Roland Hayes School

Our North Star

“When children and teachers feel engaged, safe, and supported we have room to grow and learn through collaboration and risk-taking with our peers.”

Previous "Community Notes" can be found here: https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/domain/718

The "Community Notes" is sent every other week. Thanks for reading!

Learn more about Roland Hayes here, from our own Young Scholars!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MyhdW04fd4

A longer message this week; thanks for reading!

A BIG reminder:

Field Day is TUESDAY! Thanks for getting that t-shirt ready. It will be a very fun day!

Worth Repeating

No Dogs on Campus

We ask that you leave dogs at home when you visit campus. Dogs and children together can be an unpredictable mix. Plus, we have a number of students who are afraid of dogs.

From our handbook:

"Please do not bring your dog’s onto campus. We have several students who are afraid of dogs, dogs have been in fights with each other, several students in the past few years have been attacked by dogs while on campus, and many dog owners have not picked up after their dogs. Therefore, please leave your dogs at home.

If you have your dog with you, in an effort to make Roland Hayes School as safe as possible for us all, we ask that:

• Dogs remain under the control of a responsible adult at all times and away from all student activity.

• Dogs do not enter the school. If you have a service dog in your care or your dog is a part of an event, please check with the main office to make the proper arrangements for entering the building.

• If you bring your dog along at morning drop-off, please stay with your leashed dog and say goodbye to your children off campus. If you bring your leashed dog to pick-up in the afternoon, please make a plan to meet your child at a location away from other activities.

Dogs must be leashed at all times if on school property.

Working together, we can help ensure Roland Hayes remains a safe school in which all children can thrive."

New Parking Signage and Patterns in Front of School

Please note the new traffic pattern and signage in the front of the school. In short, DO NOT park or idle in the yellow zone at drop off or pick up.

Want to know how we are doing as a school? Be sure to check out our school report card, here:

https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/general/general.aspx?topNavID=1&leftNavId=100&orgcode=00460025&orgtypecode=6

MCAS Reports will be mailed home next week; we are hopeful to have them in your mailboxes very soon.

DESE will soon be launching an MCAS dashboard for families. When that is available, I will message families.

The Book Fair is coming 10/27-10/31!

The Scholastic Book Fair will be in the library 10/27-10/31. Look out for flyers coming home mid-October with previews of some of the exciting books in the fair!

Prepare for the Fair:

1. Set up your child's e-wallet: You can add digital cash to their e-wallet starting 10/3 so they don't have to carry cash to school.

2. Support students in need: Each year, we support a number of students in the school by purchasing their books for them or contributing when a child is a little short of what they need. Every penny gets spent and it makes a huge difference to our students! Please consider making a donation.

Thank you for your support!
Lindsay Anderson, Librarian

Our cafeteria team is no longer able to accept cash or checks for payment. To pre-pay for meals or to pay down a bill, all payments must go through the LINQ Connect Family Portal.

Questions? Please contact the PSB Food Service Team.

Need to speak with your child's teacher? Here are their office hours: link

Be sure to reach out in advance, make an appointment, and let the teacher know in brief what you'd like to discuss.

For more PTO news and events, please visit: https://www.hayespto.org/newsletters/22351

Mark your calendars! Our annual Balloons over Broadway parade will be here before you know it! While the parade showcases the work of our Grade 4 students, all families are welcome to attend this pre-Thanksgiving event! It's basically our own Macy's Thanksgiving Parade right here in Chestnut Hill!

October is:

• Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct 15)
• Yom Kippur was earlier this week. To those who observe, we hope your holiday was fulfilling, reflective, and connecting.
• October is Italian American Heritage Month and Filipino American History Month

-------------

• Monday, October 6th: Model UN, 11:15am-12:00pm

• Monday, October 6th: Rainbow Club, Grade 3, 11:20-11:50am

• Tuesday, October 7th: New Field Day, 8:00am-2:30pm

• Tuesday, October 7th: GSA, 10:35-11:12am

• Wednesday, October 8th: Math Club: Grades 5-8, 2:40-3:45pm

• Thursday, October 9th: New Field Day RAIN DATE: 8:00am-2:30pm

• Thursday, October 9th: Young Scholars, 2:35-3:35pm

• Friday, October 10th: Term 1: Grades 6-8 IPR Published

• Friday, October 10th: PEP, 8:00-8:25am

• Friday, October 10th: Art Barn Presentation for Grades 1-3, Auditorium, 8:30-9:15am

• Friday, October 10th: Art Barn Presentation for Grades 4-6, Auditorium, 9:45-10:30am

