Last week we had our All School Meetings and celebrated all we had accomplished during Random Acts of Kindness Week in February.  True to his word, Mr. Gogolos, our fabulous Physical Educator had a fantastic surprise for everyone at Brown School.

After singing and sharing signs of spring and distributing the March birthday pencils, we all danced to the Itsy Bitsy Spider by Go Fish, not your typical rendition of this old favorite.  Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in taking a video of the students but trust me when I say it was the most joyful moment I have experienced at Brown School in two years.

Please watch the video on youtube which is set to the music we heard.  The students have not seen this video, but they can show you all their moves!  You will find yourselves singing this tune long after your computer (and dare I say, your child??!!!) has gone to sleep!

Enjoy!_
Itsy Bitsy Spider

The Brown School students rose so beautifully to our challenge to commit 100 acts of kindness during Random Acts of Kindness Week.  Not only did they reach their goal, they surpassed it!  We needed not one thermometer to measure, not two, but THREE thermometers to count the 267 acts total throughout the school!  

The students were clearly so proud at our All School Meetings on Tuesday as we counted.  As well, they were especially well-behaved for our guest reader, Kate Middlemiss (or Mrs. M), mother of six-year old Joseph Middlemiss and inspiration behind his family's All You Need Is Love Mission.  We found Kate through Miss Tanasi, one of Brown School's Pre-School Teachers.  (You can read more about Joseph's story, his family and their mission here... ) Kate did not share anything about the details of Joseph's passing with the students, nor did she share that he had passed.  She did, however, generously leave behind a big basket of books for our school in memory of Joseph and to spread his love, kindness and compassion.

Kate read a lovely book called Heartprints to our students, all about how you leave a heartprint behind when you do or say something kind to someone.  This tied in so beautifully with our message and our overall school message and philosophy about bucket-filling.

Thank you for following up at home about acts of kindness...next month we will be doing something special with Mr. Gogolos, our Physical Education Teacher, during our All School Meetings to honor their hard work and focus on kindness.

Keep up the great work, Brown School!!!

At our All School Meeting this week, we rolled out our new initiative...celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 10-14.  Research shows that students who learn in a positive environment have a better school experience — they enjoy higher test scores, learn new skills at a faster rate, and are overall happier at school. 


As I explained to the students, random means something that is unplanned, or a surprise or unexpected.  When you show someone a random act of kindness you are doing something nice for them that you didn't plan to do - you do it without thinking.

Wait a minute!  It is just like being a bucket filler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (See video from post in November.)

So, each classroom is going to get a fancy bucket and some things to put in the bucket.  When your teacher sees someone in the classroom being kind to someone else, your teacher will ask you to get a popsicle stick and a sticker, put the sticker on the popsicle stick, put your initials on the sticker and put the stick in the bucket.  

We are going to see if all the students together in Brown School can be kind 100 times before Valentine's Day. Popsicle sticks will be grouped in bundles of 10, because after all, this also falls around the time we are celebrating the 100th day of school!  We will all count them together at our next All School Meeting at the end of February.  We have a big thermometer to help us count for the whole school and we are looking forward to filling it in!  


Ask your child how they are doing, themselves, as a class and as a whole school community!  Thanks for catching them being kind at home to help us reinforce this life-long important character building skill.

Hello Brown School Families!

We have spent a lot of time over the last month talking about being thankful, filling buckets and holiday traditions.  We hope you spent some time looking at our video on my last blog post and learned all about our philosophy of bucket filling at Brown School.  

As the book says, bucket filling doesn't cost a thing!  Smiling at someone, telling someone you love them and why, helping without being asked are all great examples of bucket filling.  Ask your son or daughter ways they can fill a bucket...they will know exactly what you are talking about and will be able to tell you how they have filled a bucket at school or at home.

At our December All School Meetings, students are coming with buckets they have colored in and written on about ways they fill buckets.  These will be hung all over the school so students can see so many ways they can fill buckets every day of the year.  What better gift is there than to teach a child to give of him or herself?

It is such a privilege to be part of the Brown School Community and partnering with all of you in the development of your children.  Truly, my bucket overflows each and every day.  No matter what holiday you celebrate, we at Brown School wish your family much peace, love, health and happiness for the holidays and 2014.

The students at Brown School have been talking about all they are thankful for throughout the month of November.  Some have made us laugh out loud and some have made us sigh and smile.

At our All School Meetings this week, our teachers gave the students a very special treat.  We made a movie of the teachers and staff members reading our very favorite book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?  and they so enjoyed seeing everyone they love at school reading a book to them. 

This Thanksgiving, I am so thankful for my job at Brown School and the opportunity to work with your children and the most amazing and dedicated group of educators I have ever known.  So, I am sharing our video with you.  Watch it together and ask your children who they recognize and why they are so special.  You'll be so glad you did!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Bucket Filling Movie

Hello Brown School Families!

