Did you know that many summer camps start registration in NOVEMBER? The 4th annual New England Camp Fair will take place this Saturday, November 13 from 11am-2pm at Underwood Elementary School in Newton, MA (101 Vernon St, Newton, MA 02458) and is sponsored by the Underwood PTO! Showing up with your prospective campers is a HUGE help to the PTO (lots of attendees=happy camps!) and we do have a few hour-long volunteer opportunities on Saturday and would love your help: https://docs.google.com/…/1_hKLfYtuqbZB2vUmZcyQ…/edit… Come meet 20+ day and overnight camps, including traditional sleep-away options and sports, arts, STEM, and special interest-focused camps! The New England Camp Fair is FREE for kids and their grown-ups, and features free coffee and donuts (while supplies last!) Learn more here: https://www.newenglandcampfair.org/
The Hoot
November is Family Literacy Month!
Family literacy month is an opportunity for families to learn and read together. Family literacy is about family members enhancing reading and writing skills through activities that they may do together. Check out the calendar of ways to celebrate literacy throughout the month (printed copies are available at the Underwood Infobox). Try one, try some, try them all! Over the course of the month, be sure to take a moment to snap a selfie (or photograph) with your family reading or participating in one of the daily activities, and then send it to Ms. Stacey Mann, Underwood Literacy Specialist! At the end of the month, we will display the photos to celebrate family literacy at Underwood School. Thanks so much for your participation! Please let Ms. Mann know if you have any questions at faneuils@newton.k12.ma.us
Shop with AmazonSmile, Send .05% to Underwood
AmazonSmile helps combine your support for the Underwood PTO with your everyday online shopping. It’s a simple and automatic way for you to support the PTO every time you shop, at no extra cost to you. Underwood will earn 0.5% on eligible purchases! AmazonSmile is a simple way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. AmazonSmile is available at smile.amazon.com on your web browser and can be activated in the Amazon Shopping app for iOS and Android phones. When you shop with AmazonSmile, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added benefit that AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. We invite you to support the Underwood PTO at http://smile.amazon.com/ch/22-2562184. Note: Purchases must be made on smile.amazon.com! FAQs How READ MORE
Happy November from Nurse Carrie
The 2021-2022 school year has been underway for several weeks and I have enjoyed getting to know our new cohort of K – 5th graders. I wanted to reach out to all Underwood families and let you know how we can best partner with each other to meet the health and safety needs of our Underwood students. COVID 19: At Underwood (and throughout NPS) we continue to carry out the health pillars to prevent the spread of COVID 19. These pillars include mask-wearing of students and staff, frequent handwashing, staying home when sick, high-quality ventilation in our school building, vaccination of staff, and 3 tiered testing of those who have opted in. At Underwood, 85% of our students have opted in for testing. If your student is a close contact of a positive COVID case from an exposure outside of READ MORE
Underwood-Ward Task Force
As many of you remember, in early 2020 NPS and the School Committee formed an Underwood-Ward Task Force to address the long term future of both Underwood and Ward. As Superintendent Fleishman wrote to the community at the time “…our two oldest elementary schools are now our two smallest elementary schools. Given our commitment to offering a rich menu of program options for students, as well as modern school facilities, we believe it is an opportune time to develop a plan for the future of Underwood and Ward. We are eager to explore the facilities and educational needs of both schools, as well as determine their optimal school community size.” The task force was charged with presenting options to the School Committee and Superintendent Fleishman on the future of both school buildings by the end of the 2019-20 school year, but the group was READ MORE
Your Membership Dues Support the Underwood Community
Dear Underwood Families, We hope the start of this academic year feels like a return to our normal lives. NPS is doing a wonderful job of reopening in-person full-time with the continuous testing, masking, and social distancing practices. With vaccines hopefully on the horizon for our kiddos, our children are learning in person again and their social and emotional growth is back on track. We are writing today to ask for your support through an annual contribution to the Underwood PTO. Our goal is to reach annual participation from 50 families and raise $6,000 through this Membership Dues Drive. What Your Donation Makes Possible: – $25 buys a grocery gift card for a family in our community at the holidays. – $50 provides five new books for our school library. – $100 stocks the Staff Room for Teacher Appreciation Week. – $300 supports one full-time teacher READ MORE
