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

We say good bye to two stellar educators: Sheila Cusack & Kate Oldshue.

Sheila Cusack is retiring after 20 years of service in Brookline Public Schools. As our 7/8 grade English teacher, Ms. Cusack has educated countless Hayes students, sending them off to BHS very well prepared for a continued trajectory of excellence. Sheila has been instrumental in designing, launching, and steering innovative, progressive, and creative student-centered learning opportunities for students. Her masterful collaboration with other educators ensured all children has access and support when in her classroom. She will be very, very missed by so many.

Kate Oldshue began here as a substitute teacher, soon became a paraprofessional, and this year has served on our Grade 4 teaching team. No matter the role, Ms. Oldshue has led with heart, compassion, grace, and wisdom beyond her age. So early in her career, she is already on a fast-path to master teacher. We always knew that this was a one-year gig for Kate. She took on the challenge, despite the inevitable departure, because "there was nowhere else [she'd] rather do her first year as a teacher." Kate has, no surprise, already landed another role in a great school ... a very lucky place indeed.

There are no words to thank them both for their service to this community.

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The end of May approaches, and June soon begins. The end of the school, year fast approaches!

Some things to know:

• Class placement announcements ("...when will I hear about my student's class assignment next year?") will be announced in early August for grades K-5. Middle School schedules and cohorts will be released later in the summer once the schedule is complete. I will send notices alerting families to the forthcoming messages.
• Staffing shifts will also be announced this summer – new staff, any internal shifts in roles, and more.

Stay tuned for more messaging this summer as we prepare for. new school year.

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Hayes Chorus Concert; June 12th

Please note the change in venue for the June 12th 5th-8th grade Chorus Concert! It will be in the Hayes School gym! Our singers are excited to share their music with you!

MAYFAIR IS THIS SATURDAY 1-5pm RAIN or SHINE!

You won't want to miss it!

Here's what you need to know:

It's a carnival style event with bungee trampolines, a rock climbing wall, a bounce house and other big, fun things outside as well as some activities like bracelet making, frisbee painting, giant Jenga, face painting, a cake walk and more inside the gym.

There's also a Silent Auction where you can bid on some big ticket items as well as some smaller ones.

The whole family is welcome and it's a super fun day for the Hayes community!

Here's more details....

FOOD:

There will be pizza, popcorn, cotton candy and ice cream along with some delicious sandwiches from the restaurant Bread Thyme for sale at Mayfair. Cash or Venmo will be accepted.

THE SILENT AUCTION:

Our annual online auction has some really amazing items thanks to some very generous donors.

To name a few.... a weekend on Cape Cod, a custom charcoal portrait, a signed Celtics Ball, Principal-in-Training for a Day, Celtic tickets.....etc

THE AUCTION IS LIVE NOW through Saturday at 5pm

So please go to this link Hayes Mayfair Auction

This is a HUGE way to support the school as the profits go straight to the PTO for teacher grants and funding programs and events.

WRISTBANDS & TICKETS:

Wristbands will get you onto any ride or any game an unlimited number of times (food not included)

OR you can buy tickets if you want to just do a few things (games are 1-3 tickets each and big "rides" are 2-4 tickets)

You can buy a wristband any time via Venmo to @Hayes-PTO.

Wristbands will also be on sale before and after school on Thursday and Friday, or you can buy them the day of the event.

They are $40 per child. PLEASE Write your childs' name and MAYFAIR in the Venmo Memo

Tickets are $1 each and only available the day of.

THE CAKE WALK:

Competing to win a cake at the Mayfair Cake Walk has been one of the most popular family activities at Mayfair, and we're excited to be continuing this tradition. We have found that smaller cakes or large cupcakes are best.

Students and adults are encouraged to make items, but store-bought is welcome too.

Please sign up to donate a small cake HERE!

To donate, please plan to drop off your cake at Hayes THIS FRIDAY (May 30th) BEFORE OR AFTER SCHOOL at the table in the front of the school. We appreciate your support!

