On Friday, April 16th, the PTO provided a breakfast spread for our Mason-Rice teachers and staff as a thank you for their ongoing commitment, flexibility, and adaptability. This is one of many events the PTO has hosted this year for our wonderful teaching and staff including, most recently, breakfast by Rosenfeld’s Bagels (earlier in April) and treats from Galit’s Treats (in March).

Mark your calendars for Teacher Appreciation Week: May 3rd-7th as the PTO is planning for a more substantial recognition event! We are looking forward to honoring our teachers and staff efforts this year.

* DLA teachers who aren’t in the building are sent gift cards when they’re not able to enjoy our in-school events. We appreciate them too!

Mason-Rice is ready for a good spring cleanup! Volunteer with NewtonSERVES on Sunday, May 2 for socially-distanced outdoor projects to keep our school grounds looking beautiful.

The event will run from 9a – 4p, but, to maintain manageable numbers, we ask that you please sign up for a time slot via the SignUpGenius link. Only one sign up per family required. Upon arrival, tasks and work areas will be assigned. Projects include preparing the school garden, trimming branches, spreading mulch, sweeping walkways, weeding, and more.

As a city sponsored event, Newton Community Pride has t-shirts for the first 30 volunteers that sign up! To qualify, please also register and sign forms via the NewtonSERVES website. For this signup, please include all family members participating and t-shirt sizes.

To ensure a safe and successful event, masks, appropriate social distancing, and protective gloves are required while on school property.

If you are unable to volunteer but would still like to help, we could use some tools! See SignUpGenius for details.

Thank you for helping us maintain Mason-Rice!

Will you help us keep our students and staff safe? NPS STRONGLY ENCOURAGES families whose students are participating in in-person learning to enroll their student(s) in the COVID-19 testing program. Testing is one of the best ways we have to quickly identify infection and reduce the possibility of in-school transmission. Testing began at Mason-Rice last week, but it’s not too late to join! 

Here are 3 reasons to enroll:

1. It’s easy to sign up! Complete the Consent Form in the Aspen portal for your child to participate (here’s the link!). 
2. It’s painless to administer! This is NOT the “touch your brain” swab! This is a sample taken from the front of your nose with a Q-tip like swab. It’s super-fast and painless. Students are sent home on Monday with an at-home test kit. They swab their nose on Tuesday morning and return the test to school that morning. Easy peasy!
3. It makes a difference! The more students who participate, the better data NPS has on infection rates in our community. This means NPS can quickly identify infection, reduce the risk of in school transmission, limit quarantines, and keep our schools, athletics and other important activities open for the rest of the year!.
4. Bonus reason: This testing program is FREE to all families! 

Note: Once you enroll, it may take a week for your child to receive their first Monday kit.

Also note: The asymptomatic pooled testing, detailed here, is a separate consent process from giving consent for Nurse Becky to administer a rapid Covid test in school should your child becomes symptomatic at school.

Thank you all for doing your part to keep our kids, teachers, and community safe!

Mason-Rice FORJ has had a successful year thus far! We’ve held monthly meetings, grown our listserve to 30 interested parents and attended city-wide workshops.  We’ve focused our energy on learning, listening, and connecting this year. We want to invite anyone who is interested in continuing this work and being part of connecting these conversations to action within our Mason-Rice community come to our upcoming meeting: Thursday, April 29th at 7:30-9:30pm.

Zoom: ID 883 2079 1344

Passcode: [see e-mailed PTO Notes]

As we close this year, we are seeking new leadership! If you are interested in thinking through our meeting agendas and connecting with other Mason-Rice parents to support our community to talk about race and racism, please email Janelle Phillips.

A+ Magazine is an annual publication that showcases original works by current Mason-Rice students, including stories, poems, drawings, comics, puzzles, jokes, photos, interviews, reviews and more! All submissions are welcome!! This year, A+ Magazine will be published online and in full color, accessible to all Mason-Rice families at no charge! Click here to see to see last year’s A+ Magazine.

How to submit your work: Email submissions to A+ Magazine. Artwork or photos should be in jpeg format. Be sure to include student’s name and grade with submission.

Also, all 4th and 5th grade students are invited to submit artwork for the magazine’s cover! The parent editors will determine the final cover, but all cover entries will be included in full size and in full color in the issue. 

Parents are expected to review all of their child’s submissions to assure appropriateness of content, being mindful that the audience includes kindergarteners, parents, grandparents, teachers, and family friends of many backgrounds. Students are representing Mason-Rice through their work.

Submission deadline: Friday, May 14th. 

Questions? Email the A+ Magazine team.

The STEAM team is planning an end-of-year, STEAM-inspired outdoor family fun day that will be held on a weekend in June, and we’d love your help in planning it! We don’t know what the activities will be yet, but we are envisioning an event with multiple stations, multiple time slots (to meet COVID-protocols), and lots of fun. 

We need more parent volunteers! Can you help? Please reach out to Sharon Topper or Molly Perencevich. Ideas welcome!

Mason-Rice’s annual online auction is usually the PTO’s biggest fundraiser. This year, because of the pandemic, we are not hosting the auction. Instead, in each week’s Notes, we are spotlighting the amazing businesses that have generously supported our auction year after year. We hope that now, during their time of need, you will consider patronizing those who have consistently supported our PTO.

Don’t forget to support the previously-spotlighted businesses! You can find them in the past Notes on our PTO webpage.

GLŌ Medical Aesthetics was started by three moms. Our goal was to provide solution-based procedures for skin and body.

Mention Mason-Rice and receive 20% off any facial now thru May 31.

1251 Centre St, Newton
617.916.9119