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| Amnesty's Night of Action |
Newton Country Day School offers many opportunities for participation in extracurricular activities. The following is a partial list of clubs and committees that enrich the life of the school.
Amnesty International (Upper School) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. The NCDS chapter meets regularly to discuss social justice issues, write letters and petitions for prisoners of conscience worldwide, raise awareness in the community about human rights abuses, participate in local and state-wide actions, and attend regional conferences.
Bread for the World
Campus Ministry (Middle and Upper School) coordinates weekly chapel services, liturgies, and retreats.
Cantilare (Middle School) is a select chorus open to students in grades seven and eight. Admission to the group is through audition. Cantilare is designed to improve vocal and choral technique through more demanding choral works of various styles. Pieces range from liturgical selections for school worship services to a cappella arrangements of contemporary composers.
Chess Club (Upper School) allows students to learn, practice and compete in chess games with fellow members once each week.
Chorale (Upper School)
Chorus (Middle School)
The Committee of Games (Upper School) focuses on generating school spirit, mainly through friendly competition between the school's Blue and Silver teams. Throughout the year, committee members plan events surrounding Blue-Silver Induction, Halloween, and other holidays. The culmination of the committee's efforts is Conge. On this surprise all school "holiday," classes are cancelled and the girls participate in fun games and entertaining activities. Blue/Silver Committee (Middle School) coordinates Middle School participation in these events.
Clowning Club
Dance Team (Upper School) is a sport of the arts. Students compete with other schools from the region and nationally in the Jazz Dance category. The meets are sponsored by the Universal Dance Association and the National Dance Alliance. The National Championships are televised on ESPN. The Middle School houses its own Dance Group, drawing on what students learn in class to choreograph routines and small performances.
Day of Silence
Dollars for Darfur
Drama (Middle and Upper School) - The Middle School performs one winter musical and a spring musical revue each year. The Upper School stages three productions each year: a fall drama, a winter entry to the Massachusetts Drama Festival and a spring musical. Recent productions include: Xingu, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Utopia Limited, and Babes in Toyland. This year's fall dramatic production was Twelve Angry Women.
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| Economics at the New York Stock Exchange |
The Economics Committee (Upper School) enables students to participate in the major economic events of our society through research, field trips, and hands-on experience. Students operate a snack-bar for profit; learn about the impact of natural disasters on the world economy and how the world economy affects local areas. They study the workings of corporations and the stock market and create business plans for new products.
The Engineering Committee (Upper School) is geared towards those students who are interested in figuring out how things work. Meeting once a week with occasional out-of-school commitments, the Engineering Committee usually completes two projects per year, one per semester. Past projects have included model rockets, circuits, robots, potato cannons, and gliders.
The Environmental Education Committee (Upper School) enables students to serve as leaders in the school community, promoting environmental action through awareness and conservation. Students organize environmentally themed field trips, manage the Upper School recycling initiative, gather and post current statistics and information concerning local and world events, and announce community events in which the school can participate in. This year, the Middle School has started its own environmental action initiative through a Recycling Program.
Gospel Choir (Upper School) - Gye Nyame Gospel Choir is open to all Upper School students. Students develop an understanding of Gospel music as a genre uniquely rooted in the African-American experience while exploring various styles within the tradition. Spirituals, traditional Gospel, and contemporary fusions of Gospel with secular styles comprise a diverse repertoire.
The Honor Committee (Upper School) is charged with educating and implementing the Honor Code in the Upper School. The group works to promote personal integrity and responsibility with particular emphasis on academic integrity, honesty, and respect for property rights of other members of the school community.
Instrumental Ensemble and Instruction (Middle and Upper School)
Literary Magazine: Medley (Upper School) - published annually, a collection of student-submitted poetry, fiction, sketches, and photographs. The staff reads and discusses each submission and then makes their recommendations for publication. The magazine is a testament to the creative spirit alive in the school.
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| Model UN at WorldBoston Event |
Liturgical Dance (Upper School) meets weekly to coreograph and rehearse dances for Vespers and other liturgical celebrations throughout the school year.
