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Welcome Brackett Families. If you have news to share with the community, please email your update to Brackettnews@gmail.com.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Save the Dates
No Early Morning Reading
Brackett Bank is Open Friday
Brackett Chess Night Friday
Brackett Textile Recycling Challenge
Green Team News
DIG Events
Brackett Community Art Show
June Fair
Box Tops
Community News:
Robbins Farm Park Clean Up Day
Robbins Library Gardening Event and New Board Member Search
AEF Stars Program
Soap Box Derby
Arlington High School Upcoming Vote
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Save the Date:
4/30 - Early Release at 1PM (Lunch will be served)
5/7 - Early Release at 1PM (Lunch will be served)
5/14 - Early Release at 1PM (Lunch will be served)
5/17 - Brackett Community Art Show
5/21 - Early Release at 1PM (Lunch will be served)
5/27 - No School - Memorial Day
5/28 - Early Release at 1PM (Lunch will be served)
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There will be NO Early Morning Reading this week.
Please join us on May 9th for Early Morning Reading in the Library. See you in May!
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Brackett Bank Open This Friday 
Brackett Bank will be open this Friday, 26th. If you want to open an account or have any questions, please email brackettbank@gmail.com.
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Brackett Chess Night - Friday Night! 
Please join us this coming Friday, April 26th for the first ever Brackett Chess Night!
Players of all ages are invited to play chess from 6:30pm to 8:00pm in the Brackett Cafeteria. Chess boards will be provided (but if you have one, and don’t mind bringing it, that will be appreciated as well).
PLUS: If you have friends at other Arlington Elementary Schools who would like to join, feel free to invite them.
Brackett Chess Club coordinators John Chiaverini and Mike Stern will be at the event to help arrange matches.
For more information contact:
John Chiaverini: john.chiaverini@gmail.com
Michael Stern: massinvestor@gmail.com
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Brackett Textile Recycling Competition: April 22 - April 26
Brackett will be competing against all Arlington Public Schools to collect the most textiles during the competition week and to win a prize and town recognition.
Drop off your textiles (all old, worn, torn clothes, shoes, bedding, stuffed animals, etc) to the Bay State Textiles collection bin outside your school from April 22nd - April 26th.
Here is more information about textile recycling and why it's important:
https://www.mass.gov/guides/massdep-textile-recovery
https://www.smartasn.org/SMARTASN/assets/File/resources/SMARTInfographTextileRecycling.pdf
https://www.smartasn.org/SMARTASN/assets/File/resources/SMARTDoubleLifeofRecycledTextiles.pdf
For questions about the competition, you can contact Rachel Oliveri, School Sustainability Coordinator, at roliveri@arlington.k12.ma.us.
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Brackett Green Team News 
Brackett Green Team will not be meeting this week but see below for the many activities planned for the school community this week and next to celebrate Earth Day!
Week of April 22nd-26th
TEXTILE RECYCLING COMPETITION! Drop off your old, worn, torn clothing, shoes, bedding, and stuffed animals to the collection box in front of the school and help Brackett win the district-wide competition!
ARLINGTON ECOWEEK Learn, take action, and celebrate during this week of ecological inspiration, with something for everyone! Events are free and open to the public. Click here for the full schedule of events!
MONDAY, APRIL 29TH
NATURE ADVENTURE WALK
Kick off Brackett's Earth Day activities by joining us for an Adventure Walk to Menotomy Rocks Park! Come enjoy the outdoors and play some nature games. Meet at the flagpole at 2:30pm (return to school by 4:15pm). Parent permission required (sign up here).
TUESDAY, APRIL 30TH
BRACKETT PLAYGROUND CLEANUP
Join us after school around the playground and Cricket Field as we put on some gloves and collect litter to be thrown away or recycled.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1st
WASTE FREE WEDNESDAY
Pack a lunch using reusable or recyclable containers—nothing disposable! Try to eat more of your lunch or save it for a snack later in the day. Let’s see how much less we can throw out this day!
THURSDAY, MAY 2nd
REUSABLE BAG MAKING (during library time in school)
Magically transform an old t-shirt into a handy reusable bag with just some scissors and knot-tying! Check out books from the library and carry them home in your new bag!
FRIDAY, MAY 3rd
GREEN FILM FESTIVAL
Join us after school from 2:30-3:30pm in the Music Room for popcorn and fun as we screen some entertaining environmentally-themed videos, including those created by our very own Brackett Green Team!
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Upcoming DIG Events
More Courageous Conversations about Race with Our Children: Tuesday, April 30 from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm in Brackett Auditorium
Dr. Liza Talusan, a nationally recognized educator on issues of diversity and inclusion, is returning to lead us in a follow-up workshop that will further our learning about the challenges and opportunities in talking about race and racism with our families. Please join us whether or not you attended the first workshop! Here is an interview of Liza talking about the first event: https://acmi.tv/videos/talk-of-the-town-liza-talusan/
Register here: http://tinyurl.com/CC2-register
FB event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1808483885919928/
Introducing the new DIG website!
Please visit our new website at https://sites.google.com/view/brackettdig
At our website we have a variety of resources to support families and educators in reinforcing diversity, equity and inclusion as valued parts of the culture at Brackett. We also highlight the great successes that Brackett educators have had in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Visit our website to check out the Black History Month celebration in Ms. Pires' 5th grade classroom!
Monthly meeting
Please join us for our next Brackett Parents Diversity & Inclusion Group (DIG) meeting Tuesday, 5/21/19, Brackett School Library from 6:30-8:30 PM.
