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Roland Hayes School
Community Notes ~ April 12, 2024
Our North Star
“When children and teachers feel engaged, safe, and supported we have room to grow and learn through collaboration and risk-taking with our peers.”
Previous "Community Notes" can be found here: https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/domain/718
The "Community Notes" is sent every other week. Thanks for reading!
Dear Roland Hayes School Community
International Night was last Friday. As one parent said to me: "Every time I go to International Night and see our kids at Hayes... I am beyond optimistic about the future..." I agree!
International Night showcases our shared humanity unlike any other event here at the school. We thank our parent volunteers Lisa, Theodora, Paola, Yen-Lin, and our VP Mr. Patel for the intense work of organizing this event. Of course International Night would be impossible without the many, many, many folks who hosted tables, made food, sought out donations, organized the henna room (a crowd favorite!), and helped to set up and break down the spaces. On Monday morning, the school was as clean as a whistle thanks to our incredible custodial team, Dave and Mark, and the assist from Robin from Lincoln school. How lucky are we?
🎪 Now for the next big event ... MAYFAIR is COMING UP! 🎉
This is a HUGE event that the whole community is invited to. PLEASE mark your calendars and be ready for a fun day as a family!
- When: Sat. May 11th
- When: 1-5 pm
- Where: Hayes school (hopefully outside and in the gym if the weather cooperates this year)
- What: Bounce houses, slides, obstacle courses, carnival games, a cake walk, face painting, hair coloring, and more.
You don't want to miss it!
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April is also filled with other celebrations and observances, including:
- Eid al-fitr was this past week, marking the end of Ramadan. To our Muslim friends, we hope that your Eid celebrations were perfect.
- Passover begins April 22nd. Chag sameach! May your Passover celebrations be joyful and connecting.
- April is Autism Awareness Month. Our school prides itself in making sure everyone is included. Beyond feeling included, we strive to ensure our classrooms, spaces, and content are inclusive so that every single child can benefit deeply and authentically from their experiences while in our care. One of the inclusive opportunities we offer here is our Reaching for Independence Through Structured Education (RISE) program. Students enrolled in RISE “receive academic instruction, social skills training, behavioral intervention and related services” here at school. We launched RISE two years ago with a small group of kindergarten students, and those students are now thriving in Grades K-5. As the children grow, so will our RISE program. Eventually the RISE program will serve students in grade K-8 at Hayes. Read more about our vision for this work here: link
- April is also Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month. We celebrate our many children and their amazing ways of being; and we believe that there is no one perfect way to have a body.
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Student Work Showcase
"I wanted to share with you some wonderful work done our Grade 8 students around scaling the Solar System. It's always a challenge to find a way to properly scale the planets of the Solar System if you want to have the same scale for size and distance. But our students were successful! And they made some very fun videos to document their learning and to help communicate the science with others.
Check out their work in this folder. Enjoy!
Mark Goldner, 7th and 8th Grade Science Teacher, Roland Hayes School"
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😎 Solar Eclipse Watch Party 😎
We had such a great time watching the eclipse this past Monday; below are some pictures from the event (thanks Ms.Terry and Mr. Goldner! for the awesome pictures). When the universe offers moments of awe, it is our duty to marvel.
Thank you to the PTO and the Renkes family for making sure every kid in our school had solar glasses so that we could all enjoy safely!
Class Placement: Parent Perspectives Feedback Form
👉👉👉 https://forms.gle/cBz71ki6ykM3s5o26 👈👈👈
Deadline: Sunday, May 5th
It is time for us to look ahead and begin planning for the 2024-2025 school year. Parents often ask how class placements are made and what role families may play in the process. This google form is meant to answer those questions, explain the process used at our school, and gather feedback from you.
Each spring, teachers, staff, and administrators work to form classes for the following school year. We invite you to join this process at home. While it is not necessary, nor is it expected that parents communicate regarding class placement, if you have information about your child’s social-emotional or learning needs that you think we do not know, please complete this google form by Sunday, May 5th.
We are unable to honor requests for specific teachers; letters that name a teacher will not be considered.
This feedback can help us get as much perspective as possible during this process. Additionally, this information can be helpful to next year’s teacher as they work to gather information about their students prior to the start of the school year. If you want to remind us of any past concerns you’ve had, please take a minute to do that in this questionnaire, too.
