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The BEF is pleased to announce it is launching a new free webinar speaker series entitled Equity in Education. Over the course of the next few months, we will examine equity, in its various forms, in the public schools of Brookline through the lens of teachers who have received BEF grants to do this important work. Our first webinar was held on February 25th and highlighted SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) New Leader Training. SEED trains educators to lead difficult conversations with small groups on issues of race, bias, gender, and identity. Our panel consisted of five Brookline educators [...]

Runkle School Special Education teacher, Meghan Walsh, sent an email to the BEF thanking us for the Collaborative Grant she and her colleagues received. Below is her email and story (shared with permission): Dear Members of the Brookline Education Foundation, I wanted to take the time, once again, to thank you for your extremely generous collaborative grant for the 2020-2021 school year. Because of you, I was able to receive training in the Orton-Gillingham approach.  This past summer, I participated in the Comprehensive Orton-Gillingham training through IMSE- the Institute of Multi-Sensory Education, which improved my understanding of the O-G approach [...]

Brookline Food Pantry Brookline Community Foundation Brookline Interactive Group Brookline Music School Brookline Teen Center Brookline Library Foundation Brookline Symphony Orchestra Puppet Showplace Theater Brookline High School Innovation Fund Brookline Community Mental Health Center Brookline Arts Center Steps to Success Voices Boston The Brookline Education Foundation is happy to announce its collaboration with other nonprofit organizations in Brookline to create a campaign called Be More Brookline! Be More Brookline is encouraging Brookline residents to support local organizations now, during the holiday season, and always! Support can come in a variety of forms, including volunteering, donations of money [...]

The BEF is pleased to announce a new annual award for middle-school teachers in memory of David E. Pradell, a beloved teacher at Lawrence and Driscoll Schools for over 30 years. This monetary award will be presented each year to one middle-school Teacher Grant recipient whose work will stimulate students' imagination and curiosity; help students develop self-assurance and self-esteem; encourage student collaboration and/or instill an abiding sense of social responsibility. The recipient will be chosen by the BEF Teacher Grant committee of the Board of Directors. In the summer of 2020, the BEF was approached by former students of [...]

The BEF allocated $100,000 to support Brookline's teachers in building a robust remote learning model for the Fall. In March, the school year was turned on its head as we all faced the first 100 days of a worldwide pandemic. Given the need to pivot all learning to a new, uncharted, remote environment, it's no wonder that our teachers, students and school community struggled. While online teaching improved as the weeks went on, it was clear that there were still ways to develop more robust instruction for every student. The BEF saw this unprecedented need, combined with grave [...]

Farewell to Outgoing Board President Emily Dolbear; Welcome to Catherine Burke!  As we draw to a close of this crazy, topsy-turvy school year, the BEF wants to take a moment to thank outgoing Board president Emily Dolbear. Emily has served on the BEF Board since 2013 and has been a valuable member of the Executive Committee from her second year. As a Runkle and then BHS mother of two boys, she was the Vice President of Communications before taking over as Board president. Emily is an extremely thoughtful leader, who seeks out, listens to, and [...]

During this time of challenges, the work here at the Brookline Education Foundation (BEF) continues — albeit remotely. In mid-April, our Board committees awarded 32 grants, totaling more than $200,000, to Brookline teachers. We have also responded directly to the COVID-19 crisis by funding a special Districtwide Grant to immediately train teachers in remote learning and online curriculum development instruction. Although we had to cancel our Trivia Bee fundraising event and won’t be gathering at Celebrating Teachers to present 2020 Caverly Awards, we remain focused on our mission: the professional learning of educators at every Brookline school. We cannot fulfill [...]

The BEF Idea Lab grants committee awarded 19 new Idea Lab grants last week. After hearing teachers give their pitches for their hands-on ideas to be carried out in the classroom this year, the committee awarded 19 grants to teachers from many schools in the District, ranging in grades from pre-K through the high school. The committee was excited to see some great, creative ideas from the enthusiastic and motivated applicants. Some examples include a Spanish teacher using improvisation to get her students to feel more comfortable to speak a foreign language, [...]

On Friday, October 4th, over 200 people joined us for the 2019 Margaret Metzger Fellowship Event where our 6 Fellows read their essays to a packed house! While the essays were varied reflections on teaching and working with students; all were extremely touching. We are so lucky to have such thoughtful educators in Brookline Schools. Margaret Metzger Fellows for 2019 Mireille Blau, CCS, Social Studies Rebecca Hayden, BHS, English Paul Epstein, BHS, Social Worker Lauren Ockene, Pierce, EL 4th Grade [...]

Last year, the Brookline Education Foundation gave "A Gift of Music" to the Performing Arts Department of the Public Schools of Brookline, under the leadership of K-12 Curriculum Coordinator Kenny Kozol. This gift was funded through the 35th Anniversary Gala of 2016. After an application and evaluation process, the BEF funded this musical project, recognizing that the Performing Arts department is an important and valuable part of the curriculum and provides alternative opportunities for students to explore and develop creative talents. World-renowned composer and conductor Jim Papoulis was commissioned to create original songs with and for Brookline students, [...]