Eugene Brooks Intermediate School

Bimonthly Newsletter

September & October

Welcome to the 2016-2017 School Year!

It’s been a great start to the 2016-2017 school year at Eugene Brooks Intermediate

School. One of our goals for this school year is to increase the communication between

school and home. We recognize that educating your children is a partnership between

many people, and we look forward to making it a strong one. I’m very proud of the

newsletters that our teachers have been sending home, and I am confident that you are

finding them useful. On a bimonthly basis, I will be sharing progress, celebrations,

pictures, and news coming from both our school and district. I hope that these rambles

inform you, spark conversations, and make you proud to be a parent of a Warrior!

New Staff

I’d like to formally welcome and introduce the following new staff members to our

building. Some of these educators come to us from other buildings within our

district, while others are brand new to Webutuck. These people have

undoubtedly made our school a better place, and I’m grateful that they are now at

EBIS!

Mrs. Singleton (teaching assistant in Mrs. Nethercott’s classroom)

Ms. Krokey (7th grade ELA teacher)

Ms. Farr (6th grade Science and Social Studies teacher)

Mrs. Coon (Math AIS teaching assistant 4-6)

Miss Demetros (Special Education and Coding Teacher 4-6)

Mrs. Dietter-Smith (Robotics Teacher 4-6)

Xinzi Zheng (Mandarin Teacher 4-6)

Positive Behavior Intervention & Support

After two months of PBIS implementation, we are already seeing positive results. When comparing major incident referrals from the beginning of the year last year to this year we have seen drastic improvements! I’d like to personally thank the teachers on our committee, Mr. Braislin, and our 8th grade liaisons for their hard work and contributions to these results! I’d also like to thank all of the parents for supporting a system that is drastically different from past practice. Our school’s learning environment is undoubtedly better thanks to everyone’s help and support with this new initiative!

Students of the Month

In an effort to align our Student of the Month criteria with our points of emphasis this

year, we are recognizing students who are fulfilling our I PROMISE creed that is recited

each morning. We recognized six students last month that were selected by their 4th

grade teachers. These students were invited to the Board of Education Meeting, and

were introduced by myself and Mrs. Hammond (4th grade teacher). Next month we will

be recognizing 5th grade students!

Mrs. Hammond: Eric Golden

Ms. Boldrin: Licette Jaya

Mrs. Quaranto: Aaron Wendover

Mrs. Murphy and Mrs. Roccanova:

Desiree Wright

Specials: Evan Thomas

Ms. Ippolito: Alex Hernandez

Clubs

Extracurricular activities are an important part of students everyday lives. As educators

at Eugene Brooks Intermediate School, we are acutely aware of the positive effects that

extracurricular activities can bring to our students’ overall education (e.g. improving

behavior, school performance, school completion, positive aspects to make successful

adults, and social aspects.)

Nationally, the average extracurricular participation rate at intermediate schools is

around 20%. At Eugene Brooks, our current participation rate exceeds 75%. I’d like to

thank all of our Session One club leaders who volunteered their time to increase the

amount of opportunities that our students are presented with after school:

Mrs. Mathers (Summer

Crafts)

Mr. Sullivan (Green Team)

Ms. Farr and Mrs. Conway

(French Club)

Miss Garofalo (Cooking Club)

Miss Demetros (Lego Club)

Mr. D’Amato and Mr. Lynch

(Gentlemen’s Club)

Miss McClune (Creative

Writing)

Miss Zheng (Mandarin Club)

Mr. Eyler (Karate Club)

Field Trips

Our students have already taken several enjoyable, and educational field trips. Among other

trips, we’ve traveled to Stissing Mountain, The Estate and Presidential Library of FDR, Bash

Bish Falls and Copake Furnace!

Extra Help Homework & Right Reasons

This year we’ve changed our after school extra help program drastically. First, we have

changed our invitation criteria. This year, we are only inviting students who are currently failing

(based off of progress reports or report cards). This means that we will update our student lists

in five week intervals. As the list of students that are failing changes, so will our invitations.

