I hope your children shared some stories from our Community Service Assembly this past Thursday. We met as an entire school to listen to two representatives from Brookline's Senior Center. They shared lots of information about Brookline's Seniors, the languages they speak and the activities that they enjoy at the Center. Our students met with grade level partners (Kindergarteners and 8th graders, 2nd and 5/6th graders, 1st and 4th graders, 3rd and 7th graders) to make cards and messages for our Brookline Seniors. Our younger students loved working with their older friends at Runkle. The teachers shared how happy everyone was creating these positive messages for seniors. All the cards (some written in Spanish, Mandarin, Russian) are being placed in a decorated box that will be delivered to the Senior Center this week. The clients will be able to pull out an encouraging message from Runkle students upon their arrival each day! Thank you to Lauren Carroll, EL Teacher, and Runkle's Culture and Climate Committee for making this happen.

Tuesday, March 28th: Grades 5 and 8 ELA

Wednesday, March 29th: Grades 4 and 7 ELA

Thursday, March 30th: Grades 4 and 7 ELA

Our Grade 5 Teachers shared some helpful hints for MCAS that I thought everyone could use:)

• Get a good night's sleep!

• Eat breakfast at home (school breakfast is available starting at 7:30am)

• Get to school on time - 7:55am or earlier! Having students arrive late pushes back the start time of the class. If students arrive too late, they will not be allowed to test in the classroom or may be pushed to a make-up day

• Pack a snack! Students are allowed to eat while testing, and they definitely can't focus if they're hungry.

• Check with your student to ensure that they have quiet activities for after testing: books, crossword puzzles, sudoku, drawing materials, etc.
• We will have students leave phones and smart watches with teachers.

Thursday, March 30th: Kindergarten at 11am.

Thursday, March 30th: Grade 1 at 1:00pm