Lunar New Year local activities
Check out some local activities to celebrate the Lunar New Year - the Year of the Rat!
Learn more about the Kirwan Commission Recommendations
Parents - have you wondered how our schools perform compared to the rest of the nation, and why Maryland seems to be falling behind compared to other states (ranked 37th)? Are you tired of worrying about whether our schools have sufficient funding to achieve excellent student outcomes for every child, and keep high-quality teachers?
Background
In 2016, the Maryland General Assembly and the Governor created the Maryland Commission on Education and Innovation, better known as the "Kirwan Commission", after the commission's chair, William "Brit" Kirwan, former chancellor of the university system of Maryland. This commission made several recommendations on how to make Maryland a world-class education system, including increasing funding by $2.9 billion over the next 10 years. These include better teacher salaries to support high-quality teaching, additional support staff, full pre-K for low-income kids, support for college and career readiness standards, wraparound services through community grants for schools with a high concentration of low-income students, and a strong accountability system.
The 2019 Maryland Assembly agreed to fund the first three years of this 10-year plan, about $1.1 billion in new funding ($255 million to be invested in 2020), but have not yet agreed to funding the full set of recommendations
See the testimony from William Kirwan on the recommendations,
http://dls.maryland.gov/pubs/prod/NoPblTabMtg/CmsnInnovEduc/WEK_Testimony_Senate_Bill_1030_FINAL.pdf
For details on the recommendations, review the interim January 2019 report
The final report is expected this December.
Learn more about why all parents in Maryland, including those with children who will be in pre-K should pay attention to the recommendations, and advocate with state legislators to increase funding for education in the upcoming 2020 legislative session (January 8- April 6, 2020).
There are several ways to be informed and urge legislative support to increase education funding:
Blueprint for Maryland's Future
https://www.marylandblueprint.org/
https://www.marylandblueprint.org/learn-more/
Strong Schools Maryland is a statewide, non-partisan grassroots campaign set up just to advocate for the Kirwan Commission's evidence-based recommendations. They also organize advocacy efforts. Read more here
https://www.strongschoolsmaryland.org/now-why
https://www.strongschoolsmaryland.org/roi-study
They urge all parents to email or meet with state legislators to support this proposed bill to fully fund the Kirwan Commission’s recommendations.
https://www.strongschoolsmaryland.org/email-your-leaders
General Assembly of Maryland's Department of Legislative Services, Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education - see all the reports under Resources on the left of the page). Also legislative schedule for opportunities to testify and to view meeting materials
http://dls.maryland.gov/policy-areas/commission-on-innovation-and-excellence-in-education#!
Maryland State Education Association
Commemorate your student’s place at BRES with a personalized brick!
Visit https://www.bricksrus.com/donorsite/bayardrustines to place an order today.
Contribute on Giving Tuesday
GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past seven years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
Please take a minute on Giving Tuesday to donate to your school’s PTA so we can continue to support our students, staff and BRES.
Enjoy the holiday season!
Join the MCPS Family Engagement Advisory Team
Parents, guardians, and community members are invited to apply to be a part of the newly formed MCPS Family Engagement Advisory Team. The purpose of the Family Engagement Advisory Team is to provide opportunities for MCPS families to learn about and provide input and feedback on the district’s programs and initiatives. One focus of the group is to provide input and feedback to MCPS Central Office staff, and school staff on programs, activities, services, resources, and materials. Applications to join the Advisory Team are available online and are due by December 13.
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/community-engagement/
Provide Feedback on MCCPTA’s Resolution on Gun Violence
The Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (MCCPTA) recently introduced a new resolution urging MCPS to implement specific best practices to protect students from gun violence in schools. To provide feedback, please contact delegate@brespta.org.
School Spirit Tastes Great - Chipotle, Nov 20, 4:00-8:00pm
Make dinner a selfless act by joining us for a fundraiser to support BRES. Come in to the Chipotle at 865-B Rockville Pike in Rockville (Wintergreen Plz) on Wed, Nov 20, 4:00-8:00pm. Bring in this flyer, show it on your smartphone or tell the cashier you’re supporting the cause to make sure that 33% of the proceeds will be donated to BRES.
“Alone Together” on Our Device - Tips on Rolling Back the Tech
From the Montgomery County Council of PTAs (MCCPTA) Safe Technology Subcommittee:
Common Sense Media released an interesting report this week that spotlights how much time kids are "alone together" on devices.
Brace yourself.
Here are a few key insights from the report followed by Safe Tech's suggestions for rolling back the tech:
The Common Sense Consensus: 2019 — Media Use by Tweens and Teens
"Online video viewing is through the roof: More than twice as many young people watch videos every day than did in 2015, and the average time spent watching has roughly doubled.
On average, 8- to 12-year-olds in this country use just under five hours’ worth of entertainment screen media per day (4:44), and teens use an average of just under seven and a half hours’ worth (7:22)—not including time spent using screens for school or homework.
There are substantial differences in the amount of screen media young people use based on socioeconomic status.
There has been a large drop in the amount of time both tweens and teens spend watching TV on a television set.
Young people are more than twice as likely as they were four years ago to say that they use computers for homework every day."
Safe Tech De-Tech Tips
• Ditch YouTube from kids' devices. More and more parents are doing it. One parent told me her child didn't notice for weeks.
• Here's another real-world tip shared by an MCPS parent: Allow Kids YouTube only and ONLY on a television screen so you can see what they are watching. Kids are less inclined to sneak into weirdo videos when their choices are open to all in the room.
• Get devices out of the bedroom. Period.
• Curb your own device use.
• Ask teachers for paper homework — so you can participate in the learning process, or they can do it before sports practice, or study with friends.
• Make Sundays screen-free in your house.
• Take family Tech Breaks of about 5 minutes a few times a day or evening. This allows everyone to be 'screening' at the same time and, more importantly spending time together at the same time.
Save the Date for STEM Night: Dec 5, 2019, 6:30-8:00pm
Get your learners excited about science, technology, engineering and math! It'll be non-stop fun with interactive activities ranging from robotics and coding to Mad Science chemistry fun to engineering rig-ga-ma-rigs and much much more. Pizza and drinks will be available for purchase. Find out more at here.
We also need volunteers (parents and middle/high school students) to help with STEM activity stations, set-up, and cleanup. SSL hours are available. Please sign up today to help make this event a great learning experience for all: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080B4CABA82DA57-stem