Brookside Community

April 25th - 1/2 Day (Early Release for Students)

April 26- SPRING FAMILY FEST 11-1:30 at Arcadia Middle School

May 22 and May 23- Pastries with Parents 8:20-9:00 in Cafeteria (see below for details regarding which day your family is invited to attend)

Dear Families,

On Friday, 4/25/25, we will have an early release day as a result of Parent Teacher Conferences. Due to the limited time available, conferences will be initiated by the teacher on an as needed basis. As always parents are invited to contact the teacher if they have any questions or concerns.

Also, please note that our school will be practicing NYS Mandated Safety Drills this week and next week.

Please consider joining our Brookside Facebook Page! Lots of information and photos will be shared.

"Head Chef Jay" as the students lovingly refer to him, is our Food Service Manager at Brookside. He goes above and beyond to feed our children as well as bring the good vibes everyday with his positive attitude.

Favorite snack at the movies: Peanut M&M's

How many children do you have: 2 girls

Favorite music: a little bit of everything

Something fun no one would know about me: I am an entrepreneur. I own a few businesses as well as real estate.

For the past few weeks our second grade Bobcats have been working on making instruments at home with their families. This Thursday they all got together to show their fellow second graders what they made. They were even treated with a special performance by our own Mrs. Cowley playing the flute.

The positivity shines throughout our hallways!

Our students are well on their way to meeting our School-wide WIG! As a school we have read over 7,000 minutes!

NEW PHOTOS! Our Lost and Found box is overflowing! Do you see anything that belongs to your child? Email Kelly.howe@greececsd.org.

Brookside is committed to working with students and families to encourage all students to attend school each day, on time, when they are healthy. In order to encourage positive student attendance, we recognize the class with the highest percentage of attendance per week.

Mr. Messmers 5th grade class and Mr. Dastyks 3rd grade class. Way to go!

A staff shout-out is a special recognition that acknowledges a Brookside Staff Member who has demonstrated a special effort, an outstanding job, a team mentality, and/or caring communication for students, community members, and/or families. If you wish to give a staff shout-out to be included in our Bulletin please email our Parent Coordinator, Kelly Howe, at Kelly.howe@greececsd.org

I would love to send a Staff Shout out to "Head Chef Jay" as the kids call him. I drive a group of neighborhood Bobcats to Chorus or Band in the mornings and one regular topic of discussion is the awesome food that "Chef Jay" makes. The different pizza creations generates weekly excitement (as does Mac n' cheese)! Making food for an entire school, I'm sure, is no easy task, and I can't imagine the vast complexities to the school lunch program. However, I wanted to send a special "Shout Out" to Jackie and his team for not only providing food for our students daily, but doing an outstanding job of it with love and care--it definitely shows!

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month
April has been designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month (CAPM) to highlight the critical importance of families and communities collaborating to prevent child abuse and neglect. This dedicated month serves as a reminder that safeguarding our children is a collective responsibility, and everyone has a role to play.

Each year, MBF develops a Child Abuse Prevention Month Toolkit as a resource to promote child safety in your school and community. The toolkit was developed to assist schools in educating and increasing awareness to help keep kids safe. The toolkit includes:

Lesson plans for students

● Resources for parents

● Resources for school and youth-serving organization staff

● Activities and resources for students to reinforce safety concepts

The MBF CAPM toolkit can also be used year-round to help reinforce child abuse prevention and promote child safety in your school and community.

Dear GCSD Families,

We are excited to announce that registration for Greece Central’s summer programs opens on Monday, April 7! Attached is our Summer Program Booklet, where you’ll find a variety of engaging opportunities for students, most of which are free of charge. We encourage you to review the options and register as soon as possible, as spots are limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

How to Register

We will once again be using the Grouptrail online registration system. To sign up:

1. Click this link to access Grouptrail.
2. Enter the same email address where you received this message. (Using a different email will prevent access.)
3. Grouptrail will send you a one-time-use link (valid for 15 minutes) to access the registration portal.
4. Select and register for the programs available to your child(ren).

If you have trouble logging in, please call 966-2911 for assistance.

Important Dates

• Registration opens: Monday, April 7
• Some programs have a registration deadline of May 16 – be sure to sign up early!

If you’d prefer a paper copy of the Summer Program Booklet, please contact your child’s school, and we will send one to you.

Thank you, and we look forward to a fun-filled summer!

Greece Central School District

Do you have a child who will be five years of age on or before December 1, 2025?

If so, you may register your child by:

Completing the registration online by going to the home page of the district website, www.greececsd.org, looking under “District News” for Kindergarten Registration, then clicking on the link for step-by-step instructions. You may also use the QR code on the back of this page which will take you to the online registration directly.

Please note that also under “District News” is the link to the Transportation page for Daycare or Private/Parochial School transportation forms.

If you have any questions about these options, please call our school office at 966-4800.

Please Note: If your child attends Universal Pre-Kindergarten at a Greece Central Elementary School, Care-A-Lot Child Care, Expressive Beginnings, or Park Ridge Child Care, OR has already registered & is receiving Special Education services, you will NOT need to re-register, however you will need to contact (call or email) your home school that your child will start Kindergarten in September 2025.

KidsCare Summer Program: The KidsCare Summer Program will be held at Autumn Lane Elementary again this summer from July 7 - August 15 from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. The cost is $215 per week. Enrollment opens April 1st through My School Bucks. This year's theme is Choose Your Own Adventure! Be sure to register at msbactivities.com and reserve your spot!

Check out Rochester Kids Out and About Summer Camp Newsletter

https://mailchi.mp/kidsoutandabout/rochester-2025b-camps?e=ea18c18094

Many times throughout the year we need parent volunteers. Volunteer opportunities will be listed here but do not hesitate to reach out if you wish to volunteer in other ways.

One of our amazing social workers, Yvette Valicenti, has a large library of parenting books that she has graciously offered up to our Brookside families to borrow. A list of all available books can be found below. If you wish to borrow a book you can email our Parent Coordinator, Kelly Howe, at Kelly.howe@greececsd.org. If the book is available it will be placed in your child's backpack and should be returned within 2 weeks.

If you are in need of assistance with food, please reach out to our district Food Pantry.

Have you ever needed community resources, but didn't know how to find them? Check out our Neighborhood Navigation Center. The staff there can help you make those connections!

Did you know you can watch the Brookside Morning Show at home? The students do a wonderful job and if you haven't taken a look you are missing out!