The Library Gift Book Sale is going to take place the last week of this month on May 29th, 30th, 31st, and June 1st . Parents are needed each morning to help with this important fund raiser. Please consider helping out by clicking on the link below to sign up or get additional details.
To check out the volunteer opportunities, please click here.
Come join the fun while helping to make Color Day a success once again this year! We are looking for parents to help run stations for a shift or all morning (there are plenty of us who have fun staying all morning!). Below are the time slots we will need help with:
9:00-10:30 – help with the stations ****these are the most important to fill
10:30–12:00 – help with the stations ****these are the most important to fill
Please follow the link to sign-up online:
http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/992345635643956092
or send in paper form that you will receive later this week. The form can be handed in at the front office.
Any questions? Please email Matt Goldstein at mattabgoldstein@gmail.com, Len Brown at lenxbrown@yahoo.com or Meryl Miller at merylt@rcn.com.
Do you like to walk or bike to school? Come join other kids and parents in a bicycle flotilla or walk alongside handing out prizes, as the Newton Safe Routes to School Task Force participates in the annual Newton Memorial Day Parade. Show your support for our neighborhoods and safe walking/biking routes to school. The parade convenes Sunday May 20th, at 1:00 pm in front of Our Ladies Church on Washington and Adams St.
If you would like to decorate your bike, please join us at 12:30 pm at the church. Please ask for Alicia Bowman, Event Coordinator. Everyone is invited, with their families, to the hot dog & burger picnic at Pelligrini Park after the parade.
For further info or if interested in participating please contact Joe Sypek, jpsypek1@verizon.net or cell: 617-721-9058.
Hello,
We would like to share some of the PTO sponsored programs from April. Thank you to the Respect for Human Differences committee and Amy Behrens for bringing in Ooch the Yo-Yo guy to Zervas. On Thurs., Apr. 26th grades K-2 saw a “positive spin” program and grades 3-4 experienced his “secrets to being social” show. Sunday, April 29th was Newton Serves Day. A big thank you to Linda Thayer and Caroline Wilson for coordinating this event for Zervas, and to all of the volunteers who took time out of their busy schedules to come by and help beautify Zervas. Also in April the Understanding Our Differences Team, let by Carla Brigham, Lisa DePalma and Jen Smelson presented a unit on “special medical conditions” focusing on epilepsy, asthma and allergies.
May 2nd was Walk to School day and May 9th was Bike to School day. Thank you to Joe Sypek for coordinating and promoting these days.
Coming up…
the Spring Fair is on Saturday, May 12th from 11:00 am -2:00 pm. We hope you’ll come by (and even consider working a shift). The fair is always a big hit with the kids and promises fun for all ages.
Creative Arts and Sciences Presentations:
Kindergarten – Author/illustrator Emilie Boon, who will help students create a short book of their own
2nd grade — Virtual trip to Ghana, Africa with Tufts University Professor Nani Agbeli, playing drums, dancing and learning about their culture
4th grade – Mitali Perkins, Life Between Cultures and Jeff Davis, American Folk musician
5th grade – Valerie Tutson “The Right to … Liberty” (stories from the Revolutionary War)
Finally, on behalf of the fifth graders, thank you to everyone who helped support the 5th grade graduation by purchasing cookie dough.
Jane and Joanne
We still need many more volunteers to make the Fair a success. We are especially in need of volunteers from 1-2, but also have open spaces from 12-1. Please sign up for one short hour so that we can run all the games and make this a fun and memorable day for the kids. Zervas alums in middle and high school are welcome to volunteer. Thanks for your help!
We want to put on a fantastic, fun Spring Fair for the kids of Zervas, but we need your help to do it! The Fair needs lots of parent and alumni volunteers to make it work. And that’s one of the things that makes the Fair so special–having the whole Zervas community coming together to create a fun event.
