Mardi Gras Madness For Brockton Day Nursery

By Lisa E. Crowley
BrocktonPost
BROCKTON--Eleven-year-old Maite-Abigail Denis didn't mind that she came in third in Brockton Day Nursery's Mardi Gras Madness best hat contest, she was just glad her hat stayed together while she danced up a storm against adult challengers for the prize.
"I was worried that my ribbons were going to come off," Denis said after the contest was over and she took a break from dancing to watch the festivities with her mother Nadege, and 4-year-old sister, Tamah. (Pictured, second photo from top, left)
Maite-Abigail may not have won the hat contest yet, but her mother Nadege said possibly next year because the family had so much fun at Saturday night's party which raised money for the center's scholarships, that there is no way they will miss the event next year.
"This is such a wonderful event," Nadge said. "They really did a great job," she said.
Brockton Day Nursery, a 117-year-old non-profit day care center that helps needy families and single parents, transformed the Shaw's Center into a cavalcade of purples, greens and yellows for the 6th annual New Orleans-style Mardi Gras, complete with jugglers, magicians, a pantomime and a flamboyant, tuxedoed performer on stilts.

And music filled the event from start to finish, beginning with the Hot Tamales, a foot-stomping, can't-sit-in-your- seat Dixieland jazz band followed by sensational dance music from the 70s to the present spun by DJ Rob Peters.
There was a cornucopia of silent auction items, food to fill the senses from Creole specialties to traditional King's Cake with its hidden surprise that earns the one who finds it a special prize.

Vanassa Leite, the nursery's executive director, said the event exceeded expectations with a crowd of 250 people--"a record night," and the group expected to collect more than $12,000--$2,000 more than last year's event.
Anita O'Brien, one of the daycare's teachers, who beat M for the honor of best hat, said the nursery is a super place to work and bring children--an enterprise that couldn't have lasted so long without the support of the staff and community.
"The message is to teach kids to learn to love and love to learn," O'Brien said. "Love is the answer--when you love, everything else in life is simple," she said.

Round 1: School Budget Talks Begin Tonight

BrocktonPost

BROCKTON--Brockton School Superintendent Matthew Malone tonight will present his recommended FY2013 budget.   

School spokeswoman Jocelyn Meek said in an email, tonight's budget hearing starts the budget process moving--noting the school committee and city council have the opportunity to retool budget items as they see fit.  

Meek said Malone's budget is largely a level service budget.

There will also be two other presentations during tonight's meeting. 

One will focus on the school department's wraparound services and an update on the “Edison Academy” project, which is a proposed afternoon-evening high school for non-traditional and working students.

The school committee meeting begins at 7 p.m. and will be held at the Little Theatre at Brockton High School. 

THIS WEEK IN BROCKTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

MONDAY, MARCH 5

Registration for Kindergarten September 2012 Assignments begin

J - Q: (Last letter of parents last name) March 5th – March 23rd

School Registration Center 43 Crescent Street Brockton

Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Wednesdays Only 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Baker: Pennies for Pasta Fundraiser--through 3/2. During School

Hancock: P.T.A. Meeting, Library 6:30 p.m.

Plouffe: Pennies for Patients fundraiser--through 3/9 During School

Plouffe: P.A.C. Meeting, Café, 6:30 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 6

Brockton School Committee Meeting B.H.S. Little Theater 7 p.m.

Parents’ Academy--Family Night ~ Book Cook Night Pre K – Gr. 5

Arnone School ~ 6. to 7:30 p.m.

Arnone: P.A.C. Meeting, Teachers Lounge, 6 p.m.

Kennedy: Field Trip for Grade 5 to Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, During School

West: School Improvement Council Meeting, Room 110, 6 p.m.

West: P.A.C. Meeting Room 110 7:00 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7

Davis: Title One ~ Family Talk Pizza – Gr. 4 10:30 a.m.

Downey: P.A.C. Meeting Library 6:00 p.m.

Raymond: P.T.A. Meeting Café 6:30 p.m.

THURSDAY, MARCH 8

Parents’ Academy

Make Way for Literacy for the Pre K Group Workshop, Arnone School 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Baker: P.T.A. Meeting Community Room 7:00 p.m.

George: Title One ~ Family Book Bag – Gr. 2 Mrs. Higgins 9:00 a.m.

FRIDAY, MARCH 9

Raymond: Student of the Month Assembly, During School

Hancock: Reptiles are Cool Presentation for K, Gr. 1 & 2, During School

Huntington: Field Trip for Grade 5 to Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, During School

MONDAY, MARCH 12

Gilmore: P.T.A. Meeting Café, p.m.

THIS WEEK IN BROCKTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28
Little Red Schoolhouse Association open house-membership drive, Little Red Schoolhouse--Brockton High School, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Coffee, tea and refreshments.
Learn about the non-profit Little Red Schoolhouse Association and how it supports education in Brockton.

