Roland Hayes School

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!

It is Thanksgiving time! I definitely get excited for this holiday and already have my Tofurky ready to go! In my family, we have many traditions, but one that never seems to get old is watching The Sound of Music every Thanksgiving break. And, the build up to Thanksgiving is made sweeter by binging the many Bob's Burgers Thanksgiving episodes. What are you looking forward to this year?

And, we hope to see many of you at our Balloons Over Broadway Parade, this coming Wednesday!

For more PTO news and events, please visit our website:

https://www.hayespto.org/

Did you know we are also on Facebook?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/hayesschoolpto

-----

Thanksgiving Pie Drive, Mon 11/25 & Tues 11/26 @ 7:40 - 8:00 am

Help 6th graders Evangeline Romano, Ella Sarosiek, and Isla Kobus lead Hayes School's annual Thanksgiving pie drive for the Brookline Pantry!
* Any flavor, any number, store-bought or homemade, frozen or fresh
* Drop off between 7:40 - 8:00 am in the school lobby
* Can't make either day? Email kirtan_patel@psbma.org to find another time.

Winter Variety Show Auditions, Dec. 6th @ 1:40 pm

Calling all K-5th graders!! Do you know how to dance, sing, play an instrument, do magic tricks or anything else? We want YOU to sign up for the Winter Variety Show on (Wed) December 18th from 2:30pm-4:30pm Roland Hayes Auditorium.

If you want to participate, please attend an audition on Friday, Dec. 6th at 1:40 pm in the auditorium, and email anabelle.desangles@gmail.com with:
1. Your name
2. Your classroom
3. What talent you will be showing

Here are our attendance statistics for November (to date):

• Our daily attendance rate for the year to date is 96%, slightly up from last month; the District average is 96.7.
• Our middle schoolers have great attendance, with Grade 6 still doing amazing work of being in school each day. On the whole, middle school attendance remains above our school average (97%)
• Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and now 5 averages fall below our school average (95.5%), but did slightly improve this month.

Here is our data on tardies:

We've logged 224 tardies so far in November. Since the start of school, we have logged 1,196 tardies – this does not spark joy.

• The bell rings at 8:00; that is truly when instruction begins. At 8:01, we start logging students as tardy. Please have children to school on time and plan your mornings accordingly. Students can arrive as early as 7:30, so plan to drop students off early to help start their day off right.

• The Grade with the highest amount of tardies is now Grade 3. A great personal and grade-wide goal in December is to decrease the tardies in Grade 3.

Are you struggling to get your kids to school? Is your child experiencing reluctance to come to school? Is your student experiencing persistent illness that prevents them from attending school? WE CAN HELP or direct you to services that can help. Please reach out.

During arrival and dismissal, DO NOT park in the front loop. That area ia for active unloading and loading only.

DO NOT park or linger in the front curve of the drop off lane (see picks below). This area must be clear at all times. Blocking it for any amount of time impedes the flow of traffic.

We kindly ask that you do not bring your dogs onto campus. While many of our students love dogs, many of our students are scared. Dogs can also be unpredictable and we do not want anyone to be harmed. Thank you.

We also ask that if you or your neighbors walk your dogs.their dogs on campus that you clean up after them. It is common that our students step in dog poop and it is really frustrating when that happens. Again, feel free to tell your neighbors (who have dogs and don't receive messages from the school).

Thanks for helping us be a safe and clean school.

Brookline’s youngest learners are ready to enter school! The Office of Registration and Enrollment (ORE) is holding a special virtual Information Session on Thursday, December 12 at 7:00 pm, for families planning to register their children for Kindergarten in the 2025-26 school year. This event is designed to help guide families through each step of the kindergarten enrollment process and answer questions.

To register, please scan the QR code (below) or click here.

Simultaneous interpretation will be available for Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish during this event.

Kindergarten is an important milestone for everyone involved, and our staff is here to support families in this transition. The Office of Registration and Enrollment (ORE) is committed to ensuring that all families have a smooth and successful transition into their first day of kindergarten in Brookline. All families will have multiple opportunities to engage with our staff throughout the registration process and are happy to work to support each family with any specific needs they may have.

Notice for BEEP families: This session is open to the general public. If you're a family with a student currently enrolled in BEEP or that is currently receiving Special Education Services through BEEP, you should have received an invitation directly from the Office of Registration and Enrollment to a separate event designed specifically for your student .

How lucky are we to have such fun events at our school, like movie night! So many of you came out to last Friday to hang, connect, and watch together. Thanks to Jon Z. and Chelsey H. for continuing to host these events and the many parents who have joined to do the heavy lifting to putting on this event (like, Chris Weeks, David Yuh, Faith Yuh, Julie Hong, Juliana Mariani, Nathalie Roberts and Thad Roberts, and our PTO co-presidents Lisa and Theodora).

It really makes a huge difference for kids!

25 Hayes students represented our school at Northeastern on Saturday. They were collaborating (and competing with) about 600 students from schools all over New England.

Everyone did well, including our first-timers. Students to give special congrats to if you see them: Kris and Hudson (Best Delegates - highest award! This is Kris's 3rd in a row), Francesca and Nina (Best Negotiators), and Lawrence and Daryn (Best Position Paper.)

Thank you as always for supporting our team,

~ Elyse

Ms. Elyse Terry (she/her/hers)

6th & 7th Social Studies Teacher

Hayes School

November is National Native American Heritage Month, American Diabetes Month, and Epilepsy Awareness Month.

________________________

• Monday, November 25th: Rainbow Club, Grade 5, 11:20-11:50am

• Tuesday, November 26th: GSA, 10:50-11:20am

• Wednesday, November 27th: Balloons Over Broadway Parade @ Hayes School, 8:00-8:30am

• Wednesday, November 27th: BEEP Early Dismissal @ 11:30am

• Wednesday, November 27th: Model UN, 11:20am-12:00pm

• Wednesday, November 27th: K-8 Early Dismissal @ 12:00pm

• Thursday, November 28th - Friday, November 29th: School Closed: Thanksgiving Break

Nothing this week; keep watching this space for upcoming events and updates.

Nothing this week; keep watching this space for upcoming events and updates.

The many upcoming holidays are an invitation to each of us to slow down (despite the increasingly hectic messages to hurry up!), connect/re-connect with those who bring us joy, and consider our impact on the world around us.

May it be so for each of you, no matter how you spend the upcoming days, weeks, and months ahead.

Be well!

~ Asa

This parcel of land that our school sits upon is a special and sacred place.

Before this place was a Town, before our school was here, before this neighborhood was called “The Settlement” or “Chestnut Hill,” and before this land was a farm, this land was held by the Massachusett, the people Indigenous to this place. The Massachusett were the caretakers of this site, living full lives, raising families, and burying their dead right here. We recognize and honor this history, and seek to create thoughtful land stewards and citizens for generations to come.

As a public school, our primary objective is to ensure access, membership, and participation of all community members in our care; with this land acknowledgment we state our willingness to work towards that vision where all feel a true and abiding sense of belonging.

Roland Hayes School

The Public Schools Of Brookline | A METCO Partnership School

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

Website: https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/Page/17
Location: 100 Eliot Street, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467
Phone: 617-879-4570