The end of October is when the Brown School hosts our Annual Boo Bash.  It is a night not to be missed and this year was no exception!

Miss Stanley, one of our fabulous new teachers, put together a slide show of photos that were taken that evening of everyone in their regalia.  The slide show was shown to students and staff at our monthly All School Meeting on Halloween Day, which was a fabulous way to add to the festivities!

Please watch it with your children and enjoy!  They will love to point out their friends and teachers to you!

Boo Bash Video

Hello Brown School Parents!

I can't believe we are almost at the end of October!  As the teachers and staff and I have gotten to know the students at Brown School, we saw some needs for different groups during the school day.  We will be working on all kinds of skills together and learning from one another.  After thoughtful consideration, the teachers identified some students who may need some extra support and TLC in some areas and we worked together to come up with a schedule.

Lunch groups will also be happening during the lunch periods.  The kids LOVE this, and so do I!!!  Once per week, students in the regularly scheduled lunch groups will meet with me and they will also take turns and invite a guest to lunch group with them.  We talk about all kinds of things and work on table manners, appropriate table conversation, how to have a conversation and have lots of fun.

I am looking forward to receiving all the permission slips that were sent home last week so we can get all of the groups started!  I apologize to Mrs. Herzig's class, who got them much later than everyone else. 

See you all at the Halloween Boo Bash on Friday!

Welcome incoming and returning pre-school and kindergarten families!  We are all so excited to see you this week as you start your adventure at Brown School!

No matter what you may do for a living, the difficulty of that job pales in comparison to the difficulty of the other job which you all have in common - being a parent.

We are all so interested in our children and we all love them, that goes without saying.  We all want what is best for them, not only in terms of physical necessities of life, but in terms of the growth and development of the total child; the functioning human being who will one day have to make his or own way in this world as part of the human family.

We know that you are entrusting us with your children, and as your child starts the journey in education, know that we want to listen, to appreciate, to understand and to share.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or concerns.

We here at Brown School are coming to the close of 2012-2013!  To that end, there have been and will be some important things happening.

Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Mascia, the Principal and Vice-Principal of Bresnahan, respectively, came to visit all our kindergarten classrooms and read a photo story about a day in the life of a first grade student at Bresnahan.  Look to the right sidebar to view or download this book First Grade Photo Book with your child and they will tell you all they learned.  The students asked a lot of questions and they were all answered.  We understand that many more questions might come up and we are prepared to answer them as they arise.

As well, the students had an exciting field trip to Bresnahan School on Monday!  They saw first grade classrooms, the cafeteria, the gymnasium, the office, the nurses' office, the library; other than being able to play for a significant time on the playground, their most exciting experience was watching the construction of the new school in process.

For those students in pre-school moving on to kindergarten and remaining at Brown School, the pre-school staff will be taking their students on an informal tour of the second and third floor, including the library, technology lab, art and music rooms. 

We will continue to talk about the transition to kindergarten or first grade with all the students at Brown over the next week.  Please reach out to your child's teacher if he or she is showing signs of anxiety or if they or you have any questions.

I welcome the Brown School Community to my blog!  It has been a few months since I first asked if a blog would be something you are all interested in.  I have stepped out of my comfort zone and taken these steps with technology to communicate with everyone.  I suppose if I don't take risks, it would be unfair of me to ask my students to take risks, so here is my inaugural blog post.

We are entering the time of school year where we are doing a lot of talk about transitioning to Bresnahan School for first grade.  As well, some of our pre-schoolers will be transitioning to kindergarten within Brown School.  This is a very exciting time!

As well, it can be a time full of anxiety over the unknown.  As I read with the students this year, in Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes, Wemberly asks a lot of questions as she worries about her new school experience:  What if no one else has spots?  What if no one else wears stripes?  What if no one else brings a doll?  What if the teacher is mean?  What if the room smells bad?  What if they make fun of my name?  What if I can't find the bathroom?  What if I hate the snack?  What if I have to cry?

We are cognizant of how your children may be feeling about the big changes coming up.  To that end, there are many activities scheduled to assuage that anxiety.  We will be taking the current kindergarten class to Bresnahan school twice - once for a tour and once for the groundbreaking for our new school.  While there, they will meet the teachers and get a lay of the land so to speak.  Among other activities, Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Mascia, the Principal and Vice-Principal of Bresnahan School, will be coming to Brown School to read to each of the kindergarten classes and talk to them about first grade.

One of the many great things about this transition is that there are many teachers, like me, who work both at Brown and Bresnahan, so your children will be sure to see some familiar faces.  In the meantime, before the school year is through, I will be using this blog to post different activities and items of interest for your and your child to discuss about moving on.  I will let you know when a new post has been added so you can be sure not to miss anything!