THURSDAY, MARCH 1
K--12 MEPA Testing through 3/16
Parents’ Academy--ADHD & Executive Function Workshop, George School 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Parents’ Academy--Make Way for Literacy for the Infant/Toddler Group Workshop, Arnone School 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Arnone: Field Trip for Grade 5 to Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, During School.
East: School Improvement Council Meeting, Room 130, 5:30 p.m.
East: P.A.C. Meeting, Room 130, 6:15 p.m.
Gilmore: Dr. Seuss Celebration. During School
Hancock: Big Ryan’s Tall Tales for K and Gr. 1, Café 9:30 & 10:15 a.m.
Kennedy: School Improvement Council Meeting, Conference Room, 6 p.m.
Kennedy: P.A.C. Meeting, Café 7 p.m.
North: K.T.A. Club Art & Poetry Contest through 3/30
North: K.T.A. Club Anti-Bullying Campaign through 3/30
Russell: White Ribbon Campaign running through 3/12

FRIDAY, MARCH 2 Parents’ Academy Morning Workshop--Dr. Seuss Literacy Celebration, Gilmore Early Childhood Center 9 to 10:30 a.m.
Angelo: Student of the Month Breakfast, Café, 9 a.m.
Arnone: Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration, During School
George: Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration, Café, 6:30 p.m.
Hancock: MADD Dance for Grades 3, 4 and 5. 6--7:30 p.m.
Huntington: Field Trip for Grade 5 to Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton. During School
Raymond: Spring class and individual picture day, During School
Raymond: Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration, During School
South: Spring Picture Day, During School

MONDAY, MARCH 5 Registration for Kindergarten September 2012 Assignments begin
J - Q: (Last letter of parents last name) March 5th – March 23rd
School Registration Center 43 Crescent Street Brockton
Monday--Friday 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Wednesdays Only 5 to 7 p.m.
Baker: Pennies for Pasta Fundraiser through 3/23, During School
Hancock: P.T.A. Meeting, Library, 6:30 p.m.
Plouffe: Pennies for Patients fundraiser through 3/9, During School
Plouffe: P.A.C. Meeting, Café, 6:30 p.m.

THIS WEEK IN BROCKTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Tuesday, February 14: Brockton School Committee meeting 7 p.m., Brockton High School Little Theatre.
 
Wednesday - February 15, 2012

• SEPAC Workshop: Transition Planning during High School 6:25  to 8:30 p.m.

Thursday - February 16, 2012

• Parents' Academy Workshop: "Healthy Cooking on a Budget Nutrition Workshop"  
• 6 to 8 p.m.  
  Arnone School - 135 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA
  Healthy Cooking on a Budget Nutrition WorkshopPresenter: UMASS Extension Nutritionist Andrea Gulezian
  All Parent Academy workshops are free to Brockton parents
  Free childcare is available.

Friday - February 17, 2012

• Parents' Academy AM Workshop: "Parent & Child Literacy Activity" 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
• 9 to 10:30 a.m. 
  Location: Gilmore ECC - 150 Clinton Street, Brockton, MA
  Parent & Child Literacy Activity
  Presenter: Parent Engagement Specialist Jane Feroli
  All Parent Academy workshops are free to Brockton parents
  Free childcare is available. 
     
• Monday - February 20, 2012--WINTER RECESS BEGINS

Spellman Moves From Textbooks To iPads

BrocktonPost
BROCKTON--Cardinal Spellman High School plans to phase out text books, by initiating an Apple iPad program, for the 2012-2013 school year.
Cardinal Spellman is the first school, within the Archdiocese of Boston, to implement iPads as a learning too, school officials said in a prepared statement.
Spellman plans to begin using iBooks and etextbooks, which cost much less than traditional textbooks. Not all textbooks will be available as etextbooks this year but, Spellman anticipates those textbooks will be offered within the next few years.
“We are very excited and proud to be making this move. Dickens’ Great Expectations is still taught in many high schools. That is exactly what the school is looking for with the introduction of iPads for all students at Cardinal Spellman. We have great expectations,” said the high school's president John McEwan.
In coordination with Apple, Cardinal Spellman will equip each one of its students with an iPad.
Students will pay a small technology fee, making the iPad available for a fraction of the cost of purchasing it independently. Students will be issued their iPads during the summer.
Spellman will offer training sessions for students and their parents.
Teachers have already begun iPad training sessions. They received their iPads in December as part of a professional development course. They began iPad training, through Apple, in anticipation of making the iPad a major learning tool in Spellman’s daily curriculum. Other training programs will continue throughout the year in subject-specific areas. Teachers will be able to access their Promethean Boards from anywhere in their classroom and use the latest in apps to enhance their lesson plans.
Beginning in 2010, a special technology committee, comprised of parents, teachers, students, administrators and community members was formed by Spellman President McEwan.
The committee met to hear the latest information on the use of one-to-one technology in the classrooms. They looked at laptops, iPads and other new technology entering the market.
From those meetings, a number of pilot programs were instituted in the school.
The final recommendation from the committee was to go forward with a one-to-one program of iPads for all students and teachers.
McEwan is confident that the teachers and students will greatly benefit from this next step in technology. “It’s a giant step forward,” McEwan said.
Cardinal Spellman High School is a Catholic, co-educational, college preparatory school serving students from 40 different communities on the South Shore.

Brockton Sports Supporters Watch Out For Scam

BrocktonPost<br />
BROCKTON--Brockton school officials are warning residents and businesses not to fall for a scam where an Illinois company is allegedly sending bills and advertising brochures for a fictional Brockton High School sports calendar. <br />
“We are working with the Attorneys General in Illinois and Massachusetts to get this company to cease and desist,” said Superintendent of Schools Matthew H. Malone in a prepared statement. “It’s offensive that they are trying to capitalize on good businesses who support student athletes,” he said. <br />
<br />
Officials said many businesses and high school sports boosters have received bills from a company called GCQ purportedly for their “business sponsoring an advertisement” in a fictional Brockton High School Sports Calendar.<br />
<br />
The Brockton Public Schools and Brockton High School Athletic Department are not running any advertising campaigns or seeking donations for a calendar of any type, officials said. <br />
Those who receive the bills from GCQ, which ask for a $129 payment, should ignore them.