• Monday, October 13th: District Closed: Indigenous Peoples’ Day

• Tuesday, October 14th: GSA, 10:35-11:12am

• Wednesday, October 15th: AAPI Affinity Group, 10:35-11:15am

• Wednesday, October 15th: Math Club: Grades 5-8, 2:40-3:45pm

• Thursday, October 16th: Young Scholars, 2:35-3:35pm

• Friday, October 17th: 6th Grade Identity Museum, 8:15-8:45am

• Monday, October 20th: Model UN, 11:15am-12:00pm

• Tuesday, October 21st: GSA, 10:35-11:12am

• Wednesday, October 22nd: Math Club: Grades 5-8, 2:40-3:45pm

• Thursday, October 23rd: Young Scholars, 2:35-3:35pm

• Friday, October 24th: PEP, 8:05-8:32am

Field Trips:

• Wednesday, October 15th: Grade 5 Trip to Hall’s Pond, 8:15-11:20am

• Tuesday, October 21st: 3F Trip to Frederick Law Olmsted Museum, 8:30am-1:30pm

• Wednesday, October 22nd: 3A Trip to Frederick Law Olmsted Museum, 8:30am-1:30pm

The Brookline Center shared that they have availability in a number of groups they are starting soon. A full list is below. Referrals can be directed to their request for service form here.

Groups for Elementary Aged Kids

Sprouting Skills: Kit + Parent Co-occurring Groups K-2nd Grades, Gender Inclusive

Both groups meet in-person at the Center. This group welcomes kids in early elementary grades needing support with social skills and emotional regulation. We’ll use collaborative play, mindfulness, and expressive arts to build strategies that children can use to foster connection and manage big feelings across settings. Group will provide a supported, therapeutic environment in which members can try new activities, make new friends, build up their self-confidence, and fill up their toolbox with coping skills to support their well-being at home, in school, and in the community. Complimentary parent group will focus on attunement and creating a secure relationship that supports the needs of their child(ren).
Monday 4:00 – 4:45 pm

Setting: In Person

Survival Skills: 2nd-4th Grade Gender Inclusive

Survival Skills is a group for 2nd to 4th graders and is focused on concrete skill building around mood and emotional regulation and stress and anxiety management within a therapeutically scaffolded social environment. Members will practice strategies that help them survive and thrive in tough, everyday situations.

Thursdays 4:00-4:45pm

Setting: In Person

Friends and Feelings: 2nd-3rd Grade Gender Inclusive

This group, for kids in grades 2-4 focuses on emotional regulation/expression, interpersonal skills, and self-esteem building through play and conversation. Topics discussed will cater to the current needs of group members such as conflict with peers, family issues, and concerns about school.

Wednesdays at 4:00 – 4:45pm

Setting: In Person

Friendship and Self-Regulation: 4th - 6th Grade Females

This group focuses on helping young girls build skills to develop friendships, and to better manage feelings, fears, and frustrations that arise during social interactions. Using a combination of unstructured play and skill-building activities, this group serves to increase members' self-confidence in social situations and adding tools to their toolbox to better manage their emotions and behavior in the moment (while having fun in the process!).

Wednesdays 4:00pm – 4:45pm

Setting: In Person

Groups for Middle Schoolers

SPARX (Supporting Play And Relational ConneXion): 6-8th Grade Males

This group seeks to facilitate peer interactions and bolster social skill development in boys who present as neuro-diverse. Using a combination of play-based interventions and behavioral approaches, this group fosters social reciprocity and cooperative play skills through in-the-moment practice during play, where these skills are often most needed and hardest to use.

Tuesdays 5:00pm – 5:45pm

Setting: In Person

This group is full to new enrollment as of 9/25/25

Awareness, Activities... Action! 4th - 6th Grade Males

This group focuses on helping boys build skills to develop emotion regulation and behavioral control and better manage feelings, reactions, and frustrations that come up during social interactions. Using a combination of unstructured play/movement and skill-building activities, this group serves to increase members' awareness and choices in social situations and adding tools to their toolbox to better manage their emotions and behavior in the moment (with some fun games and movement in the process!).

Thursdays 5:00pm – 5:45pm

Setting: In Person

Cope and Connect: 6th-8th Grade Females

This is a group for girls seeking to increase their skills to cope with difficult feelings and circumstances. Using a combination of therapeutic activities and connective conversations, the group will focus on helping members relate to one another, believe in themselves, and build on their own strengths. Activities include processing conversations and check ins, expressive arts, coping strategies practice, group gameplay, and incorporation of media and/or current events.

