Dear Underwood Families, The 2nd Annual Gingerbread House Decorating Party was so much fun! Thank you to the over 40 families who participated and to Lisa Wong and Kerry Curran for organizing again this year. Dr. Talukdar and Ms. Lacey reviewed the contest submissions yesterday and winners will be notified ASAP! As an added bonus, this festive event supported our Underwood community and raised several hundred dollars for our Holiday Gift Card Drive. Ms. Mann, Underwood’s Literacy Specialist, presented at our virtual PTO meeting earlier this week about supporting literacy at home and the importance of interactive read alouds at all ages. Click here to see her fantastic presentation, complete with a list of recommended books for your home library on the final slide. The week before Thanksgiving we showed Underwood staff our gratitude by stocking the staff room with snacks READ MORE
Category: News
From Desk of Nurse Carrie – December 2021
Dear Underwood Families, Cold and flu season is upon us. We can all help by keeping our children home when they are sick. Not only does this help to diminish the spread of illness, it helps reduce negative outcomes for those who are more vulnerable and at greater risk for more serious symptoms when exposed to germs. There are students at Underwood School who can react strongly if they are exposed to illnesses such as strep throat, influenza or respiratory infections. When there is a known exposure for these students, we as a community can help minimize the health impact for them. We are asking for your help with the following: Report diagnosed strep throat, influenza (flu), RSV and other respiratory infections to Nurse Carrie Students with strep throat may return to school after taking an antibiotic for at least READ MORE
Underwood After School Updates!
Underwood After School’s Annual Musical: Annie Jr When: January 3rd through March 18th Rehearses Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays 4:00PM-5:30PM Open to 2nd through 5th-grade students First Rehearsal: Monday, January 3rd Dress Rehearsal: Thursday, March 17th Performance: Friday, March 18th Not enrolled in after school? No problem! Email us today about signing your child up for our production! Email us at info@underwoodafterschool.org for more information! If your child does not attend after school, you can enroll them for at least 2 out of our 3 practice days. You can also learn more about Underwood After School Program at underwoodafterschool.org. Already enrolled in UASP? Log into your parent portal to sign your child up! UASP February Vacation Camp – Winter Wonderland Tuesday February 22nd-Friday February 25th 8:30-5:30PM $85 per day, 2 day minimum Open to all students Underwood After School Program will be READ MORE
Annual Gift Card Drive
It is that time of year again when the Underwood family joins together to help members in our community who could use a little boost around the holidays.The Underwood PTO will be collecting gift cards or donations to buy gift cards for our Holiday Gift Card Drive through Monday, December 13th. 100% of any funds donated will be used to purchase gift cards. All cards donated will be distributed to Underwood families in need, for their direct benefit. Gift cards for area grocery stores, pharmacies, retail stores and gas stations are all useful.Donations to purchase gift cards can be made via check mailed to the same address, Venmo @underwoodpto (Adam West) or Paypal at https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/underwoodpto. Please specify the Holiday Gift Card Drive in the notes! Please send any gift cards to: Underwood PTO Attn:Gift Card Drive at 101 Vernon Street, Newton MA 02458, or email underwoodpto@gmail.com to coordinate a drop-off. Your READ MORE
Letter from Principal Suzie – November 2021
Dear Underwood Families, What a beautiful fall we are enjoying so far, with temperatures so warm it is hard to believe we are part way through November. As you know through participation in recent parent-teacher conferences, students are well into their routines here at Underwood. This week we held our first virtual All School Meeting (ASM) during our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) time on Wednesday. During our weekly SEL block, we all engage in activities that build a sense of community within and across all grade-levels, teach and reinforce social/emotional skills, establish connections between all adults in school and children, and foster an environment where students feel as though they belong, are safe, and can have fun. ASM is a time when the entire K-5 community joins together and, due to COVID restrictions, we will do so via Zoom. Our READ MORE
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