Important Dates |
- 9/30 BHS Club Fair for Students
- 9/30 BHS Back to School Night - TBD
- 10/4 BHS Building Tours
- 10/11 No School - Indigenous Peoples' Day
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Dear Brookline High School Parents, Guardians, and Caretakers,
Over the last few weeks, Hal Mason and I have been planning for a two-part Back to School Night, with a full program on Thursday 9/30 and an optional tour of the 115 Greenough Street campus on Monday 10/4. We eagerly anticipate BTSN each year. As school leaders, the evening allows us to begin repaying the trust you extend in lending us your precious charges/children. We do this by having BHS teachers, administrators, and student support personnel offer clear, compelling, and helpful presentations. At core, Back to School Night firmly connects parents and guardians to our school community.
Friday’s BEU action places Back to School Night in question. As such, I am checking in with school and district leaders on Monday to see how we can best move forward without teacher participation in our planned Back to School Night on 9/30. As I say repeatedly, teachers do the most important work at BHS. They rightly are the stars of BTSN, so it is currently unclear how the show goes on without them.
As much as I am disappointed in this action and its impact on our Home-School partnership, I also know Brookline High educators continue to toil with and for our students. Dr. Guillory and I saw this firsthand last Thursday when we traveled 3.4 miles of 115 Greenough Street hallways and campus ways to visit every class, office, and community space at the 115 Greenough Street campus. Tappan Gym and OLS are on the schedule for this week. For four straight hours, our new superintendent and I saw countless teachers and staff giving high school students deep care, expert craft, and rich, engaging curricula.
As your principal, I find myself caught in the middle of conflicts like this one between the BEU and School Committee. There is little I can control in this, so I emphasize that the BEU members do Brookline High School’s most important work every day. Similarly, I have experienced both close up and further away our School Committee members devoting hours to serving the community in thankless work. Last year felt nearly impossible at times, and the School Committee gave students, staff, and schools a tremendous amount of support. Within this pandemic context, our faculty, staff, and administration delivered a superb 2020-21 educational program. We continue to execute and shape our BHS and district plans for 2021-22 and also need clarity on critical labor and management issues.
As you, I, and many others communicate about these conflicts it is good to remind ourselves that the young people we bear responsibility for are watching and listening to us. They don’t need our quick or rigid judgements. Rather, students could use the stubborn, optimistic sense that we’re each all in-process, trying to make smart, ethical decisions and improve ourselves as individuals and community members - all in service of them, our 2087 Warriors. Because we care deeply about them and about our various roles in the endeavor, we will disagree and even become deterred. And we have to find the ways forward, together.
Much more concretely, Hal and I will be in touch later tomorrow or early Tuesday with a plan for Back to School Night in light of BEU members postponing their participation. At the very least, Hal, I, and others will hold tours of BHS on Monday evening on 10/4. We invite you into Brookline High School in order to tell you how these buildings and the people in them are working to serve your students and our school community in 2021-22 and well beyond. We look forward to connecting with you soon.
More soon - take care,
Anthony
Anthony Meyer
Head of School
Brookline High School
PGP: He/Him/His
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PERFORMING ARTS PARENT MEETING with Friends of Performing Arts (FoPA)
Tuesday, September 28th 7-8pm on Zoom
All parents and caregivers are invited to FoPA's first monthly meeting of the year. Meet and connect with fellow parents as we work with faculty to support students in their Performing Arts classes and activities. RSVP not required but if you are interested in participating and can't attend this week, please email us at fopa.bhs.pto@gmail.com. Following Meeting Dates to be third Tuesdays monthly: 10/19, 11/16, 12/21. Learn more at www.brooklinefopa.org.
Zoom Info:
https://psbma-org.zoom.us/j/91294744472
Meeting ID: 912 9474 4472
BHS PARENT REPRESENTATIVES NEEDED FOR SCHOOL COUNCIL - Two Open Positions
We invite you to consider running for School Council. Through monthly meetings, representatives stay abreast of BHS happenings and help improve school policy.
By state law, every Massachusetts Public School must form a School Council whose purpose is to advise and assist the head of school to develop a School Improvement Plan (SIP). The Council membership includes administrators, teachers, parents, students, and community. This year, the BHS Council will focus on three issues: 1) Graduation Requirements; 2) Student Support and Administrative Structure; 3) Delivering Equity Content. The group meets monthly from 7:30-8:30am.
Each year, two BHS parents are elected for a 2-year term (for a total of 4 parent representatives on the Council.) If you are interested in becoming a BHS School Council parent representative, please prepare a short statement (no more than 150 words) addressing your interest in the position and what you will bring to the School Council. Please email any questions and submit your statement to copresidents.bhs.pto@gmail.com by Friday, Oct 1st.
