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Dear Brown MS Community,

This past Monday we said a fond farewell to one of our main office secretaries, Kathy Hunt, who is retiring. We will miss her daily announcements and her catch phrase, "Haaaaave a great daaaaaay!!!" Kathy began this morning announcement routine years ago because she felt that every kid deserves to be wished a great day. Our student announcers are determined to continue that tradition. Speaking of traditions, Kathy is the originator of our last day of school wave off and she helped organize spirit week - two events that students enjoy and remember for years to come. On a personal level, I will miss her sense of humor, her willingness to jump in whenever we needed help and her care for our students. We wish her all the best as she sets out on the next phase of her life.

During the week, I was able to get into many classrooms to see what our students are doing. I am so thankful for Brown's amazing teachers who plan engaging and creative lessons! I saw:

• "Book speed dating" where every 3 minutes students shared information with a classmate about their independent reading book and then moved to hear about another book from another student
• Students learning new vocabulary from context clues in a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon
• Students writing book reviews and responding to each other's reviews on Schoology
• Students learning how to make a paper airplane with wings that flap
• Students rewriting laws that seem unfair as they learned about ancient civilizations
• Students learning about area as they planned to build a gingerbread house

• Students discussing the 7 traits of culture in Africa
• Students collaboratively working to solve a complex patterns problem in math
• Students creating a generator using wires, magnets and batteries (see video below)

Next week is the end of our first trimester. Students should be sure to check Schoology to see if there is missing work they need to complete. Teachers will finalize first term grades and paper copies of report cards will be sent home with students the week before winter vacation. Please take some time to look over the report cards with your children and discuss what is working and what they would like to focus on for second term. Reflecting and setting goals are two characteristics of maturity that are instrumental in academic growth.

I hope you all enjoy the weekend despite the wind and rain on Saturday!

Best,

Kim Lysaght, Principal

Friday, December 23: Last day of school before winter break (full day).

December 24 - January 2: No school for winter break

Tuesday, January 3: School resumes

Friday, January 27, 8:45AM - Superintendent and School Committee meeting - Brown Library

Dear Families,

In the Newton Public Schools, we are working to be sure that each school in our district is welcoming, supportive and safe for all students. An important component of students’ success is their sense of belonging in their school. To be sure we are well-informed about students’ experience, we conduct a survey each year of all students in grades 3-8 and 10.

The purpose of the survey is to gauge students’ feelings about:

• Relationships with adults in school

• Relationships with peers in school

• Engagement with academic learning

• Sense of belonging at school

• Sense of being able to support peers

• Sense of empathy with others

• Access to and usefulness of academic support

• Access to and usefulness of emotional and behavioral support

• Participation and sense of belonging in sports, clubs and other school activities (middle school and high school only)

Survey Administration for the 2022-23 School Year

• The survey will be administered between December 5th and January 6th during school hours.

• The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete.

Survey Data and Privacy

• The survey is confidential, but will include student identification numbers to allow us to analyze results by subgroups of students.

• The management and analysis of the data we collect will be done by the Newton Public Schools data office.

• Each school will receive a report summarizing the results of the survey in their school and comparing results to previous years.

• The survey data will not be disclosed outside of NPS, with the exception of Newton city officials focused on youth and education, who may receive district-wide summarized results.

Consent to Participate

• You may opt your child out of participating in this survey by submitting this Opt Out form -- Opt-Out Form -- to the main office of your child’s home school by December 5th.

• Hard copies of the opt-out form can also be found in the main office of your child’s school.

• If you have not turned in the form by December 5th, we will assume consent for your child to participate.

• Your child may voluntarily opt out or may choose to skip any questions they feel uncomfortable answering.

• If you wish to see the survey itself, copies to review will be available in each home school’s main office.

Your child’s participation in this survey will help inform our decisions about the effectiveness of our current programs, and to improve our programming and support as needed. Our goal is to provide each student in the Newton Public Schools with a safe and supportive learning and social environment.

Sincerely,

Newton Public Schools

This letter serves as parental notification under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). For more information about FERPA, PPRA and student records and privacy, please visit the Family Policy Compliance Office website at http://familypolicy.ed.gov, the U.S. Department of Education website at www2.ed.gov/fpco or contact the Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202.

Translations of the above:

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Our annual gift drive is up and running. Students learned about Brookview house in Dorchester during advisory earlier this month. Permission slips were sent home with students that demonstrated interest in providing gifts for Brookview House. Thank you to Mary Radonich and Chaffe Toulmin for organizing this important service opportunity again this year. Please be sure to check in with your child if they volunteered to bring in a gift. Here is the timeline for this community service project:

• December 7th: Bring the gifts
• December 7th - 9th: Wrap the gifts
• December 15th: Load the truck!

As a compliment to our gift drive to benefit the Brookview House we are also collecting gift card donations to support families in our Brown Middle School community. If you would like to contribute to this effort please send in a VISA gift card, or gift cards for either Target or Amazon to school counselor, Kevin Travers. You can send questions to (traversk@newton.k12.ma.us). Thank you in advance for helping make this holiday season special for all of our families.

