Brown MS Weekly Update

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Dear Brown MS Community,

Well, we have a bonus day of vacation today with the school closure! I hope everyone is staying dry and enjoying the extra day. I have spent it doing all of the holiday preparations that I was leaving until the last minute, so I appreciate the gift of time.

I will keep this letter short as I know many of you are already headed off to see family and friends. I wish all of you celebrating Kwanza, Christmas, Hanukkah, the Solstice, New Year's and any other holiday you may observe a terrific time.

My kids are both home and we are blessed to all be together again. Having adult children adds a fun component to the holidays with them pitching in on the gift buying, picking up groceries, food making, and house cleaning (well, maybe not that one, but I can hope...). We celebrate Christmas in our family and our tradition is to have everyone to our house on Christmas Day. It will be great to have cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents together again as it is the first time we are ALL going to be together since before the pandemic.

I wish you health, happiness and good fortune for 2023. Enjoy the break!

Best,

Kim Lysaght, Principal

December 24 - January 2: No school for winter break

Tuesday, January 3: School resumes - full day (8:20 - 2:50)

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

Last week teachers handed out report cards to all students. Look for a goldenrod colored paper in their back packs or binders. You can also access them by logging into Aspen. Parents can log in using your Aspen ID (typically last name first name with no spaces between). Students can log in using their username and password. The report card PDF appears in the Published Reports list.

Teachers spend a lot of time deliberating over the comments they put onto students' report cards. While the letter grade gives you some information about a student's mastery of the material, teacher comments are essential to gain a clearer picture of what is working and what needs attention. Please be sure to discuss the report card grades and comments with your child and return the signed, bottom portion to their homebase teacher next week.

As we approach winter weather, we want to share information related to school closings. As a reminder, the decision to close or delay school is made by the superintendent, in consultation with the Police Department and the Department of Public Works. Safety is our number one priority as we consider the weather forecast, as well as street, sidewalk, and school parking lot conditions. We are very sensitive to the childcare challenges that you face when schools are closed and only do so if our analysis indicates we should.

You will be notified of school closing via email, text, phone, website, television news, and social media. Please make sure your contact information is updated in Aspen so that we are able to reach you in a timely manner (Aspen Login Link) If you do not remember your Aspen login information, please email: aspen@newton.k12.ma.us

Please visit this webpage for additional details:

School Closings Due to Weather Webpage

The City of Newton continues to host meetings, presentations, and discussions on the proposed override. All past presentations and meeting recordings can be found on this page:

Newton Override Meeting Presentations and Recordings

Some meetings are formal presentations and some are more informal discussions where residents can ask specific questions about department services.

A calendar of meetings is here: Override Meeting Calendar

Ursa Major is Brown Middle School's literary magazine run by eighth graders. It has been a student run staple in the Brown community for many years. It is dedicated to showing the writing and artistic creativity of our students in the Brown community. Students are encouraged to submit works of writing, memes, art work, music, podcasts and more! Please click on this link to see what it is all about.

A special thanks to Becky Cohen, 8th grade ELA teacher and Felicia Quesada Montville, Librarian, for advising them!

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