Translations and accessibility options are available at the top of the page.

• Amharic: የትርጉም አማራጮችን ለማግኘት እዚህ ጠቅ ያድርጉ

• Arabic: الرجاء الضغط هنا للترجمة العربية.

• Simplified Chinese: 点击这里查看中文翻译.
  
• Traditional Chinese: 點擊這裡查看中文翻譯.
• French: Cliquez ici pour accéder aux options de traduction
• Haitian Creole: Klike la a pou tradiksyon kreyòl ayisyen an.
• Hebrew: אנא לחץ כאן לצפייה במסמך בעברית.
• Japanese: ここをクリックして日本語の翻訳にアクセスしてください.
• Korean: 한국어 번역을 보시려면 여기를 클릭하십시오.
• Portuguese: Clique aqui para a tradução em português.
• Russian: Нажмите здесь, чтобы получить доступ к русскому переводу.
• Spanish: Haga clic aquí para acceder a la traducción al español.
• Vietnamese: Nhấn vào đây để truy cập bản dịch tiếng Việt.

On most Fridays during the school year, the Office of the Superintendent will send an update to the community highlighting some of the excellent work being done by our educators and school leaders. The update will also include important announcements from the district’s central office. These newsletters will be posted on the PSB website (www.brookline.k12.ma.us/supt-updates).

The Public Schools of Brookline firmly stand against all acts of hatred and all forms of isms that include, but are not limited to, racism, sexism, antisemitism, transphobism, ageism, ableism, classism, colorism, and ethnocentrism in our district community, in our local community, and across our nation and our globe.

We unequivocally condemn the divisive forces of hate, inequities, and injustice against all persons, families, and communities. This includes all acts of bias, disrespect, discrimination, verbal and physical abuse, harassment, threats, defacing of property, and the creation of environments of fear against any person, group, community, or population.

We all need to keep our community safe from such hateful messaging. We encourage you to refrain from giving your time or attention to these examples of antiquated and uninformed beliefs. Instead, please take a moment to celebrate our diverse student body and community.

This program provides 8th grade students with a unique stewardship opportunity through various civic and service-based activities in the school. At the start of the school year, 8th grade students select a volunteer activity based on their interests, from a list of options created by social studies teacher Kate Hollander and the Lawrence Middle School team. Students then commit to completing that work during the advisory period. The primary goal is to model being a good student, citizen, and friend to their peers and school community.

We are grateful that four Lawrence students - Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem, Isaac Bomfim, Carinn Bueno, and Hayden Park - joined the School Committee meeting on Thursday, January 19, to briefly share their perspectives and experiences as an 8th grade partner. A recurring theme within their stories is the enjoyment they receive from supporting others, whether that is helping kindergartners stay engaged in reading, listening to younger students share their jokes, or keeping the lunch spaces and classrooms clean.

Thank you to these students and the entire Lawrence 8th grade class for their leadership in keeping Lawrence a safe, just and caring school community! You can watch the spotlight in its entirety here.

At the School Committee Meeting on Thursday, January 19, Superintendent Guillory presented the FY2024 preliminary budget for the community’s review. Like last year, this document reflects our priority to provide exceptional learning opportunities to our students. Our budget centers on the needs of PSB students and staff, using the three major themes below, while also focusing on fiscal stability and responsibility:

• Ensure a high-quality education: PSB will continue to ensure that all students have access to the experiences they need to develop academic and non-academic skills to enable them to pursue their post-secondary goals.
  
  

• Create a Culture of Care: PSB is committed to ensuring that schools are an inviting, inclusive, supportive, and affirming place for all students, staff, families and caregivers, and community members.
  
  

• Eliminate Barriers: PSB affirms its commitment to culturally-responsive teaching practices and professional learning grounded in equity.

Over the next few weeks, PSB will be working closely with Town leaders to finalize the figures for fiscal year 2024. Version 1 of the budget book can be found here in its entirety. You can also review the budget presentation from yesterday’s school committee meeting here.

As part of PSB’s commitment to continuous improvement, each school has developed a School Improvement Plan (SIP) to detail efforts to improve student performance and meet the goals identified by the school community.

Every PSB school has a Site Council, made up of parents/guardians/caregivers, staff, and the principal, who develop and review these multi-year plans during Site Council meetings throughout the school year.

Each school will update the school committee on its current SIPs. BEEP, Ruffin Ridley, and Runkle School principals presented their updates at the January 5 school committee meeting, while BHS, Heath, and Lawrence presented their updates at the January 19 school committee meeting. We will share these presentations with you for the remaining schools as they occur. You can also find your school’s latest SIP on your school’s website.

Winter can be a beautiful time of the year! Bare trees can give us a glimpse of the wildlife of the forest that at other times is hidden behind leaves while. newly fallen snow reveals the track of animals passing.

In Ms. Ortiz's art class, students collaged ink-drawn trees onto the background to create a sense of depth with foreground, middle ground, and background layers. Animals active in winter were added in silhouettes as well as the footprints they have left in the snow.

