VIRTUAL PRINCIPAL/PTO WELCOME BACK
When - Tuesday, September 20th 6:30 PM
Google Meet Info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/jbx-umgq-xwo
Or dial: (US) +1 401-702-0755 PIN: 209 267 301#
Join us for this virtual session to hear a welcome back message from the principal, to hear about upcoming events, and to see an overview of the plans for the school year. You will also have a chance to meet members of our PTO and find out more about how you can get involved.
This meeting will be recorded and posted for anyone who can’t make it.
BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT INFO
This year's format will be different than in years past. The format below attempts to accomplish the following:
- Reduce the barriers to attending for as many families as possible.
- Provide families with a chance to see the building.
- Provide families to see what's happening in the classroom in ALL areas of our programming.
Here are the details:
All classroom teachers, specialists (Art, Music, Library, PE), ELL, special ed staff, etc. will be on hand for you to meet and see the classroom spaces.
Opening to the School Year
A few tidbits about the opening to our school year:
We have welcomed a number of new families since last year. This includes several families from Ukraine, Spain, Russia, and other parts of the United States. Our total school enrollment is at 357 students.
Classroom teachers have been very busy getting to know both students and families. They are spending time teaching and practicing routines. Some examples include how to line up and walk in the hallways, how to go through the cafeteria to get lunch, where to access materials in the classroom, and how to use the restroom appropriately. We have also begun conducting assessments, primarily in literacy and math. This will help us to determine a starting point for instruction for all of our students.
At our staff meeting this past week, we laid out a plan for our own adult learning. This will include our continued work around culturally responsive education as well as a commitment to renewing our school values. We will also be reviewing updated safety policies and procedures in the coming weeks. I will share more about this at our Virtual Principal/PTO meeting on Tuesday night.
We had our first All School Assembly last Friday. At each assembly we celebrate the diversity of our school, we talk about our values, and we try to have some fun. This week, we also read the book “All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold. You can see the book on Youtube if you’d like to read it at home. I’m sure the tile of the book gives you a hint as to the bigger message.
Facilities Updates
Below is an update from the AUGUST 25th Meeting:
Good Afternoon Horace Mann Community,
We had a very productive meeting on Thursday evening. Our design team presented several site concepts with a focus on the baseball diamond, playgrounds, and other recreational site elements. To view the meeting recording you can skip to the end of this email. The following is a high level summary of the discussions we had at the meeting.
We had a good discussion on the additional playground element to be installed at Horace Mann. Parks and Recreation has the playground equipment in hand, but is still searching for a contractor who has the bandwidth to take this project on. We discussed whether it made sense to continue with the playground installation, or whether this new equipment should be included in the large central new playground being installed as part of the larger Horace Mann project. Many good reasons were given why we should continue to push to install the playground now.
The playground will provide a play space that is naturally shaded under the mature trees.
The playground provides a play space for older students that is removed from the play elements designed for younger students.
The playground provides a play space further away from the area where the building addition is set to occur, which will allow for more flexibility from a site use perspective throughout the various phases of construction.
We then discussed the baseball diamond. Some concepts presented keep the orientation as it is. Other options flip the diamond so that home plate is in the southern corner of the site which puts the grass outfield against the playground and adjacent open green space over by the Wyoming Road Extension. There was no support for keeping the diamond as is. Flipping the diamond in a way that protects the existing trees was the most desirable option. We discussed the fact that the images shared showed a 200 foot field, which is far larger than we need at this site. Creating a field no larger than what exists now allows us to keep all trees, and provides a large contiguous green space from the playground and parking lot all the way over to the Wyoming Road Extension end of the field. By approaching the site plan in this way, we have the opportunity to try and squeeze a U10 soccer field in with no side run-offs, or we could create two side-by-side U/7/8 soccer fields in the baseball outfield and adjacent field space. These fields will provide open green space for the Horace Mann School, and can provide soccer practice and play opportunities for the community.
Lastly, we spoke about the basketball court which is currently shown as a full court down in the "bowl" next to the gym. We discussed whether it made sense to go to a half basketball court which could be incorporated into the central play space with the two new playgrounds with rubberized play surface, four square, and other play elements.
We received solid direction at the meeting, so we are currently pursuing a smaller baseball diamond flipped with home plate in the southern corner by the trees. We are also pushing hard to get the playground installed under the trees in the southern corner of the site. Yesterday, I reached out to six playground installers I know. Parks, Recreation, and Culture staff are making calls and sending emails as well to their contacts.
To watch the 8/25 meeting recording you can click here. The presentation we gave is attached to this email.
Our next meeting of the Horace Mann School Building Committee and Community is on Thursday, September 22nd at 6:00pm, and you can register in advance by clicking here.
Regards,
Josh Morse
Public Buildings Commissioner
Public Buildings Department
City of Newton
NEW PLAYGROUND UPDATE - Materials for the new playground were delivered at the end of the summer. The city is now working to secure a contractor who is willing and available to install the components some time this fall. We are hopeful that we are close to a deal with a company to perhaps install the pieces in November.
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