Candidates’ statements along with a link to vote (via Google Forms) will be emailed to the BHS parent community on Sun. Oct. 3rd. Parents may vote for two candidates until Friday Oct. 8th.
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OPEN POSITION FOR PTO EXECUTIVE BOARD - METCO LIAISON
Join current METCO Rep Sarah Fox as a co-representative to the PTO Executive Board from the METCO program. Help facilitate effective communication between home and school, and between BHS leadership and METCO leadership. The Executive Board meets once a month on a Wednesday evening from 7pm to 8:30pm, either on zoom or in person at the high school, depending on public health constraints. If you're interested please email the PTO Co-Presidents for more information!
BHS STUDENT GOVERNMENT - OPEN POSITIONS
BHS Government positions are now open for BHS Judiciary (9-12 grade) and BHS Student Council (9-12th grade)! Detailed information and deadlines can be found on our website at https://bit.ly/BHSgov.
BHS DIRECTORY
Are you looking for contact information for a parent or caregiver? Use the Family Directory on the PTO website. This directory is powered by Membership Toolkit. Every year you should update your student information and verify your contact information. Participation in the Directory does not automatically sign you up to receive class specific emails, special groups, and/or the weekly PTO Blast. To sign up for class/activity related emails and the PTO Blast, go to our website at http://www.bhs-pto.org/, click on BHS-PTO Communications and then Sign Up and fill out the appropriate information.
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B-PEN's ( Brookline Parent Education Network)
B-PEN Urges Parent Involvement in Marijuana Discussion. On Thursday Sept. 30 at 9:30 a.m., Brookline’s Town Meeting is holding a public hearing via zoom that will address Warrant Article 7 allowing two more retail marijuana stores in Brookline. To find out more information about B-PEN's stance on this issue, please visit the B-PEN website.
THE SAGAMORE SUBSCRIPTIONS
Brookline High School's student-run, nonprofit newspaper, The Sagamore, is returning to regularly-printed paper issues for the 2021-2022 school year. Subscriptions allow issues of the paper to be widely available to the entire student body, faculty members and parents. Subscriptions of $30 would be greatly appreciated and would ensure that each issue arrives at your doorstep with the latest community news. Thank you! Sign-up form: https://forms.gle/V3SXedwd3Tmfw9iP8
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COMPOSTING AT BHS
Brookline's DPW, in partnership with the climate action group Mothers Out Front, has been overseeing composting at the high school. We are in need of volunteers to help kids know what can be composted - so that the compost collection is usable! The kids are eager for this program - they want to do the right thing for the Earth but many are not experienced with composting themselves.
There is a training coming up or you can get trained one:one by a current volunteer. If you are interested, please contact John Dempsey at: jdempsey64@gmail.com This is a time commitment of a couple of hours a week or less! There is also the option of a coordination role if your time and passion permit. Group training is Sept 27 @ 11 am Volunteer Training @ Larz Anderson Park Pavilion w/ Dept. of Public Works & Solid Waste Advisory Committee. RSVP https://www.opentownhall.com/11122
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
Next school committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 7th at 6:00pm.
BROOKLINE TEEN CENTER
Save the date for BTC's Block Party, Friday, October 1st, 3 -7pm. For the month of September, the BTC will be open from 2:30pm-6:30pm on Thursdays and Fridays starting 9/10. Masks are required for all persons in the building.
VACCINE CLINIC
PSB will host a third COVID vaccine clinic on Thursday, September 30 from 6:30-7:30 pm at Lincoln School. Anyone over the age of 12 may sign up for an appointment here. PSB will continue hosting clinics into the foreseeable future as we want to give anyone who is eligible the opportunity to receive the vaccine, including when the vaccine is made available for our younger learners.
E. KIRRANE AQUATICS CENTER JOBS
The Brookline Pool is currently looking to hire lifeguards, lead swim instructors and swim instructor aides at our facility. For more information on the base skills and age requirements, this website: https://www.brooklinema.gov/1415/Job-Opportunities-NEW or contact Amanda Wong at awong2@brooklinema.gov directly for more information.
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BROOKLINE THRIVES
Brookline Thrives, a free weekend food program for students, resumed on Friday, September 17. Thrives is available to any family who may benefit from additional food options over the weekend. There are no financial qualifications. Register your student to receive Thrives bags at school on Fridays or pick up bags in person on Fridays from 5-6pm at 226 High Street, Community Room or 55R Egmont Street, Community Room. Go to www.brooklinefoodpantry.org/brookline-thrives.html for details, register, or get involved.
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Sports and Extracurricular Events
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Find more info on Fall sports tryouts and schedules are HERE.
Find more info on the Performing Arts at BHS HERE.
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Support BHS
The Brookline High School Parent Teacher Organization is committed to supporting important communications between school and home. It sponsors a variety of events each year designed to show support of the school and to keep parents informed about how to help their children make the most of the BHS experience.
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