It is evident to me that our students are growing in the very important connection to themselves. This means listening to themselves, connecting with the activities that surround them and what it means for them, understanding how the ideas in a text, a composition or presented by a teacher connect to their experiences and core beliefs.

I see a growing connection that our students have to their work in school showing intensity and focus as they produce final products, and to their classmates demonstrating empathy and comradeship as they work feverishly to meet timelines on projects. Grades connect to other grades through peer teaching and ensembles in different orchestras, in preparation for upcoming concerts. Connection to parents and with other parents is inspiring to behold as they are seen working together on a number of annual fund-raising activities for the school.

Connections to the larger community continue to grow at every level. We reach out and connect beyond our school doors to our surrounding neighbors in Brighton, form collaborations with other academic and musical organizations, develop joint proposals with a variety of schools with whom we share kinship either in Expeditionary Learning, music or both or to whom we can be a mentor. We are an avenue to discovering new approaches to core curriculum for teachers from other districts. There is a mutuality of effort and goals with which we even connect with our public and elected officials!

Have a good weekend.

Warmly,

Ms. Lam

Diana Lam

Mass Secretary of Education Visits Lower School

Matt Malone, the MA Secretary of Education made a special visit to the Lower School on Tuesday and was so impressed he plans to come back to visit the Upper School this spring. He had heard so much about our school and he wanted to see and hear for himself from our students and teachers what makes the school such a special place.

Sec. Malone's first stop was the 2nd grade where all 50 students were together to make observations of their classroom snake, Jewels. He asked the students to explain their note-taking strategies and tell him what they had learned about snakes so far. Next he stepped into 1st grade and spoke to the teachers about their educational background and why they like working at the school.

After trying out a couple of paper instruments, Sec. Malone and his aides were ready to observe K1 music where Mr. Cordes was leading the class in a song of welcome and introduction. The group, led by Ms. Sevelius and Ms. Lam, finished the tour in K2 where they could sit in on reading groups. Sec. Malone praised the high quality of the teaching, particularly the differentiated instruction as all the students were clearly engaged and challenged by the work. He and his assistants were also impressed by the behavior and calm attitude they saw in every classroom despite large groups and unusual classroom configurations.

We are looking forward to the Secretary's visit to our Upper School sometime in the spring.

Climate Change Rap

MC Oasis, a local hip hop artist and co-founder of the group La Lengua de Mi Barrio that uses hip hop to transform communities through nonviolence in the U.S. and Colombia, is working with our 5th graders to create a rap about the most important environmental issue of our times--climate change. Students have been working in expert groups to explore how climate change affects seven regions around the globe from disappearing sea ice in the Arctic to intense hurricanes in the Caribbean islands to threatened coral reefs in Australia to droughts in the Midwest and Western Africa. How do you write a rap about rising sea levels in the Maldives or increased risk of malaria in Southeast Asia due to the expanding range of mosquitoes?

The 5th graders are applying a hip hop artist's skills--rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration--to synthesize their learning with a plea for people to wake up to the threat of climate change and to take action now.

Want to learn more? Go on a climate change expedition with your child on the Environmental Protection Agency's Global Climate Change website.

Spring Fling! Updates

One new aspect of Spring Fling this year is the addition of Raffle Baskets. Each classroom has organized to create a fun basket that will be raffled off during the concert.

Raffle Baskets:

K1 - Home for a Sick Day

K1 -The Art Basket

K1 -Summer Fun

K2 - "Family Game Night"- Family Games, Mini Golf Certificate

K2 - "Everything Crayola" Eliot School in JP- Art/Sewing Woodworking Classes $50 Cert.

1st - "Let's Go Ride A Bike" Children's Bike from Landry's Bicycle, Helmet, Accessories

2nd - "Spa Basket" Haircut Gift Cert, High end products

2nd - "International Foods"

3rd - "Going High Tech" Wireless Router, USB Storage, Best Buy Giftcard

4th - Red Sox - Tickets to Game

5th - Movie Day- AMC Passes, Candy and Snacks

6th - Red Sox Tickets

7th - Night on the Town - ART and Huntington Theatre tickets, restaurant gift certificates

Raffle tickets will be available at the Strand - 3 for $5 or 20 for $25.

Brighton Book Delivery

First graders caused an outbreak of smiles all over Brighton Center as they fanned out in their expert groups (along with a teacher or a parent chaperone) to deliver copies of Neighbor to Neighbor, their book about Brighton to the community workers they had interviewed to gather material. They had thank you notes for all the community members including Jim at Jim's Deli to Police Officer Amy Boyle and Fire Lt. Edmundo James. From the post office to the laundromat to the emergency room, our students had made a wonderful impression with their seriousness of purpose and their respectful questions. All their interviewees were happy to see them again and delighted with the book the children had written. Look for copies all over Brighton Center!

Peer Mentoring

Who are our best teachers? Often, they are our peers. Classroom teachers love the opportunity to observe their colleagues and 2nd grade violists welcome the chance to learn from their 5th grade friends.

After several weeks of coordinating and observing peer mentoring at the Upper School, Resident Artists selected five students to go over to the Lower School to help teach the 1st and 2nd graders one-on-one and in small groups. They chose the Dudamel Orchestra students who have demonstrated strong communication and leadership skills in their peer mentoring work already.

Seventh grader Rayne Lipscomb and 6th grader Joydanze Bobbsemple helped out in the violin sectional of the Abreu Orchestra with Mr. Anantawan while 5th grader Nahjae Davis helped Ms. Plotkin keep the steady beat on percussion. Fifth grader Sam Muzac taught individual lessons on viola and 6th grader Trayvon Ricks taught pairs of Abreu and Bernstein bassists.

All our mentors did very well and their peers are clamoring for them to return.

Symphony Nova

Symphony Nova presents an evening of storytelling featuring Martinu's

La Revue de Cuisine Suite, Daugherty's Dead Elvis, and Stravinsky's L'histoire du Soldat. Our own Chris Schroeder brings the Soldier's tale to life as the Narrator, Solider, Devil and an array of entertaining characters. Perfect for all ages!

Two free tickets available for each family. Please contact Chris Schroeder directly at cschroeder@conservatorylab.org by end of day, Tuesday, March 18.

Free Concert at Hibernian Hall

The Boston City-Wide String Orchestra (including Ben and Oliver Lee) is performing in two songs with the band in this concert. This is a great program for children and adults who want to hear some fun music.

Come!! Enjoy!!