TBMS Weekly Newsletter - Issue 24-25.02

Posted Date: 9/03/24 (2:01 PM)

Weekly Newsletter | September 3, 2024

Dear Bromfield Middle School Families,

Happy first week of September! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful long weekend.

What a joy it was to welcome all our students into the building last week. Our 6th graders and other new students have transitioned well to Bromfield, as they get the hang of their lockers and moving from class to class. And our returning students have settled nicely into the school routine, as classes prioritized building community to start the year.

In this edition of the newsletter, we share weekly updates from the grade-level and unified arts teams. We also have a couple of quick announcements, including an invitation to Coffee & Conversation with the MS Principal this Thursday, 8:30-9:30 AM, in The Bromfield School Library.

I want to share the content of our opening assemblies, which occurred last Thursday, Friday, and today for grades 8, 7, and 6, respectively. In each assembly, school counselor Kim Faulconer and I set out to emphasize belonging as the focus of our mission at TBMS. As you can see from our slideshow, we highlighted and celebrated the diversity of our student body, defined what belonging looks like at TBMS, and acknowledged past events when some student were denied full access to that sense of belonging. We went on to talk about bullying and harassment, emphasizing that it is all of our responsibility to contribute to a school culture built on learning and joy.

These assemblies come on the heels of the first of a number of trainings our faculty and staff are taking part in about resetting school culture around bullying, harassment, and racism. I was thoroughly impressed by the level of engagement and commitment of our educators during this training on August 27. I look forward to our continued work to ensure that all students at Bromfield are able to feel a sense of belonging and safety at school.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mr. Daniel Hudder
Bromfield Middle School Principal

WEEKLY UPDATES

SIXTH GRADE

Sixth graders spent the first few days building community and learning routines. In Math 6, they painted small river rocks with backgrounds that represented themselves in some way, and then added a word of their choosing related to the growth mindset. The river rocks will remain in Math 6 throughout the school year for reflection. Thank you to the Harvard Schools Trust for the river rocks and acrylic markers!

SEVENTH GRADE
Social Studies: This year in social studies 7th graders will continue to explore ancient civilizations of the world as well as the impact that physical geography had on them. During the first few days of school we began to work on mapping skills, including a challenge from dailytens.com: "Countries with the Longest Coastlines."
FLEX: Discussions and activities have focused on building a strong sense of community within our school. Mr. Hudder met with the entire grade to share messages of belonging and responsibility, and during a smaller group activity, students created bingo boards based on personal preferences and experiences, and tried to find classmates with matching responses. .

EIGHTH GRADE
The entire 8th grade time has been working to build community, both in classes and in Flex block. For example, students in English class played a community-building bingo game before forging ahead with literature circles, while math students explore various elements of "Math About Me" while creating their own Fibonacci spirals. And in Flex block on Friday, the entire grade spent some on the tennis courts doing an activity about identity and belonging.

UNIFIED ARTS
The Bromfield Middle School UA Department is excited to welcome music teachers Sarah Rutkiewicz and Emily Trainor to the team. Both will teach students from 6-12 with Sarah focusing on Chorus and Theater classes, while Emily will teach all band related courses. Please be on the lookout for future updates from Sarah and Emily along with the rest of our MS UA Team (Art, Technology, Health, and Physical Education).

COMMUNITY NEWS AND EVENTS

Harvard Youth Lacrosse

Fall 2024 Skills and Drills Clinic - Registration Open - 9/15-10/25 Come reconnect with your lacrosse teammates & friends after the summer! This six week lacrosse clinic for girls entering grades 1-6. These FUN clinics will introduce and/or reinforce many of the basic skills and game concepts required to play women’s lacrosse.

This is also a great opportunity for players to try lacrosse before the spring 2025 season. Register here: https://harvardlax.org/registration/

Coffee & Conversation with the MS Principal

Please join me this Thursday, September 5, 8:30-9:30 AM, for a chance for you to learn a little about me and help me learn about the school and community. Coffee and pastries will be provided. I look forward to meeting hopefully many of you!

Donate to the Digital Literacy Program!

THE BROMFIELD MIDDLE SCHOOL

Daniel Hudder, Principal

	dhudder@psharvard.org
	https://bromfield.psharvard.org/
	@harvardpublicschools

14 Massachusetts Avenue, Harvard MA, 01451 | (978) 456 - 4145

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