite recipe.   Have a great weekend. Elaine May 9, 2020 Play the Staff Hat Game below. May 4, 2020 April 30, 2020 Underwood’s report can be accessed here: http://reportcards.doe.mass.edu/2019/02070115. April 27, 2020 Dear Underwood Families, I recognize that the Governor’s announcement about schools in Massachusetts being closed for the rest of the year was perhaps expected news and unsettling at the same time. I know that the news left me feeling a sense of loss for READ MORE

March 18, 2020 Dear NPS Families, Thank you for your patience as we have worked with our NPS administrators and faculty to determine the best way to provide learning opportunities to our students during this extended school closure.  As many of you have quickly learned over the past few days, it is not possible to truly replicate the traditional PreK-12 school day at home. School is a place where learning is engaging, creative, and differentiated. It is a place where students receive academic, as well as social and emotional supports. And so, while we cannot re-create the school day at home, we can provide you with resources that will provide continuity of learning for our students during this uncertain time.  NPS Learning from Home Below you will find links to resource pages our teachers and staff have compiled for families. The resources READ MORE

Many families have reached out with questions regarding learning resources. On March 18th, the school district released their NPS Learning From Home material and can be accessed here The Underwood PTO gathered a set of free resources and ideas in the listing below and we will update these periodically MATH   Math Playground Hooda Math Kahn Academy NPS K-5 Family Math Page SCIENCE   Mystery Science National Geographic Kids San Francisco Exploratorium: Make sense of COVID-19 at home with your child. Cincinnati Zoo: Home Safari Facebook Live weekdays at 3pm. They will highlight one of their amazing animals and include an activity you can do from home. Science Projects: Review the Scientific Method with your student, select a science experiment together, perform the experiment, and present the experiment results on paper or in a Google Slide presentation. Share the project READ MORE

Helpful Resources + Information Newton Public Schools: District Updates, NPS Learning from Home, Food Resources, Students Services & Special Education, Technology, Talking to Kids about COVID-19, Transportation City of Newton: Updates and alerts Massachusetts Department of Public Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention March 22, 2020 Dear NPS Community, I hope you are staying healthy and well. I am writing to give you an update on what you can expect from the Newton Public Schools in both the short and longer-term.   First, I would like to begin by saying that all of us here in the Newton Public Schools understand how worried you are about the impact this out of school time will have on your children from both an academic and social emotional perspective. Our educators share that concern and are working very hard to identify the best ways READ MORE

March 11, 2020 Dear NPS Community, In an effort to prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all evening and community events in our facilities effective immediately and until further notice. All field trips will also be cancelled immediately. We have made this decision in consultation with the Newton Department of Health and Human Services. This decision is consistent with the state’s latest guidance for meetings and events which was announced yesterday. The City of Newton is also cancelling large public gatherings and many programs.  I know our decision to restrict access to our facilities will raise lots of questions. Here are some examples of events that will be cancelled beginning tonight: Community events and meetings Student performances PTO meetings and other parent events Adult education classes Use of buildings by non-school groups We will READ MORE

The Underwood Cultural Fair will take place on Wednesday, April 15th @ 4:30-6 pm. We are looking forward to a fun and enriching community-building event. We hope many families will participate in some way as we celebrate the cultures of the world and family connections to them. Even if your child chooses not to create a project, the larger community is invited to attend the event and learn about the various countries and topics that will be on display. Please contact any of the team members (listed below) planning this event should you have questions or would like to volunteer! Volunteers The Cultural Fair Committee seeks 18 parent volunteers for the following roles: Poster workshop (4/8 3:00-4:30pm) – volunteers to help students with their projects (research and assembling) Assembling passports (the week before, or could happen at the same time as the READ MORE