After we receive this information, teachers, specialists, our guidance counselors, and administrators will work together to form new class cohorts. We consider many factors while doing this important work. While making these classes, we consider the academic strengths, learning styles, academic needs, friendships, level of independence, and collaborative skills of the individual child and the group as a whole. Please know we give this process protected time and great consideration. It is our goal to form classes of learners that support and challenge each other. Moreover, although our teachers employ a range of styles, they teach under the same umbrella of shared core values, curriculum, and best instructional practices. You can be sure that professionals who know your child well will be putting great thought into their learning environment and peers for the upcoming school year. It is important that we respect this multi-step process and the outcomes that result.
Barring unforeseen situations, changes to class placements will not be made after they are announced.
We appreciate your and your child’s input and value your collaboration as we build our learning communities for the upcoming school year.
👉👉👉 https://forms.gle/cBz71ki6ykM3s5o26 👈👈👈
Deadline: Sunday, May 5th
Congratulations to Mr. Picard!
Grade 5 Teacher, Mr. Picard, has been named a Margaret Metzger Fellow for the upcoming school year. We thank the BEF for the consideration and honor; we can't wait to learn more about Mr. Picard's experiences as a member of this new cohort of educators.
Zones of Regulation: Presentation and Resources
Last week members of our student support team, Alissa Ovadia and Jen Watkins, led a parent coffee and presentation on the Zones of Regulation, a program we use in the school. We thank them!
What are the Zones of Regulation? The Zones program helps students gain skills in the area of self-regulation. Self-regulation is also called self-control, self- management, and impulse control. It is defined as:
- the best state of alertness of both the body and emotions for a specific situation
- different situations demand different types of responses
- the capacity to manage one’s thoughts, feelings and actions in adaptive and flexible
- ways across a range of contexts and environments
The Zones lessons and activities are designed to help students recognize when they are in
the different “Zones” and to learn how to use strategies to change (or to stay) in the Zone
that fits the situation.
Learn more about the Zones of Regulation here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PCiqKKiLKNnXY2L1Mz_NiSpZzwan1qut/view?usp=sharing
Affinity Group for Parents/Caregivers of LGBTQ+ Youth
The LGBTQ+ Task Force is hosting an Affinity Group for parents/caregivers of LGBTQ+ youth on April 30th at 6:30pm. We will meet at the Brookline Village public library in 2 rooms, one for parents and one for students. All are welcome!
Hayes March Madness Bracket for Graphic Novels
Students in grades 3-8 voted weekly in March in the 2024 March Madness bracket for the best graphic novel. It came down to Smile by Raina Telgemeier and New Kid by Jerry Craft. By a narrow margin with just 5 votes between them, Smile came out on top!
All About Roland Hayes!
No concrete details to share yet, but we are making plans for a school renaming celebration on June 3rd (which is also Roland Hayes' birthday). Watch this space for updates!
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The new school name on the front of the school and on the mats in our big gym will get replaced this summer. In lieu of permanent changes, we will hoist a banner with our new school name soon, after we figure out the logistics to safely hang it. Look for that change very soon.
Spirit Wear will also be available soon. The mock-ups of available items look great!
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This beautiful greyscale portrait of Roland Hayes was created by one of our parents, Jon Zurawski. Thank you, Jon, for such a thoughtful rendering.
Upcoming Events
MCAS testing for students in Grades 3-8 will be taking place very soon. Please see the MCAS dates here. If you have any questions, please reach out to kirtan_patel@psbma.org
Friday, April 12th: Term 3: Grades 6-8 Report Cards Published to Parent Portal
Monday, April 15th - Friday, April 19th: School Closed: April Vacation
Monday, April 22nd: MCAS: ELA Makeups
Monday, April 22nd: Rainbow Club! 5th Grade, 11:20-11:50
Tuesday, April 23rd: MCAS: ELA Makeups
Wednesday, April 24th: MCAS: ELA Makeups
Wednesday, April 24th: Grades 6-8 GSA, 10:50-11:20am
Wednesday, April 24th: Model UN, 11:20am-12:05pm
Thursday, April 25th: K-6 Early Dismissal @ 12:40pm
Thursday, April 25th: Evening Conferences, 2:30-6:00pm
Friday, April 26th: MCAS: ELA Makeups
Friday, April 26th: PEP - Advocacy Activity, 8:05-8:30am
Friday, April 26th: METCO Connections Viking Sports, 1:40-3:00pm
Friday, April 26th: Hayes School Movie Night!, Hayes Auditorium, 6:45-9:00pm
Monday, April 29th: MCAS: 8th Grade Civics in S.S.
