The Newtonite

School Committee, custodians’ union at odds over outsourcing

Emily Moss • April 7, 2017

Juniors and seniors might recall the yellow Newton Teachers’ Association T-shirts that became a common sight on campus in the spring of 2015. They were hard to miss. Bearing the logo, “competitive...

Trump's pro-charter stance clashes with state's 'No' vote on Prop 2

Emily Moss • February 7, 2017

Originally published in print Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. Just two weeks after Massachusetts voters struck down a measure to raise the cap on charter schools, president-elect Donald Trump nominated as his Secretary...

Custodians face potential job loss in School Committee proposal to outsource

Emily Moss • September 27, 2016

by Emily Moss Faced with a School Committee proposal to outsource custodial work, custodians currently employed by the Newton Public Schools have expressed their fears at losing their jobs. The School...

Student-faculty advisory board meets to discuss recent racism, anti-Semitism

Emily Moss • March 19, 2016

by Emily Moss Last Thursday X-block, approximately 100 students and faculty members met with interim principal Mark Aronson to discuss acts of racism and anti-Semitism facing the North community. “My...

Acts of racism, anti-Semitism prompt establishment of student-faculty advisory board

Emily Moss • March 19, 2016

by Emily Moss Responding to anti-Semitic chants at Friday’s basketball game, subsequent graffiti earlier this week, and racist comments posted on Facebook prior to Black Culture Day, interim principal...

Turf war: The debate on synthetic fields

Emily Moss • February 10, 2016

First published Jan. 16, 2015. by Emily Moss In October, NBC news published a story about soccer players in Washington State who had contracted lymphoma after playing on synthetic fields. Almost immediately,...

State officials to blend MCAS, PARCC in disputed MCAS 2.0

Emily Moss • January 25, 2016

by Emily Moss In November, the Massachusetts Board of Education voted to change the course of standardized testing with a new assessment, unofficially known as “MCAS 2.0,” which will eventually become...

School Committee signs teachers' contract

Emily Moss • October 29, 2015

by Emily Moss Members of the Newton School Committee signed the contract with the Newton Teachers’ Association (NTA) Oct. 2, marking the final step of a negotiation process that lasted roughly a year...

Newton teachers seek pay equity

Emily Moss • September 16, 2015

See our article about the tentative contract agreement for more updated information. by Emily Moss Most students remember the yellow t-shirts that North teachers wore every Tuesday last spring with...

Union and School Committee reach tentative agreement

Emily Moss • September 10, 2015

by Emily Moss After negotiating for over a year and a half, the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) voted Sept. 2 to approve a tentative agreement with the School Committee regarding the upcoming teachers’...

Growing controversy over Common Core and PARCC: In Newton and across the nation

Emily Moss • May 22, 2015

First published May 22, 2015. by Emily Moss This past week, sophomores took the MCAS test. Next year at this time, it is possible that students will instead take the PARCC test, an assessment whose difficulty...

The Power of Invention: From a North classroom to Ethiopia to Roxbury

Emily Moss • May 12, 2015

by Emily Moss and Maya Abou-Rizk On a Tuesday afternoon, 12 high school students and their teacher pile into a large white van, carrying bins full of tools, machine parts, laptops, and colorful art supplies....