Family Newletter Week of September 5, 2025

Dear Brackett Families,

The first few days of school have been fabulous! Hopefully you have been hearing many stories about new classmates, fun activities, and our wonderful teachers. Sometimes asking specific questions helps the conversation flowing. Instead of How was your day? you could ask any of the following:

• What did you do during morning meeting?

• Who has a locker near yours?

• Which do you go to first … lunch or recess?

• Where did you go for PE?

• When is your snack … before or after lunch?

• Why did you get a bookmark in library?

Thank you to everyone for getting to school early to line up! FANTASTIC! Our fifth grade safety patrol will begin leading students into the building on Monday. They will begin walking into school at 7:55am.

Best,

Dr. Vice

• Room Reps Needed

• Standard Safety Response Protocol

Interested in helping to support your child's classroom this year? We are looking for Room Reps!

The primary goal of a Room Representative is to support their student’s classroom teacher with their specific needs and to serve as a point person for class families. You do not need to be available during the school day in order to be a Room Rep. To learn more, please visit the Room Rep site on the Brackett PTO website here.

This year, APS is adopting the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) developed by the “I Love U Guys” Foundation. The SRP is a nationally recognized safety protocol that standardizes responses to various situations, including emergencies. This protocol is based on five simple, action-based responses:

Hold – "In your room or area. Clear the halls."

Secure – "Get inside. Lock outside doors."

Lockdown – "Locks, lights, out of sight."

Evacuate – "To a specified location."

Shelter – "Using a safety strategy for group and self protection from (state specific hazard, may be tornado or hazmat situation)."

Each action is accompanied by specific instructions to help keep students and staff safe and informed during any incident. This standardized language ensures clarity for students, teachers, first responders, and families in the event of an emergency. All staff were trained in these actions at the start of the school year, we encourage all parents and guardians to review more about the SRP at https://iloveuguys.org and reach out to us with any questions or concerns.

The district will hold an online forum for families to share more about this protocol and answer questions on October 16th, 2025 at 7pm. The link to register will be posted on the district website in mid-September.

Please add the Brackett Calendar to your personal calendar system. You can find a link to this on our district website event page.

Sep 19 – Picture Day

Sep 20 – Arlington Town Day

Sep 23 – No School for Rosh Hashanah

Sep 30 – Back to School Night (6-8pm)

Oct 2 –No School for Yom Kippur

Oct 5 – PTO Fall Fest

Oct 13 – No School for Indigenous People’s Day

Friday Math Mornings will begin Sep 26 for Grades 3, 4, & 5.