During Arts Equinox, each of our students decorated a CD as part of this year's All-School art project. These CDs have been transformed into an amazing Driscoll Dragon, which now impressively guards the entrance to the school on Washington Street by the playground. We want to thank all the families who came out on the first Sunday of vacation week to help mount the CDs to the fence! We'd also like to extend a huge thank you to Victor Kusmin, who conceived of the All-School project and devoted a huge amount of time to make it a reality.
We hope you can join us for the first Driscoll Family Trivia night, to be held in the cafeteria on Wednesday, May 1st from 6:30 - 8 PM. We'll be putting together trivia questions to test your knowledge of Driscoll school, our teachers, and more. Put together a team of no more than five people (we suggest at least one student and one adult per team), and keep your eyes on our social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, etc) for some hints ahead of time. More fun than the MCAS!
Community News:
Did you know the town of Brookline will be voting on May 7th to decide on the fate of the Driscoll building?
What: A new building to serve 800 students, with 4 sections per grade and 3 pre-K classrooms (currently there are 630 students with 3 sections per grade, except for 4th with 4 sections, and 1 pre-K). In addition, a cafeteria big enough to serve all students in 3 lunch periods (rather than the current 5 lunches); 2 gyms (one twice the size of the current gym); a multi-purpose room with a stage; 3 music rooms, 2 art rooms, a maker/fab space, 3 middle school science classrooms, outdoor classrooms, and of course, a library! Plus many spaces for small group learning and teacher collaboration. And 25% more open space with newly designed playground and fields.
Where: On current field/playground. New field/playground will be built on site of current building. (i.e. the building and open space are swapping spaces.)
When: Construction would begin summer 2020, with new school opening Fall 2022
Why: Brookline school enrollment has grown 40% over the last decade, Driscoll has grown by over 65%. We need more space! Plus the current over a century old building has never been fully renovated and needs work.
Cost: $108.8 m including new fossil free fuel building, play area, 25 underground parking spaces, and improvements to adjacent sidewalks and streets.
How: If the project is to move forward, voters in Brookline must approve a debt exclusion to fund it. On Tues May 7th ballot, question 1 will ask if you agree to have the town of Brookline construct new school buildings for Driscoll and Baldwin. A yes votes means you want to fund the project.
Please, VOTE: Tues. May 7, Polls open: 7am to 8pm
For more information go to: https://www.brookline.k12.ma.us/Page/2353
Save the Date for the PSB Maker Day
Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 11, 12-4pm at the Coolidge Corner School for an afternoon to celebrate innovation and creativity. Bring your imagination to this FREE, fun, family event and discover what is possible at our district makerspaces.
• Experiment with hands-on activities
• Explore an exciting showcase of student work across grades K-8
• Learn about the development of PSB makerspaces
Volunteers are also needed to help make the event run smoothly. Sign up to volunteer at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0a49afae2da31-psbmaker
We hope to see you there!
Made possible by the Enrichment and Challenge Support program (ECS), in collaboration with the Parent Advisory Committee for Innovation (iPAC) and the PSB K-8 PTOs
B
rookline's Office of Diversity, Inclusion & Community Relations would like to invite you to join us in celebration of Fair Housing Month! Kathy Gips from the New England ADA Center will lead a talk on The ADA & Fair Housing: What are your rights?
- Learn how the ADA interacts with Fair Housing Law
- How to request reasonable accommodations & what happens next
- Where to go to get assistance
When: Monday, April 29, 2019, from 3 PM - 4:30 PM
Where: Coolidge Corner Library Community Meeting Room
Please contact Sarah E. Kaplan, Brookline's ADA Coordinator to request reasonable accommodations at
skaplan@brooklinema.gov or 617.730.2329.
Calling All Stressed Out Parents!
Join
Brookline Adult & Community Education, a program of the Public Schools of Brookline, for a "calming" lecture addressing our everyday stressors, including technology overload, work demands, as well as emotions. We'll discuss clinical research in this field as well as mindfulness techniques to relieve anxiety and bring more peace and calm to your stressful day.
This panel discussion, on
Wednesday, May 8, 6:30-8:30pm will take place at the
Lawrence School (27 Francis Street) and will include
Liz Gorman, Program Leader for the Mindfulness Initiative at BHS and
Paul Harris who is on the Wellness Committee with the Public Schools of Brookline. For more information or to register, visit our
website.
LET’S BE HONEST POSTPONED
Due to low enrollment at this very busy time of year, the Planned Parenthood presentation “Let’s Be Honest: Communication in Families that Keeps Kids Healthy,” scheduled for April 25 at Pierce School is being postponed. We are looking to reschedule this for the Fall. In the meantime, Brookline Parent Education Network’s newly redesigned and updated website, www.B-PEN.org, offers a variety of resources for talking with teens about healthy sexuality on its “Healthy Relationships” page: http://www.b-pen.org/healthy-relationships1.html
May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month! As a way to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month the Brookline Main Library will be hosting an Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations exhibit of residents’ meaningful items to help raise awareness and highlight the Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage beginning on May 6, 2019. The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations is seeking any individual or family that is willing to lend an item that is meaningful to your heritage to be displayed through the month of May, in either the Brookline Main Library exhibit or in Town Hall. We ask to be allowed to hold on to your item from early April until the end of June; to allow us enough time to install the exhibit and take it down and return to you. If you would be interested in lending an item to our Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage exhibit, please contact Lauren Delp at dicrintern@gmail.com or Caitlin Starr in the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations at cstarr@brooklinema.gov or at 617-730-2345.
Green House Fest
Want to reduce your carbon emissions and protect the climate for your kids? Come to Green House Fest! On May 5th, between 1pm and 3pm, you can tour Brookline homes and talk with homeowners who use heat pumps for heating and cooling, induction stoves for cooking, electric cars, solar panels, urban food gardens, composting, and other features that remove oil and gas from daily use. Find the map at GreenHouseFest.org. Sponsored by the Brookline chapter of Mothers Out Front.
APPLICATIONS FOR BROOKLINE PORCHFEST 2019 OPEN UNTIL FRIDAY, APRIL 26
Applications for bands to perform, for people with porches to host, and for Porchfest lovers to volunteer for Brookline Porchfest 2019 are available online at www.BrooklinePorchfest.org. Applications close on Friday, April 26. The official announcement of the Brookline Porchfest 2019 schedule will be made public on May 11, 2019. More information can be found at www.BrooklinePorchfest.org or https://www.facebook.com/brooklineporchfest/
Pop Up Town Hall
The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations will be holding a Pop Up Town Hall Event on Tuesday, April 23rd from 5-7pm at the Cypress Playground. The Office has been hosting these Pop Up Town Halls in order to increase our presence within the community and to provide helpful information and resources from various Town Departments and community groups. Our Office has also been working on a Civic Engagement initiative to increase the diversity of thought on our decision making groups as well as through community participation.
For this Pop Up we would like to focus on the upcoming May elections; we will provide attendees with polling place information, absentee ballots, the Annual Town Election Ballot information, as well as other Office resources and information on upcoming programs and initiatives.
We have also invited all candidates running for Select Board, Trustees of the Public Library, School Committee, Housing Authority, and Constable to join us. We would like to give community members and candidates an opportunity to gather for an informal evening of meet and greats. We plan on having music, snacks, and a free raffle!
We are looking forward to a fun evening! Feel free to stop by!