Mini-topic for discussion: "Social Emotional Learning"
May Guests: Tracy Breen and Kelsey Vail, Brackett Elementary Social Workers
Stay tuned for parent and student resources!
To find out more about DIG and ways you can help a little or a LOT, please join our mailing list: brackettdig@gmail.com or visit our sign-up genius for lots of one off ways you can support Diversity & Inclusion efforts at Brackett.
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Brackett Community Art Show is May 17th, 6-8PM
Brackett's Community Art Show is a wonderful night where our community comes together to view art and get our creative juices flowing with hands-on art projects. We welcome all artwork submissions (drawings, paintings, sculpture, mobiles, lego-built creations, etc.) from students, parents, teachers, neighbors, siblings, grandparents... anyone with a connection to our neighborhood or Brackett.
Art Projects: ANY artwork is welcome (that includes artwork created in school or from previous years).
Musicians may plan to attend and play their instruments in the cafe.
Please note: Art must be ready to hang (i.e. framed and/or mounted) to be included in the show.
Thank you to our dedicated group of parent volunteers for making the Art Show a reality again this year.
Questions and Support? Please contact Eric Holmes at ej4holmes@gmail.com or Katherine Shozawa at kshozawa@gmail.com.
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Save the Date for The June Fair: Sunday, June 9th
It’s (sort of) starting to feel like spring! Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Brackett's June Fair: Sunday, June 9th!
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Clip BOX TOPS to Earn Money for Brackett!
Box tops can be turned into your child's teacher or in the main school office. To make counting easier, please tape or glue in groups of 10 or 25 on a sheet of paper. Don't forget to check the expiration date! Grandparents can clip them, too.
Questions: Christina.mamlouk@gmail.com
www.boxtops4education.com
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Brackett has a Facebook Page!
Please "like" our FaceBook page and stay up-to-date on school events and news. You can find us here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/227346734350605/
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Join the Friends of Robbins Farm Park for our first Event of the Year!
Bring your trowels, rakes, leaf rakes, shovels and pruning shears and meet your neighbors at the Park! And while we’re there, we’ll celebrate the crocus, daffodils and tulips planted at Robbins Farm Park last fall!
At 1pm, bring your kites as well and hope for good wind at one of the area’s best kite-flying locations. If you come early and help in the cleanup, you’ll get a free kite.
FoRFP Volunteer Dick Harmer, our neighborhood "Kite Man," will bring his fantastic collection of colorful kites to share with the kids and will provide instruction.
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The Friends of Robbins Library invite all to their courtyard gardening event (next to Robbins) on Sunday, April 28th from 10 AM- 1 PM. Come garden and learn about The Friends of Robbins!
The Friends of the Robbins Library Board is looking for new members (including someone who would be interested in program development). Volunteering for the board is a great way to become involved with the library and meet new people! Everyone is welcome at their monthly meetings, which occur the first Tuesday of every month (May 7 and June 4) at 7:15 p.m. at the Robbins Library. Please contact Chairperson Ruth Hershruthhersh@gmail.com for questions or more information.
For April, The Friends of Robbins is the Not Your Average Joe’s cause of the month. Mention The Friends of Robbins to your server and 15% will be donated to them.
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The Arlington Education Foundation Stars program is a way to say, “Thank you for all you do!”
For a donation of $20 or more, the teacher of your choice will receive a certificate that honors him or her with a gift in his or her name. You will receive a receipt for your tax-deductible donation.
Stars donations go back into our schools as funding for AEF grants both large and small. Read more about AEF grants here: https://www.aefma.org/for-educators/explore-our-grants/
You can give a teacher a Star at any time during the year, but the deadline is April 25th to ensure delivery in time for Teacher Appreciation Week beginning May 6th.
Give your Star Online: https://www.aefma.org/support/give-a-teacher-a-star/
Thank you!!
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Soap Box Derby: June 8th 
The 2019 Arlington Soap Box Derby will be held Saturday, June 8th on
Eastern Ave, right in front of Brackett! Interested children age 7
and up can build a car to race - the club has plenty of cars available
to rent. Please visit https://sites.google.com/view/arlingtonsoapboxderby/
or contact Brackett parent Chris Chiappa at chris@chiappa.net for more
information.
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Arlington High School Upcoming Vote
Did you know that Arlington has an important vote coming up on Tuesday, June 11th? There are two questions on the ballot—a debt exclusion question and an operating override question.
The first vote relates to the rebuilding of Arlington High School with substantial aid from the state. As you may know, we must replace our old and substandard high school to accommodate growing enrollment and maintain the school's accreditation. The second vote replenishes the Town's stabilization fund, so we can adequately fund our teachers, police, and other critical town services. Through careful fiscal management, this is the first time the town has had to replenish the fund in 8 years.
One place to find out more about this election is at the Build Arlington's Future campaign www.buildarlingtonsfuture.com
Questions? Feel free to reach out to the following Brackett area precinct captains:
P10: Gabi Eisner gabriellakaplan@gmail.com. (mom to Danielle grade 2) or Danuta Forbes danutaf17@gmail.com
P12: Mary Wu marytibb@yahoo.com (mom to Henry grade 4 and Simon grade 2), Charlie Toulmin toulminc@gmail.com (dad to Hannah grade 3), or Kim Kapner kimberlykapner@mac.com
P14: Mike Stern massinvestor@gmail.com (dad to Hannah grade 5) or Carol Svenson svenson2@gmail.com
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For daily updated calendar and event information, please check the Brackett Website at http://brackettelementary.org/
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