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.”

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

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

To read past Community Notes, click here: link

Our Attendance Line --- 617-879-4540

Our DESE school profile is here: link

This is the penultimate Community Notes of the year! The final Community Notes will come out on Thursday, June 18th. Still lots going on at school with 14 days left in the year, so read on to see what we're up to right now...

Each year, the Brookline METCO Program recognizes a student-facing faculty or staff member who has made a profound and lasting impact on Brookline’s METCO students and families. This special award is given in honor of Dr. Jean McGuire—a legendary Boston educational activist who served as the METCO Inc. Executive Director for 43 years.

This year, we are incredibly proud to announce that the recipient of this prestigious honor is our very own Ms. Tatiana Beckwith!

Ms. Beckwith is being recognized for her tireless efforts, unwavering advocacy, and passionate support for the students enrolled in our Young Scholars program. Her dedication embodies the very best of our community, ensuring our students feel deeply seen, supported, and empowered every single day.

Please join us in sending the warmest congratulations to Ms. Beckwith on this well-deserved honor! We are so lucky to have you on our team.

Lisa could have directed her immense energy, time, and talent anywhere. She chose to invest that personal wealth right here with us, and for that, we should all be profoundly grateful.

The end of the school year is fast approaching! As we prepare for the upcoming school year, here are a few key timelines to keep on your radar:

• Class Placement Announcements: Families with students in grades K–5 can expect to receive class assignment notifications in mid-August.

• Middle School Schedules: Middle School schedules and cohorts will be released later in the summer (late August) once the scheduling process is finalized.

• Staffing Updates: Directives regarding any summer staffing shifts—including welcoming new team members and internal role changes—will be formally announced over the summer months.

• School Supply Lists: To help you plan ahead, supply lists will be released in mid-August to coincide directly with class placement announcements.

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the summer as we look forward to another wonderful school year ahead!

It is with a joyful heart that I formally announce the retirement of Middle School math teacher Mies Boet. While we will miss her talents here, retirement is a joyful moment and Mies has earned it! We hope that you will reach out to Ms. Boet with your warm wishes as she steps into the next stage of life. She can be reached at mies_boet@psbma.org.

• Ms. Suzanne Raskin will step into the role that Mies's retirement leaves open. Ms. Raskin is an extremely seasoned math teacher; indeed, the role she is taking on used to be her job here at Hayes. Ms. Raskin has served in the role of math specialist here for the past few years and is ready to step back into the classroom.
• We have conducted and concluded a search for our new math specialist and feel very excited about the practitioner we hope to bring onto the team. I will be announcing this new team member in the summer.

With the warmer weather, many of our classes are regularly using Eliot Park for recess and PE.

Because this is a shared community space, we need your direct support to keep our students safe.

If you bring your dog to the park, please keep them securely leashed at all times when walking near or past students. We have had multiple instances this year of off-leash dogs running up to children. While many dogs are friendly, this can be incredibly startling and frightening for young children. Even if your dog is running toward your own child, please maintain control of the leash until you have reached the completely open fields away from school activities.

We deeply appreciate your partnership in making sure Eliot Park remains a safe, comfortable, and welcoming space for all of our students.

ALL LIBRARY BOOKS DUE TO THE LIBRARY JUNE 8!

If your child has lost or damaged a school library book, please email librarian Lindsay Anderson as soon as possible to plan next steps (lindsay_anderson@psbma.org). Thank you!

--

Librarian

The Hayes School

Brookline, MA

Hayes Library website

Hayes Library Instagram

JUNEFAIR 1-5 pm This Saturday in the School Playground

We need just 15 more volunteers to make sure the Fair’s safe and enjoyable success. Please sign up HERE to oversee the outdoor structures or they won’t be open.

And THANK YOU to the 85 parents and students who have already signed on to help!!

See you at the Fair!

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

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HAWK FUND SY25-26 is Almost Here

SAVE THE DATES!

JUNE 8-19 is the HAWK FUND campaign - Hayes School’s annual fundraising effort.

We’ve had an amazing year, let’s set ourselves up for a successful next year.

WE ARE '26-27!

Are you moving? Is your child attending a different school next year? Please let us know your decisions ASAP as we are already beginning to manage enrollment needs and class placements for the upcoming school year. Thank you!

Withdrawing your student is easy and you can find out how to here: https://www.psbma.org/students-families/registration/withdrawing-your-student

• June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month
• June is Caribbean-American Heritage Month
• Juneteenth is June 19th!

___________________

• Saturday, June 6th: JuneFair, 1:00-5:00pm

• Monday, June 8th: Model UN, 11:15am-12pm

• Monday, June 8th: Rainbow Club: 3rd Grade End of Year Pride Celebration, 11:20-11:50am

• Tuesday, June 9th: Grade 4-5 Student Council, 8:00-8:40am

• Tuesday, June 9th: GSA, 10:35-11:12am

• Wednesday, June 10th: Evacuation Drill, 9:00-10:00am

• Wednesday, June 10th: AAPI Affinity Group, 10:35-11:20am

• Thursday, June 11th: Young Scholars, 2:30-3:30pm

• Friday, June 12th: Art Show!, 8:00-10:00am

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

• Monday, June 15th: Rainbow Club

• Tuesday, June 16th: 3A Biography Presentations, 8:00-8:40am

• Tuesday, June 16th: Grade 4-5 Student Council, 8:00-8:40am

• Tuesday, June 16th: GSA, 10:35-11:12am

• Thursday, June 18th: Second Grade Artist Celebrations, 8:00-8:45am

• Thursday, June 18th: 3F Biography Presentations, 8:00-8:40am

• Thursday, June 18th: BEEP @ Hayes EOY Celebration, 1:30-2:30pm

• Thursday, June 18th: Step Up Day, 1:45-2:15pm

• Thursday, June 18th: Young Scholars, 2:30-3:30pm

• Friday, June 19th: District Closed: Juneteenth Holiday

• Monday, June 22nd: Model UN, 11:15am-12:00pm

• Tuesday, June 23rd: Graduation Breakfast, Cafeteria, 9:00-11:00am

• Tuesday, June 23rd: GSA, 10:35-11:12am

• Wednesday, June 24th: 8th Grade Graduation!, 4:00-6:00pm

• Friday, June 26th: Cycle 2: K-5 Progress Reports Publish

• Friday, June 26th: Term 4: Grades 6-8 Report Cards Published

• Friday, June 26th: Last Day of School, Noon Dismissal

Field Trips:

• Tuesday, June 9th: Grade 6 Trip to the New England Aquarium, 8:30am-2:00pm

• Tuesday, June 16th: Grade 8 Spanish Field Trip, 10:15am-12:30pm

• Wednesday, June 17th: 8th Grade Graduation Activities: Zoar Whitewater Rafting, 7:45am – 6:00pm

• Wednesday, June 17th: 3rd Grade Trip to Plimoth/Patuxet Museum, 8:30am-2:00pm

• Thursday, June 18th: 8th Grade Graduation Activities: Red Sox Game, 10:45am-5:45pm

• Monday, June 22nd: 8th Grade Graduation Activities: Six Flags, 8:45am-6:00pm

• Tuesday, June 23rd: 3rd Grade Trip to Franklin Park Zoo, 8:30am-2:00pm

• Tuesday, June 23rd: Second Grade Field Trip to Fisher Hill, 9:00-11:45am

• Wednesday, June 24th: Rain Date: Second Grade Field Trip to Fisher Hill, 9:00-11:45am

• Thursday, June 25th: Grades 6/7 Trip to Showcase Cinema, 8:30am-1:30pm

Last week, the first grade classrooms released their luna moths into the wild. Some friends from 1R shared their insights and wonderings:

• Matilda: Learned that Luna Moths live for only one to two weeks, and that they emerge rather than hatch.

• Seleem: Observed the process from the beginning, noting that they received the moths as cocoons and watched them grow from that stage.

• Patrick: Wondered why the moths preferred white, fragrant flowers over the nearby pink ones, and expressed curiosity about what the larvae feel like.

• Liana: Reflected on not having a moth land on her, wondering what that would feel like. She also noted that while two moths successfully emerged, one did not.

• Katherine: Shared a special moment where she felt she gave a moth the strength to fly away after Ms. Redburn placed it on her.

Their Final Thoughts & Questions

• Wondering where the moths are now: Are they currently finding a mate, or did they fly off to a wild flower garden?

• Wondering if they have already reproduced, or if they have already reached the end of their short life cycle.

Four Hayes students – Jahsiah, Lucas, Avery, and Abdul (pictured left to right, below)– recently attended an inspiring day of community building and leadership development at the METCO Middle School Leadership Summit. Here is what they took away from the experience:

• Embracing Identity: Lucas shared how powerful it was to connect with peers from across multiple districts, leaving the summit feeling empowered to "be yourself, and don't bend yourself to be like others."

• The Power of Perseverance: Jahsiah was deeply moved by the legacy of Ron Burton, who overcame poverty and early athletic struggles through relentless hard work to eventually get drafted. Guided by principles of humility, love, and peace, Burton built the very space our students visited. "At the end of the day, I knew what I needed to do," Jahsiah reflected. "Work hard to achieve your goals. You just can't give up."

• Building Lasting Connections: Abdul highlighted the high-energy, physical team-building activities, praising the kind and respectful staff. For him, the true highlight was the community focus: "Once you connect with a student from another district, you feel like you’ve actually made a friend.

• A Lesson in Respect: Avery shared, "It was pretty good! We learned about Ron Burton and how little people thought of him … until he joined the Patriots. We did a lot of team building. Plenty of games and physical play. I learned to always be nice to people and never put people down if they don’t have as much as you do."

PSB Food Services, in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Education and Project Bread, is proud to bring the Summer Eats Program to Brookline this June.

We are hosting the Summer Meals Kick-Off Festival on Tuesday, June 30, from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm at the Brookline Avenue Playground. The event will feature activities, music, free food, games, giveaways, and more!

Kids and families will get an opportunity to provide feedback on menu items by voting for items they would like to see on future school menus.

From June 30 to August 14, free breakfast and lunch will be provided on weekdays to all children and teens ages 18 and under at the Brookline Ave Playground (575 Brookline Ave). No identification or registration is required.

Summer Eats is a federal nutrition program designed to ensure that all youth (18 and under) have access to healthy meals and snacks during the summer, when school is not in session. This year, due to a Grant from the Brookline Community Foundation, we will be feeding teens over 18 and adults. For more information: https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com.

From the BEF:

"Let us help you say ‘Thank You’ to teachers, principals, coaches, aides, or other adults in our child’s life, and make sure they know how much we appreciate their hard work and their passion for teaching by giving a gift in their name. The BEF will notify the teacher(s) of your family’s wish to honor their hard work; you can also add a personal message if you wish. Donations of any size are welcome and you may honor as many educators as you like with a single gift. Thank you!"

https://brooklinefoundation.org/honor-a-teacher/

I recently listened to this podcast (https://slate.com/podcasts/death-sex-money/2026/05/how-accommodation-makes-child-anxiety-worse) on the way to work and thought it held a lot of wisdom about childhood anxiety (and, importantly, how adults respond!) that some of you in the community might be interested in. Check it out!

I hope you have a great weekend ahead – especially since it is Junefair tomorrow!

~ 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