Monday, April 29th: Rainbow Club! Grade 4, 11:20-11:50am
Tuesday, April 30th: MCAS: Grade 5 STE Part 1
Tuesday, April 30th: MCAS: Grade 8 STE Part 1
Wednesday, May 1st: K-6 Early Dismissal @ 12:40pm
Wednesday, May 1st: MCAS: Grade 5 STE Part 2
Wednesday, May 1st: MCAS: Grade 8 STE Part 2
Wednesday, May 1st: Grades 6-8 GSA, 10:50-11:20am
Wednesday, May 1st: Model UN, 11:20am-12:05pm
Thursday, May 2nd: MCAS: STE/Civics Makeups
Thursday, May 2nd: Young Scholars, 2:30-3:30pm
Friday, May 3rd: MCAS: STE/Civics Makeups
Friday, May 3rd: Yearbook, 8:00-8:30am
Field Trips:
Tuesday, April 23rd: AAPI Affinity Group Trip to Kung Fu Tea, 10:50am-12:05pm
Wednesday, May 1st: Grade 1 Insect Ponding Field Trip, 8:30-11:00am
Friday, May 3rd: Grade 7 Field Trip to Hammond Pond, 8:20am-1:30pm
Notes From Our PTO
Check out our website for upcoming events, ways to support our school, and much more! https://heathpto.org
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Hayes Family Movie Night on 4/26 at 7pm
Showing ‘LUCA’ in the Hayes School Auditorium. Admission suggested donation: $5 per student or $10 per family. Your ticket gets you a bag of popcorn, a drink, and a seat to this Disney/Pixar classic! Additional concessions will be available for purchase. Doors open at 6:45PM, showtime will be at 7PM. Seating will be first come, first serve. Come early!
https://heathpto.org/calendar/event/53932533
PTO Spring Grant Cycle Now Open
We are now accepting grant proposals for the 2024 Spring Grant Cycle. We invite members of the community to submit proposals that benefit our school community. Proposal submissions are due by Monday, May 6, 2024. Any questions about the process? Feedback? Want to volunteer to be a part of the grants committee (and have a voice in what gets funded)? Please email us (contact@heathpto.org).
https://heathpto.org/grants
Used Book Fair Planning Committee Volunteers Needed
Spring is a wonderful time of year. As the weather starts to get warmer, people want to spend more time outside. And they also want to clean out their older stuff to make space for a refresh and renewal. To the Hayes PTO, that means it's also a great time for our annual spring Used Book Fair. We are looking for some volunteers to lead the planning for this event. Can you be one of those volunteers? If you are interested, please email us (contact@heathpto.org). Thank you!
Community-Based Opportunities
None here this week, but if you have something for consideration that supports students directly please let me know.
In Closing
We head off to April Break – a time of much needed rest AND the moment that marks the final stretch of the year.
Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh relayed that “Life is available only in the present moment.” May the week ahead provide many opportunities to experience the joy of being present, settled, and to rejoice in the world around us.
One way of staying in the present moment is through gardening. Below are picks from our flower and vegetable beds, all prepared for the mad rush of spring to come. Come visit the gardens here!
We thank Christin Wheeler, our Literacy Coach, many parent volunteers, and the Town's Parks team for tending to these important spaces.
~ Asa
Contact
Dr. Asa Sevelius, Ed.D. | Principal
Email: asa_sevelius@psbma.org
Pronouns: he/him
Mr. Kirtan Patel | Vice Principal
Email: kirtan_patel@psbma.org
Pronouns: he/him
Previous "Community Notes" can be found here: https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/domain/718
The "School Name: History & Resources" website page is here:
https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/renameheath
Website: https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/Page/17
Location: 100 Eliot Street, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467
Phone: 617-879-4570
Roland Hayes School
The Public Schools Of Brookline | A METCO Partnership School
Dr. Asa Sevelius, Principal & Mr. Kirtan Patel, Vice Principal