VOLUNTEERING:

THANK YOU to all those that have volunteered time on the planning committee and have signed up to help at the event. We really appreciate you! We need just a couple more people to help sell Pizza and Bread Thyme from 3-5 and one more person to help sell popcorn, man the obstacle course,help at the climbing wall, and color hair. Sign up HERE if you can help with one of those things.

THANK YOU!!

We will see you Saturday!!

Parents/Guardians of all students withdrawing from the Public Schools of Brookline (PSB) must complete an online withdrawal form and report where the student will be next enrolled.

• Instructions to complete the form are available at www.brookline.k12.ma.us/withdrawal.
• You must complete one form for each student.
• By completing and signing this form you acknowledge that your student will be withdrawn from PSB.
• You must complete the withdrawal form in order for PSB to complete a transcript request.

Your student's temporary record, which is all material other than your official transcript, will be destroyed no later than five years after you withdraw from the school system.

If your response is in error, and you plan for your student to attend the Public Schools of Brookline for the 2025-2026 School Year, please let me know at your earliest convenience so that we can update your student's records and their school teams can plan to place them for classes.

If you do not know your login credentials for Aspen, please contact datateam@psbma.org.

If you have forgotten your password, use the "I Forgot my Password" link on the login page. Follow the directions to reset your password. Please note that your email and the security question are both case-sensitive. If you still can't access the site, please email us at datateam@psbma.org.

If your student is withdrawing from PSB and plans to return at a future date:

• You will be required to complete the enrollment process upon the student's return to Brookline and before they can attend classes.
• For more information regarding re-enrollment, please see www.brookline.k12.ma.us/registration.

Field Day 2025! Thursday Sept 25th (Rain date Friday Sept 26th). An amazing day when students Pre-K-8 and staff come together to celebrate our amazing school! A day filled with laughter, movement, joy, teambuilding, and community. We are looking to start collecting items for the fall. We would like the items to come in before the end of the year (versus over the summer when the items might get lost).

If you purchase an item please label it "Field Day" and drop it off at the drop off table (located when you walk in the main entrance of the school). If the link to the item is no longer available something similar works great! Thank you for your help! It is so appreciated!

Field Day Sign Up Genius

Safe Driving at Drop Off and Pick Up

When dropping off students in the morning, you must drive slowly and carefully. Children are everywhere – walking, running, biking, crossing streets, and coming out of cars. DO NOT drop off your child and then speed off through the front parking – that behavior is dangerous, reckless, and scary. When driving on Eliot, be equally slow and mindful. Reckless driving behaviors will be confronted vigorously.

I try and be in the front parking lot each morning to support the arrival process, but it is impossible for me to be there each morning. I am depending on all of us to collectively make this the safest place it can be.

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Wear A Helmet with Riding or Scooting!!!!!!

Now that Spring is here, we have an uptick in kids cycling and riding scooters.

We are BEGGING you to make sure your kids wear a properly sized helmet. So often we see kids flying around campus without a helmet and it makes the blood in our veins run cold.

So, please, make sure that your kids are wearing a helmet when riding bikes and scooters.

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

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We hosted our incoming Kindergarten kids and families yesterday at Peek & Practice. How wonderful to meet this amazing new crew of folks! We thank our PTO (pictured here Jennifer, Theodora, and Lisa) for joining us and welcoming these new members to our community!

At Roland Hayes, our students do amazing things each and every day. Here you will find a showcase of student work in various forms, as a way to share a piece of our Hayes community with all of you.

Grade 7 "Creature Feature" ... enjoy!

Greetings from the Hayes School Science Lab! I wanted to share with you the latest project out of 7th grade, the "Creature Feature" Future Evolution Project.

As the final project of our Genetics and Evolution Unit, students explored an animal that lives today, and then extrapolated how that animal might evolve into the far distant future - 50 million years from now! They used their knowledge of Plate Tectonics, Natural Selection and Genetics to justify their choices. Then they wrote a magazine-type article from the perspective a future paleontologist to share their amazing discovery of how their imagined creature evolved!

