The Hoot

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

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

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

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

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

Nurse Carrie has provided a helpful tool to help Underwood grown-ups understand how to make the best decision about when to keep their child home, contact their PCP and obtain testing. The information is taken from a document that NPS (with the help of HHS) put out at the beginning of the year but she customized it for Underwood Families. She suggests that families can print it and hang it in an accessible place. Parents are often understandably confused about when they should or should not send their child to school in this age of COVID which we still find ourselves in.  Health Assessment Tool For Underwood Families Does your student have any of the following symptoms? Fever (100F or higher) and/or chills  Cough (not due to other known causes, such as a chronic cough)  Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath  New loss of taste or smell  Muscle aches or body aches  READ MORE