News for the Week of March 7, 2022

This Week at Brown School

3/7    P2 Character Strength: Social Intelligence 

         Maize & Blue Monday!

         3rd grade TRAILS group meets at lunch

         Grades due @ 4 p.m. - please email Sara once complete

3/8    Student Council meets at lunch 

     

3/9    Late Start Day (team time)

         TCI Training - Mathey, Brown, VanHekken, Pratley

         Elementary Principal Interviews (p.m.) - Kristen, Sara, Linda & Dan

         4th grade book club at lunch

         Report Cards sent home with students today

         After school art class @ 4pm - registration required 

         Author visit in the media center (p.m.)

        3rd - 5th grades: 1:40-2:40; K-2nd grade 3:00-3:30

                       

                Alternate recess plan (today only)

We will have more students outside than typical, therefore it is important to position yourselves around the playground for active supervision

        

2:15 - 2:30 Y5, K, 1st & 2nd - Zelenock, Grimm, Igoe, Wheaton 

2:45 - 3:00 3rd, 4th & 5th - Hernandez, Lear, Mosher/Carle

3/10   Tornado drill @ 11:15 a.m.

         Staff/SI Meeting  4:00 - 5:00 p.m. in the media center

3/11   Popcorn Friday!

          IEP Day

          Hooker & Grimm to planetarium @ 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

          School Store @ recess

          Reading is a Superpower- wear superhero shirts or capes

          Brown Bear Credit Union @ 8:20 a.m.

          4th & 5th grade TRAILS groups meet at lunch 

Coming Up...

3/14   No School for Students (ECDD - 5th grade only)

Professional Development/ Curriculum Focused Day of Learning - Certified Instructional Staff Only

Y5 - 5th grade teachers: math focused curriculum work at Brown (hosting district team) - agenda to follow

Special Education team & itinerant team: customized learning plan - agenda to follow

3/15   P2 Character Strength: Love of Learning

          Second graders to Sarret Nature Center

          PTO Meeting 12:15 p.m. in M.C. or virtual - Hooker & Zelenock

3/16   Late Start Day (team time)

          After school art class @ 4pm - registration required 

3/17   Kristen, Alyssa & Julia at MACUL conference - Andrew in the office

          Dr. Grant Family Session (staff welcome) 7-8:30 p.m. at Upton

3/18   Kristen, Alyssa & Julia at MACUL conference - Andrew in the office

          Natalie, Ann & Gaby @ training

          Reading is everywhere - wear clothing with words

          Brown Bear Credit Union 8:20 - 8:45 a.m.

          Zelenock's class to planetarium

          TRAILS session for 4th & 5th graders at lunch

          Fire drill @ 3:15

This information was recently shared with our families. You may choose to share a story about one of your many colleagues that show support and dedication to our students as well. 

Let's show our educators they are appreciated!

We want to share your stories about how our educators have shown support and dedication to our students. We are looking for stories about all education personnel – teachers, bus drivers, school lunch staff, paraprofessionals, custodians, coaches, librarians, administrative assistants, and anyone who is an important part of a student’s educational success.

To submit a story about a St. Joseph educator that has made a lasting impact on a student, please send story background, participant names, relevant pictures, and any pertinent information including quotes and specific story elements to Kelly Gaideski, Campaign Contact, at kgaideski@sjschools.org.

Congratulations, Andrew!

Andrew was recently named the Executive Director of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association. What a perfect way to share your passion and knowledge statewide!

Learning & Growing Together

We have several opportunities to learn and collaborate coming up this spring & summer. Thank you to all of our leaders of learning for attending and sharing your knowledge with your colleagues. 

Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Training 

Our crisis response team including special education staff,
general education staff and office personnel are participating in a four-part Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Training (TCI) throughout the month. Our Brown School team includes Kelly Mathey, Bri VanHekken, Andrew Pratley. Schools throughout the district, as well as RESA staff are participating in this training hosted in SJPS. Thank you for attending this vital learning!

MACUL Conference

An in-person MACUL Conference is coming back to Grand Rapids! We are delighted to be able to take several T3s throughout the district, as well as elementary and secondary leaders. We can hardly wait to share what we learn! Thank you to Alyssa for attending on behalf of Brown School and Julia for attending as a district media tech T3!  We are so proud of SJPS' very own Amy Dirlam - she is the conference chair of this statewide learning opportunity. Wow! 

PLC at Work Institute

We can hardly wait to attend Solution Tree's PLC at Work Institute this summer. Dan, Kristi, Ashley, and Erica will join Kristen, Andrew, and Brown's new leader for this impactful learning opportunity with the best in the business. Thank you for your commitment to this essential learning, Team Brown!

Why Teachers Matter When you teach a lesson, you never know how a student may continue to be impacted by it. Thank you for teaching lessons students carry and use years after they leave your classroom, perhaps even for a lifetime. Reason #81: Teachers show us the power of gratitude. Liz remembers Miss Willard:   "I loved Miss Willard’s third grade class because the work she assigned seemed important. My friends in other classes were usually doing worksheets or answering questions from a textbook. Not our class. We were out on the playground measuring angles instead of doing the page on angles in the textbook. So, I wasn’t surprised when Miss Willard found a reason for us to write real letters during a writing unit. Our teacher taught us about headings, greetings, and the body of a letter. But then, she asked us to choose someone helpful in the school to whom we would write a letter of thanks. Some students chose Mrs. Jenkins, the school secretary, and some chose Nurse Chou. I wrote my letter to Mr. Hill, our custodian. Once when I spilled my milk in the lunchroom, he helped me clean it up and made sure I didn’t feel embarrassed. In my letter, I thanked Mr. Hill for being so kind and for taking care of our school. When all of the letters were finished, Miss Willard put them in the mailboxes of the recipients. I still remember that letter writing assignment. Miss Willard took a lesson that could have been mundane and made it meaningful. Writing letters to the helpers in our school showed me that there is a purpose for writing. I learned that putting my feelings of gratitude into words made both me and the recipient happy. I’ve continued the practice of writing letters of gratitude. And long after I left her classroom, I sent a letter of thanks to Miss Willard." Who do you remember, Brown School Staff? What students will share a story of your impact? You're making memorable moments every day.