January

Happy New Year! We are getting kids back in the groove after the holiday break. Routines and procedures took a holiday break, so it typically takes kids a bit of time to readjust. I am sure the same is true for families-particularly the morning routine.

This month will be a busy one. As we approach the mid year mark, students will be taking their mid year i-Ready Math and Reading progress assessments and reading benchmark assessments. Most of the assessments will take place towards the end of the month. We'll be sure to send home more information about the information we are able to gain from these assessments, as well as some information about interpreting the results.

Also this month, we will be kicking off our Kindness and Justice Month and we are gearing up for the STEAM Fair at the end of the month.

Buckle up! It's going to a busy month!

The rise in flu cases nationwide has been a headline for the past couple of weeks. So far at the Brown School, we have been pretty fortunate. A few students and staff members reported being ill over the break, but we have fewer than 5 documented cases of flu this week for both students and staff members. We are seeing a bit more sore throats and colds, but nothing out of the ordinary. Our custodians are being mindful of regular additional sanitizing of common surfaces (fountains, door handles, railings) throughout the building.

*Please help us keep our data accurate by letting us know if your child tests positive for flu, Covid, or strep. If we see clusters in particular grades or classrooms, we'll be sure to respond and keep you posted. Thanks so much for your help.

At Brown, our Core Values are: Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Brave and Be Ready to Learn. Each month we focus on one of the values and take the opportunity to help students understand them a bit more deeply. During the month of January we are focusing on "Be Kind", and in celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, we are also taking the opportunity to talk about justice and fairness.

Acknowledging kind acts is important for our youngest learners. It helps them understand the importance we put on taking care of one another, or just simply caring about something other than ourselves. Gratefully, our Brown School kids are typically kind to one another, to our school, and to our staff. We do see an occasional act of unkind behavior from time to time and in those cases we help students to understand the impact of unkind behavior on others. This month we'll be working on kind acts, talking about how we can make the world a bit more kind, and having some fun along the way.

During Kindness and Justice month we'll also be taking the opportunity to help kids understand kindness versus common courtesy. I remember explaining this one to my own kids, "Some things are extra kind and some things are just what people do." Holding the door for the person behind you, helping someone up if they fall, or picking up something that was dropped is common courtesy. Going the extra mile for a neighbor or friend, or even a stranger are extra kind. We'd love for families to continue this conversation at home.

If you are interested in promoting kindness at home and in our community, CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF 100 ACTS OF KINDNESS. If you can, download and print the form at home. If you are unable to print, teachers have a hard copy for kids who would like to take one home. If students complete 10 or more of the activities before February break, they can bring in the signed form for an Inchy Golden Coin!

We have had an increase in students waiting in the office for their dismissal after school.

As a reminder, dismissal is at 2:30. The carline is typically supervised until 2:40. When students are not picked up, they go to the office to await their ride home. We have had more students than usual waiting in the office until 3:00, and sometimes longer. We understand miscommunications can happen and appointments sometimes run longer than expected. However, this has been a more regular occurrence for more than a few of our students. This has often occurred on our early release days as well. We will work hard to send reminders about the early release days so families are able to make arrangements. The next one is Wednesday, January 28th and dismissal will be at noon. Thanks so much for your help.

We recently sent letters to the parents of students who have been absent 5 or more days in the first 50ish days of school(~10%). At the end of this month, we will be sending out letters to parents of students who have been tardy 10 or more days. This recent communication has prompted questions about what is an excused absence/tardy. Here is the clarification from the handbook:

Per school committee policy, absences will be excused for illness, religious holidays, death in the family, or funerals. Family vacations are not excused absences. If a student is absent from school due to a family vacation, students will make up the work after their return to school at the convenience of their teachers. Students are required to see their teachers upon returning to develop a list of missing work and specific dates for test and quiz make-ups.

In the event that your child accumulates five (5) or more school days of unexcused absences during the school year, you will be notified by the school principal of the concern and possibly invited to participate in a meeting with the school administration to develop a plan to address your child’s attendance.

Travel is most often the reason for an unexcused absence, though sometimes a student is marked unexcused because we have not heard otherwise from the parent regarding illness, funerals, etc.

I hope this helps clarify how excused/unexcused absences and tardies are determined. Please let us know if you have any questions about your child's absences or number of days tardy.

Many folks are familiar with the term STEM, but are confused by the term STEAM. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Over the past 20 years, we have recognized how quickly the world is changing, and how important it is for our students to develop problem solving skills, adaptability, and understanding real-world applications. The push for students to have more experiences in these areas in the classroom has been fairly strong. No longer is it ok to simply "find the answer". In the classroom, there is much more emphasis on the development of thought processes and problem solving strategies, as well as the ability for students to share their thinking. So, what is STEAM? While we recognize the value of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math skills, we also recognize thinking that is more abstract in nature is also critical to innovation, imagination, creativity, and there has been a strong effort to include ART in this group of disciplines, hence STEAM.

The PTO sponsored Brown School STEAM FAIR is just 3 weeks away on Thursday, January 29th and we already have many students registered. If your child is interested in sharing their thinking through Science, Technology, Engineering, Art or Math, please be sure s/he is registered for the fair!

HERE ARE DETAILS FOR REGISTERING!

We are looking forward to seeing all the projects and hearing about students' thinking!

We will officially kick off our Kids Heart Challenge at the Brown School on February 2nd, but WE ARE ENCOURAGING EARLY REGISTRATION.

The month of February is Heart Health Month, and our PE classes will be dedicated to KHC. All students will learn about the heart and what we can do to keep our hearts healthy. We are encouraging our Brown School families to learn the lifesaving skill of Hands-Only CPR! It only takes a few minutes to learn, and it can make all the difference in an emergency.

As a reminder, registration is free, and you can opt out of emails and promotions. The more students we have register, the closer we get to our goal! We look forward to sharing our progress.

Please consider registering your child for the Heart Challenge today! Scan the code above to register!

January is Kindness and Justice Month

January 19-NO SCHOOL-MLK DAY

January 28-EARLY RELEASE-Professional Development-NOON DISMISSAL

January 29-STEAM Fair

February 2-Kids Heart Challenge under way!

February 16-20-NO SCHOOL-February Break

Email: maxfield.mary@marbleheadschools.org
Website: https://brown.marbleheadschools.org/
Location: 40-42 Baldwin Road, Marblehead, MA, USA
Phone: 7816393112