For over 20 years, the Newton Schools Foundation (NSF), through its annual Honor Thy Teacher campaign, has enabled friends, families, and alumni of the Newton Public Schools (NPS) to honor specific NPS faculty and staff while supporting NPS programs financially.
The campaign has the potential to raise tens of thousands of dollars each year for NSF grants to NPS in three areas:
- New approaches in the classrooms,
- Professional development for teachers, and
- Programs that promote equity for all students.
Last year, 660 teachers and staff members were honored. The campaign is designed to encourage a wide range of supporters to each donate at their own levels of comfort. No amount is too small or too large.
Impact
NSF notes that grants from this campaign reach all students in all 23 schools and are part of the overall impact of NSF in Newton. These grants support professional development conferences and training, programs focused on math and coding, technology, literacy, arts programs, social emotional learning (SEL) K-12, and language-focused initiatives at the high schools.
Specific programs and impacts highlighted by NSF include:
- Support for school-based professionals to set up social emotional learning (SEL) spaces for students in all elementary schools;
- Ozobot Kit robots that elementary students can program as they learn to code;
- “I’m Amazing, Now Where am I Going?” — a program that focuses on career exploration and increasing opportunities for Black, Latinx, and/or low-income students; and
- The Calculus Project, which helps students of all backgrounds make strides in advanced mathematics;
- A Mental Health Summit to support NPS mental health professionals district-wide. NPS attendees said the summit, “feeds their souls professionally, deepens their current practice, and provides space for professional improvement with like-roles” and “makes us feel seen and valued!”
Campaign guidelines
Any donor appreciative of NPS may go online and:
- Choose one or more teachers, administrators, or staff to honor; and
- Choose any amount to donate (total for all those honored, not per honoree).
Each honoree receives an NSF certificate as well as a magnet to display in classroom, office, or car. They also receive an email with the donor’s child’s name — but not the donation amount.
The Superintendent and the child’s principal will be notified of the commendations, but not the donation amounts.
NSF ensures that Honor Thy Teacher donations comply with the NPS Gift Policy.
