TBMS Weekly Newsletter - Issue 26-27.08

Dear Bromfield Middle School Families, 

This week I want to highlight two organizations that do so much for our schools and community: the Harvard Schools Trust and the Harvard Parent-Teacher Organization.

For decades, the Harvard Schools Trust has provided grants that allow teachers and students to pursue opportunities that might not otherwise be possible within the school budget. Its many contributions include the murals that brighten our middle school stairways, field trips and other enrichment opportunities, and our partnership with Jamele Adams around love, inclusion, and trust. The Trust's generosity has enriched the educational experiences of countless students throughout Harvard.

The Harvard PTO supports our schools through fundraising, grants, volunteer efforts, and community events that also help strengthen connections among families, educators, and the broader community. The PTO helped fund our partnership with Jamele Adams, as well as the Grade 7 trip to Boundless Adventures. Beyond these programs, I am especially grateful for the many ways the PTO supports our teachers and staff throughout the year, often in ways that families may not even see.

Both organizations are powered by dedicated volunteers and the generosity of our community. We are incredibly fortunate to have people who give so freely of their time, energy, and resources to support our students and schools. I encourage families to visit their websites to learn more about their work and consider getting involved or supporting their efforts. To everyone involved with the Trust and PTO, thank you for all that you do!

One of Harvard's great traditions returns next Friday at 6:30 PM in the Bromfield Gymnasium: the 57th annual Staff-Senior Competition! This year's volleyball game raises money for scholarships for graduating seniors. Last year, the event raised $3,000 and funded six scholarships! I'll be competing in the games - four little Hudders in tow! Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students. I hope to see you there!

Thank you to the parents and caregivers who stepped forward as candidates for our two open School Council positions! I genuinely value the perspectives our parent/caregiver representatives bring to conversations about TBMS. Now it's time for families to have their say. Please cast your ballot by Saturday, October 17. You'll find the ballot and additional information later in today's newsletter. I encourage all TBMS families to participate!

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Bromfield Middle School Principal

Upcoming Events:

Upcoming Celebrations & Observances:

If you have an announcement, event, reminder, or other information you would like included in the newsletter, please email your request to mscarborough@psharvard.org. We’d love to help share your news with The Bromfield Middle School community!

In 6th grade ELA we just wrapped up our first unit centered on inclusivity and academic habits (annotating, studying vocabulary, etc.). Students have also been working on writing complex sentences using techniques such as conjunctions and appositives. Next we’ll be doing a 3 lesson “writing bootcamp” before moving on to our first class text, Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. Ask your students what they learned about wild bee populations, strong topic sentences, and outlining paragraphs!

Please support our continued vocabulary instruction by ensuring your student has index cards. If needed, we’ve been cutting up paper to use for flashcards as my classroom stash has already been depleted. 

This week marked our first quiz in social studies. Students demonstrated their ability to work with latitude and longitude lines and their understanding of the academic vocabulary associated with these skills.  Next, we will identify the attributes and limitations of various map projections, learn how to read a time zone map, and explore universal elements of culture. After building this foundational knowledge, we will begin our first regional unit of study: Africa!  Please thank your 7th graders on my behalf for staying on task this week.  I have been out to be with my mother who is nearing the end of her days, and I have heard nothing but good reports from Ms. Silver, my substitute.

Academic and targeted support, enrichment opportunities, and time to address areas for improvement identified in last week’s progress report have been the focus of FLEX this week.

In English language arts, we emphasize that understanding literature happens through previewing text, looking for theme patterns, and closely re-reading.  This recursive habit of mind is crucial to confident reading -- especially so with word recognition and challenging vocabulary. Over the past week, we've emphasized how to actively read using context clues, word parts, and background schema in order to unpack what a challenging passage or vocabulary word means. Our mentor text is Steinbeck’s The Pearl, and a list of some of the words we understand from chapter three is here: avarice, judicious, semblance, dissembling, subjugation, benediction, lucent, and cozened.  In sum, one of our core learning goals is for all students to understand all of the vocabulary in The Pearl by using reading strategies, including closely rereading for vocabulary.

In Flex this week, students made great use of academic support time to collaborate, meet with educators, and study.  On Friday, students dropped everything and read choice texts from the Harvard Public Library, which we researched and checked out in English language arts class visits to the library this week.  On DEAR days (which stands for “Drop Everything And Read”), students read silently from the text they chose from the Harvard Public Library.  DEAR days aim to increase the students’ motivation and enjoyment of reading while also gaining the many benefits of the act of reading.

The Harvard Schools PTO is overseeing an election to fill two open Parent/Caregiver Representative positions on The Bromfield Middle School Council beginning this school year. The openings are for up to 3-year terms, provided you have a child at TBMS. The school council, which functions at the mandate of the state Department of Education, is a representative, school-building-based committee, composed of teachers, parents, and community members and is co-chaired by the school principal and a parent representative. The council meets monthly and its purpose is to assist the principal in carrying out specific responsibilities. Learn more HERE. Eligible candidates will have a student at TBMS during the 2026-2027 school year. Please be advised that if your student leaves TBMS during your 3-year term then a new representative will be elected for the remainder of the term.

Thank you for your participation!

The PTO is a membership-based volunteer organization for HES and TBS. Our primary goals are to raise money to support the student experience, and create programs in support of our teachers, staff, and community, such as Teacher and Staff Appreciation. With the help of critical annual membership donations, we fund over $25K of teacher and staff-requested grants each school year, for stuff like $1K towards field trips for each grade, library books, scholarships, and much more.  Please consider joining or renewing your membership today!

The PTO supports the whole Harvard Public School community. Even when your children transition to TBMS and TBS, the PTO is still hard at work supporting them! From academic enrichment and classroom resources to student programs and special events, PTO-funded grants make a real impact at every grade level. We invite all school community members to be part of this work. Curious how PTO funds are used? Check out recently funded grants here. Ready to make a difference today? Join the PTO and help continue these valuable programs by becoming a member here. Want to get involved, or have questions? Email info@harvardpto.org

Harvard Youth Basketball Registration Is NOW OPEN!

Registration is now open for the upcoming Harvard Youth Basketball season!

Our programs include opportunities for players of all ages and abilities — from our youngest players just getting started to competitive league play and adaptive basketball.

Register today a harvardbasketball.org