WILLIAMS SCHOOL PTO

Saturday, March 31, 6-10 pm at the Hibernian Hall, 151 Watertown St., Watertown. Irish Dancing Performances and Instruction by the Sullivan School of Irish Dance. Irish Music, food, and fun for the whole family and all ages! Irish soda bread competition, silent auction and raffle.

Tickets $10 Adults; $5 Children 10-18 and Seniors; Under 10 FREE!
For more information, contact 781-275-5990.

School is dismissed at 12:30 p.m.

Kindergarten Registration
Appointments should be made in advance.

THIS WEEK!!!

Check out the wide selection of WILLIAMS AUCTION ITEMS available at the Williams Gala & Auction.

The Vintage Williams Gala (celebrating 100 Years of History Auburndale and Newton Lower Falls) will be held on March 24th, 2007 at 7 p.m.

Vintage Williams: 100 Years celebrating 100 Years of History Auburndale and Newton Lower Falls

• We have booked the Riverside Center, the caterer and have some of donations already.
• We are planning for an evening down memory lane of our Villages.
• Norbumbega Park, enjoy amusement park games and gambling.
• Totem Pole, dance the night away with the sounds of 1940’s big band music.
• Turn of the Century Fashion will be represented by Lasell’s Goodwill Costume Collection as students model vintage clothes and accessories.
• Displays of Williams History, Local Architecture and more.

For more information, please contact Lauren Brooks, Lisa Levine or Deborah Gelch president@williamspto.org .

Come for fun filled time to the Children’s Activity Fair, Saturday, March 17th,
10-1pm at the Windsor Club,1601 Beacon St., Newton. Bring your kids 3-8 years old to experience what local businesses have to offer. Mini workshops in yoga, karate, hip hop,arts and crafts, cooking, music, theatre, gymnastics, and more – including a fashion show! Have a bite to eat and enter the raffle. Tickets $15.00 per family. Proceeds to benefit the Newton Mothers’ Forum. For more information, visit www.newtonmoms.com

Founded in 1997, the Newton Mothers’ Forum is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to bringing mothers and families of young children together. Our purpose is to provide opportunities for mothers in Newton and surrounding communities to connect with each other through educational, social and volunteer service events, with the objective of building a community for themselves and their families. We welcome mothers in every situation: working or part-time, or at home or transitioning.

Progress on traffic issues
Thank you to all the parents who are working to make our drop-off and pick-up safer for the children. We are hoping to work with parents to create additional options for walking and carpooling.

THANKS to those who pitched in for the auction last week
Many thanks to all of you who replied to our desperate plea to help with the final planning stages of the auction. We received some excellent last minute items and would still be very grateful for any additional donations. Please look for the Evite and RSVP even if you have sent in your ticket money. We want to be sure to have the right amount of food and drinks available for the attendees. See you soon!

Just a reminder that donations for your child’s Class Basket for the Auction are due by this Friday the 16th.
Take a look below to be reminded of your child’s class theme and to see all of the
great basket themes up for bidding.

Aronne: K/1 Budding Artist Basket: Up to Age 8 : paints, crayons, paper, colored pencils, scissors, paper, kits, clay, chalk, etc.
Dickerson: K Music Magic: Ages 5 to 9: Instruments, CD’s etc.
Macdonald/Incutto: K Make it Yourself Ages 6 to 8: Lego’s, puzzles, craft kits,
Jacobson: 1 Stuffed Animals
Black: 1/ 2 Family Garden: tools, seed packets, aprons, kneeler pads, garden labels, etc
Osecki: 2 Boredom Busters Ages 5 to 10 : games, puzzles, books, DVD’s , etc.
Sidell: 2 K-2 Book Basket: Books for Ages 5 to 8
Naroff: 3 3-5th Grade Book Basket: Books for Ages 8 to 11
Matrisciano: 3 Summer Fun Basket: sand toys, games, beach towels, blow up rafts,etc.
Kanode: 4 Movie Madness Gr. 4 & up: DVD’s, Popcorn bowls, Drink trays, cups, snacks, etc.
Teres: 4 Sports Basket: equipment, posters, tickets, etc.
Ortega/Gregonis:5 Gift Certificates:

In order to eliviate the danger of buses backing up on Hancock during drop-off and pick-up, the PTO has asked Ken Temkin (Transportation Coordinator) to re-route Newton School buses from Hancock to Grove Street during the following times 8:15- 8:45am and 2:45-3:15pm. Mr. Temkin supports our request and has asked the Eastern Bus Company comply. Following is a the Eastern Bus Company’s reply.

Hello All,

And thank you for your concerns. Part of our safety training and regular safety meetings with our drivers revolves around the issue of backing up the buses, “when is it okay, and when it is not okay”. Our preference is that a school bus NEVER back up and this is even more imperative while on school property or in a school zone.

I will post a notice immediately regarding the route change for the buses that use Hancock St. A few of them actually have stops at Woodland and Hancock and in that general area but I see no reason for them not to use Grove St. instead for safety reasons. In addition I will try to pinpoint the actual buses in the area and speak to them individually.

In the mean time if any one should observe a bus behind the school on Hancock St. it would be very helpful if we could get the bus number, they are all in the 300’s and usually on both sides, front and back or worse case a plate or the alpha letters. It may however take a day to reach them all.

I am sure as a team we can make this a much safer area very quickly.

Feel free to contact me if there are any further questions or issues.

Sincerely,

Regina Moody
Eastern Bus Co., Inc. - Newton
617-965-1115

IF YOU SEE ANY BUSES ON HANCOCK DURING 8:15- 8:45am and 2:45-3:15pm, PLEASE REPORT THIS TO REGINA MOODY AT 617-965-1115 OR EMAIL presidents@williamspto.org.

Thanks,
Deborah Gelch & Nicole Malec-Kenyon

BCNS Winter Festival and Concert on Saturday, March 10th at the Newton Cultural Center, 225 Nevada Street, Newtonville from 10am-noon. Join Burr Cooperative Nursery School (BCNS) for a fun filled morning including live music from the energetic group, The Polka Dots, activity stations, arts and crafts, bake sale and amazing raffles! Tickets: $8 per person to Thursday, March 8 (children under 1 year old free), $10 per person at the door (based on availability). For advanced tickets, please contact Liz Morefield at 617-230-7389 or lizmorefield@hotmail.com

Parents of Newton Public School (NPS) students are invited to take part in a 10-minute survey, as part of a district-wide effort to assess effective uses of technology and make recommendations for a three-year plan. Take the survey Feb. 26-March 13 online. Find out more about the NPS Technology Advisory Committee’s recommendation process on the TAC Website.
www.sun-associates.com/newton/parent.html