Dear Brown MS Community,
April is World Autism Month! This is particularly special to me because my son was diagnosed with autism when he was a third grader. Loving someone with autism has been a magical and challenging experience. My boy's magic is his ability to create wonderful stories about worlds of his own design. He has an avid interest in computers, science fiction, world history, puzzles and geography, and he brings all of these interests together to create these worlds. His skills are panning out for him as a Computer Science/Game Design major at RIT. (And to think I kept telling him that he would never make a living off of video games!). I can't say it has all been easy, and there were plenty of hurdles to overcome, but I am so glad he is who he is.
In advisory this week our students learned about autism and neurodiversity. We feel it is important that students understand that diversity comes in many forms, and that our world is enriched by that diversity. Being a teacher here for many years equipped me to better understand my son because of the amazing teachers and programs we have for students on the autism spectrum at Brown. It is inspiring to watch our students grow and develop over their middle school careers, and we owe so much of their success to our amazing behavior therapists, teaching assistants and teachers. They demonstrate care and kindness every day, while guiding their students through the challenges of navigating school and social situations. We are lucky to have such a talented staff!
In other important news, she found "the dress"! This weekend's activities will include going from shoe store to shoe store. Wish us luck! I hope you all enjoy your weekend!
Best,
Kim Lysaght, Principal
Social Media Parent/Guardian Survey
Our School Council, made up of parents, faculty and students, have put together a survey for middle school parents regarding social media & phones. We would appreciate you taking this survey to give us more insight about how we can work as a community to help keep students safe as they begin to use social media. So far 57 people have responded. Please consider taking the time to complete this. We will be keeping it open for one more week.
8th Grade Year End Events
Step Up Day to NSHS (during the school day) - Friday, June 10
Canobie Lake Park Trip - Thursday, June 23
Graduation - Friday, June 24 at 10:00AM
Our 8th grade parent planning committee is also working on an 8th grade after school party sometime early in the last week of school. More details to follow!
Brown MS Annual Newton Food Pantry Drive!
The last day to make donations for the Newton Food Pantry are being collected from is this Monday 4/11 in advisory. Donations will be delivered to the food pantry that afternoon.
Items that the pantry needs the most are listed below. Items should be unopened and within the expiration date, and no glass please!
Cereal: 12 – 16 oz., brand names preferred
Hearty soup: meat, bean, veggie; broth
Dried beans
White tuna in water
Shampoo: 12 – 16 oz.
Toothpaste (full size)
Soap and body wash (full size)
5th Grade Family Information
For those who may have missed our 5th grade parent night, please click here for the slide deck with information about the transition to middle school. Also, if you have not already submitted your child's choice of world language please do so as soon as possible. You can click here to complete the choice form. Please click here for an overview of our world language program. We do our best to give students their first choice as much as possible within the constraints of class size. The form also gives you an opportunity to sign your child up for our optional band, orchestra or chorus electives.
CAS AUTHORFEST 2022
Creative Arts & Sciences AuthorFest is coming! On April 12, authors and illustrators that presented to K-8 students all over Newton will be gathering at the Cabot Elementary School library for a book sale and signing, meet and greet, between 3:15 - 5:30 PM. The event is open to the public. Newtonville Books will be on hand with a selection of books for sale that students can get signed.
Newtonville Books is taking pre-orders of books between now and March 21. If you want to purchase a book in advance, go to: www.newtonvillebooks.com/npsauthorfest
CAS AuthorFest is made possible by parent contributions to the PTO, a generous grant from the Newton Schools Foundation, with additional support from The Village Bank, and Harmony Foundation.
Earth Day - April 24
Celebrate Earth Day with a festival on Sunday, April 24 from 1-4pm outside of City Hall! With electric vehicles and entertaining performances, bike rides and bees, ice cream and info on home energy improvements, we’ll have something for everyone to mark the day.
See a full list of activities at GreenNewton.org/EarthDay.
Event will take place rain or shine. Newton’s Earth Day Festival is hosted by Green Newton, the City’s Climate Team, and Newton’s EV Task Force.