Wednesdays 5:00 – 5:45 pm

Setting: In Person

Smarts in Sync: 6th-8th Grade Female or Non-Binary

Smarts in Sync is a supportive, skills-based therapy group for female or non-binary middle schoolers (grades 6 to 8) focused on strengthening their executive function toolkit. The group will take a strengths-based approach to help participants better understand their neurodivergent brains, connect with peers who “get it”, and develop tools to support focus, organization, time management and emotional regulation. Smarts in Sync will offer a safe, validating space, where participants can build self-awareness, resilience, and confidence through learning concrete skills to thrive in school, friendships, and daily life.

Mondays 5:00 – 5:45 pm

Setting: In Person

Power Up! 6th - 8th Grade Male or Nonbinary

This is a therapeutic group for male or non-binary identified middle schoolers seeking to connect with peers. This group explores and experiments with various ways participants can be powerful - through effective communication, positive relationships, mindfulness, and more. In the context of peer interactions, participants will learn to use their power to boost their positive experiences day-to-day. Group activities include emotion check ins, peer discussion, and activities like whole group game play.

Tuesdays 4:00pm – 4:45pm

Setting: In Person

Groups for High Schoolers

Teen Self-Compassion

This group offers high school students (grades 9-12) a supportive space to explore self-compassion, based on the principles outlined in The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Kristen Neff and Christopher Germer. Participants will learn the fundamentals of self-compassion and mindfulness, practice identifying and accepting their emotions, and engage in self-kindness exercises designed to foster greater emotional resilience. This group is open to all teens but may be especially helpful for those who struggle with self-criticism or find it difficult to practice self-compassion.

Tuesdays 6:00pm-6:45pm

Setting: In Person

Gender Exploration Group: 9th-12th Graders

This is a group for young people who are gender questioning or who identify outside of the gender binary (including, but not limited to, those who identify as transgender, agender, gender non-binary, genderqueer, or genderfluid). This group will provide a space for adolescents of all genders to explore their own gender identities, delve into gender as a construct, and seek support for gender-related stress. It will be primarily a process group but, like gender, the structure can be flexible and may incorporate skills building in order to meet group members’ needs.

Wednesdays 4:00pm-4:45pm

Setting: In Person

Teen Process Group: 9th - 12th Graders, Gender Inclusive

Teen Process Group is a space for 9-12th graders to connect, build community, and support one another. Group leaders will provide a space for members to share their own struggles, process emotions and difficult situations, and support one another based on their own experiences. Topics will depend on group member's interests and needs, but could include body image and self-confidence, friendships and relationships, or managing stress and anxiety.

Thursday 5:00 – 5:50pm

Setting: In Person

Adolescent DBT Group: 9th-12th Grades, Gender-Inclusive

This group is for adolescents seeking additional support around mindfulness, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance skills, and compliments individual therapy well. The focus of the group will be to provide a space for instruction and practice of DBT skills through direct review, games, and multimedia. The space also will function to process students’ practice of these skills outside of the group space and emotional or situational experiences that they are comfortable sharing with the group.

Wednesdays 5:00pm - 5:50pm

Setting: In Person

Dear Roland Hayes School families,

Brookline Thrives is back at Roland Hayes School. Thrives is a FREE weekend food program for any and all school families who may benefit from additional food options for their children over the weekend. No qualification is necessary.

Important information about Thrives bags:

• Each bag contains two breakfast items, two lunch items, milk, fruit and snacks for the weekend
• Everything is shelf-stable, single-serve portions. Nothing needs to be refrigerated.
• Thrives can also accommodate most major food allergies and dietary restrictions, including vegetarian and Kosher.
• Families may take bags for ALL children in their household, even if they attend different schools or are too young for school.
• Families can start and stop receiving Thrives bags any time during the school year.

Choose to have Thrives bags delivered to your student at school OR pick up bags in person at one of the three Brookline Food Pantry sites.

• If you want Thrives bags delivered to your student at school, you must register. Register online or get a paper form from your school office and leave either with your child’s teacher or drop back off at the front office

Click here for more information or email thrives@brooklinefoodpantry.org.

Best regards,

Sharon

Sharon Brockmann (she/her/hers)

Program Manager, Brookline Thrives

a program of the Brookline Food Pantry

E: thrives@brooklinefoodpantry.org

Ph: (617) 991-7943

218 New Terrace Road, Brookline 02445

__________________________________

Puberty for Tweens (8-to-12-year-olds) & Caregivers on Saturday, October 4th from 2:00pm-4:00pm at the Brookline Village Public Library. Attached is a flyer with further details or you can also access more information and registration through this link. This is a FREE event, but space is limited so registration is required.