We’re again using VolunteerSpot (an online sign up and reminder tool) to schedule volunteers for the Fair. Time is getting short, so please sign up today – here’s how it works in 4 easy steps:
1) Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot:
2) Enter your email address. VolunteerSpot will then send you a PERSONAL signup invitation Continue reading
Please bring a baked goodie to be sold at the bake sale on May 12th during the Zervas Fair. Donations should be brought that morning to Zervas, or can be dropped off the night before at 15 Kingston Rd between 6:00 and 8:00 pm.
If you can, please wrap individual portions to make sales easier and more sanitary.
Feel free to contact Erin Jospe with questions at ejospe@mac.com
Thank you for your help!
The 5th graders are about to embark on their next social action project, a Birdathon! On May 22nd, the 5th graders will be led through Cold Spring Park by Mr. Griffin and a Mass Audobon guide, with a goal of spotting as many of the birds that make the park their home at this time of year as they can. 5th graders will be asking for pledges prior to the Birdathon. You can either make a lump sum donation or sponsor a student for an amount per bird spotted. All proceeds will go to one of Mr. Griffin’s favorite charities, the Audobon Society, as a part of this year’s 5th grade donation.
So, please find your nearest 5th grader, if they don’t find you first, and sponsor them for the Birdathon! (If you are not connected to any 5th graders, you can make a donation in the Zervas main office or at the Zervas Spring Fair.)
There will also be an opportunity to donate to the Birdathon at the Zervas Spring Fair this Saturday. 5th graders will be staffing a Bird House decorating table and will have sponsor sheets available.
We still need as many pairs of binoculars as possible. If anyone in the Zervas community has binoculars that they are willing to let the 5th grade borrow, we would be very grateful. Please bring them to Zervas and leave them in Rebecca Deeks/Kate Gacicia’s mailbox in the office. Make sure to label them with your full name, so that they can be returned. Thank you so much.
Calling all volunteers! During the week of May 21st – 25th, Zervas will be an exciting place for teachers and learners. Each classroom and grade level is taking on a week-long project-based learning unit we are affectionately calling PiBLi.
For the library piece, Zervas librarian Erin Broderick will be working with students at all grade levels, during library time and more, on documenting what is happening as the week unfolds. She’s envisioning a newsletter, a blog, and lots and lots of pictures and videos and she’s looking for some parents to volunteer either during library times or other agreed upon times to help small groups with picture-taking, article writing, interviews, etc. It will be mostly to supervise and manage small groups if she’s instructing elsewhere in the room in order to get the maximum productivity out of our little reporters. While she does want the students to come up with their own ideas for writing and recording the events of the week, she’ll certainly need help organizing a multitude of interests.
Sound intriguing? Email Erin Broderick Erin_Broderick@newton.k12.ma.us for more details and time frames.
Happy May! Please note the May MCAS schedule…
Grade 5 Math- Monday, May 7 and Tuesday, May 8
Grade 5 Science- Wednesday, May 9 and Friday, May 11
Grade 3 Math- Monday, May 14 and Tuesday, May 15
Grade 4 Math- Wednesday, May 16 and Thursday, May 17
From Mr. Griffin’s note earlier this year, “We attempt to create a calm and industrious atmosphere at Zervas during MCAS testing. We try to instill in all of our students the attitude that they will be able to do well on these tests if they work hard and focus. You can help your children by reinforcing this attitude at home. It also helps to be sure that your children sleep well and have a nutritious breakfast.”
The Newton Cultural Center announced the 2012 Spelling Bee Winners (with apologies for any omissions or errors)
Due to space considerations, all winners will not be printed here but we are proud to share with you the names of Zervas students, past and present who placed within their grade level:
1st Grade
First group:
1st place tie - Maya Jha (Zervas), Nikhil Kothari (Horace Mann), Eric Zhang (Franklin)
3rd Grade
Third group:
1st place tie– Anna Kovarzin (Zervas), Ellie Wang
4th Grade
Second group:
1st place tie – Kathryn Rhatigan (Zervas), Ethan Kopf ((Zervas)
Sixth Grade
3rd place– Kristen Miquel (Oak Hill, formerly Zervas)
Congratulations to all!
