About PTO Communications Initiatives

The NPS? TAC? has begun to organize volunteer resources and initiatives to support PTO/PTSO communications to their respective teacher and family communities. See the PTO Communications & Directories group for the latest discussions, events and other activties on this subject.

Specific examples of PTO/PTSO support currently underway include:

• Setup Constant Contacts account to manage email distribution lists for Ward Elementary School PTO; this is also available to any other NPS-related school or organization interested in using it
• Preparing a fairly robust content-managed website for Ward PTO that will dramatically improve many of the publishing and data-gathering tasks and serve as a template and reference model for other PTOs
• Preparing survey to go out to PTO leaders to understand how PTOs are communicating and managing contact directories and to share best practices
• Hoping to organize, launch and complete an initiative with at least one or two schools that would turn printed teacher/student/parent directories for Fall 2008 from a cost item into a revenue-generating line item.

See also: 

• Newton PTO Council:  For lots of good PTO support materials, PTO Directory, NPS-wide PTO calendar, etc.
• Project INTERFACE:  an initiative to improve the integration of mental health services
  within school systems and their greater community

About the 1-1 Learning Project

The 1-1 Learning Project is continuing to research the implementation of 1-1 student laptop initiative at a designated grade level. Last year members of the TAC?, along with teachers and administrators from the school department, visited several schools that have implemented a 1-1 laptop program at the middle school level. The TAC members were very impressed, for example, with the 1-1 program at the King Middle School in Portland, Maine. King School students participate in project-based learning called “student expeditions.” Each expedition has guiding questions and incorporates various aspects of the Maine State Frameworks. Remarkably, the students were able to talk very coherently about their work--why they were doing it and what they learned. The laptops were used as tools to help with collecting and analyzing data for research as well as creating a final project. The school figured out how to integrate the use of technology in a seamless manner…so the curriculum was the main event…not the tools. The students were invested in the learning, not the tools.

This project team is exploring how a 1-1 laptop program might support the current interdisciplinary initiative (Breaking Ranks in the Middle- BRIM) at our four middle schools and what steps need to be taken to pilot an initiative in Newton.

About the Course Management Project

The Course Management Project is planning and making recommendations for implementing online professional development courses for teachers and curriculum content courses for students. The first goal is to foster a broad base of teachers and curriculum coordinators who are proficient in developing and managing an online course. Newton Public Schools will be using a free open-source system named Moodle?. This system is designed to help teachers facilitate the management of educational courses online for teaching other educators or students. High school students in Poway Unified School District (San Diego, California), for example, have been taking courses online since 1998. Teachers in that district have reported that students have shown marked improvement in several areas, such as organization, time management, technology and critical thinking skills. (Go to http://powayusd.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/online).

About the Project-Based Learning Project

The Project-Based Learning Team is formulating a roadmap for NPS? to implement project-based learning into the curriculum across grade levels. (Project-based learning encourages students to work in teams to explore real-world problems, design and create possible solutions, and present their work to a larger community to share knowledge.) This team is using two current project-based learning efforts in robotics and multi-user virtual environments (MUVE) as the foci for developing the roadmap for district-wide implementation of this type of instruction.

In conjunction with the work of these four teams, the work of the fundraising and public relations subcommittee from last year will continue. The work of TAC? is critical to the technology initiative as it leverages the expertise and experience of parents with the development of several key initiatives identified in the technology plan.

If you would like to work with one of these project teams, public relations, or fundraising, please contact the team leader listed above or Shelley Chamberlain, Director of Information Technology. For more detailed information, please visit the TAC website at http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/Technology/TAC/index.html.

About the School Portal Project

The School Portal Project, sponsored by the NPS? TAC?, is helping to shape the purpose & priorities of a school portal solution that could work not just for one school like Newton North or South High School, but for all 21 schools in the district.  This may result in 21 similar school portals, or one solution that integrates all 21 schools together. 

We'll work with school representatives and technology providers to sort out those priorities, while at the same time selecting the technologies and systems that make the school portal(s) possible and working closely with the NPS Technology Department to ensure that the project plan and resulting implementation fit the NPS IT requirements. 

For more information, see

• School Portal Evaluation - a collection (book) of pages that present the bulk of our effort in this area. 
• School Portal Communications - some key pages that show how we have been communicating to our constituents.
• School Portal group - the internal discussion area of our group.