General News

Library News

Books Due Back at the Library

The end of the year is approaching, so it is time to get those library books back to the library!  All library books are due back this week, on your child’s normal library day. If you are not able to find a book, please contact me so that we can make arrangements to find a replacement for the library.

Summer Reading

Driscoll Summer Reading is going online this year!  In an effort to go green and make summer reading materials available wherever you may travel this summer, all the great Driscoll summer reading resources will be posted online.  The summer reading page (featuring icons designed by Driscoll students) will include summer reading requirements for each grade and links to reading lists, reading logs, reading bingo, and even writing bingo sheets - all wonderful, fun ways to keep those reading and writing skills up over the summer!  The link to this page will be emailed out to families.Students will visit the library over the next two weeks for Summer Reading Assemblies.  They will learn about summer reading expectations for their grade, hear from the public librarian Miss Caroline about their fabulous summer reading program, and browse books from the summer reading list to make a list a books they want to read this summer.  Happy Reading! Ms. Reid, Librarian  anne_reid@psbma.org

The Latest from the Driscoll Garden

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What’s Growing On?We are recovering from a great Spring Fair. Thanks to our volunteers, and all those who stopped by the garden to learn about and support the garden program. We shared 150 salads grown organically in our school garden by students. We are composting the plates and forks. Fairgoers also helped paint 120 pickets that we will use to make a mini-picket fence to brighten up the garden and protect flower seedlings.  The fence will be installed within the next two weeks.Our Wednesday after school class was chaotic, occurring right before the start of the fair.  We tried our luck at bug racing, and we also did an exploration activity I’m thinking of calling Who’s In My Pile - basically we met organisms that inhabit garden material piles. Various insects, invertebrates, cephalopods, amphibians, and reptiles were observed, handled and discussed.We have begun signing up families for summer garden maintenance/harvesting. SIGN UP your family to get hands-on with your Driscoll Garden, and reap the rewards. You can choose one or more weeks to be responsible for monitoring, watering, weeding, harvesting, and eating. Victor will conduct an orientation class in June, and be on-call all summer to answer questions and help solve problems.The next garden committee meeting will be Wednesday June 6th, 8:00 am in the cafeteria. There is so much potential at Driscoll, to create an awesome outdoor experiential learning environment for the entire school community. Let's keep growing!Contact us to get involved: driscollschoolgarden@gmail.com.

THANK YOU!

THANK YOU: Hands down the best Spring Fair yet!We are grateful for our amazing Spring Fair Team: Connie Clauson, Lakia Rutherford, Jennifer Klaus, and Desmond Hall! Huge shout our to our Janitors Larry and Tom! Thanks to our parent & teacher volunteers...we couldn’t do this event without you. Another huge shout out to our Dunk Tank Participants: Superintendent Bott, Dr. Talukdar, Ms. Hibbard, Ms. Keach, Mr. Youkilis, Ms. Bouquet, Mr. Iadarola, and our very own PTO Co-Chair, Ryan Garms!! Thanks to Steve & Kates Camp for sponsoring the Dunk Tank!

Spring Fair Ticket Sales!

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Spring Fair Tickets and Bracelets on sale now!  Don’t miss out on the action standing in line the day of the Fair!Visit our pre-Fair ticket table outside the Main Office before or after school on Friday, May 18Monday, May 21 and Tuesday, May 22. Main Office table will be open before school only the day of the Fair!Bracelets are $35 and include all rides, games and most activities. Tickets are $1 each and can be used to purchase food, individual rides and activities. (Dunk Tank  is not included in bracelet price).

What’s Growing On?

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What’s Growing On?Last week, 2G explored soil in the garden as an extension of their spring science unit.  They especially enjoyed meeting Misters Squiggles, the red wriggler composting worms. This week we plan to host 2Har and 2S for the same extension activity.  Also this week, we will host the 4th grade Girl Scouts as they tour the garden and help construct a potato tower.The after school garden class planted some more seeds last week. They planted the “seed tape” they made the previous week - a method of insuring proper spacing of small seeds.  They also planted seeds for a flower border, and constructed some temporary fencing to protect these new seedlings. They always enjoy using tools.The garden program will be taking part in the Spring Fair - stop by our table for a garden activity, salad samples to supplement your cotton candy, horticultural advice, and information on the Driscoll School Garden Program. It will also be a good opportunity to sign up for slots on the summer maintenance calendar, so your family can help sustain (and consume!) this season’s crops. No experience is necessary, as an orientation class and on-call horticultural help will be available.There was a small, but productive, Garden Committee meeting last Wednesday. We are making progress filling administrative rolls, but need as much help as we can get. Contact us to get involved: driscollschoolgarden@gmail.com. There is so much potential at Driscoll, to create an awesome outdoor experiential learning environment for the entire school community. There are many ways to help, and most of them don’t involve gardening. You have skills. Become a garden committee member. The next Driscoll Garden committee meeting will be Wednesday June 6th, 8:00 am in the cafeteria.

