February 28th, 2014

Hello Parents/Guardians:

As you may be aware last fall the LPS community passed an $80 million dollar bond issue for the school district. We are beginning to move into the planning for the bond for Newton and some of the actual work. This summer we will have new hardware installed on all classroom doors that need it. We will also be remodeling the serving lines in the cafeteria. As we move forward we have several other projects that will be completed at Newton totaling almost 3 million dollars.

Each facility in LPS needs to have a Site Advisory Team that is selected by the principal to represent the facility and its community. I am in need of two to three community members who would be willing to serve on the Newton SAT. We will hold our first meeting in April and will meet on a regular basis over the next year or two. The responsibilities of the SAT team are listed below. If you are interested in serving on the team please contact me.

• Provide critical input to the project architect during the early stages of the design.
• Communicate with the school community the key components of the planned project.
• Identify critical schedule and information related to school-specific dates for testing and
assessment, school activities and programs, cleaning, etc.
• Work with the project team to develop creative solutions in completing the scope to
minimize disruption to the staff and students, e.g., moving programs within the school to
other locations or other sites.
• Assist the project architect to develop a schematic design, which fully realizes the intent
of the itemized projects and remains within the established budget.
• Work with the project manager and project architect to complete the design per the
master schedule.
• Work with the project manager to assure that final construction documents fulfill the
committed scope.
• Represent the school community during any meetings with the PMT or BOE.
• Serve as informal liaison within the school and the community by sharing information
and communicating progress.

(Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) Certificate Program at Littleton High School!

Littleton High School is pleased to offer students who complete an approved set of coursework and extra-curricular high school experiences in STEM areas the opportunity to receive STEM Certification upon graduation. To be awarded certification, students will need to complete coursework beyond minimum graduation requirements and meet certain GPA requirements. If you have any additional questions we have information here at Newton or you can contact Littleton High School or access their website!

On March 10th we will begin our T-CAP testing, next week I will send along some helpful hints to assist your child in being as successful as possible when taking the assessment.

Thanks and have a great weekend.

Respectfully,
James O’Tremba
Principal, Newton Middle School