June 25, 2026
August 5, 2026
Dear Brackett Community,
Happy Summer to all! I hope that you have been enjoying the gorgeous weather and a somewhat more relaxed schedule. With around 4 weeks remaining before we return (there's still time for loads of summer fun), I wanted to reach out and provide dates for future communication as well as my reflections on the 2025-2026 school year. I am so excited to begin year 4 at Brackett with Ms. Meaghan Dumas joining as our new assistant principal. Hopefully many of you will come to Popsicles with the Principals on August 31 to meet her.
Future Communication
Class assignments will be posted to PowerSchool mid-August. Currently this is projected for August 18, but we are working with APS central office on final timing. I will send you an email when these are posted. Thank you for your understanding.
Letters will be mailed to all families with welcome information in mid-August.
These include a blue calendar and letters from teachers.
Fill out and turn in the YELLOW dismissal form on the first day of school.
Regular Thursday afternoon emails will begin on August 27, 2026. The email on Aug 27 will include information for the first days of school. Please look out for this!
As I mentioned in my June email, Arlington schools will be using ParentSquare as our district-wide communication platform. ParentSquare makes it easy to stay connected with your student's school, consolidating messages from teachers and staff across schools all in one convenient location. This app also allows us to ensure the safety of student and family data through approved systems with more capacity for real-time sharing and two-way communication. Be on the lookout for more information about this transition as we head into fall. You do not need to do anything now!
Summer Reflections
This past school year, Brackett has focused on embodying our community expectations of C.H.I.R.P. On the announcements each morning our fifth graders reminded the students: “At Brackett we are the crickets, and everyday we strive to CHIRP. To CHIRP means to show courage, honesty, inclusion, responsibility, so we can be proud to be Brackett crickets.” This framework was developed over the past two school years and provides a common language for students and adults within our school. We outline expectations within our common spaces (cafeteria, hallways, recess yard) by how we demonstrate these values. For example, we show inclusion on the recess yard when we play together or we show courage in the cafeteria by trying new foods.
I used this same framework when I spoke to all of the third, fourth, and fifth graders before the MCAS testing window began. We discussed how we could show courage by trying our hardest and responsibility by showing our work and using the tools our teachers’ taught us on the short answer and essay questions. As the year progressed, it was incredible to see how students began to personalize their answers to how to show CHIRP, demonstrating that they are beginning to see the importance of these values in their daily school lives.
Celebrations of Learning
The year at Brackett was punctuated by celebrations of learning! Each month a different grade level led the entire school in an assembly to showcase what they had recently learned with a choral performance, presentation, and artistic display of work. Our third graders started off the year, followed by a fourth grade poetry slam and fifth grade cautionary tales from the rainforest. First grade gave a science talk on the sun, moon, and stars, and kindergarten presented on types and uses for trees. Second grade finished our year of assemblies with a song and science talk about pollinators.
Everyone (all grownups and children) in the building attends these assemblies that are led and choreographed by each grade level. It is our time for us to all be together. Having our students share about their learning with each other not only supports the Massachusetts Speaking and Listening standards, but allows us to show courage and be proud of ourselves as Brackett crickets.
In addition to assemblies all grade levels had at least one presentation for families to attend during the school day. Many of these were focused on the projects associated with our EL (Expeditionary Learning) Literacy Curriculum, see more below. Grade levels also shared social studies projects or math games. We look forward to continuing this tradition of sharing our learning with families with presentations occurring immediately after arrival next year as well.
Our final celebration of learning applauded the fifth grade class as they head off to Gibbs in the fall. This celebration is again focused on our students. Every child who wants to have a speaking opportunity is invited to participate. The ceremony is written by the fifth grade class, sharing big moments from each of the six years they were at Brackett and their top ten memories:
10. Dancing at the with DJ Dee, at the Glow Dance, or in the hallways
9. Menotomy day
8. Meeting our teachers
7. ABC Countdown
6. All the field trips we have taken
5. Playing sports at Recess
4. Scooperbowl & June Fair
3. Our Kindergarten Buddies
2. Making new and hanging out with friends
And finally our top #1 memory of Brackett School is …. Drumroll please.
1. Field Day – helping out the kindergarteners and playing games was the BEST!
As you can tell from the list above, relationships and special events are key to the elementary school experience. Congratulations again to our fifth graders and their families. I cannot wait to hear how your next year is and wish you all the best!
The EL (Expeditionary Learning) Literacy Curriculum & Academic Discourse
The 2025-2026 school year was the second year for all students at Brackett receiving instruction using the new district literacy curriculum. This curriculum pairs with the direct phonics instruction and builds deeper content knowledge for students. As EL Education explains, “Deeper Instruction is a framework for daily instruction that challenges, engages, and empowers students.” Read more about this here.
This was also the second year of a united school goal around increasing academic discourse in all subjects and in all grade levels. Building upon the conversational cues and silent hand signals that students learned last year, teachers increased their ability to participate in meaningful discussions with each other by collecting data and focusing on how to have students build on each others’ ideas. Academic discourse is a key component of an exemplary education and allows students to process information in dynamic and purposeful ways. The math and literacy coaches created video documentation of students talking about how these conversations impact their learning. The students spoke about how talking helped them better understand their learning, and they shared how they prepared for and conducted these conversations. Most importantly they talked about how important it was that all voices were heard.
Our Instructional Leadership Team will meet at the end of the summer to determine next steps for our work around academic discourse. I am continuously impressed by the way that this team has inspired and led our faculty. As you know, the Brackett faculty and staff are incredible educators. I am inspired daily by their continuous learning and hard work. They understand the importance of supporting the whole child, both academic and social-emotional. This commitment allows us to support children in growing, discovering, making mistakes and learning from them.
In conclusion, I am looking forward to seeing you all soon. I hope to see many of you at Popsicles with the Principals on Monday, August 31 at 4pm. In addition to eating popsicles, we will work together to clean up the playground and school grounds. You are welcome to bring school supplies as well to drop off in the main office. We will make sure these are delivered to classrooms. Don't forget the school begins on September 2 (the Wednesday before Labor Day)!
Sincerely,
Dr. Gretchen Vice