Recently we had a surprise boost in our annual fund moving us closer to our $30,000 goal,  so we want to give a huge thank you to our generous donors!  We are so grateful to you.

We rely on annual fund contributions from you to support community activities such as the recent talk to 8th graders by Holocaust survivor Elly Gotz, Kindness Week twice a year, teacher appreciation luncheons, and more.

Your donations also help support teachers’ classroom libraries and technology and communication tools for the school.

Every dollar counts, so please, give if you can.
Click here to donate.

The more parents the merrier! Please join us on Monday, April 8 at 2:40 p.m. in the lobby of Brown Middle School.

When the bell rings, you will guide our amazing kids out of school (in the cool sunglasses we got them to look at the eclipse!) to the viewing area for this fantastic event. The event should last from until 4 p.m.

Come on, you know you want to be there!

SIGN UP HERE

Any questions please reach out to Janelle Phillips: Janelledphillips@gmail.com.

ECLIPSE HERE WE COME! Oh, and you know Brown Middle School by now—no event would be complete without lollipops!

Parent help needed for May 3 dance

Planning for 8th grade end-of-year events is well underway thanks to Wendy Cohen and Lucy Mermagen, PTO co-chairs for this year’s celebration. Below are the dates planners have determined thus far:

Friday, May 3, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.: 8th Grade Dance—This is now the official date! Parents, we need your help to make the dance a success! 

Sign up here to donate your time or items to the dance.

Friday, June 7: Step Up Day
Monday, June 17: Boston Harbor Boat Cruise
Thursday, June 20: Graduation Rehearsal
Friday, June 21, 10 a.m.: 8th Grade Graduation on the NSHS field

The Newton South High School Booster Club invites Brown Middle School families and future Lions! to its third annual Lions 5K road race on Sunday, May 19 at 9 a.m.!

Open to the public and runners and walkers of all ages, the race starts and finishes at Newton South High School – home of the Lions! Register as an individual, join a team or create one of your own! We especially welcome 8th-grade students and families who will soon be part of the Lion community! (See the Class of 2028 team!)

We also need volunteers to help the race run smoothly. It’s a great way to be part of the action!

All participants who register before May 1, and all volunteers will receive a free T-shirt* and a ticket for our prize drawing! Enjoy food, fun, and prizes in many categories, including the most creative lion-themed running costume!

Come out for a spirited morning with your community.

Click here to learn more, register, or sign up to help.

We hope to see you!

Proceeds of the run support Newton South High School athletics and events activities that build school and community spirit.

*Race T-shirts are guaranteed with registration before May 1 and provided first-come, first-served after.

The Girls on the Run (Heart and Sole) team program is coming back to Brown this spring. The season runs from Monday, April 1— Thursday, May 30, followed by a celebratory 5K on Saturday, June 1.

Practice days are Mondays and Thursdays, 3-4:30 p.m.

Program fee: $225. Sliding scale. Financial assistance is always available.

Contact: Rachel Heep, heepr@newton.k12.ma.us.

Lost and Found closet to be cleared out regularly.

The PTO would like to remind you that parent volunteers clean out the Lost and Found shelves as necessary. Notice is given a week prior to any cleanout.

Any lunch boxes and water/juice bottles are thrown away the week they are found. Please encourage students to check their lockers, classrooms, auditorium, gym, lunchroom, field and home for missing items. Also, please label your items—if at all possible, we try to contact owners before items are removed.

Please note we cannot keep items longer than a month—our rodent problem needs to be managed!

We launched the parent/guardian-run Brown Middle School Art Club in January and have had the pleasure of offering this low-key, social opportunity to all students at Brown for the past two months.

We meet weekly in the Art Room (Room 230) at Brown every Friday after dismissal until 4:05 p.m.

Participants draw, color, enjoy a light snack, and hang out with their friends. They can then take the 4:15 p.m. late bus to their regular bus stop.

Post strike, the club is evolving. Thanks to Kathy Lobo, ELL teacher, for agreeing to be the Brown staff sponsor of the club, we have a bit more flexibility in chaperoning the club moving forward. However, we still want to keep the club open to any parents who would like to chaperone on Fridays.

We will also continue to need help providing snacks and art supplies. Can you provide art supplies, snacks, or contribute an hour of your time on a Friday afternoon?

Please SIGN UP HERE to provide an item or to claim a chaperone spot.

Support in any form is greatly appreciated. Note that all chaperones must complete the CORI/SORI background check process (more information on sign up form).

Caregivers of Brown Middle School students (parents, guardians, and educators – that’s you!) will gather to discuss ideas and share how we can help our kids feel seen, heard, and welcome in the Brown community.

Choose one book and join our discussion. Current choices include “Above Ground,” “Fierce Femmes & Notorious Liars,” “This Is How It Always Is,” and “The Emotional Lives of Teenagers.”

We meet May 8 on Zoom. Facilitated by 6th grade parent Ashia Ray.

Click here to learn more.
Register and ask questions.

Laps at Lunch volunteers still needed
as weather gets warmer

For the complete list of volunteer opportunities CLICK HERE.

To learn more about events and activities the PTO sponsors CLICK HERE.

• Monday, April 8: 8th Grade ELA MCAS
• Monday, April 8, 2:50-4 p.m.: Eclipse watch event after school
• April 13–21: April vacation. No school.
• Friday, May 10 8:30 a.m.: Principal-Parent coffee, in the library

What is SEPAC?
Does your child have an IEP or 504 plan? Are you interested in getting support services for your child? Then you need to know about the Newton Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) at NewtonSEPAC.org.

