Welcome Packet 2022-23

Dear Underwood Families,  

Welcome back to school! 

We hope your family had a happy and healthy summer and we are so excited to welcome our entire Underwood community back for the 2022-23 school year! We are looking forward to working with you and getting to know you this year through our roles with the PTO Board.  

As Underwood parents or guardians, you are all automatically members of the PTO! 

Your willingness to participate and volunteer as you are able, given your unique family and work commitments, is paramount to the success, strength, and energy of our PTO and community. Our PTO Board and Committees are comprised of volunteers working throughout the year to organize and execute a wide range of fundraisers, community-building opportunities, and enrichment programming and we are so appreciative of every minute the parent community at Underwood dedicates to our school.  We have volunteer roles for every level of time commitment – both in person and completely virtual!

The PTO touches nearly every aspect of the Underwood experience and our fundraising efforts  provide essential financial support for:  

  • Allocations for teachers, specialists, and the Principal to spend directly on what our students  and classrooms need most;  
  • Updates to the school library;  
  • School-wide technology purchases necessary to meet city and state standards;  
  • Enrichment Programming by grade level including Understanding Our Differences (UOD),  Creative Arts and Sciences (CASC), and Child Assault Prevention Program (CAPP); 
  •  Community building events;  
  • Community support of families in need.  

We fund these important initiatives through a combination of fundraisers and Annual Fund donations from families. Our Annual Fund campaign is ongoing throughout the year, and we encourage families to participate if they are able.

Donations can be made via Paypal at  underwoodschoolpto.org/donate , via Venmo at @underwoodpto, or checks can be made to the  “Underwood PTO” mailed to us at 101 Vernon Street, Newton, MA 02458. Gifts of any size are welcome and our collective support makes a difference to the experience of our students at  Underwood!  

You can also support the PTO every time you do everyday shopping on Amazon by ordering through Amazon Smile. Visit Amazon Smile to direct 0.5% of your purchase to the Underwood  School PTO at no extra cost to you. Note: Only purchases made via smile.amazon.com are eligible for credit. 

Upcoming Events 

Principal’s Coffee  

Monday, September 12th – 8:30 – 9:30am  

Join us for a casual meet-and-greet at Underwood with Principal Talukdar and other parents and guardians! The Principal’s Coffee is a great opportunity to ask questions in an informal setting and meet other parents at the start of the year. No RSVP is needed – meet us in the Multipurpose Room.

Welcome Back Picnic  

Thursday, September 15th – 5:00 – 7:00pm  

The Welcome Back Picnic is always a fun outdoor evening with our entire school community. In addition to the Bubble Barge, you can pack a picnic or purchase pizza, snacks and drinks from the PTO. Stay tuned for more info!  

Curriculum Night (In Person)  

Thursday, September 29th Evening, Exact Time TBA  

Curriculum night is an evening for parents to hear about the goals, expectations, and curriculum of  their student’s grade. Times for each grade level are forthcoming.  

PTO Meeting (Virtual)  

Tuesday, October 4th – 7:30pm  

Join our first PTO Meeting of the school year to learn more about what the PTO does, what to  expect for the upcoming year, and how you can get involved! We will also be voting on the annual  PTO budget. Invite and Agenda to follow.  

Halloween Fun Run  

Friday, October 28th – Time TBA  

We are bringing back our Halloween Fun Run after last year’s huge success! The Fun Run is a  fantastic community fundraiser and an opportunity to celebrate Halloween and get our children  moving around Farlow Park! Stay tuned for more information!  We are also looking for a Fun Run Co-Chair – email us if you are interested or want more info! 

Calling all Room Parents! 

As always, we are looking for Room Parent volunteers for each of our classrooms! The Room  Parent(s) communicates with other families around classroom and school-wide events throughout the year, coordinates class gifts at the holidays and end of year, and helps plan classroom social gatherings. 

Room Parents play a key role in building our tight-knit community at Underwood and supporting classroom teachers as needed. This role may be done entirely via email with no in-person volunteering required. If you are interested in being a Room Parent for your child’s classroom please contact our Room Parent Coordinator Hai Ly Burk at ms_haily@yahoo.com!

Underwood Directory via Membership Toolkit 

The Underwood PTO uses Membership Toolkit to maintain its online directory of students, families,  and faculty.

Please be sure to register if you are a new Underwood family or update your family’s information so that others in our community can connect with you and find families in their child’s classroom and grade. Families may choose to keep some information private. If you have a change of information at any time within the school year, please log in and edit your account. Please get in touch with us anytime at underwoodpto@gmail.com with any issues.  

Absence/Tardy Call Back System 

If your child will be absent or tardy, please call 617-559-9680 before 8:10 AM on the day of the absence, if you have not already notified the school. Please refer to this Call Back System Flyer or print to hang by your phone for easy access.

The PTO communicates frequently with you via email and monthly Newsletters so that you are kept informed and reminded of important school events. You can also connect with Underwood and stay  updated this year in the following ways:  

● Visit https://www.underwoodschoolpto.org/ for resources and information about our PTO  activities.  

● Follow Underwood School PTO on Facebook.  

● Follow @underwoodschoolnewton on Instagram.  

The goal of all of our communications is to help you navigate the school year and to help build the strongest community possible. Please do not hesitate to contact us at underwoodpto@gmail.com  with any questions you might have as the year progresses.  

Sincerely,  

Your PTO Board