The Newark Trust for Education is dedicated to coordinating and focusing ideas, people, and resources to provide a quality public education to all children in Newark, New Jersey. As part of this mission, we are excited to announce the launch of Great Start, Great Future — our new early milestones campaign for Newark children, ages 0–3.

Our goal for the campaign is to educate parents and caregivers of children ages 0–3 about developmental milestones, connect them with resources and supports, and build and strengthen the communication infrastructure for engagement with parents and caregivers of young children in Newark.

To that end, we are excited to announce the rollout of our webpage and campaign materials. The webpage provides a list of local and national resources to inform and equip parents and caregivers with resources needed to aid their child’s development.

To understand the thoughts, questions, and concerns of the Newark community about starting school in September, Newark Trust for Education hosted an online conversation on ThoughtExchange. The views of ALL community members – with or without school-aged children – were captured because all voices are essential to this discussion. The feedback gathered via ThoughtExchange will be made public during a virtual town hall scheduled for Tuesday, September 1^st, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

This is your opportunity to hear what Newark has to say.

Click Here to Register

The Newark Trust for Education is committed to hearing and lifting the voices of all community members on issues impacting the conditions for learning of the young people in Newark. To understand your thoughts, questions, and concerns about starting school in September, we are currently hosting an online conversation on ThoughtExchange. The views of ALL community members – with or without school-aged children – are essential to this discussion.

Led by the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), National Summer Learning Week is a week-long celebration dedicated to elevating the importance of keeping kids learning, safe, and healthy every summer, ensuring they return to school in the fall ready to succeed. Themes for the week are: Dive into a Book Adventure, Discover STEM and Soar, Arts, Eat Healthy and Grow Strong to Win at Wellness, Celebrate the Future Leaders of Tomorrow and Make a Masterpiece. In celebration of National Summer Learning Week, this week's resources focus on local summer learning options. Find additional summer resources by clicking here. 

Welcome to summer! As we celebrate the graduates of 2020, parents and families also scramble to find summer resources and activities for children of school age. This week's newsletter features articles celebrating recent graduates, resources for summer learning,  and more.

Newark Trust for Education is also pleased to continue our partnership with Newark Arts Education Roundtable, Newark Thrives! and Schools That Can to administer the Victoria Foundation Public School Grants Program. Congratulations to recipients of the Social Emotional Learning grant for the 2020-2021 school year as part of the Victoria Collaborative.

Belmont Runyon School

Dr. William H. Horton School

Roseville Community Charter School

Science Park High School

This week's resources include a temporary rental assistance program, virtual summer arts camp, the Dad Link, upcoming events and more. New resources are indicated by (***).

As the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) continues preparations for the next stages of school opening, hearing from every stakeholder group is a priority. In order to meet the NJDOE’s rapid timeline for reviewing responses they request that all parents of school aged children complete the survey by today, June 8, 2020. Links to the survey in both English and Spanish are included below.

Response Deadline: Today, June 8, 2020

NJDOE Parent Survey (English)
NJDOE Encuesta Para Padres (Espanol)

Amid the anxiety and uncertainty induced by the coronavirus, families across the nation continue to grapple with the trauma of violence against people of color. Parents, caregivers and educators are wondering how to talk to young people about racism and police brutality, while trying to maintain their own mental health and wellness, and those of their families. While we do not have all of the answers, here we offer a few articles that include guidance on how to address these tumultuous times with young people—from pre-school to high school.

This week's updates include a temporary rental assistance program announced by Governor Murphy and Lieutenant Governor Oliver, the Newark Board of Education's summer reading list and summer guide to pre-college programs.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, this week's resources focus on support for mental health maintenance. Now more than ever it's important to make mental health a top priority. This week we've included updates on resources for SEL and mental health, food pantries, free access to the Headspace app and more. (New resources are indicated by *). Resources have also been organized in the following categories for easy navigation:

• Activities
• Childcare
• Community Resource Lists
• Food Access 
• Health & Wellness
• Learning Resources
• Teaching Resources