Creative Arts and Sciences
The Williams School PTO’s Creative Arts & Sciences Committee presents a diverse range of programs to enrich and enhance the learning experience of each child at Williams. The committee collaborates with teachers and specialists to schedule curriculum-related programs to bring the arts & sciences to life at Williams. Each year, we launch more than 15 classroom programs and two school-wide performances. This results in an average of five hours of Creative Arts & Sciences programming per student, per year. Many performances occur right in the classroom, providing the perfect venue to deliver a hands-on learning experience for students.
In past years, programs have included international storytellers, animals from Drumlin Farm, Colonial reenactors, drummers, science experiments, authors, artists and dancers.
The committee is made up of parent volunteers who schedule and implement the programs at Williams. To learn more about the committee and and how you can get involved, contact c0-chairs Melissa Wylie and Heidi Tobin.
Green Team
The Williams Green Team seeks to create a school community that is well-informed about the environmental challenges we face, that takes responsibility to preserve and protect our natural resources, both local and global, and that serves as a model for living respectfully and sustainably within our natural environment. It is committed to ensuring that our school actively teaches about our environment, develops activities that promote conservation, works to ensure that our school adopts green policies and procedures based on scientific principles and best practices, and that we enable our children through these efforts to become conscientious stewards of the environment.
Williams Walks!
Did you know that 85% of students at Williams live within 1 mile of the school? Use this cool link to find out how far your home is from Williams: Link
- Walk as often as you can. Walking often takes less time than getting the kids in the car, buckling up and driving to school, especially if you need to come through one of the busy intersections near school.
- Walk together with friends, taking turns walking
- Help launch a walking bus from your neighborhood
- Find a route for older children that they can walk with buddies.
- If walking doesn’t work for you, then consider the benefits to everyone of a carpool which is at least saving 50% on gas and removing one car from the school path
- Use the blue zone and you help to reduce the parking and traffic issues next to the school.
- Your child can be a bus hero. If you live over a mile or past a major road without a crossing guard, your child qualifies for the bus for free.
- Pledge to join in on Williams Walks on Wednesdays! Make it a family event by rethinking everyone’s commute that day. Everyone making even small steps has the potential for big gain. Check out the Walking Pledge for more information. If you’re interested in becoming involved in Safe Routes programs at Williams, please contact Lisa Rothstein
Williams Walks is a part of a larger, nationwide effort. Elementary schools throughout Newton participate in this program as a way to improve the health of students, lessen traffic congestion throughout the City, and improve the environment. To learn more, go to Massachusetts Safe Routes to School
Outdoor Classroom
Creating a greater awareness of our natural environment and extending the traditional classroom setting to the outdoors are major goals of this project. It is a long-term initiative which will create additional educational components over the years and will gradually transform a desk based curriculum to one which integrates both interior and outdoor classroom learning experiences. We welcome all of our children, teachers, staff, parents and neighbors to become involved with the many opportunities – and challenges – that are created by the Outdoor Classroom and thank you for your continued support that has transformed this concept into reality.
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