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As we are closing out this school year, a year like no other in our lifetimes, it’s amazing to think about where we started the year and how far we have come. In large part, we owe the fact that we are safely back at school to our amazing school nurses, led by Tricia Laham, Coordinator of School Health Services at the District level, who worked tirelessly all year. She and her team of 21 school nurses were in touch with families, conducted [...]

We are pleased to announce this year's Caverly Award winners for excellence in teaching! Watch Celebrating Teachers Francesca Stark Driscoll School Fifth-Grade Betsy Davis Brookline High School World Language After a hiatus last year, we are so pleased to announce the 2021 Caverly Award winners this year. Since 1984, the Ernest R. Caverly Award has been presented to Brookline educators in recognition of professional achievements and contributions to the Brookline Public Schools. Each year, the BEF reaches out to school leaders and seeks nominations for the prestigious award.  Two [...]

The Brookline Education Foundation and the Metzger Committee are pleased to announce the educators selected for the 2021 Margaret Metzger Fellowships: Susan Balogh, Baker School, 7th Grade, Social Studies; Zac Broken Rope, Brookline High School, SWS, English; Alisa Conner, Brookline High School, Spanish; Will Gordon, Lawrence School, Paraprofessional; Colleen Kavanagh, Runkle School, 5th Grade; Wan Wang, Driscoll School, Mandarin; The Margaret Metzger Fellowship grants six Brookline educators the opportunity to deeply reflect on their life as educators and craft an essay about those experiences. John Andrews, Brookline High [...]

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 [...]