SEPAC is a volunteer organization of parents of children with special needs from preschool through high school. The group runs an online forum where parents can ask each other about special education programs, issues, policies, and resources both within and outside of the public school system. SEPAC works directly with the school administration regarding children’s special education through our school liaisons, meetings with the Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, and by attending Newton School Committee meetings.

SEPAC holds monthly board meetings that are open to all families. Dates and Zoom links are listed on the website NewtonSEPAC.org under the “Meetings” tab. In the meantime, you can join the “Newton SEPAC” Google Group by clicking on the link on the website. On this online forum, you can post any questions or concerns about anything related to your child with special needs. We also use this group to publicize local/online presentations and conferences as well as DESE policy updates.

ATTEND MONTHLY BOARD MEETINGS:  CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE DATES AND ZOOM LINKS 
JOIN THE ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUP:  CLICK HERE TO REQUEST TO JOIN
NEWTON SEPAC CONTACT: 
Email: Info@NewtonSEPAC.org,
Facebook: Newton Special Education Parents – SEPAC

The Brown-Helping-Brown Fund, established in Spring of 2020, provides quick financial help to Brown Middle School families (usually within 24 hours) to address urgent and immediate needs.

Brown’s administration facilitate these requests with support from the PTO when possible especially with the upcoming holiday season.  All communications are private and confidential. Our school’s administrators also help to connect families in need with additional outside resources.

If you need help, please reach out to your child’s school counselor.

If you are able, please consider a donation to Brown MS’s Fund.

DONATE HERE  and please specify the donation is for BHBF.

Each year the Brown PTO publishes a digital directory for use by the Brown community. To make sure we have your correct contact information, please click the following link to review the steps to add or edit your information.

• Click Here to Add or Update your contact information
• Questions? Contact us at browndirectory@gmail.com 

Join Newton Family Singers on Sunday, May 5 at 4 p.m. at Temple Beth Avodah (45 Puddingstone Lane in Newton) to celebrate the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival and John Fogerty.

Fogerty’s songs present a common man’s view of life in America, with anthems like “Fortunate Son” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” capturing the spirit of the Sixties, and tunes like “Deja Vu (All Over Again)” and “Centerfield” exemplifying personal reflection and resilience. This family-friendly and joyous concert will leave your toes tapping and heart singing.

Details on the concert can be found at www.newtonfamilysingers.org.

Tickets available at https://www.newtonfamilysingers.org/events.html. Adults $20, Kids $15.

Registration for the Healthy Kids Running Series Spring 2024 season – is OPEN.

Activities take place May 19 – June 16 (4 p.m.) at Newton Highlands Playground.

To register: https://healthykidsrunningseries.org/race-locations/newton-ma/

Enjoy 10% off registration for limited time only! Don’t miss out this offer that ends March 31!

Volunteer and sponsor opportunities are available.
Register   Volunteer   Donate

Each summer, United Nations Association of Greater Boston (UNAGB) runs our Summer Institute in Global Leadership, which is a series of weeklong leadership development programs for middle and high school students focused on global issues.

During these programs, participants do a deep dive into the week’s focal topic, hear from impactful guest speakers, work on their public speaking, negotiation, and problem-solving skills, and participate in Model UN simulations.

Click here to learn about this summer’s programs and to register.

UNAGB is committed to ensuring that this opportunity is available to any interested students, regardless of financial background. We have full, partial, and significant scholarships available and the scholarship application process is simple. More information can be found under “Financial Support” here.

The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program is a program for middle school students to work one-on-one with a mentor to explore their academic interests and build a project they are passionate about. Mentors are scholars from top research universities such as Harvard, MIT,  Stanford, Yale, Duke and LSE. The program was founded by a Harvard & Oxford PhD who met as undergraduates at Harvard.

The program is rigorous and fully virtual. We offer need based financial aid for students who qualify. You can find the application in the brochure! To learn more, you can reach out to our Head of Growth, Khushi Malde, at khushi.malde@lumiere.education or go to our website.

Apply by April 13 or May 12 for our Summer 2024 cohort using this application link!

Want to help your neighbors but unable to commit to long-term programs? Come and help with some of the programs run by Newton Neighbors. Sign up to volunteer for a day, a month or multiple days a week, whatever fits your schedule! Involve your kids too!

Food pantry delivery:

We are looking for volunteers who can help deliver groceries from our local food pantries to our neighbors who are unable to get to the pantries on their own.

We especially need drivers for our TUESDAY deliveries from Centre Street Food Pantry.

Our schedule is:

• Tuesdays from Centre Street Food Pantry. Pickup at either 12 p.m. or 12:15 p.m. before the pantry opens to the public.
• Wednesdays from Newton Food Pantry. Scheduled pickups between 12:15 – 2:45 p.m.

It usually takes about an hour of your time and makes a big difference to so many in our community!

Sign up here for January.

Newton Community Freedge:

Newton Neighbors continues to support the Freedge, Newton Food Pantry’scommunity refrigerator and pantry initiative. Located in the parking lot of Central Cleaners at 420 Watertown Street in Nonantum, the Freedge is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and offers free food and personal-care items to anyone in need.

Newton Neighbors oversees volunteers on Thursdays and has volunteer opportunities throughout the day. Activities include picking up food from business partners and bringing it to the Freedge, shopping for items, and cleaning and maintaining the Freedge.

Our link for January signups is here.

Registration for Spring Rec Softball is open! Our Rec program welcomes players, in grades K through 8, of all abilities and experience levels playing softball. Sign up your player(s) at our website. For any questions, please first read our policies and guidelines page on our website.