Brown MS Weekly Update
May 5, 2023
Teacher Appreciation - Honor Thy Teacher
Show your appreciation to your student’s teachers or school staff, during Teacher Appreciation Week or at any time until the end of the school year, through the Newton Schools Foundation Honor Thy Teacher program.
Say “Thank you” to one or more classroom teachers, education aides, fine arts or music teachers, coaches, counselors, or other school staff members who have made a difference in your student’s life.
Newton Schools Foundation provides grants that fund new approaches in the classroom, professional development for teachers, and programs that promote equity for all students. To learn more visit: NSF - Honor Thy Teacher
No Place for Hate Walk
On Thursday, May 4 in the afternoon (despite the damp, cold weather) hundreds of students, teachers, administrators and parents from Brown, Oak Hill and Newton South High School joined together for our 2nd Annual No Place for Hate Walk. The group walked around NSHS and then returned to the bleachers in Winkler Stadium to listen to students speak out against Asian hate, microaggressions, racism, antisemitism, homophobia and many other forms of hate. Students from all three schools spoke about the impact of hate and asked for empathy and kindness from the community. We were proudly represented by three 8th graders who spoke eloquently about the experience of Jewish Americans and why it is important to stand against antisemitism. This is a new tradition for NPS that will continue for years to come. If you missed it this year, be sure to join us next spring!
Kindness Week
On the heels of our No Place for Hate walk we will be celebrating Kindness Week this coming week. Here is what students can expect:
1. Each morning there will be tables in the front lobby and parents to hand fun items out to kids as they arrive. As they enter the front lobby, they will see our giant Kindness Week Banner as a reminder of what we are focusing on.
2. Art students are putting up a Kindness mural in the lobby outside of the gym with Mr. Goldberg's help.
3. Each morning student kindness ambassadors will share a message about a specific skill that everyone can focus on that day that demonstrates kindness.
- Monday - Smiling
- Tuesday - Pausing & Listening
- Wednesday - Helping others - Students wear orange to represent anti-bullying
- Thursday - Empathy
- Friday - Forgiving - Students wear Brown gear or blue to represent unity
4. Each morning during advisory, students will think about acts of kindness they have done or seen and write them down on colored paper. The papers will be gathered in containers in the front lobby to demonstrate our progress in being kind as a community.
5. Science teachers will show a short video in class that week that shows the science behind happiness and how acts of kindness make you happier and healthier.
6. Staff will make a point of acknowledging when students do something kind and pointing it out.
We hope to make this a tradition fall and spring of each year. Thank you to our PTO presidents, Janelle Phillips, Denise Dandrea and Yvonne Chen and our teachers Mr. Adams, Ms. Theodore and Ms. Daoust for all their help and support to make this a reality.
Parent Forum - Helping Students to be Upstanders
This past Thursday evening, May 4, after the No Place for Hate Walk, parents, teachers and administrators gathered on zoom to discuss how to build empathy in children so that they might speak up against hurtful words or actions. During the zoom Brown administrators, Julian Turner, Ruthe L'esperance, Kim Lysaght and Shari Engelbourg and our NPS DEI Director and Assistant Director, Kathy Lopes and Naomi Joseph, shared the work we are doing with students to help them become up-standers when faced with racism, homophobia, antisemitism, anti-Asian sentiment, transphobia, ableism and other -isms.
So far our 8th graders and 7th graders have participated in workshops with administrators or counselors that examine and unpack examples of problematic behaviors we have seen at Brown this year. We will be doing similar workshops with our 6th graders in the coming days.
Parents in the forum suggested that we share this information more broadly with the parents so they can discuss it with their children. We will be working on ways to do this in the days ahead. Additionally, there are resources for families to use at our NPS DEI website. The culture of our Brown MS community goes beyond the walls of our school. It is important that all families engage collectively in these challenging conversations. We ask for your support in this effort.
AAPI Month - Lunchtime Presentation
Today at all lunches one of our students did and excellent job sharing Indian dance with her school. 7th grader Ryana Nair danced on the cafeteria stage while her classmates cheered her on. It was a special event. Thank you to Ms. Priya for helping to coordinate events such as this on Fridays this month. Learning about each others' cultures and sharing the joy of our diversity is what makes community!
After School Extra-Curricular Activities
Please take a look at our spring extracurricular activities. There continue to be many opportunities for students to get involved. This is a great way for them to explore new interests and expand their friendship groups. Click here to view the schedule of after school activities.
Newton Neighbors Service Initiative
May 21, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Horace Mann Housing Complex
Along with our partners at the Newton Housing Authority and Newton Community Farm, Newton Neighbors is launching a project to plant container gardens for eligible seniors at the Horace Mann Housing Complex (corner of Watertown and Walker Streets, Newtonville).
This project is a great way to get outdoors, meet your neighbors, and help beautify the space at the Horace Mann Complex. It is also a great project for kids! We welcome volunteers of all ages and experience levels.
The project will take place on May 21, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. Volunteers can sign up for two-hour shifts at https://www.tinyurl.com/NNcontainergarden.
Please contact Susan Vaughn at susanv@newtonneighbors.org with any questions.
