Dear Brooklin Families,

It is so wonderful to hear the sounds and laughter of children as they arrive in the mornings and head to the gymnasium for daily morning meetings. This year, we paired up older and younger students together for morning meeting and monthly hang out sessions. This is beneficial to all. The older students get an opportunity to

mentor and model for a younger student, and the younger students have someone to look up to and ask questions to. This month, we had our first Sidekick Hang-Out, the Friday of the early release day. Students got together in their chosen Houses— and ate lunch together, read in the library together, had recess, and participated in some team building activities. The smiles on their faces were priceless!

Students in grades 5-6

will be going to Schoodic for a three day off-campus adventure and the 7-8 students are currently at Camp Kieve for a near week-long leadership adventure. 7th and 8th grade students will begin a sail-making class with Eric Blake beginning this month and students in grades five through eight will be working with local author Ellen Booraem on a process writing piece that is crafted through hours and hours of brainstorming, drafting, editing, and revising. The third and fourth grade students will have an opportunity to learn about food preparation and nutrition when they team up with Edible Island and the first and second grade students will get to do some gardening and visit the Hundred Acre Woods.

We are very excited to welcome four new staff members to our team.

Jennifer Crafts joins us as an Ed Tech III and will be working in the lower elementary wing. Marleina Ford is our new music teacher. She is excited to start preparing musical productions for Veterans’ Day as well as winter and spring performances. Sara Phillips joins us as our new performing arts teacher and is also excited to begin preparations for winter and spring musical and theatrical productions. Kelly Slaven, our new Title I and Special Education provider, joins us each afternoon to help support our students in math and reading.

Mr. Neal Kennerk has created inviting, organized spaces for both media/library and art integration. Mr. Kennerk is working closely with the teachers to align and integrate media and art studies with content and concepts being addressed and covered in all disciplines.

Kristin Eberdt is teaching a Social Emotional Learning curriculum for students in grades K-8 one day per week. One of our union goals is to focus on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) systems to deal with behavior problems/bullying/learning difficulties: RTI, Restorative Justice, Collaborative Problem Solving, adapting curriculum to include building on oral learning styles.

Baby Announcement

As many of you may already know, Mrs. Baird is pregnant! Her family is so excited to be welcoming their newest member in early January. Mrs. Baird is planning to be at home starting on January 2, 2020 and returning after February vacation on the 24th. We will have a wonderful replacement for Mrs. Baird while she is out. Parents of students in grades 1+2 will be invited to meet their child’s substitute teacher in early December. Be on the lookout for the invitation. The substitute will have an opportunity to spend ample time with Mrs. Baird learning the students and their routines. Joyful learning will continue to take place in the first and second grade classroom. We cannot wait to meet Baby Baird in January! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Student-Led Conferences

This year, your sons and daughters will be the stars of their own learning. They will lead you through an explanation of what they have been learning, why it is important, and how they know they have learned it. You are in for a treat during student-led conferences.

Open Door

As always, we have an open-door policy at the Brooklin School. If you ever need to discuss anything, have questions or concerns, or just want to check-in, please do not hesitate to contact us. This promises to be an incredible year. Thank you for being part of such an amazing and unique community where it always feel like we are all in this together.

Most Sincerely,

Jil Blake, Principal

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Once again, teachers are offering mini six-week courses for our Exploration Block of time which meets each Tuesday morning from 9:30-10:15. This time around, students selected from the following courses: Chess, Chorus, Lego Robotics, iMovie, Italian, and Toy Tinkering.

If you have not had a chance to check out our new website, here it is! Amy Bebell, our technology coordinator is working hard to make sure our website is up to date and users friendly for parents, families, and visitors. http://brooklin-es.u76.k12.me.us/

Come join us each and every Friday of the school year for coffee, pastries, and good old-fashion conversations. This is a chance to see your neighbors, make new friends, and find out what’s going on in the school. https://www.facebook.com/events/807840036279654/