__________________________________

FREE Parent Workshops: Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY)

Marijuana Prevention: Understanding Risks, Building Resilience

October 22nd, 2025

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM over Zoom (registration below)

This presentation is designed to educate parents on the risks and consequences associated with marijuana use, particularly during adolescence. Through a combination of current research, real-life stories, and interactive discussion, participants will explore the effects of marijuana on the brain, academic performance, mental health, and decision-making. The presentation also addresses myths and misconceptions, peer pressure, and the impact of legalization on youth. Students will gain practical strategies for making healthy choices, resisting pressure, and supporting friends who may be struggling. Empowering and age-appropriate, this session encourages critical thinking and personal responsibility while promoting a drug-free lifestyle.

About the Speaker

Cory Mashburn, M.Ed., has over 20 years expertise in the field of prevention services and more than 25 years’ experience working with youth and people with disabilities. He has overseen the planning and implementation of prevention programs within communities and schools in the New England Region, including substance use and abuse, bullying, cyber safety, and human rights. In addition, Cory has developed multiple health and wellness curricula in schools across the state of Massachusetts. He holds master’s degrees in educational leadership, project management and criminal justice, in addition to his bachelor’s degree in recreational management. As the father of two young children, he understands the importance of equipping youth, their parents, and their communities with the knowledge and skills to enable young people to become the best version of themselves.

Registration

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/uX4j6ODTQ4OM7WSZWgPwqw

__________________________________

__________________________________

Walnut Street in Brookline is literally on an ancient Indigenous path, only blocks from where a tribal village, burial ground and planting field once were. But the town has little evident memory of the native Massachusett people who were violently dispossessed of the land four centuries ago by white English settlers and their militia. Even today, an Indigenous woman lies in an unmarked grave in the Walnut Street Cemetery (Old Burying Ground). But Brookline also has a history of activists and allies who stood up against racist policies. It’s time to tell the full story of Brookline’s history.

Called by a long-neglected need for repair, Jody Leader and Paul McLean lead free walking tours of Indigenous history in Brookline.

We hope you will join us. Our next tours are scheduled for:

• SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 3pm

Footprints is written and conducted by Paul and Jody, husband and wife, members of the Town of Brookline’s Indigenous People’s Celebration Committee, UU Mass Action, and First Parish in Brookline, Unitarian-Universalist. We are former newspaper reporters. Sources include indigenous authors and local historians such as Barbara Brown (Hidden Brookline) and Thomas Green (Massachusett tribal nation), who is a local historian and part of the Tribal Council of the Massachuset at Ponkapoag. We incorporate poetry, essays, some seed distribution (!), and much more. We regularly update the script with new discoveries and welcome feedback and suggestions.

We’ve given the tour about 12 times in the past few years and it has been well received. It is about 1 mile in length with some hills and wooded paths. Plan on 2 hours.

Please email us at brooklinefootprints@gmail.com or register on our website, https://brooklinefootprints.com/ You are encouraged to bring friends and others you think would be interested. Please have them register with us directly so we can keep track of the number on the tour. Alternatively, if you have a group of at least four people (20 max) that you would like to take the tour, please contact us and we can set a date that is mutually agreeable. The tour is free.

We will cancel the tour in the event of inclement weather.

Thank you for your interest!

Here is our website: https://brooklinefootprints.com/

I told you this was a long message! Thanks for your attention, not only to the reading, but for all you do for the school seen and unseen. We are so much better when we work together.

Happy weekend!

~ Asa

This parcel of land that our school sits upon is a special and sacred place.

Before this place was a Town, before our school was here, before this neighborhood was called “The Settlement” or “Chestnut Hill,” and before this land was a farm, this land was held by the Massachusett, the people Indigenous to this place. The Massachusett were the caretakers of this site, living full lives, raising families, and burying their dead right here. We recognize and honor this history, and seek to create thoughtful land stewards and citizens for generations to come.

As a public school, our primary objective is to ensure access, membership, and participation of all community members in our care; with this land acknowledgment we state our willingness to work towards that vision where all feel a true and abiding sense of belonging.

Roland Hayes School

The Public Schools Of Brookline | A METCO Partnership School

Dr. Asa Sevelius, Ed.D. | Principal

Email: asa_sevelius@psbma.org

Pronouns: he/him

Mr. Kirtan Patel | Vice Principal

Email: kirtan_patel@psbma.org

Pronouns: he/him

Website: https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/Page/17
Location: 100 Eliot Street, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467
Phone: 617-879-4570