Brentwood Is Recognized and Has Attitude!

Brentwood is a Recognized school with a Green Attitude! Melody Putnam is a parent volunteer who designed and installed — along with Lisa Boone, another PTA parent — the front landscaping, including a solar-operated fountain. This environmentally-inspired design is at the heart of some of the programming at the school.

Principal Katherine Williams-Carter welcomed us and, after meeting the office staff, off we went to tour Brentwood, the school with Green Attitude.

We met Amy Cox, the Teacher of the Year. Antonio, one of her students, told us, "She lets us play math games! She's smart. She planned the Earth Day. We love the Earth." Ms. Cox runs her resource room full of explicit instructional strategies, tools, and materials to support science and environmental studies. This part of our tour started with students from the Environmental Club who showed us the planted 14 trees dedicated in memory of the teaching assistant's mother.

Candice Clark, who is the garden volunteer and lives in the neighborhood, fills the back yard of Brentwood with gardens for a full outdoor learning experience. Ms. Clark is a colorful friend to the school — her pink outfit matched her hot pink poodle, Grace. Students had joined Candice and Grace to look for snails in the gardens behind the arts cottage. Candice is also a mentor; her connection to students has been beneficial to both her and students. She rewards them for good behavior.

Students in the Environmental Club showed us their vegetable gardens, compost heap, and recycled container gardens — 135 brussel sprouts were harvested and eaten by the students. (Kids eat brussel sprouts? Guess so.) They grow everything from lavender to swiss chard and lemon balm. The art environmental teachers collaborated to complete a beautification project called Cobb Caterpillar for the school's 3rd Annual Earth Day Celebration.

 

There is a seven-year-old glass tile mural with an inspirational saying: "I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world." Completed by students from PK-5th grade, the children and community were inspired by the book entitled Sadako and the Thousand Cranes.

We visited a multi-age classroom with 2nd and 3rd graders. It has an open space design with integrated instruction that covers all the TEKS. Students spend two years with the same teachers, building relationships, becoming learning leaders, and participating in peer tutoring. This is a community of learners! 

Debbie Alvarez, Teacher of Promise, was working one-on-one with a student. She is a leader of a campus-wide initiative to promote Life Skills as part of their character education program.

Ramona says that the soft signage around the school with words painted in flowers and clouds — courage, resourcefulness, respect, pride, integrity, effort, patience, sense of humor — support character education and social and emotional learning. Brentwood has been implementing character education for over 12 years, which is less than half of Principal Katherine Williams-Carter's 28-year tenure!

Librarian Kate Slaten is much loved by the school. "Our Hearts Are All A Flutter" for Mrs. Slaten's Great Books, says the bulletin board. A bond renovation expanded the library over a decade ago. It still looks fantastic and is adorned with student artwork exhibited on all the walls. Each piece was donated by students who are promoted from Brentwood.

Cafeteria manager Clara Boxton followed last week's saga about AISD peanut butter sandwiches, and tells me that Brentwood loves peanut butter but can't have any this year. There are students with severe allergies to peanuts. So Brentwood kids get ham or cheese sandwiches instead. Who knew that sandwiches and sandwich-making was so complicated!


Our time at Brentwood has run out. Great visit with the Bulldogs ... and with Grace, Ms. Clark's pink poodle.
 
Next, we're heading to Doss Elementary to meet the Owls. (I'll get to see that big hill that everyone sleds down when Austin gets its 1" of snow every few years!)