VOTE TUESDAY, MAY 8

TWO IMPORTANT BALLOT QUESTIONS ON MAY 8: these relate to the operation of Brookline Schools and we encourage you to take the time to vote It is our hope that this information on the ballot questions will support you in deciding how you want to vote on them.  Regardless of how you decide to vote – we urge you to vote and show your children how to participate in civic life!  This is a long but important – please read!

The two questions are both related to overriding the property tax laws of the state which limit increases in property tax increases to 2 1/2 percent annually.  The Select Board of Brookline voted to place two questions on the ballot on May 8th (the full text of the questions is at the bottom of this email):The first question asks voters if they want to permanently increase the Town’s tax levy limit by $6,575,425 in order to fund costs in Brookline Schools ($5,873,642) and in municipal departments ($701,783).A Yes vote will fund the current school budget plus:

  1. increased school staff to maintain class size and services to keep up with enrollment growth (20%);
  2. Contractual increases in teacher salaries (56%),
  3. services for special education (9%);
  4. classroom supplies, intervention support for struggling learners, transportation, and equity professional development (26%)

A No vote will require the School District to make cuts in current operations to fund contractual obligations.  Superintendent Bott projected these in a January School Committee Board presentation which include:

  1. Eliminating 20 positions across the district which would reduce teachers in several schools, reduce paraprofessional support, and reduce professional development for teachers;
  2. Eliminating transportation from South Brookline to the high school, new funding for basic supplies classrooms,  and limiting the district’s ability to use new strategies to resolve conflicts;
  3. Reducing student support in mental health, behavior, and decreasing support for struggling students; and
  4. Reducing professional development for teachers, limiting curriculum coordination and improvements, and delaying technology purchases.

The second question asks voters if they will temporarily increase property taxes to fund some of the costs of the High School expansion through a debt exclusion.A Yes vote will fund the expansion of the High School to accommodate increasing high school enrollment.A No vote will cancel the expansion of the High School, which will result in more students in the current BHS building, increased class sizes and insufficient space for the library, cafeteria, performances, and out of date science facilities.The estimated tax impact of passing both overrides for a median value property in Brookline over a four year period is $1,039 for a single family, $344 for a condo, and $2,263 for commercial.Please read carefully and decide!  And please vote on May 8th!

The Spring Fair Needs You!

SPRING FAIR ON MAY 23rd: The Spring Fair needs YOU! This beloved community event revolves around volunteer support. It takes around 200 volunteer hours to make this event run smoothly. We will need volunteer support from 9:00am-9:00pm the day of the fair. Please consider donating your time and energy to this fabulous end of year event! Sign up sheet HERE. Contact driscollspringfair@gmail.com  for more information.Sign up by Friday, May 4 (9pm) and we will enter your name to win a free Spring Fair wrist band good for all of the rides!For anyone looking to become even more involved, we are in desperate need of new volunteers to help take over the leadership of this event.  This will be the last year for some of our Spring Fair co-chairs, and they would love to pass the torch off to some new parents to make sure this event continues to bring joy to our families in the years to come.  Please email us at driscollspringfair@gmail.com and let us know that we can count on you!

What's Growing in the Driscoll Garden

WHAT'S GROWING ON? Our carrot, snap pea and lettuce seeds have sprouted outside - see if you can spot them. The after school garden class has been learning all about seeds, as we get the raised beds going for the season. Honestly, I’m geeking out about some amazing seed facts. We learned two-thirds of all calories consumed by humans come from the endosperm within seeds. The students enjoyed eating the illustrative sample endosperm (popcorn). And that power-packed sack-lunch a mother plant puts in every tiny pebble-baby-spaceship (a.k.a. seed), is what makes it possible for the embryo to travel great distances of space and time - like the 32,000 year old Silene embryo from Siberia that was germinated in 2012, and then grew to produce it’s own seed. But time isn’t as kind to humans, so we must move on next week, past germination to growth and nutrient cycles, as we nurture our growing voyagers/vegetables.

Let’s all nurture our other voyagers, our students. There is so much potential at Driscoll, to create an awesome outdoor experiential learning environment for the entire school community. But, a lone turd does not a compost pile make. WE NEED YOUR HELP! to make it happen. Become a garden committee member, and share the green glory, and corny humor. Corn!All kidding aside, there are many ways to help, and most of them don’t involve gardening. Creating and maintaining a successful school garden program requires an organized leadership committee to apportion the many tasks involved. It’s a lot of work for a simple gardener, but pieces of cake for a skilled team. You have the skills - bring them. YOU! CAKE!The next Driscoll Garden committee meeting will be Wednesday May 9th, 8:00 am (location TBD). Contact us to get involved: driscollschoolgarden@gmail.com

From the Amy Neale Library

From the Amy Neale Library
 
On May 8, Caldecott Honor winning author/illustrator Melissa Sweet will visit Driscoll for a full day, speaking to students in grades K-5.  Driscoll students are in for a treat! Melissa Sweet is a highly sought after speaker and an incredibly talented illustrator.  Her presentations for K-3 will focus on her picture books (You Nest Here with Me for K &1, Balloons Over Broadway for grades 2 & 3).  Grades 4 and 5 will learn about Driscoll Student Book Award nominee Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White.  This is a must read for fans of Charlotte’s Web!   If you would like to order a book for Ms. Sweet to sign when she is at Driscoll, please print and fill out the form in your child's folder (or on the library's upcoming author visit page) and return by Thursday, April 12.
 