Math League
Mock Trial will allow students the opportunity to learn about the legal system and court room procedures. Students will learn how to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and make strong opening and closing statements. In preparation for trial, students will exercise their debate, problem solving, listening, and analytical and critical reasoning skills. The team's hard work will culminate with the statewide Mock Trial competition, sponsored by the Massachusetts Bar Association.
Model UN (Upper School) is a committee that affords students the opportunity to work on solutions to global problems and serve as delegates to conferences at which students from around the world simulate the workings of the actual United Nations. Members of the committee attend several conferences every year, including Harvard Model UN in December and Boston Model UN in February. This upcoming year, the group is planning a trip to the UN Building in New York City.
The National Honor Society (Upper School) membership is based upon a student's performance in the areas of scholarship, service, leadership, and character. Students are elected to the National Honor Society at the end of their junior or senior year.
National and International Exchange Program (Upper School) - The Network of Sacred Heart Schools includes 21 other schools from across the United States and over 200 schools throughout the world. This network allows students to participate in a variety of programs. Newton Country Day School students have the opportunity to visit another Sacred Heart school for a six week exchange.
Peer Education (Upper School) is a unique committee whose primary goal is to increase self-knowledge and educate peers about health issues that particularly impact the lives of adolescents today. The students review and critique health and science material and evaluate educational and entertainment media, social norms, pressures, and trends, in order to plan and implement educational programs. The committee has focused on issues such as alcohol abuse, eating disorders, nutrition, healthy and destructive relationships, smoking, mental health, and media influences. The committee organizes and conducts Middle and Upper School assemblies, creates posters, fliers, and brochures on these topics.
Photojournalism (Upper School) - Throughout the year, committee members take pictures of campus events. Students come together each week to create picture displays to post in Middle School and Upper School gathering areas. Pictures are also used by yearbook and newspaper committees. Admission, Athletic, and Development Departments use student work in PowerPoint presentations, on the website, and in publication materials.
P.R.I.S.M.: People for a Racially Inclusive Society of Multiculturalism (Upper School)
Psalms (Upper School) is a close-harmony/a cappella Gospel ensemble, carrying on a tradition that spans from The Harps of Melody (1950) to Take Six (present day). Small ensemble singing - ranging from traditional African and African-American folksongs to barbershop-quartet styles to contemporary a cappella and jazz arrangements - poses unique and exciting opportunities to expand students' experience and understanding of sacred music in the African-American tradition.
Retreat Leadership (Middle and Upper School) - From 8th Grade through senior year, students participate in a series of retreats, lead by Campus Ministers, members of the faculty, and student leaders.
The Schola Cantorum (Upper School) is the auditioned, select choral group of the Upper School. Membership is limited to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Auditions are held at the end of the academic year for membership the following year. The group performs numerous times throughout the school year. This year the Schola Cantorum will perform at the Admissions Open House, Vespers, various liturgies, and our annual spring concert. This group currently has twenty-five members.
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| Service Committee at Christmas in the City |
The Service Committee (Upper School) offers students opportunities to volunteer their time and talents, as well as to educate the school about social issues, such as hunger and homelessness.
Sophie's Place
Speech and Debate inspires students to be confident communicators through individual and collaborative opportunities for creative expression and intellectual discussion.
Step Team (Upper School) is one of the many traditions of African-American Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities. In the 1920's, its earliest forms resembled Ring Shouts (dances accompanied with chant-like songs), which were a part of African-American worship on slave plantations. The return of soldiers from World War II in the mid-1940's introduced elements of military marching and line formations. In the 1950's, dance moves from popular R 'n' B groups like the Temptations were incorporated. The contemporary "shout 'n' foot stomp" war dance style arose in the 1960's, indicative of the civil unrest that accompanied that period.
Student Government (Middle and Upper School) - The central purpose of Student Government is to help implement Goals Four and Five of the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart Education: "Building Community as a Christian Value" and "Personal Growth in an Atmosphere of Wise Freedom." Student Government provides visible structures for increased faculty-student communication within a framework that encourages mutual respect and confidence.
Yearbook allows students to be involved in choosing pictures, page layouts and ideas for the upcoming yearbook.