20-21 Student & Family Engagement Events

Brookline's Office of English Language Education (ELE) is pleased to offer the following English classes and workshops to EL students and families. All classes will be held virtually over Zoom at this time. If you have any questions about any of these classes, please contact Sejin Choi at sejin_choi@psbma.org.  

Let's Chat started out as a pilot program during a pandemic related school closure in an effort to give English learning students more chances to speak English. We are very happy to continue the program this school year. In the class, students will read a book together with an instructor and have a conversation about the topic in a small group setting. Class will meet for two 30-minute lessons each week for eight weeks.

Reading Scholars (Friday Reading Group) is a literacy support program for beginning readers in grades 3-4. Students will read a book with an instructor, work on vocabulary building, and write a book report. Class will meet for eight weekly sessions on Fridays. By referrals only. 

Conversation Group is designed to offer our EL parents an opportunity to practice their English and discuss school-related topics. At each lesson, the instructor brings one news article related to current events and uses it for lessons in reading comprehension, pronunciation, vocabulary, and idiom. Conversation topics may include understanding US holidays, cultural differences in various situations, how to prepare for play dates or sleepover, etc.

Community Lounge is a series of monthly workshops where parents come to learn about a specific topic more in depth with an expert in the field or a local representative. Families come to gain resources, grow their knowledge, and ask questions. Previous participating organizations include Brookline Mental Health, Teen Center, BA&CE, MFA, etc. We hold about five workshops each school year. Parents/guardians will receive an invitation email a few weeks before each workshop. 

Cooking Around the World (Please click here for the schedule.) Join us for a virtual global culinary experience. ELE staff will show you how to prepare a popular dish from a country. Zoom invitations will be shared along with a list of ingredients and required cooking tools. We will meet once a month between January and May. This is a fun family activity for all to enjoy!

ELE Virtual Office Hours (Please click here for the schedule.) Virtual office hours will be held for parents/guardians twice a month. Please feel free to bring any questions or concerns you may have. There is no need to make an appointment: just come on by during any of our office hours! Any EL parents/guardians are welcome!