This program is made possible by the Family Giving Campaign and annual book fair.
 
Questions? Contact Ms. Reid, librarian, at anne_reid@psbma.org

The Driscoll Garden Team is Growing

What’s Growing On?The Driscoll Garden team is growing. We had a good turn out Wednesday, for our (re)kick off meeting. We are laying the groundwork for the next phase of garden program development. We are organizing a formal leadership committee to apportion the many tasks involved. We also discussed: articulating a focused mission and goals; utilizing an incremental approach to curriculum integration; ideas for fundraising and community events; and the new after school gardening class.The new parent-lead after school garden class begins this week, and has several students registered. We will be amending the soil, planting the beds, and taking stock of maintenance needs as we make observations in the garden. We will discuss the needs of plants, the differences between native/natural and domestic/cultivated, and relate that to what we know about expected behavior in our community in order to agree on rules for our class and visitors to the garden.Parents have already stepped up to fill some garden committee positions, but there are still opportunities for those willing to help on the committee or to take on specific tasks. Please help us to create an awesome outdoor experiential learning environment for the whole school. Contact us to get involved: driscollschoolgarden@gmail.com

SAY YES.....PTO SECRETARY!

SAY YES.....PTO SECRETARY: The PTO Executive Committee is seeking a Secretary for the start of the 2018-2019 school year. The Secretary is a 3 year term and the position includes both record keeping and communication. The Secretary records the meeting minutes at the Executive Committee meeting each Monday, and records and distributes the minutes at general PTO Board meetings. The Secretary also helps recruit committee chairpersons, and help keep the calendar of events for the PTO. If you think this may be the right fit for you, please email the pto: driscollpto@gmail.com. It's not as hard as you may think it is. Let Alice or Patricia take you out for a coffee and give you the details--it's a fun position--we promise!

Join the Driscoll Garden Team!

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DRISCOLL GARDEN UPDATE: CALLING ALL PARENTS & TEACHERS! Spring is here! (No fooling.) Time to dig in and get growing. THIS WEDNESDAY (April 4th), 8:00am in the library, please join us for the garden committee (re)kick-off meeting. Share your ideas and hear how any skill or passion can help grow the ideal setting for experiential learning. The agenda includes the organization of the committee, goal setting, this spring's garden class and spring fundraising. Have questions? Email: Driscollschoolgarden@gmail.com.

Thank You: Arts Equinox

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THANK YOU ARTS EQUINOX TEAM: With 2018 Arts Equinox in the books, we are grateful to Corinna Pringle and Shannon Hedrick (event Chairs) and Meenakshi Garodia (Music to My Ears) for their dedication and awesomeness in pulling off this amazing two day event. We are also grateful to our art teachers Mrs. Reyelt, and Ms. Taylor, teachers and paras in all grades, our custodians, guidance counselors, parent volunteers, and Mr. Youkilis, and Dr. Talukdar! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This event is made possible through the generosity of our parents who gave during our annual Family Giving Campaign.

Sign up for DASA

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New Tuesdays Minecraft Class Available!Due to popular demand, we have the opportunity to have a second class for our Minecrafters.  NOW TAKING REGISTRATIONS!Please visit: http://driscollafterschool.weebly.comUpdates:The following classes need a couple more sign ups or risk cancellation:- Gardening (grades 1-4)- Wooden Structures & Engineering (grades 1-5)- Mixed Maniac (grades 1-5)- Gymnastics (grades K-3)- Photography (grades 3-8)- Sewing (grades 1-5)Check out all the classes and sign up today:  http://driscollafterschool.weebly.com

Upcoming Author Visits

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From the Amy Neale Library

Thanks to the generosity of Driscoll Families through the annual book fair and the Family Giving Campaign, we have three authors scheduled to visit Driscoll!

On April 25, children’s book author and expert Anita Silvey will speak to the 4th grade about her research for her book Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall.  Her visit will give 4th graders an opportunity to see the real world application of the research skills they learn through their explorer’s project.

On May 8, Caldecott Honor winning author/illustrator Melissa Sweet will visit Driscoll for a full day, speaking to students in grades K-5.  Driscoll students are in for a treat! Melissa Sweet is a highly sought after speaker and an incredibly talented illustrator.  Her presentations for K-3 will focus on her picture books (You Nest Here with Me for K &1, Balloons Over Broadway for grades 2 & 3).  Grades 4 and 5 will learn about Driscoll Student Book Award nominee Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White.  This is a must read for fans of Charlotte’s Web!

And finally, in November 2018, Alan Gratz will visit students in grades 6-8.  Many sixth graders this year read Refugee, his most recent novel, and middle school students will learn more about him in the fall through their ELA classes.  Watch for more details closer to the date!

Author visits inspire students to read, write, and understand the creative process.  Thank you Driscoll Families for making these visits possible!