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

Hello, everyone! Thanks for reading this week's missive – there is a lot of good stuff happening here at Hayes!

A huge thanks to Jon Z. and crew for hosting movie night last Friday – what a hit! And, soon you'll hear news of how wildly successful our Read-A-Thon has been. Plus, huge thanks to the many families and the Mrs. Anderson for supporting our Book Fair!

It is certainly a good time to be young and at Roland Hayes School!

If your child is absent or has a change in schedule, please call our attendance line!

😀😀😀😀 Add this number to your cell phone favorites: 617-879-4540 😀😀😀😀

This message box will be checked immediately after arrival; this new attendance line will allow us to free up our time each morning with other high-demand tasks.

Please be sure to leave:

• your child's name
• your child's class/grade
• reason for absence
• any other pertinent information

617-879-4540

Ski & Ride Club Update

Grades 5-8

• Exciting Updates!

• We are getting closer to making the 3rd bus happen!

• We are committed to doing our very best to ensure that all students who want to have the opportunity to ski and ride!

• Don't wait any longer, sign your student(s) up today.

Hayes Ski and Snowboard Club information packet and forms.
Learn more about our club from our Information Session notes

Over the past few weeks, 111 students have signed up to ski and ride with us — what an amazing start! Thank you for your enthusiasm and support in making this club such a success.

We have room for 11 more students!

The Public Schools of Brookline offer fincanial assistance for those who are qualified.

Sincerely,

Matt Durant

Brookline’s youngest learners are ready to enter school! The Office of Registration and Enrollment (ORE) is holding a special virtual Information Session on Tuesday, December 9 starting at 6:30 pm, for families planning to register their children for Kindergarten in the 2026-27 school year. This event is designed to help guide families through each step of the kindergarten enrollment process and answer questions.

To register, please scan the barcode below or click here.

Simultaneous interpretation will be available for Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish during this event.

Kindergarten is an important milestone for everyone involved, and our staff is here to support families in this transition. The Office of Registration and Enrollment (ORE) is committed to ensuring that all families have a smooth and successful transition into their first day of kindergarten in Brookline. All families will have multiple opportunities to engage with our staff throughout the registration process and are happy to work to support each family with any specific needs they may have.

Notice for BEEP families: This session is open to the general public. If you're a family with a student currently enrolled in BEEP or that is currently receiving Special Education Services through BEEP, you should have received an invitation directly from the Office of Registration and Enrollment to a separate event designed specifically for your student .

A highlight of the school year is our Mayfair, a huge carnival on campus each spring. Currently, we do not have any volunteers for the mayfair committee.

Without volunteers Mayfair cannot happen. So, please, think about it and reach out to our PTO co-presidents (lisa@hayespto.org and theodora@hayespto.org) for more information.

We ask that you follow all traffic postings on campus, Including:

• do not park in handicapped spots unless you have the proper placards
• do not park or idle in the yellow area in the front parking lot during both pick up and drop off

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Leave your dogs at home or make a plan to meet you child off campus if you must bring your dog. Our campus is dog-free for a reason and we thank you for complying with this rule.

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Helmets, Jaywalking, and Other Safety Concerns

We implore you all once again to make sure your students who are scootering or biking to school to wear a helmet. Many of our students who bike and ride scooters to school each day are doing so without a hemet, which is dangerous.

Also, we strongly encourage you to talk with your children about NOT jaywalking. Eliot Street is a busy thoroughfare; when we see kids bolting across the street it makes our blood run cold.

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Lost & Found

Our playground and school are littered with coats, hoodies, lunchboxes, and more .... all without a name attached. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE put your child's name in their items. Otherwise, they end up in the lost & found and eventually donated.

Recently, some good samaritans gathered the items off of the school grounds and brought them to the school doors. Below is a picture. NONE of the the items have names in them, sadly.

If you are planning to apply to private schools, please be aware of three things:

• The PSB uses our own forms for the recommendation process. Please send the requests to the appropriate staff via the independents school's portal (ie, Ravenna). That will alert us to your request. We will then use our forms to communicate with the private schools to which you are applying.
• The firm deadline for staff to complete recommendation forms is Friday, January 9th, 2026. After this date, staff will not be able to complete letters of recommendation.

While we measure success one day at a time, one student at a time, it is also nice to receive some lovely recognition. The two organizations – Niche and US News& World Reports – both rank our school very highly. See the results below:

Niche Rankings

https://www.niche.com/k12/roland-hayes-school-chestnut-hill-ma/

US News & Worlds Reports

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/massachusetts/roland-hayes-202783

The Brookline Early Education Program will conduct preschool screenings on Thursday, November 20, 2025. This is a free and optional service for preschool aged Brookline Residents (ages 2.6 to 5 years old) who are not currently attending BEEP to screen for special education needs.

If interested in screening day, please fill out this survey or contact Sarah Moynihan at (617) 713-5473 or sarah_moynihan@psbma.org no later than 11/13/2025 to schedule a screening appointment time.

Screenings will take place by appointment only at 194 Grove St., Chestnut Hill.

Screening date: Tuesday November 20, 2025

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

In Art class, o ur Grade 7 students studied the work of French illustrator and muralist Ségo Durand – and then created their own characters based on the artist's work. The paintings our students produced are incredible charming! Check some of them out below:

November is Native American Heritage Month

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Upcoming Events:

• Monday, November 17th: Picture Retake Day, 8:00-9:30am

• Monday, November 17th: Model UN, 11:15am-12:00pm

• Tuesday, November 18th: Term 1: Grades 6-8 Report Cards Published

• Tuesday, November 18th: GSA, 10:35-11:12am

• Wednesday, November 19th: Math Club (Grades 5-8): Rm 198, 2:40-3:45pm

• Thursday, November 20th: PreK-8 Early Dismissal at 12:40pm

• Thursday, November 20th: Evening Conferences, 2:30-6:00pm

• Friday, November 21st: PEP, 8:05-8:32am

• Friday, November 21st: PTO Meeting, 8:05-9:35am

• Monday, November 24th: Model UN, 11:15am-12:00pm

• Monday, November 24th: Rainbow Club Grade 5, 11:20am-11:50am

• Wednesday, November 26th: Balloons Over Broadway Parade, 8:00am

• Wednesday, November 26th: PreK-8 Early Dismissal at 12:00pm

• Thursday and Friday, November 27 and 28: School Closed: Thanksgiving Break

• Monday, December 1st: Model UN, 11:15am-12:00pm

• Monday, December 1st: Rainbow Club Grade 5, 11:20am-11:50am

• Tuesday, December 2nd: GSA, 10:35-11:12am

• Wednesday, December 3rd: AAPI Affinity Group, 10:35 – 11:20am

• Wednesday, December 3rd: PreK-8 Early Dismissal at 12:40pm

• Thursday, December 4th: Young Scholars, 2:30-3:30

• Friday, December 5th: Grade 8 Yearbook, 8:00- 8:35am

Field Trips:

Tuesday, November 18th: 4th Grade Trip to The Harvard Museum of Natural History, 8:05am-1:30pm

Upcoming Events from the Brookline Teen Center

My next missive will be out on December 5th, so I will take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving. May the holiday be filled with great people, wonderful traditions, and just enough of everything you need. I am also hopeful that if you have enough to share that you will do just that.

Be good to yourself and to others – always.

~ 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