Superintendent's Update

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On most Fridays during the school year, the Office of the Superintendent will send an update to the community highlighting some of the excellent work being done by our educators and school leaders. The update will also include important announcements from the district’s central office. These newsletters will be posted on the PSB website (www.brookline.k12.ma.us/supt-updates).

Every year since 1984, the Brookline Education Foundation (BEF) has sought to honor two PSB educators (one from K-8, one from BHS) for their professional achievements, contributions, and overall excellence in their community. Ms. Crane and Ms. O’Shea were nominated for this award by their colleagues and staff, who highlighted their compassion in helping others through interpersonal relationships and leadership capacities. The BEF also recognized Ms. Crane and Ms. O’Shea for their unrelenting enthusiasm and support for their students - a dedication that extends beyond their instruction in the classroom.

Both educators were joined by BEF executive director Liz Ascoli at the June 8 School Committee meeting, where they reflected and shared their teaching journeys and overall experience in PSB. We are grateful to Ms. Crane and Ms. O’Shea for exemplifying the very highest standard of teaching every day at BHS and Heath!

After a pandemic hiatus, the BHS Rock Climbing Class students returned to Hammond Pond Reservation to have fun using their bouldering and top roping skills in a beautiful and dynamic setting. Led by BHS teachers Liz Gorman and Billy Graham, rock climbing is one of the many classes offered within the Health and Fitness Program designed to help students make positive decisions around their bodies and mind.

Through a generous grant from the Brookline Education Foundation, 5th-grade students at Driscoll also had an opportunity to explore orienteering. This physical activity challenges participants to read maps, plan routes, and race from one marker to the next. These navigation games were hosted at Griggs Park, where students used a custom-printed orienteering map to compete against each other!

Finally, we congratulate our 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students for participating in the annual PSB track and field meet on Monday, June 5. You can find the results of each competition here. Special thanks to former Lincoln and BHS parent Justin Kuo for their support of this event!

Despite a cool and wet day at Cypress Field, we were excited to honor our graduates and wish them great success as they step out into the world beyond BHS. Our partners at Brookline Interactive Group live-streamed the event and it is available for viewing here.

Take a moment to see the thoughtful words our newest alumni have written here. A submission form was sent to each senior's school email account. If you see a typo or have questions, please contact bhs-athletics@psbma.org.

Each month, PSB families will receive a newsletter that updates them on what social-emotional work our schools are doing. This newsletter also includes strategies you can use with your child(ren) to support their social-emotional development. The June 2023 newsletter focuses on how to preparing our students for summer wellness. Learn more.

If your family can benefit from food assistance, please visit any of the Pantry’s two (2) locations. For more information, go online at www.brooklinefoodpantry.org.

• 226 High Street (Community Room)

• Tuesdays 3:00 – 7:00 p.m.
  
  

• 5 Marion Street (United Parish)

• Wednesday: 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.

• Thursday 10:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

• Friday: 10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Finally, the PSB Food Services Department (along with many community partners) will once again host a Summer Meals Food Tasting Event at the Brookline Avenue Playground (575 Brookline Ave.) on Thursday, July 6, from 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. to kick off the Summer Meal Program. This free, interactive event features food tastings, music, activities, and giveaways. This year, families and kids can help the department select products and food items for our menu next year. Kids can provide feedback on menu items by voting for things they want to see on future school menus.

Brookline Adult & Community Education (BA&CE) offers in-person and online classes, lectures, and events on various topics and interests for learners of all ages! From cooking, pottery, ESL, languages, dance, walking tours...and more - there is something for everyone! Classes begin on Wednesday, July 5 - reserve your seat online!

• Father's Day: Sunday, June 18
  Father's Day is an annual holiday that honors fathers and father figures and celebrates their contributions to the lives of their children and to society.
  
  
• 60th Anniversary of Black studnets "stay-away" from Boston Public Schools: Sunday, June 18
  An estimated 5,000-8,00 Black students staged a "stay-away" from Boston Public Schools to protest the city's de facto segregation. Instead of going to classes, students, families, and friends attended Freedom Schools, where they participated in workshops on Social Justice and Black history. This event provided a template for the rest of the country on how to organize and create coalitions to challenge institutional racism.
  

The oldest known celebration of the end of slavery, Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when General Gordon Granger and 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston, TX, to take control of the state. Stemming near the end of the American Civil War, Granger enforced the Emancipation Proclamation from President Abraham Lincoln over two years ago, freeing various people held in bondage and slavery. Various communities in the US (particularly in the South) celebrated Juneteenth in the late 1800s and early 1900s, with the holiday becoming more popular with the rise of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

This June, Brookline celebrates Pride Month. The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations (ODICR) invites you to take their June 2023 Community Quiz to learn more about the history and significance of celebrating Pride, as well as local Brookline efforts and resources. You can also access more resources on the LGBTQIA+ community on the PSB Educational Equity website.

The ODICR will also join the Brookline Department of Public Works and PSb teacher and student leaders in painting a PRIDE crosswalk! A collaboration with our school’s Gender Sexuality Alliances (GSA) and Rainbow Clubs, the painting of pride crosswalks is one of many ways Brookline and other communities celebrate LGBTQIA+ pride. Students in those spaces will begin painting the crosswalks on Kennard Road Tuesday, June 13, beginning at 3:00 p.m.! Learn more about these displays in the Brookline Village Library.

The Town of Brookline is pleased to invite the community to a Freedom March and Juneteenth Celebration at the Brookline Avenue Playground on Monday, June 19. This celebration commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans on June 19, 1865 and will feature free food, entertainment, games, crafts, raffles, and music.

The march begins at 10:00 a.m. at the Ruffin Ridley School (345 Harvard St.) It will end at the Brookline Avenue Playground (575 Brookline Ave.), where a celebration will be held beginning at 11:00 a.m. We hope to see you there!

• Previous community updates can be found here.

(Media credits: S. Conroy, J. Frias, L. Guillory, J. Kuo, J. Michener, S. Moore, S. Palmer, A. Ricardo, R. Uttaro, K. Williams, Town of Brookline, Brookline Food Pantry)