Brown MS Weekly Update

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Dear Brown MS Community,

With this being a short week, I will keep my message short today as well. We are all ready for a break, and I hope that everyone has an opportunity to relax and enjoy the holiday weekend. The Lysaght children have returned from college for Thanksgiving, and it is so great to have them back! Seeing them reconnect with their high school friends gives me a nostalgic feeling as I recall doing the same thing a million years ago. Of course, it has been an adjustment for my husband and me because my kids are used to being up (and out of the house) later than our usual bedtime!

I want to quickly remind everyone that after this long weekend, we will be actively working on our annual Gift Drive. Please see below for more information and other ways to engage in our community service activities in December.

Finally, in the spirit of gratitude, I want to thank all of you - faculty, staff, parents and students - for all you do daily to create community here at Brown Middle School. This is a special place because of its people, and I am honored to be part of a community that truly cares for one another.

Enjoy the holiday,

Kim Lysaght, Principal

P.S. The picture here is of our newly painted flag pole. Yesterday a hawk chose to perch itself on top of the pole, and the kids were fascinated. Perhaps the hawk was channeling its inner eagle!

Thank you to our ELL teachers, Kathy Lobo and Mary Radonich, for providing their students with a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. Students had the opportunity (some for the first time) to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey with all the fixings and pumpkin pie and apple crisp for dessert. They really enjoyed the food and the time together!

Wednesday, November 23 - Early release. Students and staff released at 11:20AM.

Thursday & Friday, November 24 & 25 - No School for Thanksgiving Holiday (If you are planning to leave early for Thanksgiving Break, please contact the main office at 617-559-6980 so that we know for attendance purposes.)

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

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.

November is Native American Heritage Month. Here are some suggestions for ways you and your family can learn more around Thanksgiving next week:

• Learn about the National day of mourning Nov 25 (http://www.uaine.org/)
• Watch Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition, “Truth and Turkey Tale” on Hulu
• Check out the Massachusetts Indigenous legislative agenda: http://maindigenousagenda.org/

Families Organizing for Racial Justice (FORJ) is a group of diverse Newton families helping our children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. If you have questions, comments, or to join the mailing list please contact us at brownforj@gmail.com.

Getting involved in after school activities is a great way for your child to make connections with other students and become involved in the Brown MS community. 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.

Middle School Activities Fee Payment Information:

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 productions

$100 per student per year if student participates in drama productions

Payment Options

• Pay online at www.MySchoolBucks.com
• Select the Middle School Activity Fee Product/icon in the school store.
  
• Select your student from the dropdown, select payment option, and proceed to checkout. If you have been approved for a waiver, select the waiver option. If you do not see your student, please make sure you have added your student to your MSB account. To view your students click on your profile icon on the top right of the MSB homepage and select "My Students."
• 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

Basketball tryouts will begin Monday, Dec 5, 2022. If your child is in the 7th or 8th grade and is interested in trying out, please use the link below to gain more information and to register your child on FamilyID(ArbiterSports). Registration closes on Dec 1, 2022 @ 7:00pm.

Winter Varsity Sports (Basketball Registration Information)

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