Our 8th graders will be having a school dance on Friday, December 9 from 6-8 in the cafeteria. There will be a DJ, games, pizza, snacks, drinks and lots of fun. Students must purchase a ticket ahead of time. Tickets are $10 and are being sold at 8th grade lunches this week.

ELPAC (English Learner Parent Advisory Council) meets in person on Thursday, December 8. ELPAC is for ELL and former ELL families districtwide. ELPAC collaborates with schools and the district to improve ELL programming and support bilingualism. You are welcome to join this community meeting!

Date: Thursday, December 8, 2022

Time: 6:30-8:00PM

Location: 100 Walnut Street, Newton (the Education Center for Newton Public Schools) Room 111

ELPAC Meeting Agenda:

• Welcome and Introductions

• Presentations topics will include:

• the Newton override (find more information here)

• Newton Free Public Library Resources

• Holiday Activities for Families

• Exit Tickets

RSVP: Interpretation, food, and childcare (for children ages 5+) will be provided with RSVP.

Families Organized for Racial Justice has 2 meetings coming up:

1) Wednesday, Dec. 7th at 7:30pm - 9pm at Angier Elementary School in person (Angier Elementary, 1697 Beacon St, Waban, MA 02468 (great space, T-accessible, parking available).
We will focus on supporting School Leaders and interested members of school groups. Please confirm your attendance and share your thoughts by completing this survey here.

2) Thursday, Dec. 8th at 7pm - 8:30pm on ZOOM
Facilitated by Elisa Rodriguez and Madeline McNeely
This meeting is for any FORJ members who want to learn how to run affinity groups well. RSVP here.

There have been some changes to our after school clubs and activities as the seasons change. Please click the link below to view the most up to date schedule. There may be a new activity that your child would enjoy! (There are late buses (4:15PM) available for any children that have a bus pass.)

• Click here to view the schedule of after school activities.

The middle school activity fee covers all school-sponsored, extracurricular activities within the middle schools, known as Triple E, not including athletics. The annual one-time fee allows students to participate in an unlimited number of Triple E activities.

$60 per student per year not including drama

$100 per student per year if student participates in drama

Payment Options

• Pay online at www.MySchoolBucks.com.
  
  Click Here for Directions.
  
  

• Mail the application and check to: Business & Finance, Newton Public Schools, 100 Walnut Street, Newtonville, MA 02460
  
  

• If you wish to apply for a financial waiver, please complete an application located in Aspen. For more information on financial assistance, visit https://www.newton.k12.ma.us/Page/1072

If payment or financial waiver is not received at time of registration, an invoice will be issued to your student’s MySchoolBucks account.

Contact feepayments@newton.k12.ma.us or 617-559-9025 for assistance

Our interim Superintendent, Kathy Smith, and a school committee member will be coming to Brown on January 27 at 8:45AM. The purpose of the meeting is to share information and answer questions you may have about NPS. Please join us in the library for a chance to hear from them directly.

If your student is considering applying to private schools we are happy to support their applications. Please click here to read about the process for applying to private school. Following these guidelines allows us to meet your application deadlines.

As you shop for the holidays, please consider using amazonsmile. This program donates a portion of the proceeds to Brown PTO. Just designate Charles E. Brown Middle School PTO as your charitable recipient. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of your purchase price for eligible purchases towards our PTO. Click the picture below for a direct link to the site.

For more information about how this works, click this link to the PTO website.

NPS has recently updated their non-discrimination protocol and reporting process. Here is a link to a document that gives an overview of the process and how to report incidents. If you experience an incident that you feel needs to be reported, you can contact the school directly or you can fill out this Online reporting form.

• What is discrimination?

  Discrimination includes, but is not limited to, excluding from participation, denying the benefits of, or otherwise discriminating against individuals on the basis of a Protected Class, or any other category protected by state or federal law.

  
  

• What is harassment?

  Harassment includes, but is not limited to, unwelcome, inappropriate, or illegal physical, verbal, written, graphic, or electronic conduct that relates to an individual’s actual or perceived Protected Class, that has the purpose or effect of creating a hostile education or work environment. Examples of harassment include, but are not limited to, conduct that denigrates, demeans, or stereotypes a person and/or group based upon disability, gender identity, national origin, ethnic background, ancestry, race, color, religion, or sexual orientation. Sexual harassment is also included in this category.

  
  

• What is retaliation?

  Retaliation includes, but is not limited to, coercion, intimidation, interference, punishment, discrimination, or harassment against any member of the school community in response to that member’s oral, written, formal or informal reporting or filing a complaint, cooperating in an investigation, aiding or encouraging another member to report or file a complaint.

If you have not already done so, please be sure to update your student information on Aspen. It is important that we have correct contact information for school to home communication. Click here for Student Information Update instructions.

School Hours:

8:20AM - 2:50PM - Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri.

8:20 AM - 2:05PM - Wed.

Click here for the NPS 2022-2023 school calendar.

Click here for the Brown Middle School 6-day rotation calendar for 2022-2023 with early release days and days of the cycle.

To report a student absence call: 617-559-6980

Brown Middle School

125 Meadowbrook Road

Newton, MA 02459

Absences: 617-559-6980

Main office: 617-559-6900