You'll enjoy this work of science fiction - grounded in their understanding of the science of evolution.

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Check out our "projects" page, here:

https://sites.google.com/psbma.org/projects/home

Our website keeps a catalog of these great products, which you can find here: https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/domain/807

• June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month!

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• Saturday, May 31st: Mayfair, 1:00-5:00pm

• Monday, June 2nd: Student Council (6th-8th), 11:20am-12:00pm

• Monday, June 2nd: Rainbow Club, Grade 4, 11:20-11:50am

• Monday, June 2nd: Grade 7 and 8 Track and Field, 3:00-5:30pm

• Tuesday, June 3rd: Roland Hayes’ Birthday

• Tuesday, June 3rd: Student Council (4th-5th), 8:00-8:45am

• Tuesday, June 3rd: GSA, 10:50-11:20am

• Wednesday, June 4th: Model UN, 11:20am-12:05pm

• Thursday, June 5th: School Council Meeting, 8:15-9:45am

• Thursday, June 5th: AAPI Group (Library), 10:50-11:20am

• Thursday, June 5th: Grade 5 and 6 Track and Field, 3:00-5:30pm

• Friday, June 6th: PEP, 8:05-8:30am

• Friday, June 6th: 8th Grade Astronomy Museum, Science Lab & Lobby, 12:05-1:40pm

• Saturday, June 7th: Eid al-Adha (Category II Holiday)

• Sunday, June 8th: BHS Graduation

• Monday, June 9th: Model UN Debate, 11:15am-2:30pm

• Monday, June 9th: 6-8 Student Council, 11:20am-12:00pm

• Monday, June 9th: Rainbow Club, Grade 3, 11:20-11:50am

• Monday, June 9th: 5th ---> 6th Event: 6th Grade Informational Event for Caregivers, 1:30-2:30pm

• Monday, June 9th: Track and Field Rain Date- All Grades. 3:00-5:30pm

• Tuesday, June 10th: Student Council (4th-5th), 8:00-8:45am

• Tuesday, June 10th: GSA, 10:50-11:20am

• Wednesday, June 11th: First Grade Celebration, 8:00-8:40am

• Wednesday, June 11th: Model UN, 11:20am-12:05pm

• Thursday, June 12th: 2T Artist Project Celebration, 8:00-8:45am

• Thursday, June 12th: 3rd Grade Biography, 8:00-9:00am

• Thursday, June 12th: 5-8 Chorus Concert, 6:30-8:30pm

• Friday, June 13th: 5th Grade Arcade, 8:00-10:50am

• Friday, June 13th: 2S Artist Unit Celebration, 8:00-9:00am

• Friday, June 13th: 1st Grade EOY Celebration, 8:00-8:40am

• Friday, June 13th, Pre-K “End of the Year” Celebration, 12:45-1:20pm

Field Trips:

• Wednesday, June 4th: 6th Grade Trip to the New England Aquarium, 8:30am-2:00pm

• Thursday, June 5th: Young Scholars Field Trip to Roland Hayes’ home & Muddy River Park for EOY Celebration, 2:30-5:00pm

• Wednesday, June 11th: 5th Grade Trip to Boston Freedom Trail, 8:15am-2:15pm

• Thursday, June 12th: RAIN DATE 5th Grade Trip to Boston Freedom Trail, 8:15am-2:15pm

The annual Brookline Pride Parade is coming up!

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A free Youth Mental Health First Aid course is being offered on Wednesday, June 25. This is a one-day, evidence-based course that helps participants learn how to support children and adolescents who are experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge. The course is aimed at adults who regularly interact with young people. Service providers, school or camp staff, and others working or volunteering with youth in Brookline are welcome to attend.

Youth Mental Health First Aid

Wednesday, June 25

9am-4pm

Brookline Town Hall

330 Washington St, Brookline MA

If you are interested in attending, please email alane@brooklinema.gov to register.

After this, there is only one more Community Notes for the year. My, how time is flying. Let's do our best to close this year out strong!

See you tomorrow at Mayfair!

~ 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