On behalf of the Lawrence School community and the entire Public Schools of Brookline, we offer our gratitude to Mrs. Crowley for the skilled and dedicated leadership that she has offered since joining us in 2008.

Mrs. Crowley served as the Lawrence School Vice Principal from 2008 to 2014. When the Ruffin Ridley School (formerly Devotion School) was being constructed, the school community was relocated to two separate locations and Mrs. Crowley became Principal of what was then known as Upper Devotion, serving students in grades 5-8 at Old Lincoln School. In 2018, we were pleased that she was willing to assume the leadership of the Lawrence School, where she has been serving with distinction ever since. I am sure you will join me in congratulating Principal Crowley on this exciting news, and wish her all the best in retirement!

While we congratulate Principal Crowley, we simultaneously embark upon the process of identifying a new school leader for Lawrence School. The principal position will be posted starting on January 23. In the coming weeks, we will communicate directly with Lawrence School staff, parents and guardians about the process, and solicit their participation in the creation of a leadership profile and select representatives to serve on the Interview Committee.

Each month, PSB families will receive a newsletter that updates them on what social-emotional work our schools are doing. This newsletter also includes strategies you can use with your child(ren) to support their social-emotional development. The January 2023 newsletter focuses on emotional regulation and can be found here.

Please join us on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for the next PSB School Counseling Parent/Guardian Workshop Series event! This virtual workshop addresses what types of speech issues might arise in the context of TikTok and other social media platforms used by students, what can (and cannot) be done by the district, and how this might intersect with mandatory reporting requirements.

Click on the link here to register! Also, please remember to regularly check the PSB School Counseling Department's website for information and resources!

“The Sagamore,” references the Indigenous term “Sagamore,” which denotes a leader of some New England Indigenous tribes, including the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag. Newspaper staff concluded that usage of the name perpetuates a history of misrepresentation and appropriation of Indigenous peoples and serves as a reminder of the erasure of their cultures.

The newspaper will select a new name through a town-wide contest, where community members can submit name suggestions. More information can be found here.

This event is generously sponsored by the Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE) Network, a Brookline-based program that provides child development services and resources to families with young children. No registration is required! For more information, please contact Ms. Liu at zongcheng_liu@psbma.org.

The next session will be held at Baker School on Monday, January 30 from: 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sign up here!

Please click the link to learn more about Lunar New Year on January 22 from Ms. Armstrong, an English Learner Education (ELE) teacher at Baker School! Ms. Armstrong talks about how various cultures in Asia celebrate this occasion and how 2023 celebrates the year of the rabbit! We want to thank Ms. Armstrong for teaching us about Lunar New Year and briefly sharing how she celebrates Lunar New Year in her Korean culture! You can find more resources on Lunar New Year and other holidays on the PSB Cultural Calendar (www.brookline.k12.ma.us/cultural-calendar)!

We look forward to continuing this tradition and broadcasting more student, staff, and community voices throughout the school year. We also recognize that we are right amid the holiday season, so keep an eye out for other upcoming events and dates that may pique your interest!

• Tet/Lunar New Year: Sunday, January 22
  Lunar New Year is the beginning of the year according to the Lunar Calendar. It is celebrated throughout the world, particularly in Asia. PSB officially recognizes Lunar New Year as a Category 1 Holiday/Observance following the advocacy and efforts of a student-led initiative in 2021.
  
  Multiple cultures within Asia celebrate Lunar New Year, including but not limited to Chinese (春节), Korean (설날) and Vietnamese (Tết Nguyên Đán) cultures. While the celebrations are generally observed on the same day since they all follow the Chinese calendar, they also have different traditions and festivities.
  
  
• International Holocaust Remembrance Day (יום השואה): Friday, January 27
  From 1941 to 1945 Nazi Germany and its collaborators committed the systematic murder of over six million Jews. The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was Nazi Germany’s “Final Solution” for eliminating all Jewish people within Nazi Germany’s grasp. By the end of this heinous act, roughly two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population had been murdered. The United Nations General Assembly’s resolution designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005.

Join the community celebration at the Coolidge Corner Library from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 22 for:

• Traditional Chinese Dance performances from the Westwood Chinese School and Wang YMCA
• A live Lion Dance performance from the Gund Kwok Asian Women’s Lion and Dragon Dance Troupe
• Wish Tree Activity
• New Year’s Envelopes
• One-on-One Chinese Calligraphy Demonstrations
• Delicious snacks and more!
  
  

Please note: The Traditional Chinese Dance Performance will start promptly at 2:00 p.m. This event is generously sponsored by the Brookline Library Foundation, The Friends of the Brookline Public Library, and the Brookline Asian American Family Network

• Previous community updates can be found here.

(Media credits: M. Crowley, M. Howes, H. Koh, B. Koocher, N. Peck, A. Ortiz, A. Sevelius, Public Library of Brookline, The Sag Online)