National Teacher Appreciation Week is this week and Driscoll will be celebrating our teachers and staff in grand style! We have goodies planned for each day of the week, with festivities culminating in our traditional breakfast which will be held on Friday, May 10 at 7am. If you are able to contribute a breakfast food or drink item for the meal, we would be so grateful. Volunteer link here: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/9040c4aaaa92aa13-driscoll
Have questions? Text Kim Katz - 617 312 7212

Trivia Night success!
Thanks to everyone who attended last night's Family Trivia Night!  The winning team was "Kids Rule the World" - congratulations to Kim, Ellie, Calista, Emma, Elaine, and Claire!  We would also like to congratulate the second place team, "The DrisCools," and the third place team, "Pika."  We hope you all had a great time, and learned something about Driscoll that you didn't already know.

Eighth Grade fundraiser - Driscoll sweatshirts and T-shirts LAST CALL!
Still haven’t ordered your Driscoll sweatshirts and T-shirts? (Now available in many colors) This is you LAST chance to order this school year. Follow this link to order online. Thank you for supporting the 8th grade!
https://digitalpto.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=33af35f39631fb55697da9f60&id=76909d42b1&e=6194f343ce

PTO Coffee on May 14th
We hope you can join us for this month's "First Tuesday" Coffee with the PTO next week on Tuesday, May 14th (yes, this month we will be having it on the "Second Tuesday" due to MCAS testing).  This month, we will be hosting Dr. Talukdar, as well as Carrie Hibbard and Hillary McConnell from the Guidance Department to discuss how they interact with and support all of our students, as well as answer any questions you might have for them.  It will be held from 8-9 AM in the Driscoll Cafeteria.

NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY:

Thanks to the PTO, the Family Giving Campaign, and the Book Fair, we had a record number of authors visit this year - seven total!  Our final author visit was in early April, with Versify authors. If you missed the order deadline, but would like a book, they are still available for purchase in the library.  Click here for more information.

Fourth and fifth grade classes are prepping for the Battle of the Books, a team based, game show style competition that tests students’ knowledge of the Driscoll Student Book Award (DSBA) nominees.  The Battle will take place toward the end of May, which gives students lots of time to read our wonderful nominees. To learn more about the DSBA (another PTO Family Giving Campaign funded program!), check out the website here.  

And speaking of May, this is the time of year that we ask for your help in getting overdue books back to the library.  Students with books overdue will be asked to return those books before new ones can be checked out. If your child has a lost a book, please send in a check for the price (should be in the weekly email reminder).  The check should be made payable to Driscoll PTO with your child’s name and library book in the memo line. Thank you for helping keep the library full of books!

Happy Reading!
Ms. Reid, Librarian
anne_reid@pbsma.org

What’s Growing On?
Our next garden committee meeting will be this Wednesday May 8th, 8:00am in the cafeteria. Please join us in creating an awesome outdoor experiential learning environment for the whole school. We will soon be signing up volunteers for the garden table at Spring Fair and the garden’s summer maintenance calendar (an easy job including harvesting privileges). These are just two of many opportunities to get involved. Contact us to learn more: driscollschoolgarden@gmail.com

Last Wednesday, the DASA garden class seeded the flower beds around our raised beds, and also painted and planted their own personal picking pots. Each pot’s owner will learn about stewardship and delayed gratification from choosing how much of their sweet Stevia plant to eat, to share, and to nurture. They could enjoy some sweetness today, or grow the plants on to enjoy a larger harvest in the future. We also posted signs to request that no one picks from the pots. Please help us remind each other not to pick from the garden without permission, and also to stay out of the newly seeded areas behind the (recently reinstalled) picket fence - where we are trying to nurture flowers for pollinators and other wildlife.

In case you were wondering, we are now entering the frost-free season - summer garden planting time!

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.

Vote Tuesday  May 7th in Brookline town elections.  Question One is to fund new school buildings for  Driscoll and Baldwin.  Find out more about Driscoll  here.  and about Baldwin here both have videos!  

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

MARIJUANA ROAD SHOW on May 16
On May 16 at 7 p.m. in the Heath School Auditorium, the Brookline Department of Public Health is sponsoring a special free community presentation called “The Marijuana Road Show: Products and Paraphernalia.” BHS Peer Leaders will share an original 10 minute video followed by a show-and tell presentation of popular products and devices.  The event, funded in part by the Brookline Community Foundation and CHNA 18, also will include a student panel moderated by Mary Minott, LICSW, offering an opportunity for community members to ask questions. Attendance is free, but registration requested: https://marijuanaroadshow.eventbrite.com.

HELP START A NEW BROOKLINE SCIENCE/TECH INITIATIVE

 A group of parents and the Brookline Teen Center are expanding opportunities for Brookline middle school and high school students to participate in the FIRST competitions. FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) hosts competitions where student teams compete solving science, engineering, teamwork, and leadership challenges that involve designing, building, and competing with robots. We hope to add more Brookline FIRST Lego League teams for students grades 4-8, and start a FIRST Tech Challenge team for students grades 7-12, but we need parent coaches to form these teams. Parents, come learn more about how you can help start teams in the fall! Absolutely no technical or robotics experience is required. All you need is enthusiasm for helping enable a unique student experience where students learn real-world problem solving and teamwork skills. Interested parents, please attend one of our informational meetings to learn more: Sunday, May 19 from 9:00-10:15, or Monday, May 20 from 6:45-8 pm in the Brookline Teen Center’s Maker Space. For more information, please contact Pierce parent, Stephen Intille (s.intille@northeastern.edu), or watch these videos on FIRST Lego League: http://bit.ly/2vxcZzn, FIRST Tech Challenge: http://bit.ly/2ISH31h, and changing the world: http://bit.ly/2Y08ud2.