Fun Run 2021
The Underwood Fun Run is back! This year’s fun run will be held on 10/29 during the school day. All Underwood students will have the chance to participate and will receive a t-shirt! The Fun Run will help promote a healthy lifestyle while raising funds for Underwood School. Please help support our Fun Run by registering your child at www.getmovinfundhub.com and using school identifier 5f749d3873f82. Kids and families can create a personalized fundraising page to send to family and friends in order to request online donations. Donations can also be sent by check to the school. REGISTER NOW
FUEL Food Donation Program – October Donations
For the second year in a row, the Underwood PTO is collecting food donations on an ongoing basis to benefit the FUEL Program, which distributes a weekly bag of food to Newton families, including those in the Underwood community. We invite Underwood families to support our neighbors and fellow Newton residents by contributing non perishable items for distribution. Click here to find the list of accepted items (please do not drop off any items not listed). Parent volunteers Nicole Peterson and Diane Martel collect donations of the above items at 34 Eldredge Street (blue house directly across the street from the school) or 14 Shornecliffe Road on the front porch. For the month of October, we are encouraging each grade to bring a specific item to ensure a variety of donations – see below. Please direct any questions to Nicole at READ MORE
Letter from Principal Suzie – October 7, 2021
Dear Underwood Families, It is hard to believe we are already in week #5 of the 2021-22 school year. Words cannot describe just how exciting it is to have students back in the building, all five days a week, with school feeling just a bit closer to “normal” than last year. Visiting classrooms everyday, I am able to see first hand the joy students are finding in learning. We value the social emotional development of students and recognize the importance of having each child feel valued and a sense of belonging to the school community. Teachers are doing an outstanding job promoting our CARES values as they build relationships with their new students. You are also doing an AMAZING job! Your trust and support of our staff means more than you know. In addition, thank you for doing your part READ MORE
Letter from The PTO Co-Presidents – October 7th, 2021
Dear Underwood Families, We felt so lucky to be able to hold our Back-to-School Picnic this year after skipping this event last fall. Turnout was incredible and seeing so many families enjoying the DJ, dinner, and each other’s company on the playground was a heart-warming reminder of how much has changed in a year. We are excited for the year ahead at Underwood, and are so appreciative of all Underwood families for engaging with our school and PTO and making our community events a success. Our Membership Dues Drive is off to a fantastic start and we are already over 25% of the way towards our goal of participation by 50 families. Thank you to everyone who has already made a contribution and let’s keep the momentum going! Thank you to everyone who hosted and attended the Back-to-School Grown-Up Cocktail Parties over the last month! It has been READ MORE
Owl of the Month – Mr. Gluck
Since we can’t all meet in person at school, we wanted to highlight a different Underwood staff member each month so you can get to know the community from home! First up: Mr. Gluck! 1. What is your name?MR. GLUCK (ANDY) 2. What is your role at Underwood.BUILDING AIDE (ALIAS JACK-of-ALL GRADES) 3. Where did you grow up?AMSTERDAM, NY 4. What is your favorite Underwood tradition?GARDENING IN THE SPRING! 5. Do you have a favorite Fall activity?BIKING 6. Please share one piece of advice with the Underwood community.ALWAYS SMILE AND USE A PERSON’S NAME WHEN GREETING THEM! 7. What’s your favorite color?GREEN (OF COURSE) 8. What’s your favorite thing to have for lunch?MRS. GLUCKS BREADS
Food Truck Fundraiser: The Chubby Chickpea + Chillwagon on 10/15
Want to support the Underwood community AND not make dinner? Join us on 10/15/21 for two food trucks at Underwood that support the PTO’s initiatives. The Chubby Chickpea and the Chillwagon will be at Underwood from 4-7pm and a portion of proceeds goes directly back to the Underwood PTO. You can pre-order Chubby Chickpea here: https://www.bestfoodtrucks.com/shifts/76464-underwoodelementary-on-2021-10-15?r= and Chillwagon ice cream here: https://www.bestfoodtrucks.com/shifts/76517-underwoodelementary-on-2021-10-15