Second, we’ve changed our format to one that emphasizes blended instruction. Specifically,

students are required to attend these sessions Mondays through Thursdays. Two of these days

are spent working on homework, and two of the days are spent on the computer (Right Reasons

Technology). This technology program allows teachers to assign specific lessons that your

child is struggling with. Each student has also taken a Right Reasons diagnostic test that can

set your child on an individualized learning plan based off of his/her individual deficiencies. A

big thank you to Mrs. Murphy for her leadership in getting us up and running with this!

Boston Bound 2017!

Our school hasn’t taken an overnight field trip in almost ten years. Many of you wrote in our

parent survey that you miss our students being given those opportunities. We hope that this

year's 8th grade class will be starting a tradition by traveling to Boston this spring. A big shout

out to our 8th Graders for all of the hard work that they have put into fundraising for our 2017

Boston trip. Many of our students sold enough tickets to go on this trip for free! I’d also like to

thank a group of teachers that had a vision for this trip early on. Mrs. Murphy, Mr. Braislin, Mr.

Scarinzi, and Mrs. Gillette have spent countless hours organizing the details of this trip. Their

dedication to our students has been both inspirational and contagious!

Elections 2016

It’s election season at Eugene Brooks! I’d like to congratulate all of our winners, but also

each and every person that ran for a position. At Eugene Brooks, grade level elections

begin in the 6th grade. In total we had over 25 students run for office. Each candidate

was required to address the entire grade level at lunch time through a short speech. Their

effort was admirable, and their public speaking will continue to improve with practice.

I’d like to recognize the following winners!

6th Grade Winners 7th Grade Winners 8th Grade Winners

Co-Presidents: Amelia Bailey, Brayden Humbert

President: Kennedy Doran President: Liam Murphy

Vice President: Alexia Cedillo

Vice President: Teyvon Thrasher

Vice President: Ein Armstrong

Secretary: Cadance Shufelt

Secretary: Carrissa Whitehead

Secretary: Erika Voigt

Treasurer: Kaitlyn Killmer Treasurer: Rachel D’Alessandro

Treasurer: Brandi Andrighetti

Capital Improvement Project

“An Investment In Our Future”

Residents in the Webutuck Central School District will vote on a proposed $8.5

million bond resolution that would be used to address immediate health and

safety needs, and other projects to improve all buildings. The vote will be held

from 12 to 9 p.m. on December 15th in the High School gym. There will also be

a public forum on November 14, at 6:30 to discuss the specifics. Below is a list of

some of the major elements of the project:

● Middle/High School boiler replacement

● Safety/security improvements

● Middle School playground

● New district septic field

● Technology infrastructure

● Middle/High School gym, auditorium, HVAC and flooring improvements

● Emergency generator

● District Wide paving and sidewalks

● Elementary School water system

● Bus Garage roof repair

Parent University

After a significant amount of discussion and thought, we’ve decided to start up

our very own Parent University this year! Parent University will be a combination

of classes and workshops aimed at helping parents become full partners in their

children’s education. It’s an initiative designed to inform, involve and empower

families of students at Eugene Brooks Intermediate School. Parent University will

offer parents and other family members a variety of meaningful classes and

workshops that will add to their existing skills and give them opportunities for

continued growth and development. Below is a list of possible topics that we

have discussed. Please feel free to reach out to Mrs. Murphy, Mrs. Hart, or

myself if you have other ideas. We would like to offer four sessions in our

opening year!

"What are Study Skills?", "Why Kids Give Up, Fail To Initiate & Lack Passion",

“Anxiety and Emotionality in Adolescence”, “Screenagers,” "Homework Help:

How To Set Up a Plan To Eliminate Daily Homework Battles", "Common What?

What is the Common Core, and why do I need to understand it’s purpose?”,

"Managing Technology: Sensible Ways To Set Limits and WHY You Must Do

This Now".

Expect a follow up in the near future with finalized topics and dates for the 2016-

2017 school year!